Making
Moviegoing
Magic
No Longer
Content To Operate Mere Cinemas, Modern Exhibitors Are Building
Audience Magnets
by Anne Gilbert
Excuses to go to the movies are never far from hand. To
facilitate a first date. To dodge the late August heat.
To enjoy a
night out as a family. To see what Will Ferrell’s
up to. The list goes on.
But many exhibitors agree
the true reason we go to the movies, and the reason we keep going back,
is we crave escape. When
the experience is at its best, moviegoing can offer magic;
the act of sitting back in a room full of fellow fans allows
one to be transported.
“If you have the best experience, it usually doesn’t
matter if it’s the best film ever – it’s
about the escape and getting out of the house for a while,” says
Herman Stone, CEO of Charlotte, N.C.-based Consolidated Theatres.
“In today’s day and age, there are so many opportunities
for the entertainment dollar,” notes veteran Muvico
exec John Spano, “but I think people go to the theatre
to escape reality, they go to be transported to into another
place and time. And hopefully filmmakers have done their
job, and then it’s our job to honor that and present
it in the best way possible.”
Ted Balthaup, CEO of Woodridge,
Ill.’s Hollywood Blvd.
and Indianapolis’s Hollywood Bar & Filmworks, both
cinema-eateries, says he found his path in the old movie
palaces. “The escapism there started when you walked
in the door. It gave me the inspiration for what moviegoing
should be.”
SERVICE &
STRUCTURES
Ideas abound on how best to facilitate that
magic. Elements most commonly cited by exhibitors include
comfortable seats,
clean auditoria, crisp sound and image, ease of service transaction
and quality refreshments. And cinema professionals speak
frequently to the goal of bringing consumers back, not just
to the movies but to a specific venue.
“It really begins in the parking lot
and then carries all the way through the night, every detail
has to be right,” says
Jeff Logan, president of Mitchell, S.D.-based Logan Luxury
Theatres.
“To me, it’s all about ambiance and friendliness of
staff,” says Mark O’Meara, owner and president
of University Mall Theatres in Fairfax, Va. His effort to
provide a top-notch experience for his patrons is centered
around staff satisfaction. “My theory is that if you
have happy workers, then the customers are happy. It’s
really important, when a person feels like you care about
them as a customer.”
A well-designed complex or a few well-placed
additions and custom touches can also significantly enhance
the experience
of going to the movies.
In order to minimize the disruption of crying
or fussy infants, Logan has a multiplex equipped with a crying
room that allows
parents to settle a child while watching the film through
a window. They can listen via a speaker so as not to disturb
other patrons.
Muvico prides itself on the extensive amenities
offered at its multiplexes, including an over-the-top theme
distinct
to each site, gamerooms, expanded concession menus that include
a full-service grill – where patrons can get a full
meal to take into the auditorium – and a guest services
desk to serve as an information center for patrons. At its
Palace 20-plex in Boca Raton, Fla., Muvico also offers a
full-service restaurant for guests over 21, including reserved
balcony seating in the auditorium and a full bar, in addition
to the bistro menu.
Each Muvico site also offers on-site, professionally
staffed child-care. “We like to offer an alternative to parents
to allow them the flexibility of going to the movies without
having to secure a baby sitter at home,” explains Spano.
Spano is also looking ahead, considering ways
in which Muvico and the exhibition industry in general could
continue to
improve. One goal is a more consistent level of service for
patrons with disabilities. “Certainly we all focus
on the laws and what’s required for [the Americans
With Disabilities Act], but I would love to see if there’s
an opportunity for all the theatre owners to get together
and see about a joint effort in providing the best moviegoing
experience to those with disabilities, so that we could enhance
their experience and increase our audience size.”
CHANGING
THE PARADIGM
For some cinema operators, the goal is not
to provide a multiplex with added amenities, but rather something
markedly different.
“One of the things we do is take the
traditional theatre setting and say, ‘We do everything
different.’ And that’s
why people like it,” states Hollywood Blvd.’s
Balthaup.
In creating his second cinema-eatery, Balthaup’s goal
was to provide patrons an experience that was different “in
every conceivable way” from one found in the home or
elsewhere. The answer, according to Balthaup, was in the
details.
“We go to extreme measures in the décor,” he
says, citing – among other things – the 150-year-old
piece of teak that serves as a focus in the lobby. Hitchcockian
bathrooms (labeled “Mother’s” and “Norman’s”)
sport unnerving “Psycho” dialogue etched into
the mirrors, while an image of Janet Leigh screaming in the
shower greets the ladies as they enter. Similarly, each auditorium
boasts its own distinctive theme and color scheme.
Among Balthaup’s favorite amenities is “The Crypt
Room,” one of the mini lobbies used for receptions
and private parties. It is decorated with a mosaic of to-size
photographs of the real life headstones of Hollywood legends – Jack
Lemmon, Rodney Dangerfield, the Three Stooges – that
Balthaup took himself while on a trip to Los Angeles. “It
sounds strange and bizarre and grotesque,” he says, “but
nearly every article about [the theatre] since it went up
has mentioned it in glowing terms. They think it’s
not only fascinating, but it ended up being very pretty in
there. It’s a memorial to the stars that are already
gone.”
Hollywood Blvd. features a full bar in its
lobby. Patrons in its auditoria are seated in high-backed,
rocking executive
desk chairs at a long table. As first-run movies unspool,
a wait staff serves movie-themed menu items. The hungry filmgoer
need never leave his seat to get a Porta Bella Lugosi Sandwich
served with a side of The Lord of the Onion Rings.
The theatre plays host to a wide variety of
special events, including early promotional screenings of
major films such
as “Over the Hedge” and “Cars.”
Celebrity-centered events happen about once
a month. Catherine Bach, who played Daisy Duke on the 1970s
TV series “The
Dukes of Hazzard,” appeared to sign autographs on opening
night of last summer’s big-screen remake. A recent “Gone
With The Wind” revival featured an appearance by Cammie
King, who played Bonnie Blue Butler. Mary Badham, the actress
behind Atticus Finch’s daughter Scout, turned up for “To
Kill a Mockingbird.”
Balthaup’s efforts to distinguish his Chicagoland quad,
launched in 2003, have reaped dividends aplenty. A fixture
in local “best of” polls, the plex has garnered
a clientele willing to travel great distances for a night
at Hollywood Blvd. “We frequently have people coming
from other states,” notes Balthaup. “Wisconsin
and Indiana, and that’s well over an hour away. That’s
not unusual at all.”
His pricing is in line with casual family
dining restaurants, and even typical concessions fare such
as popcorn and soda
are served more restaurant-style, with a single size in each,
and free refills on the drinks.
“People certainly spend more money here,
because we have a lot more things available for them,” Balthaup explains. “And
so people come out with the belief that they got their money’s
worth, and that’s why they come back so often.”
A desire for extraordinary customer loyalty
has prompted two major theatre circuits – National Amusements and
Pacific Theatres – to brand upscale sites that operate
differently from other theatres – even those in the
same company.
At National Amusements’ Cinema De Lux sites, the “Director’s
Halls” include leather seats, live pre-show introductions
by staff members and reserved seating. The theatres also
feature the Chatters Bar & Grill, which offers patrons
deluxe full-service food and drink menus. Currently, NA operates
10 Cinema De Lux sites in six states and two more under the
brand name The Bridge, and has plans to open its Bristol,
England, Cinema De Lux – the first in the United Kingdom – in
2008.
Similarly, Pacific’s ArcLight offers reserved seating
and ushers who introduce each screening and check the auditoria
for quality periodically during each screening. In addition
to a café bar on the premises, its concession stand
offers such high-end fare as chicken-and-apple sausage served
on a baguette and house-made caramel corn. There are also
specific screenings at the ArcLight designated “21
and over” (regardless of the film’s rating) in
which patrons are able to enjoy an alcoholic beverage from
the bar while watching a film, or simply attend a screening
where absolutely no children or teens are permitted.
THE SHOW
BEFORE THE SHOW
The makers of digital pre-shows likewise understand
their role in creating a positive experience for the moviegoer.
Polls conducted by pre-show providers Screenvision and National
CineMedia indicate that the vast majority of movie patrons – percentages
in the upper 80s and often to the upper 90s – prefer
a pre-show to a blank screen.
“We’re not naïve enough to think that anyone is
coming to the cinema to see our pre-show,” says Cliff
Marks, NCM’s chief marketing officer and president
of sales. “But we do know that they get there 15 to
20 minutes before showtime, and they appreciate that we’ve
gone out of our way to make a good experience for them while
they wait for their feature film.”
NCM’s strategies for making that experience
an increasingly pleasant one for the moviegoer include working
with advertisers
to create better, more entertaining ads and partnering with
content providers like major film studios or television networks
to offer quality content.
Marks also stresses the importance of respect
for the patron’s
time. Ending the pre-show at the designated showtime is key,
he says, to making the show before the show a purely pleasurable
experience. “If you’re a consumer and you’ve
gone to an eight o’clock movie, at eight o’clock
it’s your time,” he says. “And 7:45, that’s
our time, and we’re going to create entertainment for
you. If you are a consumer and you look at it from that standpoint,
it’s completely added value.”
Similarly, Screenvision, according to president
and CEO Matthew Kearney, aims to continually increase its “likeability
numbers” by maintaining a respect for the audience
and working to create a more topical pre-show – one
relevant to a majority of moviegoers.
To that end, Screenvision created pre-shows
aimed at specific points in the calendar. Its “Home for the Holiday” show,
for instance, centered on company-commissioned cartoons with
a Christmastime theme. Created in partnership with the E!
Entertainment cable channel, February’s “Red
Carpet” pre-show featured a “Dos and Don’ts
on the Red Carpet” segment that proved to be Screenvision’s
most popular to date.
Last October, Screenvision became “Screamvision,” and
featured two programs, one geared to PG-13 and up audiences,
and the other at PG anf G crowds. In the more adult version,
trivia and other content paid homage to “masters of
horror” like author Stephen King, filmmaker Wes Craven
and actor Vincent Price; younger audiences received a more
age-appropriate “Which Witch am I?” trivia game.
“The vast majority of consumers that
we survey – 92
percent of them – when they arrive early before showtime
to get a good seat or to get out of the rain or heat, 92
percent of them want something on the screen to pass the
time,” Kearney states. “The money we’re
able to generate though the pre-show provides a very useful
auxiliary income for the exhibitor. And it’s up to
the exhibitor exactly how he uses that money, but it would
have the potential to be reinvested back into the theatre.”
Jeff Logan was reluctant to introduce anything
too “in-your-face” for
his pre-shows, so he opted for something between the still
slides of the past and full sound-and-motion 30-second commercials.
For his theatres in South Dakota, Logan says
he has adopted a digital pre-show incorporating animated “slides” touting
local advertisers, “but they do not have a synchronized
voice track, so it’s not a hard-sell commercial.”
The compromise seems to be working for him – not only
does he have advertisers who are continuing to purchase ad
space because of the new program, but, Logan says, “all
of the customers seem to be really accepting of it. They
are happy.”
FOSTERING FEEDBACK
One time-tested method for determining
how satisfied patrons are with their moviegoing experience?
Ask them.
“Feedback from our guests really
helps us in each new development that we do, and helps
us with necessary enhancements to what
we currently offer,” says Muvico’s Spano.
Using roundtable discussions, Muvico
queries frequent moviegoers on which aspects of a their
cinemas seem to be working, which
need improvement and which should be re-thought for future
facilities.
Other operators utilize modern communications
technology. “It’s
interesting, but in the last few years we’ve found
that we get a much higher response rate through our website,” reports
Logan. “We have an e-mail address for each theatre,
and there’s something about e-mail, because we get
a lot more responses than we ever had on any other medium.
The e-mail has been tremendous for our feedback.”
Balthaup makes similar use of the Internet,
and invites patrons to sign up for e-mail and faxed updates
from his theatres.
These e-mails ask moviegoers what they consider his facilities’ plusses
and minuses, and he has enjoyed considerable response from
a large patron pool – for his Chicagoland location,
the database is 40,000 people; an additional 25,000 receive
updates regarding his Indiana cinema.
O’Meara gets his feedback first-hand, interacting with
customers on Saturday evenings before the show. He asks how
patrons get showtimes and their preferences in concession
options, and he talks about his staff and about the state
of moviegoing generally. As he and his customers watch the
trailers together, O’Meara asks whether the film being
previewed is one that he should book.
“If I miss a Saturday,” he says, “next time I
get yelled at, because people go out of their way to go on
a Saturday.” 
