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I received this letter....

Do you have the balls to play 2016?, I didn't think so. Your man in the Whitehouse is sacred and cant stand the exposure. At least you think you are playing to your audience. Too bad you don't have the guts to show the truth about this radical communist president's agenda. You will gleefully play Michael Moore's lies without compulsion and Al Gores fantasies, but when it comes to something you don't like, you hide behind your ticket booth. Too bad. Let history be the judge. I will boycott you unless you step up to the plate. I have been a customer since you re-opened the place. Not everyone that attends your theater is a flaming liberal "progressive". I don't expect a response, so save your time.

How would you respond?

Teabaggers, the country would be boring without them...
Anyway, if you did in fact show Moores and Gores movies- swallow the pill and show this one too. It's not that we are crowded with money making product at the moment.
If you didn't show the movies, thank him for his constructive criticism, his balanced views and his past business and tell him you don't do documentaries (that's what works for me).
Jay

Probably some truth in that letter ( sorry Mike).

One could say his tone is out of line .

I don't show documentaries, so therefore I never ran any of those that had a liberal slant, and I won't be showing this one with a conservative slant.

I must admit that I have had a lot more people ask if I will be playing this one, then I did with any of Michael Moores films, but I was just telling them that I'm in the entertainment business and don't play political propaganda films on either side. However, now I don't even need to say that since I learned from Mike's post here that it is only available in digital. That makes it so much easier. I just tell people that I can't play it because I can't play digital.

I did not choose "not to show the movie" and so what about the fact that I have similar feelings with a majority of my countrymen. That fact does not mean that a jerk can write an insulting letter anytime he feels. We have showed all kinds of Christian and any danged film that people will buy tickets to.

I guess we shall see soon enough if you feel the same as your country men.

Regardless the letter was inappropriate .

In a hotly debated topic on the forums in 2006 regarding the controversial movie, "Brokeback Mountain", Mike once said:

And now you are still saying much the same thing, that you show "any danged film that people will buy tickets to."

I think you have provided the answer to your own question of how you should respond. You respond with a legitimate business reason why you will or will not be showing this movie. It will sell tickets, or it won't sell tickets. If your reason has anything to do with the political slant of the movie, then you might be kidding yourself when you say you will play "any danged film that people will buy tickets to." If you have played movies with an opposite political slant when you didn't believe they would sell tickets, then that would also be a reason to re-examine your own motives.

I have no doubt that you will do as you have always said and show what sells tickets.

Rule #1 ---- I never censor any films.....

Mike,

I see you or someone posted the following on facebook "Obama 2016. Thanks for all the spirited discussion. Last time I checked with the distributor there was a minimum 10,000.00 fee to book the picture. Once that fee goes away we'll play the film for one week. It is playing in larger towns like Rockland, Bangor, etc. if you cannot wait."

A $10k guarantee? You need to get a new booker. I know a couple of theaters playing this and they would never agree to a $10k guarantee.

Slap, your thoughts on the $10k fee mentioned?

No one asked me for a 10 k guarantee --- if they had you know what i would have told them

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lol

I never ever pay guarantees

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If your picture is strong enough

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you would not ask !

On the websites for films like this (Fireproof, as another example) it tells people that theaters need to be able to guarantee X amount to book the film. I thought that was the truth during Fireproof, and was surprised when my booker booked it for us like any other film. Why do the movie sites even say that if it's not true? To drum up demand I guess..

My booker has been trying to book this title for us since Wednesday and they have not responded to emails or phone calls. I have heard they are balking at paying a VPF for it, too. I'll try again on Monday but if it doesn't work out then to hell with 'em. It comes out on video in the middle of next month so I think it's best days are behind it anyway.

I posted that letter to me on Facebook and the place went nuts. Finally had to delete it when we hit 100 responses. Really was bad. Facts are this: we are a general sort of theatre. We are not operating in the shadow of a multi plex. So our customers come from everywhere with every sort of political leaning. Lefties and right wingers agree: they like to see Batman. They are hard left and hard right and everything off the scale in all directions. While we'll play it, if we can get it without an advance, my question to the paranoid right out there has been... "So .. if you owned the theatre would you play Michael Moore?" Love it.

Mike,

Did you seek info about booking the movie before you posted to the public that the fee to get it was $10k?

Did you play any of the Moore movies? Gore?

Can anyone verify they were told that there was a $10k guarantee? Or a $5k guarantee?

I have always believed you have to be honest with your customers. The two theater owners that I know well that have played it did not have to pay any guarantee. One receives a VPF and one does not. Both theaters gross less than you (based on an earlier post where you mentioned how many people come to your theater each year). Both plays mostly mainstream titles.

I see you posted the following on facebook but you failed to mentioned the VPF you are getting. "When we mentioned that Obama 2016 was demanding a 10,000.00 guarantee of ticket sales people asked: "What is a typical fee for a movie?" We generally get movies by agreeing on a % basis of the gross ticket sales. It can be a straight 35% up to as high as 70% of the price you pay for a ticket. Or it can vary from week to week. So if we take a NEW film it will go like this: 70-60-50-50 (best week pays 70%, next best week pays 60%, and so on?
We almost never pay an ADVANCE (money sent in advance of a film play date) unless it is a film like Twilight where they are trying to put huge amounts of money into advertising. If you ask 5000 theatres for 1000.00 each in advance that's 5 million bucks and that does happen but rarely: once or twice a year. The Passion of Christ was a small company with a big film and they demanded 5000.00 in advance and got it from us.
We sometimes pay a GUARANTEE in which we guarantee that X film will pay Y amount of film rental. This is what Obama 2016 was essentially saying by demanding a 10K gross ticket sale or a +/- 5000.00 minimum film rental. But the guarantees are generally far far far lower. Recently a theatre I work with in Texas wanted to open Expendables 2 and they are a small town, the film company did not feel it was worth them making a print, they asked for a 2000.00 guarantee film rental and the theatre agreed to do it because they wanted the print.
The 10K GUARANTEE for Obama 2016 was clearly designed for it to end up only in the highest grossing theatres and it worked."