Boxoffice-March.1988

SHOWMANSHIP
Charity Benefit Premieres:
A Valuable Tool for Showmanship Success
Do
By Dan Harkins
President, Harkins Theatres
CHARITY BENEFIT premieres, donations
and goodwill all belong in the
lexicon of a good showman?
Indeed they do, as there is hardly a
more effective way for a local theatre
operator to launch a motion picture. This
heartfelt hometown effort will hit a homerun
with all involved; the exhibitor gets a
boost at the boxoffice, while his community
is funded for a worthy cause.
A charity benefit announces the movie
to a sector of the marketplace that is rarely
tapped. News of the upcoming engagement
will be published in local news stories,
calendar sections and gossip columns,
reaching readers that may seldom
flip to the movie page. Likewise, a seldom-touched
electronic media audience
may be given word of the special event at
your theatre via the evening news. Suddenly,
the cinema is not just an entertainment
center but is the nucleus of community
goodwill.
This exposure happens far enough in
advance of a film's opening to chum a
want-to-see interest in not only the benefit
premiere, but in the picture's longterm
engagement itself Since benefits
almost always involve good films, it is
then assumed by the consumer that a picture
tied to a benefit showing is a movie
worthy of their support.
This kind of promotion puts a bright
twinkle on your theatre's image. Whether
you arc helping underprivileged chiltlren,
organizations for the mentally handicapped,
charities, service groups, schools,
art societies, churches or synagogues, the
benefit group itself becomes a carrier for
a contagious wave of enthusiasm. The
public will say to itself, "Here's a businessman
who is giving something back to
the community. Let's support him!"
The most suitable business relationship
between the theatre and benefit sponsor
is, believe it or not, one in which the sponsor
pays the theatre a nominal fee for the
auditorium. From my own experience,
whenever I or the distributor has donated
the auditorium free of charge, the benefitting
group has received moderate attendance
at best. If — with the distributor's
consent — you ask for a nominal per seat
fee from the sponsor (50 percent down
and the balance on the night of the premiere
J, this will cause the organization to
work much harder and in the end, everyone
will enjoy a bigger success.
In addition to a business relationship, it
is important to establish each party's role
in all of the factors that go into a successful
premiere: promotion, publicity, printing,
ticket sales, guest speakers, hors
d'oeuvres, etc. You will find that some
groups are very experienced at this sort of
endeavor, while others will need to be led
through each step of the process.
The first task is setting up a ticket sales
network. Obviously, the most potent ingredient
for success is having as many
people as possible selling tickets to everyone
they know. During the past 15 years, I
have worked with groups of all sizes,
shapes and strengths, and I have found
that those who have relied solely on publicity
and media exposure have failed
miserably. Beginning at least six weeks
prior to the premiere, committees should
already be working on their contacts
throughout the community.
Always overprint your quantity of tickets,
because too often a well-intentioned
committee member will take a dozen
tickets and on the night of the premiere
will return with most of them unsold (you
can feel comfortable overprinting by as
much as 50 percent, but to do so the
organization's leader must be in frequent
contact with his ticket sellers) And don't
worry if you oversell. A lot of folks buy
tickets just to help the charity sponsor,
and will not attend the screening. A ten
percent oversell is fine, and can even go
as high as 35 percent depending on the
nature of the group
Encourage sponsors to make the benefit
premiere a gala Hollywood-type event.
One of our best premieres ever was the
re-issue of the original "Star is Bom,"
starring Judy Garland. The benefit was
sponsored by the local chapter of the
Screen Actors Guild, and they tapped
every contact in the community to be
sure that local talent and media stars
attended the black tie event. Limousines,
door prizes, a search light and even the
red carpet were donated by co-sponsors
who wanted the exposure. To spotlight
these sponsors, be sure to print a special
program that lists them prominently.
An interesting pricing technique has
worked well for several of our local organizations.
With this type of campaign, we
do not state a fiim price on the tickets,
but rather a price range (the range should
be something that is affordable for your
target group). For example, a local public
interest law firm recently sponsored a
benefit with ticket prices ranging from
$25 to SI 00. People who purchased tickets
worth more than S50 were given a special
"Gold Donor" mention in the program.
The purchase of a $75 ticket placed them
in the "Gold Donor" category, while a
$100 ticket earned the buyer the status of
"Platinum Donor."
Marrying the right picture with the natural
beneficiary always gives the event a
strong resonance. For example, movies
like "Colors," "Dirty Harry Part 5," "Beverly
Hills Cop II," and the Blake Edwards
film "Sunset," are ideal candidates for
benefits with local police fraternities. Likewise,
"Switching Channels," starring
Burt Reynolds, and "The House on Cartoll
Street" could work well with local advertising
or media associations. Hispanic organizations
would work well with "The
Milagro Beanfield War," while local amateur
boxing associations would jump at a
chance to support "Split Decisions." I
think that it's wrong to perceive that
some films are such guaranteed hits that
they cannot be helped by the exposure of
a benefit premiere — there's no such
thing as over-promoting a movie. So even
sure hits, such as "Crocodile Dundee II,"
"Willow" and "Bambi," could receive extra
momentum from this whirlwind of
community teamwork.
If this article does nothing else, I hope
that it at least encourages theatre managers
to occasionally pick up the phone
and call local charities to get involved.
Don't forget that in many ways, your local
theatre is the heart of the community.
You can lend the tremendous influence of
our wonderful industry to a cause ih.U
will benefit us all.
im
SW-46
Boxoffice