Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Digital Fundraising Ideas

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Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 05-08-2014, 06:57 PM:

Like many small town operators I am now faced with going digital. I have neither that capital or credit to come up with the funds. Do you all (I'm now in Oklahoma so I suppose I should say y'all) have any fund raising ideas that were successful for you?

Bob

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-08-2014, 08:09 PM:

I don't remember, are you one screen or more?

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 05-08-2014, 09:28 PM:

A few of the small weekend theatres around here are now owned by the town that they are located in. I guess they operate on the same basis as a municipal skating rink or baseball park and are subsidized as needed from local tax revenue.

I personally would find it difficult to justify donating money to a private business in order to keep that private business in operation, but a few places have apparently managed to make it work that way. I have no idea how they convinced people to donate, though.

Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 05-08-2014, 10:21 PM:

I have two screens Mike.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 05-08-2014, 10:54 PM:

Frank has put his finger on an important issue. To be clear - your operation is a for-profit business, not a non-profit (501(c))? If you are a 501(c), that instantly opens up a lot of avenues for philanthropic and grant fundraising (as an example, the Alamo Theatre in Bucksport, ME, operates successfully as a non-profit). If the closure of your venue would mean that your city would be without a movie theater, then perhaps trying to relanch it as a non-profit and then going after grant and/or philanthropic funding on the grounds that you're providing an irreplacable public service to your community could be a possible way forward. Finding a good professional fundraiser in your area who knows the arts/cultural sector in your state/city/county would be a good first step in exploring that option, IMHO.

But individuals, foundations and grant-awarding bodies aren't going to want to donate to a for-profit business. Quite apart from anything else, the donor couldn't claim a tax write-off, which (s)he could when donating to a 501(c).

Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 05-09-2014, 08:04 AM:

A lot of British cinemas which received digital projectors under the DSN scheme are probably going to be faced with problems in not too many years time when those projectors need to be replaced because parts are no longer available, they don't meet new security requirements, or whatever. The first ones must be about eight years old now.

I think the whole DSN scheme actually came a few years too early.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 05-09-2014, 10:04 AM:

Without wanting to sound too much like a know-it-all, agreed completely, and furthermore, this was the opinion I was expressing when the scheme was getting off the ground in the early '00s. My worries included the system being based on a hardware/software spec that was proprietary to a single vendor (Arts Alliance) and the fact that at that point, DCI 1.0 was already in an advanced stage of development - the writing was already on the wall that it was going to happen and that Hollywood was going to take it seriously - and £15m was being spent on a system that was fundamentally incompatible with it in the form that it was being delivered.

Furthermore, at that time the cost of film scanners and the post-production equipment and software needed to create 2K d-cinema from film was still so high that only Hollywood could afford it: the idea of small, arthouse distributors or archives using it to encode niche market titles (the justification given for spending taxpayers' money on the project = "freeing arthouse cinema from the tyranny of 35mm" as David Buckingham memorably put it) was not realisitically on the table at that point: rewind to 2003-06 and striking a small number of 35mm prints was still a vastly cheaper and more efficient way of getting your arthouse or re-release movie to the people in Britain who wanted to see it.

With the benefit of hindsight, things really started to move in 2009-11 for cinema installations. If the DSN project had been delayed until around now, when the technology has progressed to being able to provide sub-£100k decent cinema installations, and students, indie filmmakers and small archives can create DCPs for them on their desktop computers, it would have been taxpayers' money very well spent, especially if targeted at smaller, arts centre type places that are now struggling to convert. But coming when did, I honestly don't believe it achieved an awful lot.

Posted by Sally Strasser (Member # 211) on 05-09-2014, 11:09 AM:

Look for other theaters in your area also in your situation...get together with them and get a crowd source campaign together. In the Adirondacks, 11 small town theaters got together with the local economic development agency and received the attention of State Senator Betty Little...it helped a lot. Most of the theaters have now converted and the State of NY has put funds aside for conversion. You need to partner with a non-profit so the contributions are tax deductible. ANCA of NY put a Razoo crowd source campaign in place...and it worked beautifully! We even collected 1800. just by putting out a jar at the theater and the local diner! Are there state economic grants available? Theaters keep downtowns healthy!

Posted by Mike Frese (Member # 4361) on 05-09-2014, 01:58 PM:

So Bob how much are we talking about here?

I know it is you, your wife, and your son running this theater. You mentioned earlier that at least you and your wife are not paying yourselves. Is that still the case? Do you ever intend to take a salary or will this largely be a hobby business?

Do you have any operating cash flow to pay Scrabble with their financing? Or will you have to rely on donations to fund 100% of the cost of converting?

How many years out of the past 15 years has the theater been open? Only about 1.5 - 2 years total right?

You have been seeking donations for a while, correct? How much have you been able to raise so far?

I believe the best bet for this theater to survive is to officially turn it into a non-profit working with the high school for labor.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-09-2014, 02:09 PM:

I don't know what your prices are Bob but I wonder if they're too low. I looked at your Facebook page and saw that you have "$2 Tuesday." What are your regular prices?

If I were you I would take a hard look at my prices and keep in mind that you're showing the exact same product as the big cities are....I know you like to have low prices, but there's no reason you should "give away the store." (Just as a point of reference, we charge $7.25 for adults here which is about $2.50 less than the Billings theaters get.)

If a ticket price increase is necessary, then just tell people that it is either raise money for digital equipment or go out of business, and ask them which option they would prefer.

As for equipment .... there are a couple of ads in Boxoffice for used gear, so maybe that would be a good way to get started.

You are going to need a multi-pronged approach to this.

Posted by Mike Frese (Member # 4361) on 05-09-2014, 02:17 PM:

Speaking of facebook Bob, you need to post as an administrator and not yourself. The only people who are seeing the posts that show up from "Robert Allen" are people who are your friends and like the theater page both. Which is why your posts get no likes or comments.

You should think about boosting your posts (again post as the theater not you). You can get some good reach for as little as $10.

Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 05-09-2014, 08:39 PM:

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll keep you informed.

My regular admission price is $4 Mike for all ages.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 05-09-2014, 08:50 PM:

$4? Wow. Is that for first-run films?

Is there any chance that a local bank (maybe with a movie-loving president) might be willing to finance the equipment purchase over a period of time?

Agreed with the others that a for-profit business is not really a good fit for "donations." Among other protential issues, there is the problem of what happens to the donations if the amount collected is insufficient, as well as what happens if the donations are collected and equipment is purchased, but the business fails soon thereafter for unrelated reasons.

Edit: is there anything that you can do in the theatre building during the day that might bring in rental revenue? Business meetings? Birthday parties? Lectures/screenings for a local college?

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-09-2014, 08:57 PM:

Not trying to sound rude but you should have been thinking about fund raising for this at least two years ago. Film may disappear before you get digital, some of it already has.

People in my area have all tried all the usual fundraising things none of which worked for them. One theater was able to raise about 12K over two years and that gave them a down payment on a leased system (see below).

Have you called that leasing company that Christie is running called Scrabble Ventures? I had one customer with no credit... didn't want to put his house up as collateral for the bank either. Local banks are generally a waste of time anyway. Christie gave him a (Cough-Cough) Solaria 1 system just using the projecton equipment as security for secure the lease. He also put down about 12k. I suggest you contact them... If they can structure the lease for you it may work out and it's way better than closing.

P.S., Another customer that had great difficulty securing a loan was able to get one through Bank Of America.

Mark

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-09-2014, 09:51 PM:

quote: Robert E. Allen
My regular admission price is $4 Mike for all ages.

Wow, I don't know how you get away with that. The "per cap" clause in the studio contracts will make that price too low in some cases. That's lower than our PRE-SCHOOL price. Our adult price hasn't been $4.00 since the late 1980s! And you're in a bigger town than we are with twice as many screens as we have.

I know you like to be the low cost option for people, but I don't think ANYBODY would fault you if you went to, say, $6.50 for adults and $5.50 for kids. I'm sure your people really appreciate the low, low prices but if they knew those prices are going to put you out of business, do you think they would object if you went up? I don't. You've got to charge what your product is worth.

If you gave, say, a month's notice that you were planning a digital upgrade and needed to raise the prices to help pay for it and got an article (and maybe an ad) in the local paper to explain it, unless you are living in the darkest pit of a depressed economy, nobody will have a problem (well, except little old ladies who gripe about everything). You could also go on your morning news-talk show on your local radio station and talk about it.

You could also use higher prices to help you secure financing. If you took your attendance figures from the last couple of years and did the math to show how much more money you would be bringing in with updated prices, the bank will look more favorably on it.

If you don't have it already, you should also look into screen advertising, which can bring in a good amount of money. I long resisted running pre-show ads myself, but we finally started an ad program in January that is going to help us finance our next upgrade. As of today I have had absolutely zero complaints about it from anyone, in fact I've had some compliments from people telling me the ads are cool because they show local people on the screen.

The bottom line is, you're just going to have to show the bank (or whoever) that you can make the payments. If you can't do that....well...

Posted by Andrew Thomas (Member # 7000) on 05-09-2014, 10:01 PM:

On the note of on screen ads, we turned what can easily be seen as an annoyance into another bit of good PR when we announced we would only allow local businesses to advertise. Not even locally owned franchises of national brands, real deal local businesses. We also reserve space for community event notices (blood drives, city easter egg hunts, clothes drives, etc.)

People love it and we generate $15k a year in revenue for something that costs nearly nothing.

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 05-10-2014, 09:06 AM:

As a 501(c)(3) we raised over $100k from Kickstarter.
One route you can consider is to establish a "Friends of the [name of theatre]" organization that is a 501(c)(3) to which people can make tax deductible donations. Their mission can be to preserve the theatre, etc.
It takes some work and requires the involvement and commitment of lots of people, but it has worked with other theatre. You wouldn't have to take the theater non-profit (though you may want to consider it), and it also establishes a group ready to take over when you are ready to pack it in.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 05-10-2014, 09:27 AM:

Absolutely, plus a few big local names on the board can open up other fundraising opportunities, and a "friends of" organization can also provide a semi-formal framework for volunteers, too - useful both for succession planning and if, as seems to be the case here, the business operation isn't generating enough revenue for everything that needs to be done to be done through paid-for labor.

Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 05-10-2014, 12:24 PM:

My price is less than half that of the nearest competition, Mike, (two multiplexes 35 miles away). We are in a depressed area. There are many empty buildings downtown where the theatre is located. My booker has never said anything about a "per cap" clause in any contract.

Posted by Tim O'Connor (Member # 2289) on 05-10-2014, 01:41 PM:

We had pretty successful campaign on Kickstarter. I've helped many small theaters with their campaigns as well. The latest being the Wilmette theatre in Illinois. I don't charge anything for tips and advice, just want to give back and see as many small screens as possible survive. If you want to, let me know how to get a hold of you and maybe I'll be able to assist you in some way.
Tim
Oh yeah, wanted to add that we only charge $5.00.

ok, sent you an email.

Posted by Terry Lynn-Stevens (Member # 7349) on 05-10-2014, 01:54 PM:

quote: Robert E. Allen
My price is less than half that of the nearest competition, Mike, (two multiplexes 35 miles away). We are in a depressed area. There are many empty buildings downtown where the theatre is located. My booker has never said anything about a "per cap" clause in any contract.

Robert, I am curious to know: Are you guys first run product? What type of attendance levels do you get on a weekly basis? A price jump in tickets is surely warranted to keep this theatre open with a digital conversion.

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 05-10-2014, 02:18 PM:

If this is the only cinema in town and the next one ist 35 miles away, there sure would be enough reason to raise funds even for a private/'run for profit' house.

This house would have to close down within a year without going digital.

Contact Scrabble Ventures, get in contact with local administration, prominent people from you core audience, etc.

- Carsten

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-10-2014, 02:24 PM:

And concession prices - are they as out-of-date as the ticket prices?

I'm not saying you need to charge $8 for a soda but...what are you charging?

You can be lower than what the multiplex charges and still be making a decent profit. Our biggest popcorn here is $5.75 (130 oz bucket) and the Carmike sells that size for around $9 and it comes in a crappy bag.

Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 05-10-2014, 05:27 PM:

Our large soda is $2.50 Mike. Our large popcorn (a 2.3oz box) is also $2.50.

Posted by Michael Putlack (Member # 6523) on 05-11-2014, 01:06 PM:

quote: Robert E. Allen
There are many empty buildings downtown where the theatre is located.

I think if you don't start taking some drastic actions you're going to end up as another empty building! Those concession and ticket prices need to go up. I know this is a thread for fundraising and it might be kind of getting off track, but even if you raise the funds through campaign, you're still not going to make enough cash to make it long term. One other financial hiccup, even if it is a few years down the line, and you're done for. You're not going to be able to pull off one miracle after another. [Frown]

Posted by Terry Lynn-Stevens (Member # 7349) on 05-11-2014, 03:29 PM:

$4 for a movie ticket is a like a time-warp back to 1976, Rocky in 70MM was $5.50 a ticket back then and that was with a surcharge for 70MM. It was $4 for a regular 35mm ticket.

The North American average ticket is $8.13 is 2013, charging anything under the average is a mistake IMO. I have a feeling that this location is a one cinema town and its not like the customers have anywhere else to go unless they are driving to the multiplexes that are much farther way.

The concession prices need to be raised as well.

Posted by Andrew Thomas (Member # 7000) on 05-11-2014, 05:08 PM:

quote: Terry Lynn-Stevens
The North American average ticket is $8.13 is 2013, charging anything under the average is a mistake IMO.

We charge a flat $5 a ticket. But we also have a Cinemark 22 minutes down the highway that charges $4.50 evening tickets. Can't really go much higher without people just choosing to go there instead.

But in addition, our concession per cap is much higher than most of the higher priced independently owned theaters in the region, and a lot of that has to do with my pricing structure.

I've mentioned before that my educational background is in economics, which is pretty much the study of behavior related to goods/services and their prices. Knowing what I know about our local market, I became very confident that our target price per person is $10.00.

I want as much of that $10.00 to be concessions as possible because my margins are astronomically higher there than on tickets. $5.00 is about the bottom of the range where I'll probably never have to deal with a studio implementing a per cap ticket clause.

Each month since we opened we have seen our concession per cap increase about 25 cents. With only popcorn/soda/candy, we are at nearly $4 per cap. We will be adding gourmet hotdogs and nachos in the next 6 months as well as beer by year end.

There is no single pricing strategy to be used. I think Bob is too low in all facets of his pricing, but he would be pricing out a significant number of his customer base at $8.13 a ticket. But he is likely simultaneously pricing himself out of business at his current price level.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-11-2014, 09:40 PM:

I don't think anybody (well, except Terry) is suggesting that Bob go all the way up to the average price. That's more than double and he would surely get hung out to dry if he did that, plus the competing theaters may be offering things he isn't (Atmos or Auro or luxury seating or whatever).

He already said he is less than half of what his competition charges, which suggests that their price is $8.50 or more. Bob could go to, say, $6.50 in two steps a few months apart. His grosses would improve and he may even find it easier to get good bookings.

Concessions -- they should rise too but again, in steps.

There's been no further talk of an advertising program, but I would bet that Bob's theater doesn't have one, and could really benefit from one in a town that size. There probably aren't a lot of good advertising options available -- that is our situation here. Bob could hire an area college graphics student (maybe one of his ex-staff members) to create ads, sell them himself and pocket all of the money, OR pay a percentage to an ad company. In his circumstance, I would go the first route if I could. If he doesn't want to beat the streets selling, then he could pay a commission to somebody who is already involved with selling to do it. And don't be afraid to price those ads for what they are worth!

Like I said above, Bob needs a multi-pronged approach to this -- and he needs to get moving yesterday.

Posted by Mike Frese (Member # 4361) on 05-27-2014, 11:46 AM:

So Bob, what is your plan now?

I noticed you have been only running one screen for at least a month. And you are playing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Are you scrapping movies on film totally?

I see you are pushing theater rentals after 9pm. I have not seen anyone do this to any extent in the past. I hope you share your success or lack thereof on this.

I also see you are pushing game playing on the big screen. We did do this but it was never a significant source of revenue. Maybe you will have different luck.