I think it could be a neat customer service to have an auditorium dedicated to nothing but previews. I know some theatres run previews in the lobby, but the customers have to stand and there is a lot of distraction.

As long as customers in the auditorium are always notified that their feature is about to start, (use a slide projector or laser titler to overprint the information on the bottom of the screen and let the doorman have a microphone for announcements) such an entertaining place to sit could be popular.

At first glance, the idea of losing the income from an auditorium might be frightening, but it also has merits.

1. It increases the holding area / lobby space tremendously. By having customers arriving early go into a preview auditorium rather than stand in the lobby, it clears the lobby.

2. It increases interest in upcoming films. Previews are our best advertisements. Film companies are desperate to have their previews shown.

3. It has the potential for added concession sales. Since previews are free, and no admission is charged, some people might begin to make a habit of coming to the theatre just to keep up with what is showing at the movies. That means the potential sale of a soda and popcorn.

4. Community relations. If the theatre is in a mall, this could be a place for people to come in and sit down for a while to relax. If advertised, it could expose non-theatregoers to the idea of coming to a theatre.

5. General entertainment value. The addition of some ancient previews, short subjects, or a cartoon could make this a fun evening or afternoon by itself. A minimal cover charge of a dime or a quarter could be used to offset the cost of renting the cartoons or shorts. Alternately, the money could be dedicated to community charities.

6. Encouraging ticket sales by having an entertaining time-waster always available. Many people think "Gee, I want to see that movie, but I don't want to have to schedule my time around it." By allowing them to come to the theatre at any time and be certain of being entertained until their show started, you can encourage casual sales. I have seen thousands and thousands of people walk up to box offices, notice what time a feature is playing, look at their watches, and turn away. Some come back, but many don't. A box office sign saying "Come-in now! Free previews and entertainment continuously available!" could grab those customers.

Making the theatre more accessable and available for casual entertainment is the name of the game.

That's a idea! The only problems would be policing those who use the preview auditorium as a staging area for theatre hopping, or get in the theatre to see the free previews and hang around to loiter and cause problems.

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

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Evans A Criswell
Huntsville-Decatur Movie Theatre Information Site
 

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Would a theatre have enough copies of trailers of new movies to put the trailers on their new movies plus be able to put them on this long collection?

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All that you would need to do is call the film companies and explain what you are doing and in a few days you will be up to your ears in trailers. At least, I would think so.
 

Unfortunately, the projectors I speak of are no longer in use. These screens now run with a VHS supplied by Cinema Concepts. The projectors and platters are all still in the booths, just sitting there. At least the ones I know of. In fact, my theatre was built after they started using VCR's, so it never even got a projector. Kinda takes the fun out of it.

As far as obtaining enough trailers, I would say that probably half the trailers at all the theatres I've worked at never made it on screen. We always have plenty extra, and if we do need more, I'm sure Steven is right.
 

Some GCC theatres have something called "Theatre Lobby Network," which is apparently a DVD-R with trailers on it which is shipped to the theatres once a month. I guess it's supposed to work in a similar way as Movie Tunes (which is done by a different company).

Personally, I think that showing trailers on TV sets in the lobby is kind of tacky (after all, people came to the theatre because they _didn't_ want to stay home and watch TV), but no one asked me. Maybe a smallish 20-50-seat "screening room"-type of arrangement off to one side in the lobby where trailers/shorts/etc. on film could be shown would be a good idea. Using an entire theatre (200+ seats) just to show trailers seems like a waste, but a smaller purpose-built arrangement would be neat.
 

Are you at a Regal theatre now? If it does not have some sort of lobby screen, chances are it was not built by regal.

Actually, there was one theatre I saw this summer in Knoxville that still did use the projector. But I think most have had VCR's installed.

Yes, I agree that I small house built specifically for trailers and other similar entertainment, with an entrance in the lobby would be ideal.
 

Yep.. still with Regal. It isn't a Regal built theatre (or even a Cobb-esque style from when Regal bought them out). I believe the original owners were Litchfield Cinemas and Regal gutted the place and built stadium seating and added four more auditoriums.

What I believe would ideal for trailers would be to have a closed off area that is easy to access and easy for people to move into and out of. I'm thinking like a museum (or anywhere) that shows a film on TV but doesn't want to disturb any of the other exhibits or attractions. Build it into the lobby area and project the trailers onto a screen from there. It doesn't need to seat that many people and can still have a "theatre" likeness to it thus accomplishing the task it would be designed to do.
 

As for a preview auditorium, I like the idea. However, a small room off the lobby away from the other auditoriums would be a better approach. Using a DVD-R and a hi-def projector, the discs could be swap out on a very regular basis. Maybe, we can get a FILM-TECH think tank together and actuall sell the idea to chains.

Hmmm, could work...

Christopher, you are at a Station theatre, right? In that case, I would imagine it is not a typical Regal design. But does it have any of the trademark Regal features?

BTW, I like the purple Regal theatres. Hated the red and black. I used to work at Cypress Creek Station 16 in Ft. Lauderdale. This was one of the first, if not the first, Regal-built theatre in FL. It was red and black. At the time, I thought it was awesome. Probablly because it was so huge. Then they built Magnolia Place. Wow, what a difference! Purple. Really nice. It really didn't bear any resemblance to any Cobb theatre I had seen. When Bonita Springs 12 opened, I transfered there. The lobby was almost a spitting image of Cypress Creek, as far as the layout. But the colors were the same as Magnolia. I really like those colors. All three theatres have rear-projection trailer screens. I think both Magnolia and Bonita are very classy. And Bonita was a brand-new design. If anyone who is reading this knows, can you tell me if that design has been used anywhere since?
 

For the most part, the Cobb influence has been thrown out the window. The only thing that has pretty much stayed the same is the decor of the auditorium. The same type of carpeting and curtains throughout the building. AS for the layout, it is the more recent stadium designs that would look like IMAX if the seating were steeper. Screens are HUGE (concave,matte). We are using 5k (x2), 4k (x6) and 3k (x2)bulbs. The projectors are ready and the picture rocks. I need to stop bragging now and go to bed. I need to hire in the morning...

As far as the concession, it will have the new touch screens.