Posts tagged theater
How many calories in that movie theater popcorn?
Mar 25th
As if movie theaters weren’t already filled with drama, cinemas may soon have to display calorie contents for everything they serve including those gigantic tubs of popcorn.
Do you have any idea how many calories are in the typical bag of movie theater popcorn? Do you even want to know?
Mike Jacobson from Center for Science in the Public Interest says “I think a lot of people are going to change what they eat when they are shocked at the calorie contents of so many of the foods that are served.”
Mike Jacobson is the Executive Director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, often referred to as the “food police.”
His organization is in favor of proposed federal rules that would make theaters disclose the calorie content of concession food.
A 2009 CSPI study of movie theater popcorn found large orders from the biggest theater chains were between 910 and 1,200 calories, before the buttery topping.
Mike says “in an age of obesity, calorie information is probably the single most wanted piece of nutrition information.”
AMC and Regal Cinemas declined to provide any comment for this story. But the National Association of Theater Owners has reportedly been lobbying the Food and Drug Administration to exclude theaters, saying their main business is entertainment, not food.
Theater-goers have given the proposed calorie requirements mixed reviews.
Information that could make your eyes pop next time you hit the movies.
Movie theaters aren’t the only places that would be required to display calorie information under the proposed rules. Prepared food in grocery stores and chain restaurants would also be affected. The FDA is expected to make a final decision next week.
From www.ktvb.com
How Many Calories in the Movie Theater Popcorn? You Might Soon Know
Mar 24th
Nutritional information accompanying menus at our favorite restaurants is becoming commonplace. The new regulations that require restaurants to offer such information — including calorie counts and fat grams on menu items — has seriously killed my California Pizza Kitchen trips.
The harsh reality such information provides is part of a movie theater industry uproar over rules that will require concession stands to publish nutritional information on our in-theater snacks like popcorn, pretzels, hot dogs and more. If the FDA has their way, within a few months, movie theater chains will be required to post the calorie counts on their concession items. And given some research that has found a large popcorn to be equivalent to a McDonald’s Big Mac (wow!!), theater owners are in a tizzy. They’re lobbying the FDA to exclude them from the regulations — why? Popcorn and concession stand sales account for at least 1/3 of movie theater sales — and they don’t want to lose out.
Tell us: do nutritional postings at restaurants influence you when ordering? Would you skip the popcorn if you know just how bad the stuff is?
Do nutritional postings at restaurants influence you when ordering?survey software
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From mygloss.com
Theater Owners Don’t Want You To Know A Large Popcorn Is Like Eating 3 Big Macs
Mar 23rd
(Great Beyond)
The FDA is reportedly set to announce a decision that would force movie theater operators to post calorie counts next to their items in the same way that restaurant chains must. Not surprisingly, the theater owners are popping mad about this possibility.
According to a piece in today’s L.A. Times, the National Association of Theatre Owners has been lobbying the FDA and congressional staff members to exempt movie theaters from the nutritional labeling requirement.
“We’re not restaurants where people go to eat and satisfy themselves,” the group’s general counsel told the paper. “It’s dinner and a movie, not dinner at a movie.”
Of course, movie theater food is often more expensive than dinner… and profitable for the theater chains.
The Times quotes the CFO of Regal Entertainment Group as saying, “We sell a bucket of popcorn for about $6. Our cost in that $6 bucket of popcorn is about 15 cents or 20 cents. So if that cost doubles, it doesn’t really hurt me that much.”
But it might be hurting the people that eat the popcorn. A 2009 study by the spoilsports at the Center for Science in the Public Interest found that a large popcorn serving contained upward of 1,460 calories, almost as much as downing three Big Macs (approx. 1,600 calories).
Should theaters have to post calorie counts just like everyone else, or is movie theater food somehow different than restaurant food?
What’s in the popcorn? Cinemas would rather not have to say [L.A. Times]
From consumerist.com
Movie Theater Owners Get Mixed Wall Street Reaction
Mar 17th
NEW YORK — Shares of movie theater groups have seen a mixed performance so far in 2011 with stocks of some sector biggies up sharply, while others are down.
This mixed bag of performance as a Wall Street conference will put the spotlight on the sector, on which investors and observers have been split.
While many analysts cite continued solid box office trends, an enduring appeal of theatrical releases and low stock prices, others, such as BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield, have raised concerns over high 3D price premiums and such film window issues as looming premium VOD trials by cable and satellite TV firms.
At Gabelli & Co.’s third annual Movie & Entertainment Conference here on Thursday, industry executives — from NATO president John Fithian to Imax CEO Rich Gelfond and Regal CEO Amy Miles – will take their pitch to investors and share latest thoughts on trends and issues affecting the industry.
At Wednesday’s market close, the stock of Regal Entertainment, the largest U.S. exhibitor, stood at $13.62 after closing 2010 at $11.74. That is a gain of 16 percent.
Meanwhile, Cinemark Holdings is up 8.4 percent. But Carmike Cinemark shares and Imax, which was one of the strongest entertainment industry gainers last year, are down slightly year-to-date.
With that backdrop, AMC Entertainment just announced earlier in the week that it is moving ahead with a planned IPO.
What are investors to make of the mixed stock market signals?
Gabelli analyst Brett Harriss is bullish on the exhibition sector overall, citing a flat 2010 box office following a big 2009 jump, “a great 2011/2012 slate” and continued 3D growth. Plus, he said that “stocks are attractively priced.” Added Harriss: “Exhibitors are not very sexy, so there are no massive over-valuations like in other sectors.”
While both stocks have been trending up, he has “buy” ratings on Regal, whose stock declined in 2010, and Cinemark, his sector favorite in part because of its fast-growing Latin American circuit, shareholder-friendly management and its stock’s discount relative to Regal.
Greenfield has a much more bearish view on the industry and Regal, the only sector stock he currently covers.
“Pricing is too high with 3D, new windows will encroach on theirs, and splits could start to fall, hurting exhibitor profits,” he summarized some of his concerns. “There is a lot of technological change. And as studios are seeing the movie business losing its major monetization engine, DVD sales, the studios must actively explore new ways of making money, and so windows are going to shift.”
Greenfield has a “sell” rating on Regal.
Do the firm’s dividend payments not encourage him? “I don’t think there will be an end to going to the movies,” Greenfield emphasized. “But I’m not as confident that exhibitors will pay big dividends in years to come as their business shrinks.”
He recently also criticized Regal for touting the profits it makes on popcorn while charging consumers high ticket and concession prices that, he argued, could alienate customers.
Benjamin Mogil, analyst at Stifel Nicolaus, shares more of Harriss’ outlook on exhibitors. He has a “buy” rating on sector stocks, saying “we think the summer slate is strong.”
But he acknowledged that between box office trends and news windows, investors have often shifted focus between what are perceived as good and bad news. “It depends on the day,” he said when asked what drives exhibition stocks most — box office or window and technology fears.
Beyond the future of 3D and other topics, Thursday’s conference will discuss how much of a threat premium VOD really is for the sector. The cover of a book for atttendees features Darth Vader with a name tag that says VOD, Harriss said.
His take on premium VOD: It is a threat, but mitigated by the fact that the theatrical window has traditionally worked well for studios. Plus, exhibitors can threaten to start charging studios for trailers, which he estimated are worth about $1.5 billion in advertising, Harriss said.
From www.hollywoodreporter.com
Feds fine movie theater chains over child labor
Mar 2nd
ST. LOUIS — Operators of three of the nation’s biggest movie theater chains have paid more than $277,000 in federal fines over allegations that they violated child-labor laws by letting teenagers work too many hours and use dangerous machinery such as trash compactors, the Labor Department announced Tuesday.
The government said the alleged violations of U.S. child-labor laws by Regal Cinemas Inc., Marcus Theatres Corp. and Wehrenberg Inc. were uncovered as part of a “strategic” crackdown on what the department called the industry’s high rate of noncompliance.
Investigators found the supposed offenses to be sweeping, surfacing in 27 theaters in California, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina and Wisconsin.
Some 160 employees were illegally being required to perform hazardous jobs — everything from operating paper balers and trash compactors to driving motor vehicles, using power-driven mixers and baking — in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s youth-employment provisions, the Labor Department said.
That law identifies 17 hazardous jobs barred for workers younger than 18, including operating and unloading scrap paper balers and paper box compactors unless certain specific conditions are met. The law also restricts the times and hours of employees younger than 16 — something the Labor Department said Marcus Theatres did not honor.
“The penalties imposed as a result of these violations should serve as a wake-up call to movie theatre owners and other employers,” Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said in a statement. “Businesses that employ minors are legally and ethically obligated to abide by child labor standards and ensure youth are protected on the job.”
All three companies were alleged to have allowed young workers to load and operate trash compactors — a federal violation that got Regal Cinemas, the Knoxville, Tenn.-based operator of Regal, Edwards and United Artist theaters, the heftiest of the fines: $158,400.
Regal Entertainment Group, Regal Cinemas’ corporate parent, markets itself online as the purveyor of the nation’s biggest and most geographically broad theater circuit, with 6,683 screens at 537 theatres in 37 states and the District of Columbia as of late last month.
Milwaukee, Wis.-based Marcus Theatres Corp., which paid $93,995 in fines, also let teenage workers drive motor vehicles, run a dough mixer. Employees younger than 16 were asked to do baking and allowed to work longer hours than legally permitted.
Marcus Theatres, a Marcus Corp. unit touting itself as the nation’s sixth-biggest theater circuit, with 684 screens at 55 locations in seven Midwest states, said in a statement it remains dedicated to providing a safe workplace, fully cooperated with the Labor Department and “proactively took actions to address this situation before any violations were assessed.” The company said those steps have included barring minors from loading trash compactors, revising signs to better spell out safety policies and age requirements, and reviewing federal regulations with managers and other employees.
While none of the violations linked to Marcus Theatres involved accidents or injuries, the company “is happy that these issues were brought to our attention so we could further strengthen the policies and procedures that we already have in place to ensure a safe and enjoyable working environment for all of our associates,” the company said.
Based in St. Louis, Wehrenberg — dating to 1906 as the self-professed oldest family owned and operated theater group in the country — has paid $25,080 on allegations that it also allowed young workers to operate motor vehicles.
Messages left Tuesday with Regal and Wehrenberg were not immediately returned.
The Labor Department said the companies have agreed to put in place compliance and training programs. Regal Cinemas is showing a child-labor public service announcement about workplace safety at all of its 458 digital cinema sites in 39 states.
According to federal law, workers 14 or 15 may do certain occupations outside school hours, but not before 7 a.m. or later than 7 p.m., or past 9 p.m. from June 1 until Labor Day. Such workers also may not work more than three hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week, or eight hours on a non-school day and 40 hours in a week when school isn’t in session.
AP-WF-03-02-11 0118GMT
From www.indystar.com
Movie theater project to raise 10 screens in downtown Bremerton
Mar 1st
movie theater
movie theater
BREMERTON — If all goes well, the first Star Wars movie in 3D could be seen in a movie theater in downtown Bremerton.
A 10-screen movie theater is slated to be open in downtown Bremerton in time for the 2012 summer blockbuster season, according to James Blissett, one of four managing partners of See-Film LLC of Seattle.
Construction on the movie complex is expected begin in July, he said, and the construction timeline is explicitly designed to meet the summer blockbuster season, when The Phantom Menace in 3D could be ready for the big screen.
The company gave earnest money to Lorax Partners of Seattle on one of two building pads that are part of Bremerton’s construction of a parking garage on Park Avenue between Burwell and Fourth Streets.
Lorax plans to build up to 80 apartments on the other pad.
The proposed development is part of a continued effort to revitalize downtown Bremerton. The city’s contribution, including the value of the land and the labor city employees will do on the project, is in the neighborhood of $14 million to $15 million, said Gary Sexton, who is managing the project on contract. The city bonded about $2.7 million of that and bonded another $5.7 million against a 25-year contribution from the state, and received $2.6 million from the federal government’s Economic Development Administration.
Total cost of the overall project is expected to be about $30 million, said PJ Santos, partner at Lorax.
See-Film’s decision to put down the earnest money came when it became likely the company would get bank financing for a portion of its budget to build the site, said Blissett.
Blissett declined to say how much the earnest money was.
Santos credited the city for its work to get the infrastructure in place to make a theater and apartments possible. “I’m just a huge believer that when you bring that kind of opportunity to downtown, what that’s going to do to the restaurant market, to the art market, to the evening life of downtown is just fabulous,” Santos said.
The parking garage is scheduled for completion this summer. On Wednesday the city council is expected to approve a $140,000 contract with LMN Architects to help design improvements to Fourth Street between Park and Pacific.
Getting a movie theater in downtown Bremerton has been an eight-year process and has been one of the major goals for redevelopment from the beginning, said Sexton. “There’s always been a premise that economic development is greatly furthered by a theater particularly,” Sexton said.
Blissett got to looking at Bremerton at the suggestion of Ron Sher, owner of the former J.C. Penney building at Burwell and Pacific that is now a parking garage and is slated to have shopping and apartments. Sher also owns the former Westsound Bank building on Pacific Avenue, scheduled to open in April as Bremerton Bar and Grill
The movie complex is expected to have three rooms that will seat more than 200 people and seven smaller theaters. Three of the theaters will be capable of showing 3D films. Blissett said the most comparable local movie house is the Galaxy Theatres complex in Gig Harbor. He believes Kitsap residents will enjoy being able to stay local to get that kind of experience.
Blissett said having 10 screens will allow the theater to keep movies that remain popular for weeks, showing them in smaller rooms rather than cycling them to make room for new blockbusters. Having more screens also makes it possible to offer art house films, he said.
For now the managing partners are considering an exterior look that imitates a ship’s hull or some other theme related to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, said Blissett, who has designed other movie theaters as an architect at The Design Collective in Seattle. The company also plans to have a film-themed coffee shop on the corner of Park and Burwell.
Santos said he hopes construction on the apartments can begin by the end of the year. Those will likely take a year to complete.
From www.kitsapsun.com
A ’50s theater experience
Feb 6th
The aroma of hot buttered popcorn fills the lobby of the Belfield Theater as the doors open and ticket sales get under way.
The display case is filled with an inviting assortment of candy and soda, while posters announce upcoming films. The atmosphere is that of a simpler era — a slice of time from the 1950s when children paid a quarter to see their favorite movie.
The theater, taken over and operated by the city of Belfield since 1993, stands as proof of a small town’s commitment to preserve a bit of its history.
Erick Iverson and Kaycee Hutzenbiler attend the movies about once a month.
“I like it — it’s comfy and it’s cheap,” said Hutzenbiler.
Movie-goer Ken Hanson added, “It’s the only place I like to go — it’s better than Dickinson.”
Brock White, who came with friends from Dickinson, added, “They have quality movies — I’m here for the first time.”
The Belfield Theater was built by Mike Olienyk, who invested $75,000 to build the 400-seat theater, complete with velvet seats, art-deco and a red velvet curtains covering the screen.
It opened Dec. 15, 1950, with “Dutchess of Idaho” and tickets were 50 cents for adults, 35 cents for students and 14 cents for children.
Olienyk invested another $15,000 to purchase Cinemascope equipment, which more than doubled the size of the movie screen. Olienyk’s family operated the theater until 1971 when it was sold. Due to unpaid property taxes, the building went back to the city.
As the population of Belfield declined and home video rentals became popular, the theater closed its doors and the building was abandoned.
City Council member Vern “Skeeter” Kessel and Ken Obritsch later organized a campaign to restore the building, which had fallen into disrepair. Using city and donated funds, the roof was replaced and new heating, cooling and sound systems were added. It reopened in October 1993.
Theater Committee member Rhonda Tooley recalls walking to the theater as a child with her sister, Joyce Reisenauer.
“It was great to have the theater,” said Tooley. “I like the older theater-like atmosphere.”
It takes a community effort and volunteers to keep the theater going.
“We get support from town, we get support from Dickinson,” said Tooley. “If we started paying for workers, there wouldn’t be money to keep it open. We don’t want to close it down — there’s not much for the kids to do in town.”
The theater is open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m.
“My sister Joyce and I work every Saturday night and our families help us,” said Tooley.
As the volunteers’ children leave for college, sixth graders step forward to take over, she said.
“A lot of students at school ask me to give them confirmation hours — it helps out a lot,” she said.
It’s also a good work experience for them.
“They learn to count money correctly and how to treat costumers,” she added.
One of Tooley’s responsibilities is to order the movies.
“I go online to see what are the top movies and who are the actors,” she said. “I start calling each company. It usually takes several calls to book a movie. I’ve been trying to book ‘True Grit,’ but they keep saying to call next week.”
She books movies that appeal to a diverse movie audience — from “The Fighter” to “Yogi Bear.”
The Belfield Theater is limited to movies for its 35 mm projectors. The theater committee would like to go digital, but the cost is prohibitive, she said.
The cost of reserving a movie varies — averaging $200 to $250 for a weekend showing. This does not count shipping and posters, said Tooley.
Tooley would like more community support — if only to purchase a bag of popcorn to take home.
If the theater could go digital, she also envisions game nights for the teens or to rent the building for birthday parties to watch a movie.
The theater’s projectionists include Doug Kessel, Lyle Tift and Scott Rask.
Kessel has been volunteering Saturday nights for the last six or seven years.
“I pretty much volunteer for just about everything that comes up,” he said. “It doesn’t take very long to learn how to run it.”
Over the years, Kessel has noticed the moviegoers are more than just students.
“When we opened back up, the idea was to have something for the kids in town to do, but realistically we get more people from Dickinson than in town,” he said.
People say the theater is clean, they like the large screen and they like the seating, he said.
“If a movie is coming up, a lot of people will call and ask if we’re getting it and they wait,” he said.
Reisenauer volunteers at the theater because she realizes need and because it’s enjoyable.
She helps with cleaning, ordering supplies and making the cash deposits.
She serves on the Theater Committee with Tooley, Susan Wolf and Lyle Tift. They seek donations and grants for improvements. For example, the American Legion of Belfield recently gave a donation for a new popcorn machine, the city of Belfield covers utilities and insurance while the Roughrider Electric Charitable Foundation gave grants toward improvements to the marquee and a butter machine.
Maintaining the building is an ongoing project — from mopping the floors and dusting to cleaning the seats on a yearly basis. The volunteers also have plans to paint the bathrooms and replace the carpets.
Volunteers recruit family members to help out.
“A lot of times it’s a husband and wife or a mother and daughters,” said Reisenauer.
Needing a break, she calls upon Cathy Tessier to help.
“We’re fortunate to have all the volunteers who give of their time and their efforts to keep the theater going,” she said.
Reisenauer invites the public to take in a movie at Belfield.
“We appreciate when they stop in and experience the nostalgia of theater days gone by,” she said.
And for “True Grit” fans, the movie was reserved for the weekend of Feb. 11-13.
Tags: lifestyle, belfield
From www.thedickinsonpress.com
Movie theater employees not limited to concessions, box office
Feb 2nd
Chris Caldwell
Westates Theatres employees learn how to work a film projector high above the audience. There are many aspects of presenting a movie that the average patron never sees.
Movie goers race to the theater to see the latest box office hit, but the events going on behind the scenes are often left in the dark.
Movie employees dish about what it’s like to make the magic of movies (or just the theater) come to life.
DSC alumnus Austin Blake is an assistant manager at Westates Theatres. He has been working for the company for almost three years and has been a manager for more than one year.
Blake said there are six main jobs at the movie theater: concessions sales, box office sales, cleaning, taking tickets, running the projectors and managing.
Blake said he has worked every job, which helped him to become a manager.
“I love that I can do any of the different sections of working—selling tickets, selling popcorn, but I’m not tied there,” Blake said. “I get to go where I’m needed.”
Most of the theater employees are able to perform more than one job.
Jonathan Clark works as a cleaner and at the concession stand.
Clark said he got his job at the movie theater to make money and gain work experience. He also said there are a few perks to his job.
“We get all the free popcorn and soda we want,” Clark said.
Darlene Dietrich, also known as “grandma Darlene” to some of her fellow employees, said that’s not the only benefit to working at the movie theater.
She said employees get eight free movie passes per month, which can be used Monday through Thursday.
Most of the employees at the theater work up close and personal with movie goers, but some are in the shadows, literally.
Being a projectionist at a movie theater requires a little more than the average movie theater employee. Projectionists must have special training, and it takes skill to run the large and meticulous machines.
K.C. Comer is a projectionist at the Westates Theatres Sunset Corner Stadium 8, 1091 N. Bluff St. Comer said he enjoys being a projectionist more than any other job in the theater.
“[The projectionists] get to watch movies a lot,” Comer said. “I‘ve loved movies ever since I was a kid, so it‘s fun to be able to see how they‘re built and made and started and run.”
The projectors in the theater are large and loud, and each employee who wants to become a projectionist must be trained and tested by a fellow employee.
The job of a projectionist is typically quiet. They are required to stay in “the box” while movies are playing.
A projectionist cleans the projector, performs maintenance on the machine, threads the film for a movie, and keeps tabs on various aspects such as temperature and sound for the movies being shown, Comer said.
Comer said there is one thing movie audiences should know about the projection room.
The projection room has a window in front of each projector, allowing the projectionist on duty to see each individual theater, he said.
Patrons who think a movie theater is free reign for inappropriate behavior are sorely mistaken.
“We can see everything,” Comer said.
Blake said walking the narrow hallway to the projection room can become a bit harrowing at moments. The movie reels are extremely heavy and expensive, and each reel could be worth thousands of dollars.
Blake said the theater receives movie reels in parts from film companies, and the managers need to put the pieces together. The managers then preview the films to make sure they are put together correctly.
“You see so many movies.” Blake said. “I’ve had to preview [bad movies] because no one else was working, and I was stuck to do it. ‘Furry Vengeance’ was the worst movie I’ve ever seen in my whole life.”
A few movie employees do have a true love of film.
Dietrich said her favorites include action, adventure and sci-fi movies.
“I don’t like what the kids call ‘chick flicks,’ or what my daughter likes,” Dietrich said. ” I like movies that make me say ‘what’s going to happen next?”
Comer said one of his current movie favorites is “The Fighter,” starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale.
“It’s awesome,” said Comer. “I hope it wins Best Picture [at The Academy Awards].”
Being an employee at a movie theater is a lot like any other job, but dealing with movie goers can be less than amusing at times.
Blake said the Harry Potter series playing at the theaters is “cursed.” He said during the opening day of two previous Harry Potter movie releases, the power went out and then turned back on.
Comer said audiences should remember if something goes wrong while a movie is being shown, it might not necessarily be the projectionist’s fault.
“When something goes wrong it could be a technical problem that we have no control over,” Comer said.
He said audiences should have a bit more patience when it comes to larger problems.
Dietrich said movie goers can sometimes be a tough crowd, and audiences should, again, try to have some patience with theater employees.
“We try our best,” Dietrich said.
The employees that keep a movie theater running smoothly are a key part of making the magic that is the movies come to life. They keep the screens lit, the popcorn hot, and faces smiling again and again.
From www.dixiesunlink.com
Seattle says goodbye to the Neptune movie theater (Seattle Times)
Jan 31st
Broad Street is closed at the Highway 99 underpass as the Mercer Mess becomes messier. A project to rebuild the stretch Seattle’s Neptune Theater is shown on N.E. 45th Street on Monday, November 29, 2010. The theater, owned by Landmark, is closing. (Joshua Trujillo, seattlepi.com)
Seattle’s Neptune Theatre won’t advertise movies on its bright, white sign anymore.
The theater turned a corner Sunday: a final show to mark the passing of one of the University District’s oldest movie houses. The theater will reopen in the spring as a live-music venue under the direction of the Seattle Theatre Group.
The Seattle Times reports:
Regulars said goodbye to their beloved Neptune Theatre on Sunday.
“It was like a live wake,” said Tomo Nakayama, who’s worked at the movie theater at 1303 N.E. 45th St. in Seattle’s University District for the past eight years. “I’m glad I got to be a part of its history.”
For more on what led to changes at the Neptune, read my story from 2010: Seattle’s small movie theaters facing tough times.
Visit seattlepi.com’s home page for more Seattle news. Contact Amy Rolph at amyrolph@seattlepi.com or on Twitter as @amyrolph and @bigblog.
From blog.seattlepi.com
Theater operators fight studios’ plan to release movies in homes earlier
Dec 23rd
Theater operators are mounting a challenge to plans by Hollywood studios to release movies in the home when they are still in theaters.
The nation’s largest theater chains have been reaching out to investors and analysts on Wall Street, as well as directors, producers and agents, in an effort to build support for preserving so-called theatrical windows — the period of time between when a movie opens in cinemas and when it comes out on DVD or other media.
The outreach is in response to statements by media executives touting plans to offer movies in the home via video on demand at a price of $30 to $60, one to two months after they are released in theaters.
Premium-priced VOD is foreseen as a new revenue source for studios looking to offset declining DVD sales, as well as a boon for cable companies that have been stymied in their efforts to deliver movies into the home earlier in part because of concerns it could cannibalize home video sales.
But theater companies contend that the VOD plans will undercut movie ticket sales, giving consumers less incentive to trek to the theater if they can wait a few extra weeks to watch the movie in the comfort of their home.
“A 30-day window makes absolutely no sense to us whatsoever,” said Gerry Lopez, chief executive of AMC Entertainment, the nation’s second-largest theater operator. “We’re concerned about the grave consequences this could bring.”
Currently movies are available on VOD about the same time they become available on DVD, typically from 90 to 120 days after they debut in theaters.
The pushback is led by the National Assn. of Theaters Owners, the trade group that represents most of the country’s major theater circuits.
“We are reaching out to the creative community and the business community because we think some of the studios are moving down a path of a bad business model,” said John Fithian, the association’s president. “They risk losing two dimes to save one nickel.”
Theater owners are taking their case to directly to Wall Street. In recent weeks, Fithian and top theater executives have held meetings with analysts from such firms as Deutsche Bank and Barclays to outline their concerns on early premium VOD releases and make the argument that the studios’ strategy won’t pay off for either side.
They’ve also been enlisting the support of filmmakers, hoping that their voices can help sway opinion.
“We don’t make movies for the small screen, we make movies for the big screen,” Jon Landau, producer of James Cameron’s blockbuster “Avatar.” “Television is a great art form, but it’s an oxymoron to say we’re giving you a premium experience on TV.”
But theater operators could be fighting against the inevitable. As broadband technology becomes faster and consumers increasingly turn to their high-definition, big-screen televisions to watch movies, the demand for content will also grow, potentially tipping the economics away from theaters.
Studio executives contend too that they need to find ways to generate new sources of revenue in the face of emerging technologies, changing consumer habits and a steady decline in home video sales, which for many years propped up the movie industry.
“We are exploring every conceivable additional revenue stream out there,” Universal Pictures Chairman Adam Fogelson said. “The facts are irrefutable that our business models are under an extraordinary amount of pressure. In order for the studios to remain healthy, we need to find ways to recapture that revenue.”
Studios and theaters have a symbiotic relationship stretching back a century that has been mutually beneficial. Theaters get to keep roughly half the revenue from ticket sales, while the studios keep the other half and resell their movies multiple times to consumers: first in theaters, then on DVD, followed by video on demand, then showings on cable channels such as HBO and Showtime.
However, the partnership is now under strain.
Theaters threatened to pull Walt Disney Co.’s “Alice in Wonderland” from screens this year after Disney announced plans to release the movie on DVD one month earlier than it typically does. In May, the Federal Communications Commission granted a controversial waiver to studios, clearing the way for an anti-piracy technology that makes it easier for studios to pipe first-run movies into the home.
More troubling, movie theater operators are leery about the pending merger of Comcast Corp. with NBC Universal, which would put a top Hollywood studio into the hands of the company that provides cable TV service to one out of every five homes in the U.S. Comcast executives have signaled their desire to offer movies from Universal’s film library earlier to cable subscribers than traditionally has been the case.
Time Warner Inc., owner of the Warner Bros. movie studio, expects to offer premium-priced movies through video on demand 30 to 60 days after their release in theaters. News Corp.’s 20th Century Fox and Sony Corp.’s Sony Pictures studios are also weighing earlier VOD service.
