Boxoffice-January.2000

Datrons. The managers must set the tone of
:he theatre and show staff" members by
jxample their responsibility in seeing that
;ustomers have a pleasant experience from
:he time they step up to the boxoffice.
The staff must be sincere in their friendiness
and not phony. The staff's professionalism
conveys to the customer that he
jr she will be free from any distractions
;uch as an out-of-focus picture, sound that is
oo loud or too quiet or auditorium temperiture
that is too cool or too warm.
Other distractions can be caused by
inruly children or teenagers. Having too lit-
In the past 30 years, the industry has
lost a large segment of its audience. People
go to the mo\ ies to have a good time. The)
want to laugh, cry or be thrilled by the
action up on the screen. Why would anyone
pay to get depressed? They can get
that on the evening news.
When friends or acquaintances show no
reluctance in telling me what they think of
the movies today and why they do not go
to our theatres. I get depressed. They have
asked, "Why should my intelligence be
insulted by the language in movies?" and
they have complained about the boring.
The lobby of R.L. Fridley Theatres' Paramount 5 in Ankeny, Iowa.
le or no order in one's theatre can kill busitess
quicker than anything else. Customers
vill
be thankful when they observe how a
heatre's manager and staff handle disrupions.
While these factors are so simple and
rlementary that it
should not be necessary to
nention them, they are all-important in havng
a well run operation.
When my
wife
and I go to a
restaurant,
the
special attention we get is
tppreciated and will be
)ne reason for us to
;ood meal, of course, will
nake us eager to return habitually.
It is for this reason that I envy successul
restaurant owners who can control the
quality of their products. We exhibitors
:annot. We are dependent on the film proiucers
and directors for their final product.
I am indeed grateful to them for the
hours of wonderful and incredible productions
they have created in the past, as well
is for the handful of entertaining films
that now come out each year. But I know
ihat moviemakers have the talent to do
>vm better.
Either we are a hardy
lot or just backwards.
Could we have perhaps
done better in the fields
of real estate, accounting
or insurance? Maybe,
never-ending violence and gratuitous,
unimaginative portrayal of sex that they've
seen. After all, who wants to wallow in the
gutter? I cannot but agree with these
remarks when 1 know what producers and
directors are capable of. How can I be
enthusiastic about selling and presenting
these films as entertainment?
I can just hear the
producer/director say,
"What does he know?
He's from the Bible
Belt." In reply, I say.
"Let's look at the
record."
eturn, but we will defilitely
come back only if
out of the top 30
In the past five years,
he the thing we but how dull. We
are there
grossers we played, only
'or in the first place— exhibitors have endured, one was rated R. It was
;ood meal—is also availtble.
An exceptionally
series,
even forged ahead one of the "Die Hard"
against the odds.
and it came in
29th place.
But. let's look at the results throughout
the entire country. Of the top 100 films
that drew the greatest attendance nationwide
over the past years. 34 were released
before the rating system came into being.
Of the remaining 66. which have been
released from 1968 to the present, only 11
were rated R and 55 were G. PG or PG-13.
Then let's analyze how the 1 1 R-rated films
were able to overcome the stigma of their rating.
Four of them had strong, interesting stories:
"The Godfather." 'One 1 leu Over the
Cuckoo's Nest," "Saving Private Ryan'" and
1.80Q-635-0436
www.popntop.com
Response No. 73
January. 2000