Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Stolen Standee

This is topic Stolen Standee in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Chris Mosel (Member # 1451) on 04-27-2012, 11:19 AM:

One of our Avengers standees was stolen. One out of a set of four. We caught the person on tape, posted his pictures and video on Facebook, and got his name. We turned this all over to the police. How much is a standee actually worth?

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 04-27-2012, 11:28 AM:

Well, you probably paid zero for it. It is considered disposable. It may be worth something on the collectors market, so a check of ebay may turn up something comparable.

Is he being charged with theft or vandalism (or both)?

Posted by Chris Mosel (Member # 1451) on 04-27-2012, 11:59 AM:

Both, I believe. On the video it looks like he tore it up pretty good whils shoving it in the getaway car.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-28-2012, 08:37 PM:

I've always wondered how much those standees cost the studios to have made. Between design and production it's probably fairly expensive I would guess, depending on how fancy they are. Please let us know if you find out.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 04-28-2012, 09:49 PM:

I would say that it's not strictly about the value of the item stolen.

Since the stolen item is meant for advertising, the thief has deprived the theater owner of his opportunity to promote that movie.

Theoretically, the thief could be forced to pay back lost revenue because the theater couldn't advertise... assuming the lawyers can come up with a plausible way to calculate that revenue. That would likely be a bone of contention between both sides.

However, a smart attorney might use that to play "carrot and stick." Say he calculates lost revenue at $5,000. (Total guess.) The defendant's lawyer would, no doubt, contest that figure. The plaintiff's lawyer would offer to drop the demand for money in exchange for a guilty plea to theft and vandalism.

Both sides would probably know that the $5,000 will never stick, BUT the defendant's attorney knows it will take time to argue that point in court. Time the defendant will have to pay for.

When faced with the prospect of paying another $1,000 in lawyer fees, which do you think the thief is going to pick? A guilty plea or an empty bank account?

It doesn't matter what the standee actually cost or who paid for it. It all matters how the game is played. [evil]

Posted by Chris Mosel (Member # 1451) on 04-30-2012, 10:51 AM:

Update: The cops are dragging their feet. They acknowledge that the guy has several instances of "pranks"(their word) like this on his record.However since they don't have his phone number they have yet to proceed. We use off duty officers as security at the theatre and I am going to use that to see if I can't prod them along any better.

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 04-30-2012, 11:58 AM:

I'm willing to bet it never makes it to court. Is the guy even an adult?

As annoying as it is, it's a pretty low priority in the grand scheme of things. I've been burglarized as part of neighborhood sprees a couple of times and never heard anything back after the initial complaint and report. If you're lucky, the cops may show up at his house and scare the hell out of him and his mommy.

Randy is suggesting a civil suit, but I don't think your insurance company will back you. You could probably have some fun in small claims court.

And, of course, post his picture all over the theatre and ban him.

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 04-30-2012, 12:55 PM:

It wasn't stolen, it was just being "re-purposed" or recycled.
Look at the bright side, you won't have to spend employee labor
time breaking it down & carting it out to the trash or your
recycling bin in a few weeks.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-30-2012, 02:55 PM:

Once you have the kid's name, friend him on Facebook (kids always accept all friend requests) and then post the story of what he did, and how his friends should watch out because he might steal stuff from them, etc., on his wall. Do it at about 3:00 AM so he won't notice it until the next day, after half of his friends have read it. Even then he might be too stupid to delete it.

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 04-30-2012, 03:46 PM:

Unfortunately, Mike, such a post would probably get quite a few 'Likes' by his friends. Hell, depending on how funny the comments were it might even make it on Tosh.O.

Posted by Christopher Crouch (Member # 3784) on 05-01-2012, 05:50 AM:

quote: Chris Mosel
The cops are dragging their feet. They acknowledge that the guy has several instances of "pranks"(their word) like this on his record.

Unfortunately, they likely aren't taking the matter all that seriously. Over the years, I've had standees/posters stolen or destroyed (often damaging fixtures in the process), candy cases broken in to, and people prying open back doors to sneak in. Yet, time and time again, I've faced the same "pranks" excuses, followed by next to no follow through. For whatever reason, movie theatres don't seem to garner the same respect, from law enforcement, that retail stores receive. Shoplift a pack of gum and the police will be all over the person; break a poster case open and steal a poster, those same officers tend to write it off as harmless mischief. If you want to see any notable action taken, you will need to press the issue yourself.

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 05-01-2012, 08:34 AM:

The stealing of movie advertising material is a tradition that goes back at least to The 400 Blows. Maybe that should be the punishment - being forced to watch a 60 year old B&W French film [evil]

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 05-01-2012, 08:25 PM:

"Whoooa...Marty said BLOWS!!!....I mean like 400 of them!!! heheheh. So does he like, get then all at once, dude? ROTFLMAO"

THAT's the mentality you will be dealing with on Facebook -- the modern day Tower of Babble....the Land of Imbecillia. You can't embarrass or humiliate an imbecile into doing good. If anything, it will just encourage him, AND might even inspire copy-cat standee thieves or standee mutilators. Ever notice how boys (and some male adults) simply cannot resist the drive to draw genitalia on standee images, ESPECIALLY if they are life-size? It's the Got-Magic-Marker...Hand-Can't-Stop-Drawing-Penises-On-Standee-People syndrome. And there is no cure.

Thing is, in all seriousness, you have to understand what cops deal with day in and day out, murder, rape, all kinds of serious hurt and mayhem, and then here comes a theatre manager demanding they divert limited resources to capture a cardboard cut-out thief.

Sure, the theatre manager is going to be upset, but so is the guy in the jean store where a kid robbed a standee of some hottie model hawking thong swimsuits to do what he will with it in his room (don't even go there).

Does anyone think the brass are going to take police who are investigating SERIOUS crime off their cases to find the thong standee thief? Is it fair that they have to triage serious crime against lesser crimes or even look the other way and the smaller ones? No, but it's the way it is. Some things in business have to be chalked up to the price of doing business, and you make adjustments as best you can to tweak your own security and personnel patrols to discourage such activity....just like department stores and every other business have to do.

Then again, if it were a DISNEY standee, it would be over in a minute -- they'd send a whole team of Rodent Lawyers to descend and probably first off, have the theatre manager arrested because he was the one who allowed their copyright images to be pirated; next they’d arrest the Assistant Mngr because…well….just because. Now as for standee thieving kid, should they ever find him and his pirate harboring family...let's just say he'd better stay deep in hiding. His relatives probably won’t fair too well either. [Wink]

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 05-01-2012, 09:17 PM:

quote: Frank Angel
the modern day Tower of Babble

[pedantic] It's Babel.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 05-01-2012, 09:50 PM:

When referencing Facebook and Twitter, believe me, it's babble!
[Big Grin]