Boxoffice-March.1988
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IN THE BOOTH<br />
FEELING LUCKY?<br />
THIS<br />
By Tony Francis<br />
IS MY annual "Welcome to Sho-<br />
West" article. I like ShoWest. This<br />
convention seems to signal the end<br />
to the doldrums that follow the holiday<br />
season. Its appearance marks my chance<br />
to see the people who were only voices on<br />
the telephone for so many months. Besides<br />
all that, Las Vegas isn't chopped<br />
liver itself<br />
Everyone should be in a good mood at<br />
ShoWest: 1987 was a good year for product,<br />
and grosses topped $4 billion again.<br />
Furthermore, adults seem to be finding<br />
their way back to our theatres. This alone<br />
is cause for real optimism.<br />
Our industry is virtually assured of<br />
plentiful product in the forseeable future.<br />
The combined demand for product for<br />
theatres and home video has filmmakers<br />
cranking them out in abundance. While<br />
no single 1987 film set incredible records,<br />
several films were very successful. That<br />
also is very encouraging.<br />
The old timers in exhibition believe<br />
that product is the name of the game.<br />
When you have a good product, you make<br />
money. When the product is abundant, a<br />
lot of it will be good enough to make more<br />
money for exhibitors.<br />
If the elders in our industry are right,<br />
1988 should be another good year and<br />
exhibitors should see their profits increase.<br />
And to a large extent we owe this<br />
good fortune to video. The abundance of<br />
new product creates more opportunities<br />
for exhibitors. But these were not earned<br />
opportunities. You might say exhibitors<br />
were lucky for once. Before video, filmmakers<br />
couldn't or wouldn't produce so<br />
many films, at least not at the level we<br />
saw last year.<br />
Some say it is better to be lucky than<br />
good. That is probably true, so long as<br />
your luck lasts. But, as some of us will be<br />
reminded during this Las Vegas junket,<br />
luck is a sometimes thing. In the long<br />
term, you are better off being good.<br />
Being good means striving for excellence.<br />
In Showbiz it means entertaining<br />
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