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How Does MoviePass Make Money?

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Re: How Does MoviePass Make Money?

#11

Post by schizoidboy »

libertine wrote: post #6

I still remember when movie theaters provided a different experience - and I'm in my late 20's, so it was not that long ago. Movie theaters became just another living room - people go there chat, comment and eat during the movie just like they were at home. It became such an obnoxious experience, where people are shoved into a room and door is closed. This goes to say: movie theaters had a lot of distribution costs r…

If the main business model works (see my other comment), then theaters' margins needn't be reduced.

I guess MoviePass thinks they deserve a cut of concessions since they're saving theaters - which might be true - but theaters control the end product, so I doubt they'd share revenue. They're more likely to compete against MoviePass if the plan works.

Re: How Does MoviePass Make Money?

#12

Post by scarface74 »

libertine wrote: post #6

I still remember when movie theaters provided a different experience - and I'm in my late 20's, so it was not that long ago. Movie theaters became just another living room - people go there chat, comment and eat during the movie just like they were at home. It became such an obnoxious experience, where people are shoved into a room and door is closed. This goes to say: movie theaters had a lot of distribution costs r…

It depends on the theatre. I only go to a regular movie theatre when I'm back home seeing my parents. I enjoy the theatre experience where you get reclining seats and you get to reserve your seat beforehand. The next step is the dinner and movie experience where you get to both enjoy reserved seating and get food served while you're eating. Those theatres by necessity aren't as crowded and you have a much better experience. The ticket costs for the movie and dinner type places are usually cheaper since they can make it up on food.

We also still have a decent drive in in our area where the sound comes through your fm radio. You can see two new releases there for like $8 a person. You can bring your own food - usually we do take out.

Movie pass is a no go for popular movies for us because you can't use it to reserve movies in advance online.

Re: How Does MoviePass Make Money?

#13

Post by throwaway287391 »

schizoidboy wrote: post #7
throwaway287391 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the theatre companies are complaining about this, which blows my mind. It’s a phenomenally good deal for them at the moment — tons of free revenue they otherwise wouldn’t see at all, courtesy of VC capital. What a bunch of whiners.

The article quotes AMC about why they're complaining: they worry that if MoviePass fails, people will sour even more on theaters and that could be their death knell (btw, love the use of harrumphed!): > The largest theater chain in the US instead described MoviePass as as an existential threat . “That price level is unsustainable and only sets up consumers for ultimate disappointment down the road if or when the prod…

I did read that and understand the potential downside for them in the long term. I still think publicly complaining about free money is a really bad look and just exposes them as the curmudgeonly dinosaurs they are.

Re: How Does MoviePass Make Money?

#14

Post by cryptozeus »

libertine wrote: post #6

I still remember when movie theaters provided a different experience - and I'm in my late 20's, so it was not that long ago. Movie theaters became just another living room - people go there chat, comment and eat during the movie just like they were at home. It became such an obnoxious experience, where people are shoved into a room and door is closed. This goes to say: movie theaters had a lot of distribution costs r…

Hummm I have not experienced this, atleast in big amc type theaters. What I like about movie theater is that its one of the last places that exist where nobody is on the phone and you are enjoying distraction free.

Re: How Does MoviePass Make Money?

#15

Post by neuralFatigue »

They also now take cuts from ticket prices and upto a 20% cut from concessions.

More information here: https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/26/moviepass-pulls-out-of-amc...

The article makes it sound like Moviepass now has more leverage than the theatres themselves, which is super interesting.

Re: How Does MoviePass Make Money?

#16

Post by mschuster91 »

> Helios and Matheson, an analytics company which has a majority stake in MoviePass

This here is the juice: Big data. The more customers they have, the better - they have validated full names, birthdates, addresses and CC numbers (and most likely also ethnicity) linked with the data when they visited what movie and even if the customers repeatedly visited a movie.

MoviePass has, effectively, four distinct customers:

a) the moviegoers themselves, where MoviePass makes a profit on everyone watching less than 1 movie a month

b) the vast amount of adtech/big data/consumer analytics companies for which this data is a goldmine

c) the movie studios which can (as shown in the article) use MoviePass to promote movies

d) the cinemas which profit off the customers wanting to eat and drink

They have, of course, monetized a) and begun to discover how to monetize c) - it will be interesting if they find a way to monetize the data.

Re: How Does MoviePass Make Money?

#17

Post by eloisant »

libertine wrote: post #6

I still remember when movie theaters provided a different experience - and I'm in my late 20's, so it was not that long ago. Movie theaters became just another living room - people go there chat, comment and eat during the movie just like they were at home. It became such an obnoxious experience, where people are shoved into a room and door is closed. This goes to say: movie theaters had a lot of distribution costs r…

I've seen that kind of behaviour in the US (and that was 10 years ago already).

I've never seen it in Europe however, I just thought that's the way Americans enjoy a movie in a theater (a way that really turns me off, actually).

Re: How Does MoviePass Make Money?

#18

Post by jrs95 »

neuralFatigue wrote: post #15

They also now take cuts from ticket prices and upto a 20% cut from concessions. More information here: https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/26/moviepass-pulls-out-of-amc... The article makes it sound like Moviepass now has more leverage than the theatres themselves, which is super interesting.

Based on another article I saw, this doesn’t seem to be the case with AMC.[1]

Basically, all of MoviePass’ subscribers is still a tiny portion of AMC’s sales, so they’re refusing to share any of their revenue with MoviePass.

[1] https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/26/16936952/moviepass-amc-th...

Re: How Does MoviePass Make Money?

#19

Post by slfnflctd »

scarface74 wrote: post #12
libertine wrote: post #6

I still remember when movie theaters provided a different experience - and I'm in my late 20's, so it was not that long ago. Movie theaters became just another living room - people go there chat, comment and eat during the movie just like they were at home. It became such an obnoxious experience, where people are shoved into a room and door is closed. This goes to say: movie theaters had a lot of distribution costs r…

It depends on the theatre. I only go to a regular movie theatre when I'm back home seeing my parents. I enjoy the theatre experience where you get reclining seats and you get to reserve your seat beforehand. The next step is the dinner and movie experience where you get to both enjoy reserved seating and get food served while you're eating. Those theatres by necessity aren't as crowded and you have a much better expe…

> The ticket costs for the movie and dinner type places are usually cheaper since they can make it up on food

For some of them, this may be true. However, one I visited in the Midwest put their 'eat & watch' section in an exclusive balcony above the standard seating area and was charging almost double per ticket (along with sub-Applebee's food at Chili's prices). They have apparently been in business for over five years doing this.

I enjoyed the experience, but I ultimately didn't feel it was worth the extra cost, and the sound of silverware on ceramic plates & bowls was a bit distracting. Handheld food and fancy paper/plastic plates and utensils would be how I'd run that operation.

Re: How Does MoviePass Make Money?

#20

Post by libertine »

schizoidboy wrote: post #11
libertine wrote: post #6

I still remember when movie theaters provided a different experience - and I'm in my late 20's, so it was not that long ago. Movie theaters became just another living room - people go there chat, comment and eat during the movie just like they were at home. It became such an obnoxious experience, where people are shoved into a room and door is closed. This goes to say: movie theaters had a lot of distribution costs r…

If the main business model works (see my other comment), then theaters' margins needn't be reduced. I guess MoviePass thinks they deserve a cut of concessions since they're saving theaters - which might be true - but theaters control the end product, so I doubt they'd share revenue. They're more likely to compete against MoviePass if the plan works.

I've seen your post - it does make sense to be that way indeed.
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