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» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Ground Level   » UK's easyCinema to test low-cost cinema concept from MAY (Page 1)

 
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Author Topic: UK's easyCinema to test low-cost cinema concept from MAY
David Woodrow
Film Handler

Posts: 9
From: Stevenage, Herts, England
Registered: Jan 2003

- posted 04-07-2003 07:25 AM      Profile for David Woodrow   Email David Woodrow   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
from Screendaily:
UK's easyCinema to test low-cost cinema concept

Ending months of speculation, the UK's easyCinema has leased the first site in the roll-out of its innovative low cost cinema concept: UCI's 10-screen multiplex, The Point in Milton Keynes.

EasyCinema, part of Greek entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou's no-frills empire easyGroup, will sell tickets for as low as 20p if booked a month in advance, applying the company's yield management pricing structure used in businesses ranging from car rentals to plane tickets. Prices will rise nearer showtime.

The Point, which will start showing films at the end of May this year, will have no box office: tickets will be sold online at www.easycinema.com, and there will be a computer to purchase tickets in the lobby. Savings will be made by reduced staff numbers.

In a statement, the venture is described by easyCinema as a controlled experiment: "The lessons learned in Milton Keynes will prepare easyCinema for further expansion in the UK and Europe."

Although an historic cinema in the exhibition industry - The Point was the first UK multiplex to open in 1985 - at 18 years old the site is showing its age and faces competition from a 16-screen CineWorld multiplex nearby. EasyCinema has a five year lease on the site, and a marketing budget of £300,000 for the first three months.

"I've made many mistakes in other industries by rolling things out too fast," Stelios Haji-Ioannou told the Financial Times, "so I'm going to sit on my hands for six months to a year before I try another cinema."

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

- posted 04-07-2003 07:48 AM      Profile for Leo Enticknap   Author's Homepage   Email Leo Enticknap   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I can't see the very cheap tickets element of this having any impact whatsoever: presumably the 20p tickets will be for the weekday matinee shows, which are normally attended mainly by older people, unemployeds and tourists (all of whom are unlikely to have access to the Internet in order to book these tickets in the first place).

Assuming that peak Friday and Saturday evening seats are going to go for around the same price as in any other multiplex in that area, he might be able to slice a bit off his overheads by having fewer staff, though. There again, that kind of operation usually makes a lot of its profit through concession sales. If his bare minimum staffing model means less kiosks and the like, it seems to me as if he's shooting himself in the foot.

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Michael Harlow
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 170
From: Faversham, Kent, UK
Registered: Jul 2002

- posted 04-07-2003 10:00 AM      Profile for Michael Harlow   Email Michael Harlow   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I can just imagine Warner Bros or Entertainment letting him have films for 20p a ticket. The distributors have always given me the impression that they want as much as they can out of my box office - some films charged @ 65%. 65% of 20p = 0.13p. Like i say, i'm sure the distributors will be stacking up to put their films in there!

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Thomas Procyk
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1842
From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

- posted 04-07-2003 11:33 AM      Profile for Thomas Procyk   Email Thomas Procyk   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Here's an interesting idea:

Open a theater with only internet ticketing like this guy = no box office staff. Have all the popcorn, candy and drinks sold from vending machines = no concession staff. Have automatic timers on all of the projectors = no projection staff. Cleaning auditoriums, threading, building prints, and general maintenance could be done by one or two people -- the management -- since there are no drawers to count or deposits to make. BRILLIANT! [Big Grin]

=TMP=

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Darren Briggs
Master Film Handler

Posts: 371
From: York, UK
Registered: Dec 2001

- posted 04-07-2003 03:45 PM      Profile for Darren Briggs   Author's Homepage   Email Darren Briggs   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Hope it does well. NOT!

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

- posted 04-08-2003 07:03 AM      Profile for Leo Enticknap   Author's Homepage   Email Leo Enticknap   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
I can just imagine Warner Bros or Entertainment letting him have films for 20p a ticket.
I'd guess that one of two things is happening here: either he's paying full whack for the print rentals but running 20p weekday matinees as a loss leader, or he's done a deal whereby they're letting him have the booking on preferential terms for the matinee shows only. I, too, can't imagine Warners letting him show films for 20p a ticket in the evenings and weekends, but for the dead weekday shows that are doing well to attract 5-10 customers, they've got nothing to lose.

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Michael Harlow
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 170
From: Faversham, Kent, UK
Registered: Jul 2002

- posted 04-08-2003 10:17 AM      Profile for Michael Harlow   Email Michael Harlow   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Leo,

agreed, I can see where you are coming from on this..

I will be interesting to watch and see what happens

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Bernard Tonks
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 619
From: Cranleigh, Surrey, England
Registered: Apr 2001

- posted 05-01-2003 05:43 PM      Profile for Bernard Tonks   Email Bernard Tonks   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The end of rip-off cinema is nigh!!

A message from Stelios [Smile]

Dear friends,

I have chosen Milton Keynes to launch my latest venture, easyCinema.com.

You will find all the values you would expect from the easy brand applied to the business of movie theatres in order to make going to the pictures as affordable as possible.
Here are the rules to get the best value for money:

1. Book early to pay less. Buy online using your credit card at easyCinema.com. There is NO box office at easyCinema.

2. Be flexible. Off peak shows (e.g. Monday afternoon) will be cheaper than peak time shows (e.g. Saturday night).

3. I have removed unnecessary frills like popcorn which is a huge rip-off at other cinemas. That way it is cheaper for you and it costs us less to keep the place clean. [Razz]

Stelios
Founder and Chairman of easyCinema.com

www.easycinema.com

Full story: BBC News

Milton Keynes also has a Cineworld 16 screens multiplex.

[ 05-23-2003, 06:48 PM: Message edited by: Bernard Tonks ]

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Bill Gabel
Film God

Posts: 3873
From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA
Registered: Jan 2002

- posted 05-01-2003 06:15 PM      Profile for Bill Gabel   Email Bill Gabel   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The idea of cutting labor at theatres goes back to the 30's.
In Hollywood famed theatre architect S. Charles Lee designed
a prototype theatre for a former president of Fox West Coast
Theatres and was going to be bankrolled by Howard Hughes.
The Studio Theatre was a prototype of what they called the automatic theatre. It was to be manned by a cashier and a
projectionist and a manager. The Studio Theatre opened July 31, 1931, at a cost of $12,000 dollars. S. Charles Lee had a store
remodeled into a 303 seat Art-Deco Theatre. This theatre operated till around 1981/2 as the SRO Holly. Yes, It was only 303 seats but if the plan worked they could build a whole chain of these theatres. The theatre worked but the chain never happened.

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Ian Price
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1714
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 05-01-2003 08:22 PM      Profile for Ian Price   Email Ian Price   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Heck, I always have Mondays off. I'd just buy a ticket for every Monday whether I went to the movies our not.

But I'm not going there, because they don't have popcorn! [Mad]

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Jack Ondracek
Film God

Posts: 2348
From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002

- posted 05-01-2003 10:21 PM      Profile for Jack Ondracek   Author's Homepage   Email Jack Ondracek   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I would be interested to know what differences (if any) exist between European and American master licenses.

According to my read, we can charge what we want, as long as we meet the studios' per-capita requirements. Heck, I guess we could charge less, if we wanted to make up the difference out of our wallets [thumbsdown]

What seems fishy to me is that the studios want to know what your established admission prices are for a given time-of-day. As far as I know, there's no provision for lowering the price the farther out from the purchase you get. At showtime, you'd have a group of customers, each of whom could have paid a different admission price.

If I guess the studios corrrectly, they'd be inclined to take the highest admission paid, and apply it to everyone attending that showtime. I think it may even be written that way... which would make the "rent-a-car" version of ticket purchasing a bit out of sorts with the powers-that-be.

On a slightly related subject... what ever happened to that program one of the chains came up with that would allow you to pay a monthly fee for unlimited attendance? I never heard how that worked out.

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Bernard Tonks
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 619
From: Cranleigh, Surrey, England
Registered: Apr 2001

- posted 05-02-2003 03:45 AM      Profile for Bernard Tonks   Email Bernard Tonks   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Jack, In answer to your question.

U G C Cinemas (UK)

We are delighted to be the only cinema company in the
UK that offers you Unlimited Cinema!

A unique cinema subscription card allows you to take
advantage of the massive choice of films on offer -
from as little as £9.99 per month!
(minimum subscription 12 months)

The UGC Unlimited card enables you to see as many films as
you like each month on any day and at any time and it's valid at
all UGC Cinemas across the UK and Ireland so even if you're
away from home, you can catch all the latest films as well as
seeing them at your local UGC.

Not only is the card fantastic value for money but it also means that you will get a range of additional benefits like invitations to special UGC screenings and offers for your friends to enjoy!

So what are you waiting for?

If you're not already a card holder,
get down to your local UGC cinema and sign up now!

www.ugccinemas.co.uk

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Dave Hall
Film Handler

Posts: 16
From: Watford, UK
Registered: Jan 2003

- posted 05-02-2003 08:18 PM      Profile for Dave Hall   Email Dave Hall   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Does this mean all the auditoriums will be bright orange? [puke]

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

- posted 05-12-2003 07:15 AM      Profile for John Pytlak   Author's Homepage   Email John Pytlak   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
From ScreenDaily:

http://www.screendaily.com/story.asp?storyid=12266

quote:
The UK's controversial easyCinema venture - which will sell tickets for as low as £0.20 and have no concessions stand or box office - has secured four titles from Pathe for the opening of its first cinema in Milton Keynes on May 23.

But the company is now planning to meet with the UK's anti-competition body the Office of Fair Trading to discuss the difficulties it has experienced in securing films from the major studio distributors in the UK.

"They won't talk business," James Rothnie, easyGroup's director of corporate affairs told Screendaily. "All of the major distributors are refusing to talk money. It's just stonewalling. They won't make us an offer: we keep contacting them to specify films and to make offers of cash in advance...(see link for complete article).

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Michael Harlow
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 170
From: Faversham, Kent, UK
Registered: Jul 2002

- posted 05-12-2003 11:52 AM      Profile for Michael Harlow   Email Michael Harlow   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Oh dear! Stelios wotsaname has just found out what the UK distributors are like !

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