I am the owner/operator of a small town movie theater. We permanently close our doors Sunday night. AMA!

How do you get a hold of movies and how do you order them?

We went through a booker, "Clark's Theater Service" out of Port Huron, MI. I would give a tentative list of what we wanted for about 2 months out and they would do their best to make an exciting schedule for us.

Are you being bought out or is business just bad?

Did you make the switch to digital or were you a 35mm theater til the end?

What's the thing you've done in a theater that no customer should know about?

We rent so I do not know if there is another renter in the works. We are still 35mm, 2 screen theater in Fremont Michigan. And I haven't really done wrong in the theater. I would be honored to show customers our inner workings because I actually am extremely proud of how we turned around the workings of this theater. It was just a matter of me being unwilling to raise ticket and popcorn prices and getting more "butts in the seats".

I get that man.

By bad things I mean the usual sex, drugs and rock n roll that goes on in most projection booths.

Also sorry for your loss

Our projection booth is pretty automated and mostly manned by me and a few other people who are a not "party animals" by any sense of the word. It got pretty crazy at our Christmas party. I had a beautiful handlebar moustache at the beginning of the party and by the end it was gone.

I worked at a theater during my party animal phase in college and found that I could smoke a joint and not get caught as long as I blew the smoke in the exhaust fan. And after hours shows were usually an excuse to get hammered and watch a movie.

that'd be fun. Most of the time, I was here alone, running the entire operation. It would be too exhausting to try to do it with Jameson running through my system. Might be fun to try though!

Hey it's the last day, go wild.

NO PANTS TO WORK!!!!

Rubbed it off?

in life, yeah. here? nah.

[deleted]

out of sight, out of mind, just don't be a fool, wrap your tool. our jam your clam (with an IUD)

how would raising the price get more "butts in the seats"?

it wouldn't. that was my dilemma.

What movie was your last big draw?

Iron Man. Still didn't sell out though.

Iron man one?

1. And now that I think about it, if forgot Avengers. OR Maybe the last hunger games did better, i don't have the numbers in front of me. Or the last twilight installment.
   

No offense, but if you didn't sell out come the FIRST Iron Man movie, how'd you honestly keep thinking your business was going to be profitable? I mean you have a 2 SCREEN THEATER! Honestly, were you just an old money inheritance kid fueled by a stupid dream or are you just that dumb as to think you could keep going?

You speak out of ignorance and this will be the only response you receive from me.

not you Gamur, you are cool in my book!

I don't speak out of ignorance... but I guess this response is in vain given your a-hole response.

But let's say you read this none-the-less.

I've lived in small towns, I've seen theaters rise and fall. If competition exists, sadly the small shall fall (ignore the consonance). If you cornered the market because you're the only game in town, and yet you still can't bring in a crowd for a huge blockbuster hit, you probably have a service issue, i.e. people would rather not come to your theater than ever see a good movie; that or you have a non-sustainable business model and should pull the fuck out.

Your dad should have pulled the fuck out. You don't know the circumstances surrounding this in the slightest. Thus: Ignorance.

Please good sir, fill me in on the facts, or hell even give me some bold and random speculations on how they could have succeeded til now and then, of no fault of their own, failed. And your random speculation can't include "the economy is down" or "fewer people go to movies" because these are FAR from new issues.

Iron man 3 was never sold out, and YES that did raise concerns in me as to, maybe I should start getting this thing ready to go down because no matter how much I personally work the theater ALONE for 13, 14 hour days, to cut down on employee overhead, or personally driving to our supplier with my own car and my own gas to cut the cost of delivery so I didn't have to price gouge my customers. You assume far too much about how MY small town operates. I don't speculate and open my mouth, like some. It went down because I wouldn't bend my personal and moral beliefs. Better answer son? Thanks for rubbing in and drawing out and belaboring a stupid answer that you probably already knew the answer of, from all of your experience with it. Or maybe think about packaging your question in a manner less becoming of a prick.

Was it digital projectors that killed your business? Because i imagine if it wasn't, it was about to be the reason really soon.

no it totally was part of the reason, very astute! Upvote this man!

Do you have any promotional material that a collector might be interested in? cough cough subtle hint cough cough

such as, tylenol pm? ;) we're hooking up our locals first, I'll see what I can do wulfspyder. and btw, i'm resisting with all of my power not to roll up a newspaper and squash you right now lol

Fair enough. I'm all for supporting your local movie buffs but if you do have anything left, let me know! And that's not cool man! I'm just sitting here, eating all these flies that are trying to puke all over your food and what do I get? I get to watch the stock market fall, right on top of me! No respect, no respect at all

I've seen what your bite can do. There is practically a whole subreddit devoted to it.

on a small business like yours, how you split the money with whoever provides the films?

They expect a certain percentage of our sales of tickets. It varies depending on the distribution of the movie, age of the movie and who made it.

so if you don't excel the expectations of the distributor, they give less priority?, less commission?, or something like that?.
Thanks for doing this AMA

No, it just means that we are a very small market meaning we have the least amount of priority because of how little we are likely to bring in, so by no I guess i mean, absolutely correct.

also, you're welcome for doing the AMA, it really is my pleasure! Thanks to you for being you!

What arguments would you use in response to those who say that technology has made watching movies at home more comfortable and enjoyable than going out?

But to give you a deeper answer, it is a large driving factor. Also I refused to up my ticket prices. Most people in the area make about min. wage, and we sell an average ticket price of about 6 dollars.

good lord 6$! why arent you down the street from my house id throw money at you lol i live in a small town outside of orlando florida if you ever decide to "retire" you could always try a movie theater here :D

cause the world isn't fair. Trust me.

That's very admirable of you. Always know your customers!

well it was the same knowledge a medic has when he sees a guy who just stepped on a landmine and lost both his legs, you're pretty much f'ed no matter what you do, so I figured, do the right thing.

Thats really badass of you, and being a highschooler who doesnt have a lot of money that helps a lot. Thank you.

for sure broheim.

I dont understand why your theatre wouldnt be fucking packed...the sole REASON I dont go out to the movies is because between me and my wife its a minimum 20 dollars just to get in the door. Snacks and share a drink? Shiiiiit

me neither. 1000 different reasons, including myself, why we didn't make it. Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit is right.

Being from Grand Rapids- I would have DEFINITELY drove up to visit your theater if you were just a touch closer... Fremont is kind of in the Boonies :-(

I personally tried to save money by picking up our inventory shipments from Grand Rapids Popcorn (just across the street from 5/3rd Field) and its actually a very beautiful drive. To me, that drive alone makes the trip worthwhile. But I understand, you're here in spirit.

Maybe u answered it somewhere and I just missed it but what do you think the reasons were? I mean in all honesty if there was a theater here with 6 dollar tickets I would be there twice a week

Lots of reasons that look like excuses. So, we are just too small to work properly, to compete with netflix, or ondemand, or a list of other services which cater to you with no human interaction and a lot more convenience.

thats shitty. Maybe it was just the market? I feel like where I live you would have been successful. Maybe relocate and try again if at all feasible

for me it isn't feasible. I'm a min. wage kind of person I guess, no matter how much I've worked to not be that way. ;)

Microwave popcorn.

Witty, and true! On the other hand, (1) domestic hardware is impressive these days, (2) screening starts when you want and you can pause the film, (2) no dealing with obnoxious people making noise, for instance by eating popcorn! Seriously, these are strong arguments that will need to be countered if movie theatres are to prosper. But well done for the good work keeping your theatre open till now.

how could I be expected to compete right? Just like print media, this industry is teetering, IMHO, on a very thin rope.

Way to point out a large factor in his business going under - would you like to go into more detail, or, oh I don't know - SHUT THE FUCK UP? give the poor guy a break.

So we're only allowed to ask softball questions here? Didn't know about that rule. BTW, personally I only ever (literally, ever) watch movies at the movie theatre. Almost certainly unlike you. The question asked is important.

You had stopped asking questions and were basically just making statements which, while valid, were pretty obvious to anyone who has watched movies in the last decade.

But by all means, ask away.

Why so cynical? I asked one question. I wanted arguments I can use myself against the ones mentioned – which are the reason this theatre is closing. Perhaps an answer involving socializing, or the sanctity of the experience without interruptions, or screen dimensions (relative versus absolute), or even digital versus analog. I am surrounded by people who take for granted that the home experience is better, and I'm trying to marshall a case. But no, nobody wanted to take my question at face value.

I went back to try to give you a better answer, but you had pretty much hit the nail right on the head, Redbox, ondemand, netflix, amazonprime, all of these services (which I utilize myself) are so convenient and cheap, the only thing I have to really edge them out is my customer service and cheap concession prices. And the best popcorn under the damn sun!

Getting the vibe here that your popcorn really is special! Thanks for the feedback and all the best for what comes next.

thanks. I mean, you can pretty much get whatever you want to your computer for free relatively instantly, its all about ambiance that just didn't create enough of an incentive for the people around here I suppose.

awwww, you're a sweetie XD All the gold, to you!

Because you're "having a life" when you go out. Sitting at home on a Friday night just doesn't sound exciting

not me anymore. :( I'm just going to sit inside, and smell. HA!

How long were you in business for? Its always a shame to hear that a small business like this is going out.

On a lighter note, did you at least have the opportunity to collect some good promotional swag?

I grabbed some posters, actually I met a great lady on Redditgifts that I was able to hook up her brother (a huge fan of movies) with loads of memorabilia, and even though I was having a bad day, I was able to turn it into something positive!

What are tomorrows screenings?

"Epic" by Dreamworks.

Really sorry that you're gonna be closing man. Do you have plans on what you're going to do after you close the theatre? What was your favorite/least favorite part of your job? Any interesting stories to tell? thanks!

I have no clue what I'm doing yet, it turns out closing a theater is WAAAAAAAAY harder than keeping it running. My favorite part of the job were the relationships I was able to create and maintain through this enterprise. On new years eve 99/2000 I had to clean up like 2, 5 gallon buckets worth of old lady diarrhea. That's what I was doing while everyone was thinking their computers and lights were just going to stop.

Hahah ew man thats disgusting. hats off to you, I can't imagine how hard it must be running a small business like that.

I would IMAGINE that your experience in business management could do you some good.

I feel like the captain of the titanic. he didn't get another job. lol ;) I'm putting my res out again, which I hate having to do, and just hoping against the odds, like most of us do, right?

Whats the weirdest thing you've caught anyone doing?

One guy was hiding behind the screen, and when he was caught, he slashed the tires of the employee who caught him. Its weird cause its mysterious...

Planning to rob the place after closing?

Rob myself?

Was the guy hiding behind the screen planning to rob the place? Unless that person was you and you slashed your own employee's tires. Probably not the second one, well, I hope not.

We don't know, Marilynn, my manager, told me about it and said her tires were slashed that night after she caught him after we'd locked up. We have NO clue what his deal was. Just funny, if you knew Marilynn, she small and older and the sweetest woman you'd ever want to know, so it just adds to the befuddlement.

Sorry what I meant in my comment was that the guy was hiding in order to rob the place after closing. It's not uncommon.

yeah, we don't know, we assume, but he was also just a 15 year old kid who maybe wanted to break the rules or just be mischievous. I'm assuming the latter because I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.

[deleted]

yes please. I love showing people around. our shows are at 1, 3, 5 and 7. I'll be here all day.

Did you try to do any crowd funding (kickstarter ect.) or did you think it wouldn't of mattered? The closest drive-in to me did a kickstarter to save their theater. They actually doubled what they were looking for and now have one of the biggest digital screens in the US. Cascade drive-in in west Chicago.

Tried kickstarter. came here. felt the same warm feeling i'm feeling now that I have to close my passion. Bad.

You should post your kickstarter link up here!

I tried once before, and it went over like a lead balloon. Here I'll show you! see

I'm a manager for a large chain theatre. Its sad to see the smaller theatres going out of business and the ones that stayed 35mm going out of business. Sorry :(

thank you. I appreciate hand work, and its sad that a button will be replacing most of these beautiful machines.

I've read most of your AMAs in the past and have always been a huge movie fan. I tried contacting our local theater, Goodrich "Quality" Theaters (the only theaters within 50 miles) about their private screenings to rent a theater out for a specific film and they were terrible to deal with and the whole thing never went down.

I know it's generally cost prohibitive, but did you ever do private screenings for a specifically requested movie if someone was willing to fork up the cash? In my case, it was Lord of War.

Always willing to work with people, but that is part of the luxury of being so small, we have flexibility. Don't hold it against a giant corporation for not caring about a little guy, its in their very nature.

You said you didn't want to raise the price of tickets. But wouldn't the community rather pay $8 (instead of $6) for a movie - as opposed to having no movies at all?

I'm surprised you wouldn't at least TRY the higher prices for a bit just to see if it would solve the problem.

6 was the average ticket price, varying from $5 from 4pm - 5:59, before 4 its 6 dollars and after 6 its 7 for adults 650 for kids and seniors and 675 for military/students. Those are the prices AFTER I raised them and saw a steady decline in attendance since.

I guess the last movie shown will be...."the last picture show"?

to me it will be "World's End" or "Ender's Game" or "Return of the Jedi". The last one, just cause.

You could just burn the place down like in cinenema paradiso and collect the insurance money....

Then reopen the greatest theater the world has ever known.

and we name it "The Phoenix".

Probaly far too late but if need help on digital marketing or web design I could help you out.

The sentiment is what I care about, thanks for the offer!

We have a locally-owned theatre here, 5 auditoriums, that works on a more family-and-budget-oriented approach. It's been popular, particularly for families with the economy in recent times.

It runs films "second hand" - most of the time they just came off circulation from the big multiplexes, so the movies are fairly recent, just pushed off the list for the latest releases (e.g., Oz and G.I. Joe are the big draws this weekend). They offer tickets for $2 apiece, with sales for $1 every Wednesday with slightly better-than-normal concession prices.

Before shutting down, did you contemplate any similar sort of change to your pricing/screening? Or was it very much a thing of needing to keep up with the next blockbuster to stay afloat?

Very much the latter. You know second runs are hard to support unless you're getting great % from the studios. And we operate as a first run, at least we try. But our prices are part of our downfall, if I raise them I lose audience and find myself in the same position I'm in now.

No questions. Just wanted to say that it sucks that you're closing.

Thank you. I appreciate that. It does suck. Hard. In a bad way.

Are there times when no one shows up for a movie? If so, what do you do when that happens?

I do a deep cleaning of the theater. Don't run the shows. I don't think that is the industry standard though.

Why are you going out of business? Every small town theater I've been to has always been busy, since (I assume) there's nothing else to do in the town.

We are going out of business because we can no longer sustain a profitable business. We, for reason unbeknownst to myself, were unable to acquire the amount of audience necessary.

That sucks. Are there any other theaters in your town?

No within 25 miles.

Do you and other employees/friends/family watch movies at the theater before the official release?

I've always imagined the theater owners doing this.

Apologies if this has been asked before.

yup, we watch/ have preview parties, informal gatherings to reward my employees! They are the ones who I'm going to miss the most, I pride myself on my team building skills, and I had one of the best. Danny Ocean doesn't hold a candle to us. (MOVIE REFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Hang in there. I've never been to Fremont, but I grew up going to a small town theater and it makes me sad to hear of one closing. Your entrepreneurial spirit will help you get thru.

My spirit is willing, but my body is spongy and bruised.

If you could go back in time to where you opened the movie theater, what would you do differently? This might include a whole other angle or profession. Thank you.

I only came into "Ownership" on 4/20 of last year, but there wan't much I could have done differently, and I wouldn't trade my experience here for anything. I wish I had known that I had needed to digitally upgrade before purchasing, had I know all of the costs and the repairs that the theater needed and I didn't know about, yeah we may have just let the theater die, but we thought I could turn it around, and I wasn't able to.

what would you have done differently over the last year had you known then what you know now?

Not much. I'm proud of the way that we operated and am happy to be leaving with a slight amount of dignity. Most places just close without any notice, and I thought I owed my community more than that, so I've been focusing on making the last weekend we have here the best one as well!

If it hasn't been asked, what has been the most rewarding and most frustrating part of the business you're in and the job? Has the shift in technology from 35mm to digital and 3D vs 2D caused any particular strain which made you decide to close your doors for good?

My most rewarding part is discussing the movies with my customers. They want to know what something is about and I have the lucky background of knowing a bunch of useless movie junk. The shift was part of the reason, we are too small to afford the switch since we were not approved for a VPF agreement (simplified its a loan program for getting digital equipment); and I couldn't raise the funds personally to do it on my own.

What are you going to do next? Have you always been an entrepreneur? Do you see yourself starting a new business (if so, what kind and why?) or will you get a 9 to 5?

I'm going to get all "soul searchy" and weird for a few days i think, at least. Then school again.

I know the owner of the company that makes the sign you're holding in the picture up top... bet there's a sticker on the back at the bottom that labeling it from Impact International...

I'll show myself out.

clap...clap...clap..clap.clap.clapclapclapclapclapclapclapclapclap.

Are you scraping any 35mm films? Would love to get ahould of some vintage films.

I have to send them all back. Just Rentals. I'd love some old ones too!

I have a friend with 35mm set up in his house so im always looking. beats most all digital projectors still and film keeps getting better.

I agree. That set up would be tits, take this upvote and run from all of the trolls! GO! DAMN IT BOY! RUN!

What do you call the rooms where people sit in rows to watch movies?

Theatres. Why what do you call them? (why do i feel like I was just lead into something?)

Because I like to call them auditoriums or even auditoria. It lets me play out my fantasy of being a cinema industry insider.

ahhhh is see, and I will make an immediate addendum to my vernacular when in reference to auditoriums.

Sorry to hear you are closing. I mostly enjoy going to independent theaters when I can I find one. Do you think it was the poor quality of movies coming out of Hollywood that was mostly responsible for your low ticket sales?

hmmmm, well, yeah, but always shoot with buckshot right? Movies are my bread and butter as a lonely fat kid in the suburbs all grown up, so yeah, they suck, I mean, Wolverine:Origins claimed they were ruined by the leak without CGI. NOPE, they just seem to take pleasure in fucking up great characters.

I'm a little confused, in Australia, $15 is your student/pensioner ticket and your 3d movies on adult can get up to $22/23 dollar mark, these movies sell out massively and there are always crowds, it's sad to see that you're going to be closing down.

its okay, we show movies upside down here too. ;) Thanks for the kind words!

I believe they are showing older movies not new releases.

Edit: I think I may be wrong, after reading more of the comments they may be showing new releases.

we try to have new releases at all times, its hard to do with 2 screens.

Supposedly, Jerry Lewis owned a large chain of 1-2 screen theaters about thirty years ago. The wave of multiplexes ran them out of business and the one near me turned into a sports bar. I love sports, bars, and sports bars, but please tell me your theater will become something more respectable when it closes.

out of my control, i do not own the building in which the theater is located (in a strip mall) so I rented and will have no say in what happens after I turn over my key Monday morning.

maybe it'll become a Ponderosa, when's the last time you saw one of those?!?! I'd eat there.

I have always wondered, how much does a movie reel cost?

about 25K i think. At least that what they'd charge me if I screwed it up

So, um... do you have any flavocol left?

yup

That Flavocol is probably the reason I buy popcorn at the theater. Need someone to store it for you?

yes?

What movie are you going to play last?

Also: A goodbye song for when you're on the way out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZW9ez4y2EE

^{love you Guardsman Bob}

Epic. It plans on being, wait for it

EPIC

Do you guys ever play older movies at your theatre? Or is it always just the new movies? For me Atleast I very much dislike having to watch movies at home and would prefer the movie theatre atmosphere. So if a movie theatre offered rescreenings of movies that where maybe a little older I would probably end up in movie theaters a lot more.

More new, when ever we could. One of our biggest complaints was that we kept movies too long, but what people didn't understand were the contracts we made to rent the movies. If it made over approx. 1k we kept it over a week.

Sorry to hear about this. Any plans on getting back into the theater business somewhere else in the future?

Its not something that I've though about going back into. No offers have ever been made, my ability to sell myself to a potential employer right now is slightly diminished as I feel a failure through and through. So, watch the kids and clean the house and make my wife her favorite dinners when she gets home from work. Hopefully.

Don't feel like a failure, theaters are a tough business right now. Port Huron isn't exactly Michigan's largest city, so I can't say I'm surprised about the closure.

What about moving to a larger town and opening a new theater, or just working at a larger theater in a larger town?

From one Michigander to another, high five and keep your chin up.

No my booker is in port huron, I operate out of Fremont, MI. Look it up on a map. The town is TOO DAMN SMALL!! We took over because the place existed in the first place, so building a new theater would be cost ineffective for us.
SLAP whoa! That stung my hand, you've been working out haven't you?

Good lord man, the population there is a bit bigger than my hometown... no wonder you had to close up shop.

And I have been working out, if you mean eating a quarter of cheesecake last night working out. Truth be told those last few bites were a struggle, but it was a delicious, delicious struggle.

Great reward came from your sacrifice I'm sure! Your succulent sacrifice...dipping down your chin...sacrifice. I think i might be hungrier than I had previously though.

How many customers did you need in order to break even the costs of renting the movies?

Also what was your profit margin on the ticket prices?

Hey thanks for doing this AMA!

We are lucky to get 10 to 35% of ticket sales as income. But to break even would mean that I almost need to have a 1/2 full auditorium for every show. Hey, you're welcome.

You worked a job I've dreamed of falling into and unfortunately it wasn't a happy ending. With that being said, I wish you the best mate.

However before I roll on with my well wishes, might I ask how you landed the role?

Luck. I had the right amount of experience combined with the exact amount of ability to bullshit that I was able to talk my partners into going into it with me, the way we did was buying controlling shares of a per-existing theater, that was already on its way out, and I tried to make a go by gutting the overhead and cleaning the place up and giving the people a little more "pizazz" behind the counter, and it just never quite took off like I was expecting.

[deleted]

Who you know, opportunity presents itself. I had someone with enough capital and I had enough time to try to make a run of it.

Hey man! Newaygo/grant native here! I've had you're number memorized for years to figure out what was playing as a kid! I loved the low prices and small setting! I just wanted to say thanks!

You're welcome, come in today for our last hoorah!

You don't need to thank me. Thank you.

Do you blame reddit for the demise of your theatre?

no, just my personal hygiene, social outgoing nature and otherwise my total ambition.

I worked in a small town theater for three years and I still work there on holidays. I'm sorry it's shutting down. Do you use film or digital? And what do you think were the major contributing factors to you going out of business?

film, and lack of attendance, interest, didn't want to charge an arm and leg for honest people to get a two hour break from life.

[deleted]

netflix

Do you have a favorite film that you got to screen?

Avengers. Just such a fun and joss whedon movie, joss whedon. Joss Whedon. (Oh I hope it works like it does for Wil Weaton)

Ever thought of becoming a dollar cinema? There's one near here, and I go there a lot so that I don't have to spend $8 to watch a movie. Plus I'll buy two dogs for a buck each and a large soda for $2.

No, I do not want to do a second run theater. Escpecially now that I know how hard the west is pushing Digital. What are second run theater going to do once hollywood has stopped making celluloid and only having digital? Are they expected to drop 50k per projector just to show old movies for a buck? And everyone knows today's quality standards for products, the projectors they make are cheap and built to break once their warranty expires. Not like my Strong International Projectors. Kept clean, these would last for a century plus.

What's your favorite movie ?

The Incredibles.

[deleted]

taken care off robobro.