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From the Editor’s Desk In Focus LEARNING ABOUT Y OUNG MOVIEGOERS TICKETING EVOLUTION Recently, the International Cinema Technology The traditional movie theatre box office hasn’t gone away, Association held a business session in Los Angeles as part but in recent years the industry has seen more and more al- of their annual program, the L.A. Seminar Series, at the ternatives to longstanding face-to-face ticket sales. The ubiquity Universal Hilton Hotel. The program usually attracts 200 of smartphones, the lure of the web, and the public’s comfort to 250 attendees and is geared primarily to the technology with online transactions have all been factors in the growth of community of the motion picture industry. However, in the Internet and mobile movie-ticket purchases. Still, online ticket- past five years the programming has broadened its focus and ing accounts for only 25 percent of overall movie-ticket buys in is now attracting film studios and theatrical exhibition. North America, compared to a massive 80 percent in China. One program that attracted attention and was favorably But the percentage is growing each year, spurred most received was a panel of students including a high-school of all by the rise of luxury recliner seating in cinemas and the senior, film students and a 16-year-old student from Europe. public’s urge to reserve those extra-comfy and roomy chairs. Most of the panel members were between 16 and 23 and As Joel Davis, VP and chief operating officer at Premiere Cin- their comments were intriguing. Bear in mind that some of ema Corp., explains in our FJI exhibitor survey in this issue, the findings below are skewed, because each panelist enjoys “Patrons are quickly accepting the reserved model due to the going to the movies and has little income and few spare wide acceptance of recliners. It’s the law of supply versus de- dollars for entertainment. mand, due to the loss in chair inventory. It created a greater Å Social media is most important in picking out a movie occupancy and a higher revenue stream for advance tickets to attend. Trailers are second, followed by YouTube and peer that did not exist before.” Davis reports that since Premiere recommendations. converted to recliner seating, his advanced reserved-seating Å The quality of the cinema is important, depending on sales have at least doubled. the ticket cost. One individual said she would rather see a $5 No doubt about it, the movie-ticket landscape is changing. movie in a plastic chair than a $15 movie in a luxury recliner. Fandango recently acquired MovieTickets.com, expanding its Å Food service is not important, but the theatre does reach to all 40,000 screens across the U.S. Today’s Fandango serve as a meeting place to network with friends. is much more than just a ticketing platform; it’s also a source Å Tickets must be affordable for them to consider going for information and trailers to encourage “movie discovery,” to the movies. in the company’s words. Fandango has also integrated its Å Surprisingly, this group was not in favor of reserved ticketing into Apple’s Messages and Facebook’s Messenger seating. They indicated that finding a seat is part of the film platforms, making group outings easier to coordinate. That experience. kind of social-media planning is also the raison d’être of Atom Å Most were not big fans of the pre-show and definitely Tickets, a growing app that streamlines the process of plan- liked seeing trailers better. ning a night out at the movies with friends. Å The panelists like going to the movies with friends Dynamic pricing is another hot trend. In this issue, Andreas and are not fans of going alone. Fuchs talks with Claas Eimer, commercial director of German Å Price is most important for tickets and concessions. circuit UCI Kinowelt, which recently announced it is deploying Å As a group, they thought MoviePass is the best deal Smart Pricer’s airfare-style pricing software in all 23 of its loca- ever. tions (totaling 203 screens). Leading U.S. circuit Regal Entertain- Å 3D doesn’t make a difference, but all loved the 3D ment Group is also exploring the concept. And just before press in Avatar. time, Missouri-based circuit B&B Theatres announced a new ar- Å This group was not interested in theatre service. They rangement with Dealflicks under which a varied amount of ticket just want to see the movie. and concession deals will be available for movies on certain days. Å All but one watches pirated movies but said they Availability and prices will differ depending on time of day, day of would not do so if movies were cheaper. week, seat availability and other factors. Å Several subscribe to Netflix but indicated that if they And let’s not forget the boldest experiment of all: Movie- could not find the movie, they would pirate it. Pass, which just lowered its monthly fee from $9.95 to $7.95, if paid as a yearly subscription bundled with the Fandor stream- The session was eye-opening. But it would have been ing service. Some theatre circuits are embracing the scheme, even more productive if a few different age groups had been which gives the public unlimited access to movies, and others represented, along with at least one person who does not go like AMC Theatres are fighting it. Whatever the ultimate out- the movies. come, this is no longer your parents’ ticketing world. MARCH 2018 / FILMJOURNAL.COM 3 OLIVIA COOKE AND ANYA TAYLOR-JOY IN THOROUGHBREDS; EDDIE REDMAYNE OX (VOICE OF DUG) AND MAISIE WILLIAMS F TUDIOCANAL (VOICE OF GOONA) ON THE SET OF MARCH 2018 / VOL. 121, NO.3 A Film Expo Group Publication ENTURY EARLY MAN, WITH DIRECTOR NICK PARK; C © 2017 S AND NICK ROBINSON IN LOVE, SIMON. PUBLISHING SINCE 1934 WENTIETH OHNSON J © T HRIS / C OTHSTEIN R EATURES EN F / B OCUS NSTITUTE I © 2018 F ILM F OLGER F RITISH B HE LAIRE T : C AND HOTOS P S.A.S FEATURES DEPARTMENTS SIMON SAYS, COME ON OUT ......... 16 CAVEMATION .....................24 IN FOCUS .........................3 Simon is in love, but it’s complicated… Nick Park goes paleo with new REEL NEWS IN REVIEW ...............6 a coming-of-age and coming-out rom-com. animated comedy, Early Man. TRADE T ALK .......................8 FILM COMPANY NEWS ...............10 FROM RUSSIA, WITH LAUGHS ........ 18 A NEW VISION ...................28 CONCESSIONS: T RENDS ..............12 Satirist Armando Iannucci assembles Bud Mayo maintains oversight CONCESSIONS: P EOPLE ...............13 stellar ensemble for new political spoof. of rising theatre circuit. ASK THE A UDIENCE .................14 EUROPEAN UPDATE .................70 YOUNG BLOODS ..................22 KODAK MOMENTS ................32 R IN REVIEW ..................71 Teenage girls have murder on their minds Eastman Museum’s Dryden Theatre USSIA in indie thriller Thoroughbreds. is about more than just showing movies. ASIA/PACIFIC ROUNDABOUT ...........72 FJI EXAMINES TRENDS AND INNOVATIONS IN TICKETING AND POS, PGS. 36-47 DERMOT CROWLEY AS KAGANOVICH, PAUL WHITEHOUSE AS MIKOYAN, STEVE BUSCEMI AS KHRUSH- EXHIBITION GUIDE, PGS. 48-57 CHEV, JEFFREY TAMBOR AS MALENKOV, AND PAUL CHAHIDI AS BULGANIN IN THE DEATH OF STALIN. REVIEWS ANNIHILATION ................... 58 . BLACK PANTHER .................. 58 THE DEATH OF STALIN ............. 60 RELEASE ILMS EARLY MAN ..................... 65 IFC F THE 15:17 TO PARIS ................62 N . A FIFTY SHADES FREED ................61 ILMS ISMAEL’S GHOSTS ................. 63 IFC F OF NOSTALGIA ..................... 64 THE PARTY ...................... 60 OURTESY / C PETER RABBIT ................... 63 OVE SUBMISSION ......................61 D ICOLA THE YOUNG KARL MARX ........... 64 N © 2018 Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc. All rights reserved. All rights reserved. Inc. USA, © 2018 Christie Digital Systems CP4325-RGB Affordable RGB pure laser projection is here. Visit us at CinemaCon 2018 | Milano 1 christiedigital.com one, failed to crack the $10 million mark earlier this year. Culpepper was replaced by Steve Bersch, head of Sony Pictures 825 Eighth Ave., 29th Floor REEL Worldwide Acquisitions. New York, NY 10019 MOVIEPASS LOWERS Tele: (212) 493-4097 NEWS PRICES AGAIN Last year, MoviePass made news IN REVIEW when it lowered its price to $10 a month, offering subscribers the chance LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST to see one movie a day for what in WEINSTEIN COMPANY some markets is less than the price of The office of New York State Attorney one movie ticket. Now they’ve dropped Publisher/Editor General Eric Schneiderman has filed a law- their monthly price again, this time to Robert Sunshine suit against The Weinstein Co., alleging that $7.95 with a one-year subscription, with President, Film Expo Group company leadership enabled a “years-long free access to streaming service Fandor gender-based hostile work environment, a sweetening the deal. According to Movie- Andrew Sunshine pattern of quid-pro-quo sexual harassment, Pass’ figures, the company is responsible Executive Editor and routine misuse of corporate resources for five percent of all movie tickets sold for unlawful ends.” In particular, wrote in the United States; though moviegoers Kevin Lally Schneiderman in a statement, the company pay MoviePass a flat monthly fee, in most Associate Editor failed to protect employees from “perva- cases MoviePass pays the entire price of Rebecca Pahle sive sexual harassment, intimidation and the ticket to theatres. discrimination” at the hands of co-chairman Art Director Harvey Weinstein. The lawsuit calls for pen- VUE INTL. TO EXPAND Rex Roberts alties of between $500 and $250,000 to be INTO SAUDI ARABIA paid per violation to the state of New York, Two months after Saudi Arabia an- Senior Account Executive, plus damages paid to victims and a voiding nounced that it would end its decades- Advertising & Sponsorships of any NDAs that would prohibit women long ban on movie theatres, Vue Inter- Robin Klamfoth from speaking out.