Welcome to BigScreenBiz.com

One of most frustrating things about this business is the studios lack for embracing modern forms of communication. For example, none of them offer any sort of exhibitor website to login to check booking confirmations, pay your film rental, etc.

One studio rep says that they can't do business (whatever that means) by email. Kinda of feel like I am drug dealer on the HBO show "The Wire".

Does anyone know why?

Start Sarcasm-- It would probably cost them money to change the way they do business and as we all know the studios are starving and on the verge of shutting down! Thats why they HAVE to take 90% of box office revenue on new films, come on didnt you know that? They have been burning unsolicited scripts for heat this winter because there so broke! --End Sarcasm

this has been a frustration for me, too. The kinds of things that would be helpful over the internet would be very easy to do but I think there are a bunch of old schoolers running things in the studios and just don't realize what they could be gaining. Heck, they could even make it so a guy could book films over the net if they wanted to. but, at least a confirmation would be good and an easy form to report grosses by. The only companies I fax to anymore are movie studios. What a joke.

Why do theater owners like to say the studios take 90%....Pictures that we pay 90 % are so few and far between...The average theater in the usa pays over a year about 50% film rental...

Well at leat the promo departments ( some ) have websites for ordering.

We send our box-office reports by email now so we hardly ever use the fax machine. They tend to loose the eletronic ones as much as the hard copy ones though.

Slap,

It depends on the theatre, the feature, How long its been out, and how many tickets they sell. It is very likely that there are many theatres forced to pay 90% minus thier house allowance.

My previous employer on average paid 50-52% film cost, when averaged, throughout the year, based on first runs, subruns, and across different markets.

in the last year we had 1 90 % pay..With movies that have done big bsns>

If you want to avoid 90/10, take the aggregate deal. Those are not vs. 90/10.

I always take the aggregate deal!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, helvetica">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by dsschoenborn:
...we hardly ever use the fax machine.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

What's a fax machine? I think I heard my Grandpa tell stories about using one... or was that his 8-track player? I always get the two confused.

now i feel old..........All we use is fax for most everything......we have 2 computers but we still lots by fax!

In 1990 I had the first fax machine in Belfast. Courts, government, banks: would call and say: do you have a fax machine? Just 18 years ago. It's hard to believe. We still have a fax machine.

---

Michael Hurley
Impresario

I'm just replacing my old Panasonic with a new 5-in-1 machine mostly because I need a new drum for my printer and my old fax could give me better copy resolution. Looking forward to having a scanner now too, however I notice that they are still devoting shelf space to plain old fax only machines in the office supply stores. Not out of date yet.