Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: No Marquee Letters Regal In Santa Cruz CA

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Posted by Terry Monohan (Member # 8285) on 12-03-2016, 10:09 AM:

Seems the new manager'Kyle'at the Regal 9 Cinema in Santa Cruz CA as of a few weeks ago won't put up plastic letters what they are showing on their giant neon marquee anymore. Trying to save labor money and not have someone go up a lift once a week to show the people on the street what Regal is showing. How sad they don't even advertise in the local paper and the free paper 'Good Times' list all theatres in Santa Cruz for free but Regal does not even (most weeks) send them the show times in time for print. Down the street Landmark's Del Mar Theatre is proud to change out their plastic letters each week on their neon marque. 'Kyle' is new and he thinks It is a safety thing? Why after this former Signature SC cinema is he not doing the advertising this huge marquee demands? They just want to save the expense and give the marquee person something else to do like sell popcorn. Most cinemas these days don't bother with a old type of change out letter neon plastic marquee, but when you have one please use It!!! I took photos and will send to the main office of Regal Theatres. They just now have up 'Welcome To Regal Theatres' in the middle so the whole far right and left sides are blank white tube light. I guess Regal in Santa Cruz does not want the public to know what they are showing because of the new guy 'Kyle'and his lack of showmanship or advertising.

Posted by Buck Wilson (Member # 5885) on 12-03-2016, 05:23 PM:

If it really has anything to do with payroll, blame Regal, not Kyle. Trust me.

Our theater has giant 12'x20' vinyl posters co-oped from the studios and Regal stopped that too when they took over. Now they just have generic "buy gift cards" "get rewards cards" bull crap that are ever fading in the western sun exposure.

Regal is not good.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 12-03-2016, 08:35 PM:

quote: Terry Monohan
'Kyle' is new and he thinks It is a safety thing?

Ha ha ha! That's pretty funny. Here at the good old Roxy we don't have a "lift," we have a 35 year old wood stepladder which I (or one of my employees) will haul up the sidewalk from the back door of the theater and risk life and limb climbing up and down in subzero weather to change our ancient fiberglass (and some masonite) letters, and yes we did spell out the entirety of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," thankyouverymuch.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 12-03-2016, 09:22 PM:

Mike--you don't have one of those pole things for changing letters?

What is a "lift," as referred to in the original post? A Genie lift? Something else?

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 12-03-2016, 10:46 PM:

That's one of the reasons why I never got an outside sign here when I set up my theatre. Just not into dragging my carcass out into -50 weather at midnight so I can stand on a ladder and chip ice out of the tracks on a marquee.

Posted by Gary Meyer (Member # 2936) on 12-03-2016, 11:23 PM:

In December 2014 The Elmwood Theatre in Berkeley got hit by OSHA which said changing the marquee was an employee safety issue and they could no longer change them unless they got a different marquee or hired a cherry picker. That marquee stayed the same (showing BOYHOOD, National Gallery,etc) until this late summer when they finally were able to put up a generic message. People thought they were closed.

I hope the head office gets on his case and the most valuable real estate a cinema has gets back to doing its job.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 12-03-2016, 11:40 PM:

quote: Scott Norwood
Mike--you don't have one of those pole things for changing letters?

No - I don't know if it's because the marquee being built around 1932 pre-dates those plastic letters or what, but we have letters that are cut out of either masonite or fiberglass, so one of those pole changers wouldn't work. I should try the plastic ones out, I guess...but I think using the pole would take just as long anyway. Might even take longer when it's super cold outside.

Originally the marquee had wood letters that would clip onto stiff wires that ran across the readerboards, but the current letters just slide in behind the wires. I'm not sure when the current letters were put into service -- the oldest pictures we have of them are from the 1960s.

I've toyed with the idea of saving up the $$$ and getting an electronic sign built into the marquee but I'm sure it'd be prohibitively expensive, plus would probably look too modern on our building. (I'd rather buy a stage curtain than that anyway!)

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 12-04-2016, 05:44 AM:

Most new theaters here don't have marquees; the one for the Cinedome (now the Century Greenback 16) was changed to a generic sign more than 10 years ago. You'd think they'd want people to know what they were showing; just another sign that showmanship is dead. (Oddly enough, the United Artists Market Square Cinema, possibly the worst-run theater in the area, has a very prominent marquee that's always visible on some of my regular routes. They seem to be running out of letters, but at least they still use it!)

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 12-04-2016, 11:01 AM:

No marquees: the theory is that we play all movies so come on inside and select one or buy popcorn or play on the games. Just leave some money on the way out.

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 12-04-2016, 01:17 PM:

Movie Theatre Roulette!

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 12-05-2016, 11:14 AM:

quote: Louis Bornwasser
the theory is that we play all movies so come on inside and select one

There is validity to that theory. The question is, how many people driving by would see a title on a marquee and say, "Hey! Let's go see that movie!" as opposed to making the decision to see a movie before they leave the house. I'm sure there have been studies that show 95% of people head to the theater already believing the movie they want to see is playing there.

We would probably not see a huge drop in grosses here if I just put our website URL on the marquee and left it there, but that would just not look right (or be right).

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 12-05-2016, 11:47 AM:

We're a MonoPlex and we put the title of the movie on the marquee. The number of people who come to the box-office to ask what's playing is truly frightening.

On the other hand if we two different pictures playing the same day and put up one on each side of the marquee, confusion ensues.

You can't win, either way.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 12-05-2016, 01:27 PM:

I have four windows in the front of my theatre, exactly the same size as a movie poster. Funny coincidence, that [Smile]

I have Now Playing, Coming Next and Coming Soon at the top of the windows. It's almost comical to see all of the brake lights coming on when people are driving past the theatre.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 12-05-2016, 02:34 PM:

quote: Martin McCaffery
We're a MonoPlex and we put the title of the movie on the marquee. The number of people who come to the box-office to ask what's playing is truly frightening.

Same here - it's on the marquee AND in the main front door windows (onesheets). But we also have two display windows off to the sides, where I put the next two coming attractions. People (tourists) occasionally come in wanting tickets to those side movies, even though they're not on the marquee. Multiplex conditioning, I guess.

quote: Martin McCaffery
On the other hand if we two different pictures playing the same day and put up one on each side of the marquee, confusion ensues.

Yep, same here on that, too. The only time we ever do that is if there aren't enough of some letter or the other to spell out both titles on each side. With Fantastic Beasts, we only had enough "T's" to do the full title on one side... on the other side I left off the "and Where to Find Them." I still had a couple of people walk in looking confused and asking what was playing.

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 12-05-2016, 04:49 PM:

quote: Buck Wilson
Our theater has giant 12'x20' vinyl posters co-oped from the studios and Regal stopped that too when they took over. Now they just have generic "buy gift cards" "get rewards cards" bull crap that are ever fading in the western sun exposure.

Those were pretty cool too.

This appears to be something they're getting away from everywhere. They replaced the old marquee letterboqrds at Village Square (Las Vegas) with similar generic banners a couple of years ago.

Posted by Terry Monohan (Member # 8285) on 12-08-2016, 11:49 AM:

Good news, after all my complaints about the Regal 9 Santa Cruz marquee issue I reached today the top West Coast Regal Div guy Chris. He has told me he has ordered for 'Kyle'and his staff in Santa Cruz a new marquee letter pole changer. The old plastic Wagner marquee letters will be changed again in the next week when It arrives. He thinks this is a safer way of doing things on the marquee, as the new manger thinks It's a safety problem with the lift. While It takes a little longer with a pole he still wants to advertise what is playing weekly at the Regal 9 Santa Cruz. Now I am trying to get Regal Theatres to put in a Dolby Atmos system with a Dolby Vision curved screen in the largest auditorium. A first for the Santa Cruz CA area. They did the recliners a few months ago now It's time to upgrade the sound and picture. Thanks Regal for bringing some advertising back to this large marquee. The honchos over at Regal in TN have told 'Kyle' the new cost saving manager to change his thinking when It comes to what is showing on the neon marquee. Do any of you theatre managers use this type of snap pole to change plastic letters rather then put a ladder or lift up each week? Does It take longer to change out?

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 12-08-2016, 03:10 PM:

quote: Terry Monohan
Seems the new manager'Kyle'at the Regal 9 Cinema in Santa Cruz CA as of a few weeks ago won't put up plastic letters what they are showing on their giant neon marquee anymore.

A blank movie theater marquee tells me two possible messages:
1.: There are no movies showing currently.
2.: The theater is closed permanently.
Neither are good impressions to leave on a passing motorist or pedestrian.

quote: Frank Cox
That's one of the reasons why I never got an outside sign here when I set up my theatre. Just not into dragging my carcass out into -50 weather at midnight so I can stand on a ladder and chip ice out of the tracks on a marquee.

LED signs work pretty well when retrofit into marquees. I like what they did with the El Capitan Theater in L.A. Unfortunately LED signs are not cheap and they have their own maintenance issues.

quote: Gary Meyer
In December 2014 The Elmwood Theatre in Berkeley got hit by OSHA which said changing the marquee was an employee safety issue and they could no longer change them unless they got a different marquee or hired a cherry picker.

What method was the theater using to change the letters? A regular ladder? I looked up some images of that theater marquee. It uses slotted plastic Wagner letters. Those lines of track are pretty high. The bottom line of track looks like it's 15 feet above the sidewalk. That's too high for someone to climb an ordinary ladder to place letters on the track by hand. Scissor lifts are great, but it might cost $100 or more to rent one.

Wagner makes a mechanical hand letter changer that grips the slotted plastic letters like fingers. They serve the same purpose as the suction cup letter changers for flat clear plastic Zip Change/Pronto letters. You can reach up to 18' feet with one of the letter changing poles.

quote: Louis Bornwasser
No marquees: the theory is that we play all movies so come on inside and select one or buy popcorn or play on the games. Just leave some money on the way out.

That's one of the running philosophies. The other problem is someone driving a car will be able to read only so much copy. A single screen theater or twin with a traditional V-shaped marquee will have listings a motorist can read at a glance. That's harder to do with a street sign for a modest 6-plex or 8-plex. If there are more screens than that then there's just no point to it. Online listings for features and show times become much more important.

It's still vital for a theater to have outdoor signs on the building and next to the street if the local sign codes will allow for it. These days it just needs to be the theater name and maybe a logo for what ever super duper premium concept is being offered.

Posted by James Wyrembelski (Member # 9037) on 12-08-2016, 05:37 PM:

Amazingly our theater has never had a marquee in its 75 years in this town. Not even a front sign! We're opting for two smaller LED signs to go on each end of the new marquee. Not taking a chance having people use a stepladder to reach over 15 feet and no way am i doing that in 20 below weather...

When we took over and it was announced that is was under full overhaul many residents in the county that had been here less than 10 years had no idea this county ever had a movie theater...and the older residents figured it had closed long ago.... [uhoh]

So....probably best that a theater actually advertise itself...especially with a marquee.

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 12-08-2016, 05:55 PM:

What a bunch of pussies! [Razz]

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 12-28-2016, 07:22 PM:

Cinemark has jumped on the bandwagon...

Cinemark Layton and XD (formerly Cinemark Tinseltown), Layton, UT.

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 12-28-2016, 09:37 PM:

quote: Gary Meyer
In December 2014 The Elmwood Theatre in Berkeley got hit by OSHA
which said changing the marquee was an employee safety issue and
they could no longer change them

OSHA seems to be cracking down on this, at least here in Northern CA.
Last year 'the union' required me to attend a "climbing safety class"
and I was surprised to learn that any company using a ladder over 3
or 4ft high is, at least technically, required to have anyone using those
ladders take the class & be "certified" in how to properly use it.

Obviously enforcement is pretty lax, or just about everybody I know
would be in violation.

I don't 'do' marquees, but in some of my convention center and trade
show work I'm required to climb quite high on ladders or lighting
and screen grids or high projector scaffolds.

(I also had to take a "fall" class, which required knowledge of safety
harnesses and 'aerial rescue'- - the trickiest part of getting through
the class was having to climb up a metal-rope ladder to a lighting
grid suspended by cables about 60ft above the floor, hook yourself
into the safety lines, pick up a tool, walk across the grid and perform
some task such as properly hanging or removing a light. Last time I
had to do such an extreme training exercise like that was in the military
- - & that was a long time ago!)

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 12-28-2016, 10:59 PM:

quote: Sam Graham
Cinemark has jumped on the bandwagon...

They've also been replacing reader boards with the Century murals when they un-Movies various locations.