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MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

money.cnn.com

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Re: MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

#41

Post by izzydata »

clircle wrote: post #31

My wife and I are so frustrated by the movie going experience in the US. In Taiwan, everyone is permitted to bring food and drinks to the theater and that's pretty common. In the US I'm forced to pay an absurd amount of money for awful junk food. No thanks, I want to drink tea while I watch a movie. We always have to smuggle in drinks because the theater just doesn't provide any good options. None of the movies is th…

Over the last 20 years I often have food and / or drinks in my hands when I walk in. No 16 year old ticket taker is ever going to make a fuss about it, because they certainly don't care. It is odd how deeply rooted in everyone's mind it is that there will be a huge scene if you try and sneak in food.

Re: MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

#42

Post by izzydata »

code4tee wrote: post #8

Lending $5 million to MoviePass at this point is probably as close as you can get to literally throwing your cash on a burning heap. Must be some term sheet!

Perhaps they are secretly working for major movie theater companies like AMC. The trick is to get more people to go back to movie theaters and then when they can no longer use their movie pass service they will still want to go to the movies.

Re: MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

#43

Post by gamblor956 »

clircle wrote: post #31

My wife and I are so frustrated by the movie going experience in the US. In Taiwan, everyone is permitted to bring food and drinks to the theater and that's pretty common. In the US I'm forced to pay an absurd amount of money for awful junk food. No thanks, I want to drink tea while I watch a movie. We always have to smuggle in drinks because the theater just doesn't provide any good options. None of the movies is th…

Movie theater food is expensive because theaters in the US make almost all of their profits from the food. The movies are just a vehicle to get you to buy the popcorn and soda. On big blockbuster releases, like Star Wars or Mission Impossible, the movie theater may only get 10% of the gross ticket price on opening weekend, with the remainder going to the distributor.

Overseas distributors Asia have less leverage because these markets are generally so much smaller on a dollar value basis that it's not worth the time and effort to push for 90% instead of 60% of a relatively tiny pot. In China, terms are dictated by the government. In Europe, audiences prefer more avant garde films (read: bad films which pretend to be about something) so theaters have significantly more leverage overage distributors.

Re: MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

#44

Post by tjbarkley »

jonknee wrote: post #37
gambiting wrote: post #33

They still keep thinking that people will eventually treat it like they do gym memberships - buy them, but ultimately not use them. But there is a certain social expectation to have a gym membership and at least pretend you are doing something about your physical fitness. I have one through work and the last time I've been to that gym was over a year ago. But I can't be bothered to go to HR and actually cancel my acc…

And a critical difference, your gym doesn't lose actual money any time you visit. They may not want everyone to visit all the time, but it doesn't drain their bank account anytime you enter the door.

They lose a little money on equipment maintenance over time, but it's nothing like going to a movie.

Re: MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

#45

Post by coldcode »

gamblor956 wrote: post #43
clircle wrote: post #31

My wife and I are so frustrated by the movie going experience in the US. In Taiwan, everyone is permitted to bring food and drinks to the theater and that's pretty common. In the US I'm forced to pay an absurd amount of money for awful junk food. No thanks, I want to drink tea while I watch a movie. We always have to smuggle in drinks because the theater just doesn't provide any good options. None of the movies is th…

Movie theater food is expensive because theaters in the US make almost all of their profits from the food. The movies are just a vehicle to get you to buy the popcorn and soda. On big blockbuster releases, like Star Wars or Mission Impossible, the movie theater may only get 10% of the gross ticket price on opening weekend, with the remainder going to the distributor. Overseas distributors Asia have less leverage beca…

The first two weeks of a movie's run the theatre is only making 10% of the ticket sales. Then it slowly goes up until its cheap enough to show in a dollar theatre. If its a blockbuster the increase might not start until 4 or even 6 weeks later.

Re: MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

#46

Post by smofnoopttzzaaa »

gamblor956 wrote: post #43
clircle wrote: post #31

My wife and I are so frustrated by the movie going experience in the US. In Taiwan, everyone is permitted to bring food and drinks to the theater and that's pretty common. In the US I'm forced to pay an absurd amount of money for awful junk food. No thanks, I want to drink tea while I watch a movie. We always have to smuggle in drinks because the theater just doesn't provide any good options. None of the movies is th…

Movie theater food is expensive because theaters in the US make almost all of their profits from the food. The movies are just a vehicle to get you to buy the popcorn and soda. On big blockbuster releases, like Star Wars or Mission Impossible, the movie theater may only get 10% of the gross ticket price on opening weekend, with the remainder going to the distributor. Overseas distributors Asia have less leverage beca…

I sometimes fear that, like bookstores and Toys R' Us, if you don't patronize these businesses, they will go away. As a kid I couldn't imagine a world without bookstores, now there aren't any. Same with Toys R' Us. Kids will never have that experience again. Yes, movies are expensive, but would you rather them not be there at all?

Re: MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

#47

Post by mattl »

clircle wrote: post #31

My wife and I are so frustrated by the movie going experience in the US. In Taiwan, everyone is permitted to bring food and drinks to the theater and that's pretty common. In the US I'm forced to pay an absurd amount of money for awful junk food. No thanks, I want to drink tea while I watch a movie. We always have to smuggle in drinks because the theater just doesn't provide any good options. None of the movies is th…

Some movies are subtitled. Contact your local theater to see which. And you can find tea at plenty of places. Look for your local art house cinema.

Re: MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

#48

Post by dharmab »

clircle wrote: post #31

My wife and I are so frustrated by the movie going experience in the US. In Taiwan, everyone is permitted to bring food and drinks to the theater and that's pretty common. In the US I'm forced to pay an absurd amount of money for awful junk food. No thanks, I want to drink tea while I watch a movie. We always have to smuggle in drinks because the theater just doesn't provide any good options. None of the movies is th…

>None of the movies is the US are subtitled. I am a native English speaker, but I really prefer to watch every movie with subtitles.

A subtitle display is often is available for the hearing impaired. Ask about them on your next visit.

Re: MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

#49

Post by ianamartin »

calyth2018 wrote: post #3
mdrzn wrote: post #2

A couple months ago there were optimist articles about how they'll "make it in the long run", having "enough money to keep going before being profitable". Cinemark even announced something similar. Guess it didn't last THAT long. I'm scared for other services with the same pricing scheme.

It's eye-opening that there are companies that forgets about cash-flow and profitability...

It's not just that they forget. They are actively encouraged to not think about these things. It's not the startup way, so don't do that. The rules for SV-funded companies are this:

1. Get big no matter what. 2. Play as fast and loose with the rules as you need to in order to accomplish 1. 3. Never think about profitability. Profitability slows growth.

All 3 can be summarized as: Never think about anything that slows growth.

Re: MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

#50

Post by smofnoopttzzaaa »

gorbachev wrote: post #9
ChuckMcM wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would no doubt be surprised. High risk lending is a thing in the Bay Area at least, I attended one of the VC lunches and at my table was a person who did that for a living for hedge fund. Sort of like really really big payday loans, but with worse terms. He mentioned that one of the most unusual notes they had written was backed by obligations on future projects by the CEO of the company, so if the company folded…

What are the chances the CEO will disclose those terms to prospective employees of his new companies? Near zero? That's a serious landmine for employees who get part of their comp as stock options. Edit: edited to reflect what I actually wanted to say (future companies instead of current company)

I wasted 20 years at startups chasing stock options. Pre-IPO stock options are stupid. Don't waste your time.
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