Boxoffice Pro - December 2019

THE TICKETING TANGO
MELISSA HELLER’S ‘SMALL BETS’
KEEP FANDANGO MOVING
FORWARD
>> “At the end of the day, it’s about the relationships
you have.” Fandango’s vice president of
domestic ticketing, Melissa Heller, says relationships
are key to every facet of what she does—her
own relationships with mentors and other industry
professionals as well as the relationships Fandango
itself cultivates with exhibitors, studios, and of
course the all-important moviegoer.
Heller grew up in a “tiny, tiny town in Northern
California,” where the closest theater—Coast
Cinemas in Fort Bragg, still in operation—was
an hour away. From the beginning, going to the
movies was “a big deal. … When we got the opportunity
to do it, it was one of those life-changing
miracle moments.” (An early moviegoing experience
that’s stuck with Heller: going to the Coast
with her best friend to see Babe.) “Sharing those
movie moments with my best friend, enjoying
candy, and feeling like we were there on that farm
with a talking pig … does life get any better than
that?” No, it does not.
While Heller has always known the magic of
moviegoing, she “stumbled into” the job of providing
that magic for other people. In college, Heller
studied business and economics, which took her to
a job at Quantum Loyalty Solutions. A “rewards
and incentives firm,” Quantum Loyalty Solutions
partnered with studios, exhibitors, and outside
companies to offer “Hollywood Movie Money”
to consumers. Fandango, looking to beef up its
own promotions operations, acquired Quantum in
2015, rebranding the service as Fandango Rewards.
“At the time, there was an ask to relocate to
Los Angeles and join the core exhibitor relations
and ticketing commerce team,” recalls Heller. “I
couldn’t pass up the opportunity. It was a personal
and professional challenge—an opportunity to
grow and learn from incredible people. So, despite
my fears of L.A. traffic, I decided to move. And
[now] I’m here to stay.”
One of those “incredible people” Heller learned
from was Fandango’s chief commercial officer and
executive vice president Kevin Shepela. “Since the
day I started at Fandango, Kevin always challenged
me to think more broadly, to look at strategy and
align decisions accordingly, to ask questions, to
think bigger. He supported me doubling down and
getting my MBA along the way, no matter what it
took. All in support of me as a person first, and an
employee second.”
While Heller has benefited from structured
mentorship programs, she cites informal mentorship
as the thing that’s helped her professional
growth the most. “It’s just seeing how people work
with each other: ‘Oh, wow, that’s how she responded
to a really hard question. That’s what I want
to do the next time I’m in a position like that.’
Or: ‘That was a really unique way to tackle that
problem.’ Just really being able to learn, and not
sit at your desk with your headphones on, answering
emails. It’s really about absorbing the people
around you. Inside [Fandango], outside, all over
MELISSA HELLER
DECEMBER 2019
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