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I'm a firm believer in the power of trailers and am one of those people who feel cheated when I don't get to see them, BUT----How many are too many? We got 10 trailers in with The Perfect Storm and 9 with Patriot and then today 7 came in with the X-Men and that's in addition to what was attached to film. We talking 20-25 minutes here. I really think that even would get pretty antsy sitting through that many while waiting for my film to start. What does everyone else think?

Two is plenty for me. If I were watching a movie, my time is valuable and I don't want to waste it on a bunch of trailers. Many of our customers at the Skyline drivein (Shelton, Wash.) prefer NO trailers at all. We don't normally show trailers.

Our maximum is 3 if we can get them. We are a small art house and trailers are't as plentiful as in a regular plex.

Ken, I would revel in running trailers between features at a drive-in. Also, what do you run untill it is dark enough? That is when they used to run cartoons.

Ouch Linda! 10 trailers in the can!@ Now I know why it's so danged hard to get a trailer! We have to fight, wheedle, beg, back order, and steal trailers. IE. NO attached trailer ever leaves our booth! It's an ongoing struggle.

At our theatre we set a 10 minute of trailers limit. Usually that means 3-4 and 4 is max in any event.

It's a factoid that trailers are the #1 way to promote a film. Who best to market to than a. people who go to the movies b. people who come to your theatre. Show trailers!

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Mike Hurley
www.bigscreenbiz.com

As an avid movie goer I'd like to go on record as saying I don't mind the trailers because sometimes they draw me to veiw movies I wouldn't normally go to see. What bothers me are the trailers I keep seeing over and over again. That's when I get antsy and feel that time is wasting.

If we have a huge number of trailers, we put the closest play date titles closest to the feature. We make sure the feature isn't more than a few minutes later than advertised starting time and we start rolling the trailers as early as we need to to get that starting time. Gives people something to look at as they are seated. Those who dislike trailers are not spending "movie time" watching them.

For the record, I didn't play all those trailers. I felt that it was just too many.
I chose the ones we were most likely to play and sat the others on the shelf. I think I put a total of 5 on each film
I have heard that other theaters do what Avalon says they do. My problem is reconciling film running time with trailer length. I don't always have enough time scheduled between shows to add too many trailers. Avalon: What do you do about house lights. It seems to me that a lot of people would have to be finding seats in the dark, or do you keep house lights up a little?
Mike: What you said about not being able to get trailers, blows My mind. From some film companies, I sometimes get 4 or 5of the same film. More than we ever use. I often feel bad that I send them back unused. Let me know what you need and I can send it to you if I have it. Although we don't play many (any) art films. Most of ours are first run. I can't understand this at all, because with the exception of Fox, Paramount, Warners & sometimes Disney, they don't seem to want them back.

You can't beieve what smaller theatres go through trying to get trailers. In part because the exhibitor relations people send multiple copies like crazy out to every plex so there's almost nothing left for indies! If I told you in depth what dealing with Technicolor was like you'd think you were in a Kafka play meeting the insane asylum! Enjoy those trailers! Mike

and you think it's difficult getting trailers for iddie first runs, just think what it's like for us 2nd runs. I get almost NO trailers anylonger. I'm lucky that my tech man services one of the major chains in the region and he picks up boxes of them for me.

Now it's starting to become difficult to get one sheets. Many are out, and when I can get them, they often limit us to only one. Fox and Warners are the biggest problem.

Just a thought: If you need a trailer, and the movie companies won't help, why not post what you need here? Film can be mailed for book rate -- that's about a buck to anywhere in the lower 48 for a regular sized trailer. i know i should have my own coffee cup at the post office, since i spend so much time there, so it would be nothing to drop another package on the counter. Reciever sends postage back to sender, or promises to return trailer after run. I swap with some local art houses for ad stuff and we just return when we're done, if they want it back. Beats the hell outta dealing with the movie reps that keep telling you it's back-ordered when you know they're just putting you off until they tell you they're all gone.

Linda:
In repsonse to your question: We bring house lights down to about half. Still lots of visabilty -- both of the floor and the screen. mind you, i'm running 900watts at a 40 foot throw. when we get close to show time -- or a trailer from the feature, house light go down and i leave on the "late-comer lights" (i have coloured bulbs and illuminated palm tress that offer enough light to navigate by, but don't reflect onto the screen. stop laughing) until the opening credits hit the screen. then down to the ailse lights which are the least the fire department would let me get by with.

Can we do that with one sheets as well?

Does anyone out there have a one sheet for "Where The Heart Is". Fox is out! I would need it for Fiday July 21st.

Why do I want to play this picture you may ask. Believe it or not, I do well with this sort of product. As an example..."Return to Me" which didn't break any records anywhere, did very well for me, almost equal to "Mission Impossible 2".

My patrons for the most part are as old as my theatre, and they love that stuff. (The theatre, the patrons, and the owner all have something in common!)

Hi Roxy:
I don't know for sure but I might have one sheets for "Where The Heart Is" It's one I thought we would play, then didn't so they would be in good shape. That's one of the problems with one sheets- With the sun fading and water sneaking in on them, they aren't always in the best condition when we are through with them. Anyway, when I get to theater, I will check and get back to you.

We operate a twin sub run dollar fifty house and are buying a triple in metro Atlanta, GA.
To us the trailers are second in importance to the telephone recording. If it is a short kiddie film a maximum of six would be ok but I like to show 5 tops. We use a film dater that says Coming Attractions are next you still have time to visit the concession and it works very well.
Don

Colour me stupid: But, what's a film dater, Blackwell Theater?