Wednesday, October 15, 2008

"Welcome to ShowEast"

My friend sent me these blurry iPhone shots from ShowEast in Florida. He's in Orlando for another (unrelated) event and just happened to accidentally find himself trapped in the same prison (well that's how he described it) convention center as people in the biz. Naturally he thought of me...


He also sends the following note:
Overheard at ShowEast:
"Our market research shows audiences don't like pre-show advertisements, that they think they're too loud, too long.

So how can we make them more compelling to viewers?"
I love the paragraph break. Was there even a moment when execs considered getting rid of pre-show commercials, that bane of moviegoing that makes the whole theatrical experience as special as staying home in one's living room where one can actually fast forward commercials now? Of course not! But it is maddening that concession prices never fell over the years as ads became more and more ubiquitous. The justification on that $4 cup of soda was always "we have to make money somehow" but given the copious inhouse advertising you'd think that slightly carbonated cups of ice cubes could become more affordable. Listen to your customers? NEVER!

This one's even funnier
Exec 1: Iron Man had a really good story line. I think there may be a segment of the audience that appreciates that.

Exec 2: Maybe...
Hee.
*

6 comments:

NicksFlickPicks said...

The funny part is the idea that Iron Man had a really good storyline, right? In my world, that assertion justifies the skeptical "Maybe..."

NATHANIEL R said...

oh but there's more than one funny part. I'm guessing Exec 2 found out there wasn't a santa clause way too young.

Anonymous said...

it doesn't come through clearly in transcription, but the skeptical "maybe" was clearly more in response to the (possibly heretical) idea that any audience "segment" might really care about storyline.

Michael B. said...

I really don't care that there are advertisements. First of all, it makes the people not talk so when the trailers start they are silent and I can enjoy them. Second of all they keep the tickets cheaper than they would be if there were no advertisments, since $13 tickets is absurd.

NATHANIEL R said...

My point is that it will never be enough for them. The ticket price is more the studios problem than the theater owner anyway. The shorter the theatrical window the more problematic for the theater owner who gets less percentage of the ticket in the first weeks.

IT'S ALL HOLLYWOOD'S FAULT ;)

NicksFlickPicks said...

I got you, Boyfriend. I'm just being that jackass in the back of the room, shooting spitballs.