When will movies be available?

Sonny Gourley- Marcus Theaters says at the beginning of July. Tenet is aiming for a July 17th release. Mulan is set for July 24th. Movie theaters need to be open by then. Do know that studios are rooting for the opening of theaters.

What happens if a world wide launch cannot happen? ie LA does not open? there are plenty of classics to play ie Harry Potter, Avengers etc.

Do customers expect a cheaper movie? perhaps a lower ticket price for library movies. is dynamic pricing worth entertaining? some feel decreased pricing devalues the product.

With fewer seats to sell, how do you determine the success for a tent pole movie? movies will have a longer showing time

Movie Release Predictions: Paul Dergarabedian of ComScore

July : 17th Tenet | 24th Mulan

August:  7th  Spongebob Movie | 14th Wonder Woman 1984 + The One and Only Ivan | 28th The Hitman’s Bodyguard 2

September: 4th A Quiet Place Part II | 4th The Beatles: Get Back | 11th The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It | 18th The King’s Man | 25th Candyman and The Trial of Chicago 7 |

October: 2nd Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse | 9th The Witches | 16th Halloween Kills | 23rd Snake Eyes + Everybody’s Talking About Jamie  and Lord and Miller Connected

November: 6th Black Widow | 13th Clifford the Big Red Dog | 20th Soul  and Godzilla vs Kong | 25th No Time to Die

December: 11th Free Guy | 18th Dune, Coming to America Sequel, West Side Story | 23rd The Croods 2  and Top Gun Maverick | 25th The Last Duel

View the presentation at https://bit.ly/cinemainfluxwebinar3

Thinking reactively and proactively across social media during COVID for Cinemas: With doors closed, Social Media is one of the most important communication platforms to connect with moviegoers during this time. A key tool at your disposal to connect, engage, communicate, promote, and lastly drive customers back to theaters. During this LIVE session, we will talk about:

1. What are the top social media for each demographic and which content works best for each

2. Creating and advocating for an approachable style of language that best communicates your mission externally

3. We will have a panel discussion with exhibitors about their communication strategy during COVID.

You MUST watch this reply. This is by far one of the BEST webinars I have sat in over the past 6 weeks. The speakers were extremely articulate and provided worthwhile information and tools that everyone can use.

https://app.livestorm.co/the-boxoffice-company/boxoffice-live-session-social-media-marketing-in-the-time-of-corona/live?email=amy%40venue-valet.com&key=1807&s=f58ec525-8c76-4992-9051-c4f2edce97b5

Social Media- new one coming out is Vero.

Make sure you position your brand. Know what is being said about you on social media, make sure you are following influencers as well as hashtags.

Facebook: monthly active audience of 2.5 billion. daily is 1.6 billion. 68 % adults report using it. 75% women vs. 63% men. 30+ year old age group. 46% 65years and older. there is a negative connotation with young people. 80% watch videos with the sound off.  when you use, create engagement polls.

Instagram: owned by Facebook.  Lifestyle blogger. Driven by photos. You need themed content to stand out.

Twitter: monthly 300 million. 40% engage multiple times per day.  49 million use monthly. Real time news. Users expect to read bite size content. Target is males 30-60 years old. Discussions occur.

TikTok: New Kid on the Block. 800 million users. 315 million downloads Q1 of 2020. Teens 13-24 years old. Must have feel good content. Short form video, catchy and comedic. Non sensical. Pure entertainment.

2 metrics with social media: # of followers and interactions with your posts.

Drivers of engagement: tone- tune into platform being used, post frequency, ask questions (more or less of), be discoverable, video is king.

Branding during COVID: digital engagement is key right now.

Create a proactive game plan: Intent, Transparency and Trust.

Proactive vs. Reactive: Evaluate efforts, Understand audience, Set realistic goals, Be present. People will be asking about contactless pay. Will you be ready for that?

Leading with intent: Establish brand voice, Craft thoughtful message, Set rules and standards, Anticipate needs.

Transparency: Be honest when no one speaks, explain business steps, don’t be shy, create clear communication paths + assets.

What are you about? have an FAQ page , provide an ask us a question page, formulate a game plan.

Trust will drive customers back to your business. Brand loyalty and word of mouth need to be preserved.

TREAM: Trust Rules Everything Around Me

Be creative. Peoples faces are the brand. Give employees recognition. Know the national days and incorporate (national super hero day etc. ).

Make sure you use the platforms that you are most familiar with ALOT. Then add in new ones to increase your reach.  Don’t worry about selling things right now.

Things to consider ahead of re-opening.

https://www.cinema-technology.com/post/covid-19-restart-things-to-consider-ahead-of-re-opening

Boxoffice Podcast

The following speakers were on the CJ Cinema Summit webinar on April 24th. Clifford Marks: Cinemedia, Kathryn Jacob: Pearl + Dean, Katy Long: Screen Vision, Peter Fronstam: Svensky Bio and Stefan Kuhlow: Weischer Cinemas Deutschland.

The opening will be slow. Alamo will do a slow roll out.

Sony is not manufacturing or selling new projectors.

All trade publications are losing advertisers. But, you should keep advertising going. Advertising companies are keeping the lines of communication open. They did a pole and ask customers about returning. 73% ( poll by NCM Americas Movie Network) will return. This is very optimistic.  Don’t be shy about asking people to support businesses.

Show customers content and get customers comfortable with the new seating arrangements. Gain their confidence. #powerofthebigscreen.

go to community.cjcinemasummit.com for full recap.

Thanks to everyone who came to Cheers + Chat on Tuesday the 21st. Our apologies for it not being as technically seamless as we would have liked. Cisco Webex must have been enjoying happy hour as well. We were happy to hear that Roadhouse + Nexus (Bama) received their checks! We certainly hope that many more of you were able to receive some money. Jim Cooke (Canada) is still stuck in the Phillipines on holiday (#freejimcooke) 🙂 We spoke about the never ending topic of businesses opening and what is associated with that, associations, business interruption insurance and forming a Dine In Cinema Alliance. If you are a member of ICA, there is a call on Friday the 24th at 3pm. This sounds like it is worth your time to attend.

Side note, since we know many are on via their telephone, we are not able to see who is on the call. Surely you don’t want to hear the same people over- and over- and over again. Remember, we gather, collaborate and inspire- not dictate (many other industries are doing that much better than we can). We want to see your pretty grey hair, grizzly beard and dark circles! This happy hour is best when we are able to have contributions from everyone. That is how we roll! Next Tuesday, video it up and join the convo!

Here is the recording of the meeting:

Have a great week and we look forward to seeing you next Tuesday!

If you missed the April 8, 2020 Cheers + Chat Happy Hour, Enjoy:)

With no movies to show, how can exhibitors communicate, promote and position themselves to stay top-of-mind with their audiences?

1. What opportunities exist for exhibitors to engage with their audiences?
2. Is there a focus on generating revenue and if yes, how?

Watch and enjoy the conversation:)

https://my.demio.com/recording/KvjpjKa6

Don’t forget to purchase your “Netflix Now, Cinemas Forever” merch!

https://cinema-in-flux.myshopify.com/

Enjoy the 5th CJ Cinema Summit if you did not have a chance to hear it or would like to refresh your memory. A special thank you to Jan Runge of ICTA, Wim Buyens of Cinionic and Brian Claypool of Christie Digital for their comments and presentations.

https://video.filmgrail.com/cjcinemasummit-16042020-1?utm_source=CJCinemaSummit+signups&utm_campaign=07ec4de5ec-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_04_17_08_38&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_609d3d4b20-07ec4de5ec-407900017

Amy’s Notes

Middle of July- Car Cinemas might be opening

CineEurope is set for August 3-6th. June 19th will be their confirmation date to make changes.

When Cinemas open, the landscape will change. It will come back strongly and new training programs will need to be in place.

New construction of theaters will continue. China is coming back right now. Drive in market will depend on the local requirements. The problem is PLF retrofit- impacts financials.

From Christie Digital- series 1 projectors will be covered under warranty. Christie is looking to provide safety issues but not focused on sanitization with their resources at the this moment.

May 28th there is an online forum regarding what will be coming out product wise. Content is king in the movie industry. Helpful Christie resources: Training@christiedigital.com and protect@christiedigital.com.

BoxOffice Pro- Live April 14th session has been turned into a podcast. Enjoy!

Thanks again for joining our Boxoffice Pro Live Session with UNIC last Tuesday.

We have turned this session into an of the Boxoffice Podcast in which we breakdown conversations with Phil Clapp, Laura Houlgate and Jaime Tarrazon.

Our hosts Daniel Loria, Russ Fischer, and Rebecca Pahle analyze what the next months have in store for the movie business around the world and how cinemas can prepare. Listen now for cinema insight from experts in your industry!

Boxoffice Podcast

CineEurope date has tentatively moved to August 3rd- 6th. In June, they will make the final decision.

Dolby has created training videos since most technical people have been furloughed. Please forward to your technical people.

cinemasupport@dolby.com to ask questions and training videos are at customer.dolby.com.

UNIC website has new initiatives  listed to benefit theaters.

https://www.unic-cinemas.org/en/news/news-blog/detail/joint-film-and-audiovisual-sector-covid-19-statement/

Italy to reopen with restrictions or will wait until there is a total passing.

Every country will be at a different stage and now you should be focusing on how to recover.

Should a best practices guide be created for the industry? regionally?

NATO- everything is being discussed and there will be gradual openings.

Wide releases will be in July- Chris Nolan’s movie “The Tennant” is at the top of the release list.

Lionsgate has partnered with Fandango and celebrities to have watch parties.

What does the back to cinema strategy look like? major needs are content and make customers feel safe.

Helpful Links:

https://www.digitaltveurope.com/2020/04/14/bein-media-launches-cinema-replacement-tvod-service/

https://www.moviestogether.org

Upcoming Theatrical Exhibition Industry Webinars [Updated 4/14]

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