Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Trade screenings for exhibitors?

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Posted by Andrew Thomas (Member # 7000) on 02-14-2015, 05:41 PM:

So I regularly get e-mails from Fox about trade screenings for exhibitors only. Do the other studios do these? If so, do you have contact info for the various studios with regards to getting on their invitation list?

Thanks.

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 02-14-2015, 11:40 PM:

I project at 3 different private screening rooms and almost
95% of my work lately is press & trade screenings

Although I'm paid directly by the studios or distributors,
the "guest list' is put together by a local publicity and
public relations company under contract by the studio
and not by the studio itself. I'm not exactly sure how
people get on the 'invite list' though.

When I was a kid my dad worked for the advertising
agency that haneled the New York Disney account, so
I used to get to go see a lot of the Disney films before
'all the other kids' did. It was kinda cool.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-15-2015, 12:02 AM:

Film bookers get invited to all screenings and could probably hook you up with invites. I got to see "Batman Returns" in Salt Lake City about 4 weeks before it was released thanks to our booker.

Posted by Terry Monohan (Member # 8285) on 02-16-2015, 10:24 AM:

When I was a kid in the 50's & 60's the local Fox West Coast Theatres in the SF and Oakland area had true studio sneak previews. Some of the films were shown with the cast in the theatre and techs with some films not yet finished or the sound was not correct.They gave everyone a card to rate the film. Many times I think this was the first time even some theatre owners saw the print and you never knew what was to be shown. It was not just the next movie but a big feature that may not show up for months. I remember the manager Bob Apple of the Paramount Theatre in Oakland CA having the Molly Brown sneak in 4 track stereo sound. When the movie finally opened up at his theatre the studio only sent a mono print for the regular run. I was lucky to see the movie at the sneak with the great stereo surrounds all on. The CinemaScope® sneaks were fun because Fox had some good movies out in the mid 50's.

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 02-16-2015, 01:19 PM:

I don't know how it is now, but back when I was a theatre owner (many years ago), all the studios had advanced exhibitor screenings in what then was then the local "exchange" city. In fact, in some states it was the law back then that a film had to be shown to exhibitors prior to booking.

Yes, if you own the theatre or are in charge of bookings, your booker should be able to get you on the list. If you are just a manager or below, you could ask but it is not a sure thing. These screenings are held for those who make the decision as to what film plays at their theatre.

Posted by Andrew Thomas (Member # 7000) on 02-16-2015, 01:24 PM:

Yeah, I'm the owner. It's pretty rare that there is something I want to see ahead of booking, but it does happen a couple times a year.

Thanks for the tips!

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 02-16-2015, 02:12 PM:

We get regular trade screening notices. Of course, they are all in Atlanta, 180miles from here and at 10am. So far have not wanted to see one bad enough to attend.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 02-16-2015, 06:45 PM:

Quite a number of years ago now we did lots of sneaks. Usually set up by third party marketing companies hired by the studios who hired us to do the sneak covering all our operating costs for the night. Everything was paid for by the marketing company including shipping to and from. The sneak to the public was free so it was a great positive PR tool for us, not to mention we would run show nearly twices as many trailers for our upcoming titles, and of course, did quite nicely on the concessions sales.

We were required to have the audience fill out questionaires about their impressions of the film after the screening and needed to snap photos with an instamatic camera they sent showing the audience just before the movie starts as proof that you actually screened it. They usually put a limitation (which varied between 200-300 seats) on the admits), but the first time I did that, the rucus at the door when I tried telling a couple of hundred students that we were full, while their friends inside the 2500 seater were texting them pictures of a nearly empty auditorium, I realize this was more trouble than it was worth. Next time I got a request I told them, if they want to sneak in our place, they had to lift the seat limitation. Even though it was a bit of a money-maker for us, it was just not worth the ill-will generated by turning people away.

These were always for under marketed films, never any blockbusters. It was a way the studio could get word of mouth out fairly cheaply. The only semi-blockbuster we ever sneaked was the Striesand vehicle, NUTS; we filled every seat in the house. That didn't happen very often with these things.

We sneeked CHELSEA WALLS, the Ethan Hawke vanity vehicle (Lions Gate) and I gave it one star and a very negative review in IMDB....never got offered a sneak from them again. Oops.

All sneaks that we ran were done via film of course; they stopped sending requests to us after we said we hadn't converted to digital, so I have no idea if any of the studios still use that marketing tool.

The most recent invite to a trade screening I got was from Relativity Europa Distribution to a screening next week of one of those not very well known titles -- DESERT DANCER. As a start, you might want to contact them to get on their trade list. The contact name I have for their Southern office is:

Southern Division RSVP to:
Missy Moore
310.724.7776
missy.moore@relativityeuropa.com

For the other F-T folks --

Eastern Division RSVP to:
Zack Pasquarelli
212.450.8924
zack.pasquarelli@relativityeuropa.com

Western Division RSVP to:
Dan Pastewka
310.724.7792
daniel.pastewka@relativityeuropa.com

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 03-07-2015, 03:50 PM:

Andrew -

Your booker should be able to get you added to all the studio invite lists. Just ask them.