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Cinema Movie Theater

How Cinemas Are Going Above And Beyond To Lure Moviegoers Back 

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Compared to 2019, domestic movie ticket sales for the first four months of 2022 show a 44% decrease, however, cinemas are seeing a significant increase in ticket purchases when compared to last year. 

“Blockbuster titles like Warner Bros.′ ‘The Batman,’ Paramount’s ‘Sonic 2’ and the Marvel-Sony’s ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ have led to a 338% increase in ticket sales from 2021, reaching $1.95 billion,” according to data from Comscore.

Cinema operators were excited to hear all the new titles coming out this year, and were reassured by studios that they will continue to receive a large number of theatrical exclusives going forward. Operators were also told about the plans certain studios have for the future at CinemaCon last week. 

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The annual convention hosted at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas was seen as a major success after multiple studios expressed their excitement for showcasing a diversity of content in the coming year. 

Movie theater owners, however, have to be more individually creative in order to market their movies to citizens who are still hesitant about returning to the theater. Many theaters have offered exclusive food and drink deals, as well as flexibility regarding the content they show at the theater. 

For larger chains such as AMC, Regal, and Cinemark, live events like concerts, sports and gaming are being used to draw moviegoers back to the cinema. 

AMC announced that it would be investing $250 million into Cinionic’s laser projectors to be placed in 3,500 of its locations in the US by 2026. This technology offers brighter and crisper imaging, and makes it easier for the operators, as the bulbs don’t need to be replaced multiple times a year like more traditional projectors. 

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“We wanted to make a bold, straightforward statement to remind moviegoers of that immersive, communal, multi-sensory experience that you can only get by seeing a movie in a theater,” said Alicia Cook, director of advertising at AMC Theatres, during a CinemaCon panel.

Smaller chains with less access to large sums of money to invest in have gotten creative in creating a better theatrical experience for their audiences. 

“We are more nimble than the larger organizations. I think our superpower is eventizing but also creating those experiences around going to the movies. So, we do crazy stuff,” said Rich Daughtridge, president and CEO of Warehouse Cinemas.

Daughtridge said “promotions range from offering margaritas with movie tickets to special daddy-daughter date night showings. Mid-pandemic, we  capitalized on the release of Solstice Studio’s ‘Unhinged’ by hosting a car smash event during the film’s fifth week in theaters.”

“I think as marketers we tend to say ‘this movie is playing,’ ‘this movie is playing. I think from an engagement perspective, let’s talk a little bit more about why going to the movies is a good thing to do … I think the messaging that we are trying to do to create that engagement is more about why moviegoing makes sense versus just what movie is playing,” Daughtridge said.

Tokyo Olympics Will Likely Be A Fan-Free Event 

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The president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee alluded to the strong possibility that the 2021 Summer Games will likely bar local fans from attending. Fans from abroad were barred from the event months ago due to Covid-19 risks, and the committee has less than two months to decide whether or not the locals of Japan will be able to attend. 

Regardless of what the committee decides, however, a majority of Japanese residents have been adamant about their disapproval of the Olympic Games from occurring this year. Multiple surveys have shown that more than half of the citizens of Japan want the Games to be cancelled or postponed another year due to safety concerns. 

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Beyond the obvious concerns over bringing in groups of people from every single country in the world to one small venue, the Japanese government recently extended a state of emergency until June 20th due to a rise in Covid-19 cases that’s straining the country’s medical system. 

Organizers and the International Olympic Committee are insisting that they will be going ahead with the games this year, despite the multiple polls showing 60% – 80% of Japanese residents want them called off. 

“We would like to make a decision as soon as possible (on fans), but after the state of emergency is lifted we will assess,” organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said.

“There are many people who are saying that for the Olympic Games we have to run without spectators, although other sports are accepting spectators. So we need to keep that in mind. We need to avoid that the local medical services are affected. We need to take those things into consideration before agreeing on the spectator count.”

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Over 15,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes from more than 200 countries are expected to come into Japan for the 2021 Olympic Games. The New England Journal of Medicine recently wrote an op-ed regarding the IOC and their adamant attitude in relation to making the Games happen this year. 

“We believe the IOC’s determination to proceed with the Olympic Games is not informed by the best scientific evidence. Organizers should reconsider holding the Olympics in the middle of a pandemic.”

Japan experienced around 12,500 deaths due to Covid-19, and that number has not stopped growing. The vaccination rollouts in Japan began slowly, and currently only about 5% of the population is fully vaccinated. 

Japan has spent about $15.4 billion to organize the Olympics, and Richard Pound, senior IOC member, told a British newspaper that the games will take place unless “Armageddon” occurs. IOC president Thomas Bach claimed that “everyone in the Olympic community needs to make sacrifices if we want to hold the Games this year,” despite the fact that a majority of Japanese residents have made it clear that they want the opposite of that.

Business Meeting

How To Make Your Business Idea A Reality

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We’ve all had that moment when we’re gathered around the coffee table, hanging out with a few friends, having a few drinks, when suddenly one of you gets a brilliant idea. The idea is shared amongst the group and you all agree that the idea could make you all millionaires! You all could finally quit your nine-to-fives, buy a house, and retire early, it’s that good of an idea. Typically, after the initial excitement wears off, the conversation often quickly changes, and maybe one of your friends wrote down the idea just in case, but it’s likely it will never get brought up again. But what if that wasn’t the end of it? So often we have these brilliant ideas that never actually see the light of day, unless a bigger and wealthier corporation comes up with it somehow, but what if we actually all had the means to create our dream businesses? While I can’t provide you with a proper investment or all the specific logistics for your particular idea, I can give you the right tips to actually making your business dream ideas a reality. 

First and foremost, one of the keys for creating a good and marketable business idea is to ask yourself: what problem does your idea solve? Consumers want a product, store, service, etc. that will be beneficial to their life in some way. Even if your idea is a simple corner coffee shop, what is it about your specific shop that makes customers want to walk into your doors every morning for their morning coffee? Maybe it’s the fact that your shop is the closest coffee shop within a five mile radius, or maybe it’s that you make homemade muffins every morning so that they’re fresh for the customers. Whatever it is, your business needs a niche that makes it special; the goal should always be to be as memorable as possible.

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If you’re having trouble even thinking of a general idea of what you want to do, make it personal. Think about your own life and current living situation and what would make going about everyday easier. Making it personal connects you on a deeper level to the idea, and will create a greater sense of passion for the project. 

Lindsay Cook, the founder and CEO of the app FitOn, spoke with Forbes Magazine about this concept:  “As a busy working mom, I realized that making it to my favorite studio classes had become seemingly impossible. When I searched online for more accessible and practical workouts, I was disappointed in the quality and lack of motivation that existed. Hence the inspiration behind FitOn.”

Once you have your idea it’ll be time to do some research. You want to research your general market, and designate your target audience. When researching your market you want to think about it in relation to your product/idea. Does it reach a broad enough audience? Is your intended market large enough to sustain the business in its entirety? What aspects of your idea should be expanded upon in order to be more relatable and usable to the general public? You also want to think about how you’re going to market yourself and sell your product; obviously this all depends on the specifics of your idea.

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Will it be exclusively online or do you want a storefront to start off? Either way, definitely make a professional website for the business to make it easily accessible to anyone. Additionally, having an online presence can include making your business multiple social media accounts; this way, your business is more likely to reach that broader audience you need. 

Before you dive fully into your idea, it’s good to get some honest feedback, validation, and tips from others on how you plan on running your business  and the product itself. Create focus groups or online forum boards in which you can present your idea to friends, family members, or even complete strangers. Consumer feedback is so important, especially when it comes to a business that you’re starting from the ground up. Your audience is your customers, so it’s important to appease to their wants.

Once you have your feedback, it’s time to take this coffee table idea you made with your drinking buddies and turn it into a reality. Running a business is no easy feat, so take your time to make sure you’re jumping through all the right hoops and crossing your T’s and dotting your I’s. Believe in your idea and have some faith that you will be able to retire early on a beach in Miami when the business finally does take off. Robert Herjavec, star investor on the show Shark Tank, recently gave Business Insider some of the best advice he’s received regarding starting a business:

“You have to have a senseless belief in your idea and yourself—almost to the point of being delusional. Remember that everyone has advice, but no one knows what you have to go through to start, grow and scale a business until they live it. Talk is cheap, but action speaks volumes.”