Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: sTUDIO %

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Posted by Ramin Hashemi (Member # 2694) on 07-08-2009, 05:37 PM:

How negotiable is the rates we pay to studios?
We paid 70% for transformers week 1. Anyone got a lower %, or is it nationwide?

thx

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-08-2009, 06:44 PM:

Do you have a booker? That's who negotiates this stuff for you.

WE're not playing Transformers yet but I heard a couple of other places near here are paying 70. That's not uncommon for a huge blockbuster sequel.

If you really tank in week 2 they might give you a lower rate for that week but don't count on it. Is Paramount doing the sliding-aggregate thing like Warners and Disney, or are they still doing a decreasing percentage as the weeks go on? We haven't opened a Paramount movie on the break in quite a while.

Posted by Ron Funderburg (Member # 4561) on 07-08-2009, 06:55 PM:

I use to book but I am not doing so right now. 70 for a week one is not uncommon it is doubtful that they will drop week one as the film did so well but like mike said they may make it a bit easier for you on weeks to come with what it cost.

I heard that they did Star Trek at 56 or 57% straight across the board. Warren gives you the option for the 70 down or the set amount for each week. They have a clause that percent paid over the life isn't suppose to drop below 50% on the life of the film. to know if it is below or not they have to go back and figure all that has been earned and paid and most never do that. But sometimes some of them do!

Posted by Julio Roberto (Member # 4976) on 07-08-2009, 08:00 PM:

I hear some distributors around here, Warner i.e., are starting to charge a fixed-variable amount per audience member accross the board.

I.e. instead of charging 70% first week, 65% second week, etc, they'll be doing (say) 4€-per-person first week, 3.75€ second week, etc.

So those theatres with higher ticket prices are gonna benefit by pocketing more money. Theatres with lower prices are gonna get slightly more screwed. But I hear for most people, the new rates benefit them, so go figure why they are being so generous.

Main problem is if you run "matinee" or "discounted" shows. They still want their €€€€-per-seat. So those days, or on those (matinee) shows, you'll be making very-little/nothing.

[Shrug]

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-08-2009, 08:11 PM:

? Do they still do the 90/10 thingey?

Also, how did this term work, for I keep forgetting, but heard that a 90/10 was quite extensive, why it's rarely used nowdays.

Posted by Ron Funderburg (Member # 4561) on 07-08-2009, 09:28 PM:

I'm sure 90/10 is still around. When 90/10 kicks in you pay 90% on all income above the house allowance. It usually figured only to be a few hundred extra when it kicked in on me over the 70%. There was a specific target for when 90/10 would kick in for me in the first theater I owned it was about 8000 in a week. In the the theater we built it was 10,500 but again unless it went way up it wasn't much different than 70% anyway.

I hadn't heard about a fixed cents per person and I can't imagine them doing that. They want as much as possible if you raise your ticket prices they get none of that and believe me that will not happen.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-08-2009, 09:43 PM:

90/10 is still around. Everyone uses it except Disney and Warner Bros (at least in this region). How it works: You take your gross, minus your "house nut" and you pay 90% of the remainder.

I.E. a $10,000 gross with a $3000 house nut = $7000, you would pay 90% of the $7000 or $6300.

There is usually an alternative percentage which kicks in if you gross badly. Such as 90/10 vs 60% ... then, you figure the rental both ways and whichever is higher, you send in.

These days Warner and Disney have started using this "sliding aggregate" system whereby they have a scale of film rentals based on how much the movie grosses. Something like:

$350 million or more - 65%
$250-350 million - 62%
$150-250 million - 59%
Under $150 million - 58%

(These are just arbitrary numbers I made up to show how it works...in reality there are more categories and the numbers may be different.) Universal has also used this system on a couple of titles.

The only downside to that system is you don't know what your final film rent will be until about 12 weeks or more after the movie opens, so we just send in 50% or so and then pay the rest after the final numbers are in. It's harder to deal with but it's a fairer system for small towns playing on the break because we don't get those later, lower-percentage weeks.

Posted by Ron Funderburg (Member # 4561) on 07-08-2009, 09:49 PM:

Mike they always tell you to do the 90/10 calculation yourself and I did but I never ever told them when it would kick in they always called me and told me.

I have looked at the new sliding gross you are talking about and personally I don't like that one at all. A picture may do 250 million nationally but not preform for your theater. I don't know exactly why I don't like it but I don't. I have had the rare event when it did wonderful for me and sucked in the nation but very rare.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-09-2009, 12:32 AM:

If a picture flops at your theatre vs. nationwide they still might negotiate a lower rate (providing you play way after the break). The sliding aggregate thing is only for when a picture is played on the break, or very near the break.

It works out better for a small town because the %age is the same no matter what week you're in. If a big city theatre is playing at 70/60/50/40, they get those lower rates in the last two weeks. Whereas we only play for 2 weeks, so we would pay 70 and 60. But with the sliding scale, we might pay something like 59% for the two weeks. It works out lower overall.

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 07-10-2009, 09:58 PM:

Just to add to the numbers stew, is the cost of co-op advertising, which is usually based on the same percentage you pay on the film. In smaller markets, like mine, there is almost no advertising. I'd be interested to hear what goes down in markets where lots of display advertising is purchased.

Does anyone still do radio ads?

Posted by Ron Funderburg (Member # 4561) on 07-10-2009, 10:50 PM:

The studios don't co-op small market advertising at all! I don't know what the population break is, in fact I was under the impression that studios don't co-op any advertising anymore except the large ad that just list all the theaters playing a particular film.

I do radio advertising and I do get goodies from the marketing departments to give away. So I guess you can say that is a co-op ad but they don't pay me for the ad's. The station doesn't charge me to give away the stuff either and they always plug the movie and the theater when they do.