Boxoffice - August 2019

we buy the best ingredients and only make it fresh
in small batches, and it comes in a classic tub. We
have a variety of soda; craft, imports, and classics,
and a full bar featuring a wide array of spirits (local
whenever possible), movie-related brands (Coppola
wine, Dan Aykroyd vodka, George Clooney
tequila,) along with 21 different local craft beers.
We’ve had our bar in place for five years and it’s
grown from 5 percent to now up to 10 percent of
our annual revenue and has been a big plus to the
customer experience, helping drive our other ticket
and rental revenues.
PROGRAMMING
We tend to have something each month that
covers everyone’s interest, but for people whose
religion is movies, the Plaza is their temple. In addition
to different series of repertoire programming,
first-run indie, and second-run larger releases, we
have a growing number of programming partnerships
that happen everywhere between weekly to
quarterly. We have a rotation of cult films (Plazadrome),
black-and-white monster films (Silver
Scream Spookshow), B movies with live riffing
(Cineprov), nostalgic event films (Wussy Mag), and
many others. The nearby chain theater is starting to
copy us in doing rep programming, but it doesn’t
compare to seeing a film at the Plaza in Atlanta.
What matters the most is what’s on screen, but we
also consider what’s on stage (special guests, Q&As,
speakers, etc.) and what we can do throughout the
building like the special pop-up exhibit we did with
the Deadly Prey Gallery featuring original movie
poster paintings by artists from Ghana of primarily
American films. We feature a monthly silent film
with live orchestration on our new theater organ,
TV premieres featuring talent (like “The Walking
Dead,” “Black Lightning”) as well the occasional
live-event screening (like the Oscars).
GRASSROOTS MARKETING
We live or die by grassroots marketing. We’re
not in a position to be doing major media buys, so
we rely heavily on our extensive social media reach,
our website and email, in-theater advertising, and
generating press, but also partnerships with different
groups and brands that have reaches to distinct
audiences. We have a strong brand loyalty with our
core audience and have one of the largest followings
of any cinema in the state. We try and make
sure that the programming we have drives people
in; every little part of the theater is photo worthy/
Instagram bait as much as possible, so people are
taking photos while they’re here, or coming just to
do photos for special occasions.
CINEMA ADVERTISING
On-screen advertising, specifically working
with Spotlight Cinema Networks, has been a
terrific option for us. It’s very easy for us to work
with them as they make the whole process simple
and streamlined. We receive high-quality ads that
don’t junk up our screen, and they provide quality
brands. I would absolutely recommend that other
art houses and film festivals start working with
Spotlight Cinema Networks.
TOP
Deadly Prey Gallery’s
hand-painted poster art
from Ghana
BOTTOM
Bo Burnham (right) and
Elsie Fisher (center) talk
Eighth Grade onstage at
the Plaza
PHOTO: THE PLAZA THEATRE
PHOTO: BORDER UNION PHOTOGRAPHY
AUGUST 2019
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