Am I crazy? Multi use venue in the UK.

[Mike Connell]

Soo… Am I crazy? The wife and I have always talked about doing a business together. She had an AMAZING bakery cafe which so very nearly survived Covid, and I’ve done some retail stuff previously. She’s still got an itch to scratch with her food/ beverage (she’s genuinely an amazing baker/chef) and for some years I’ve thought that there was a gap for gen x to go and enjoy an arcade, a good movie and just hang out amongst our people. We’re in the process of working out how it all comes together - great coffee, cakes, brunches, arcade/pinball, board games, ttrpg (maybe), small boutique cinema space - all possibly working in separate day/night time economy modes. To the point where I’m starting to gather stock and get skilled up about “my side” of the business and I might pull the trigger this weekend on some budget commercial cinema kit to start learning the ropes (30 years in AV/IT puts me in good stead). Looking at it objectively is hard, but as one of the target audiences, is this an attractive prospect in theory? Am I too close to it and see it as the kind of dream place for me, but I’m too niche?

[Ryan Gallagher]

From a US perspective: A gaming oriented cafe/bakery on its own merits certainly feels workable, the boutique screening room maybe more of a gamble, it depends on intended use and costs.

Personally, I would definitely lean into a first version being that the room with the screen is primarily an event space, gaming on the big screen, cosplay events, micro-conferences, “private” screening events of blueray or stream content, etc. if the cinema is somewhat “open” in its floor plan to the rest of the space, an extension of the cafe seating perhaps, the film playing can just be considered atmosphere. Perhaps there is a movable partition so that it can be either mode?

As a ticketed cinema it gets more complicated, especially if you have any desire to show DCI content or new release films. Maybe that is a layer that could be added later if the rest is working out well financially? If that is your eventual desire plan the construction phase around it, but maybe save the DCI cinema equipment for later. That said there is plenty of used 2k DCI stuff on the market, so maybe DCI costs don’t have to be crazy. But those DCP films are still pretty expensive to get from distribution, back catalog or otherwise.

The arcade draw would depend on quality, there is a huge pinball arcade in Austin that does well.

As a smaller effort on all fronts, would probably depend how well all the offerings mesh.

As long as the food and coffee is good, the rest may not matter. I remember fondly an amazing heavy metal themed bakery in Berlin, and I don’t even enjoy such music too much.

My responses also heavily depend on the size of the space you are considering. I was picturing the smaller end of the spectrum.

[Ryan Gallagher]

A pretty simple add to make any cafe more games oriented would be a fleet of Nintendo Switches and/or Steam compatible handheld gaming consoles that could be checked out, or maybe are just permanently tethered to the cafe tables. You'd have to trust your customers though, the street value is perhaps too tempting.

[Mike Connell]

Thanks Ryan. The DCI element isn’t necessary, I admit, but there’s a chance of getting a dismantled dci cinema for an extremely good price including an nc900, dp750, show vault, amps and speakers. I admit it’ll be a learning curve as I then have to service and reconfigure it all, but that’s part of the attraction to me.

For the cinema, I’m thinking more special events movies (The Bikeriders, and invite the local HD club, LOTR, Crow, etc) rather than bang up to date titles when the theatre will probably only hold 60-80 at best. The “usual” movies Will be lower down the food chain releases targeted at more my generation and up (recent example The Ballad of Wallis Island) and potentially combine with meals like the excellent Red Carpet Cinema here in the UK.

But you're right - there is a gamer element I might be able to lean into The arcade is kinda central to my vision as I have such strong memories of it as a younger man. The right layout, the right music and lighting and it should give my target audience the nostalgic hit so many of us are now after… I’m not sure it needs to be massive either. A pinball or two, a shooter (point blank is the obvious one), an active like guitar hero, a driver (out run if I can afford it!) and a run of four Jamma cabs which I can rotate games to keep things fresh and it should be enough.

[Randy Stankey]

I often think about having a bar or a restaurant that shows movies. There are plenty of examples of theaters that sell food and beer but they put the movies first and food service second. My idea is to put the food first and have the movies as atmosphere.

In my idea, you set up the service area mostly like normal except that, off to one side, there is a seating area for people who want to watch a movie serious-like but people who want to sit at the tables and eat or who sit at the bar can see the movies, too. There would be an "auxiliary" sound system, throughout the building so that people can hear the show. You could, possibly, have individual volume controls at each table so that people can adjust the sound level to their preference.

It doesn't, necessarily, have to be a bar or a full-fledged restaurant. It could be a coffee shop or a cafe. It depends on what kind of business you want to have.

It doesn't, necessarily, have to be full-time movies, either. You could show sports or, if you want to get a satellite system, show special event programming, too.

I don't think that a movie theater/restaurant/bar is an original idea but my ideas are more of a refinement of the concept.

I also like the idea of a pinball arcade! If there was a restaurant/bar that showed movies and had a pinball arcade in my town, I'd certainly go check it out!

If you want to set the theater area up with a platform stage and a basic light/sound system, you could have other events, too. You could host bands, or even put on a standup comedy night.

[Frank Cox]

Be sure you check out the costs for licensing before getting too far into it. Depending on your goals, licensing could end up being a really major expense.

Public performance rights for music: licensing for playing a recordings is different from the licensing for playing a live performance and you may need to pay for both.

Video games: genuine arcade games are generally licensed for public use and display, but you'll have to be careful to avoid bootlegs (mame, etc) and those are far more common these days than the real thing.

Movies: You'll need to pay the movie companies for showing their movies, and I don't know how that would work if you're not selling tickets. Flat rate royalty payments will limit you to older material but that may or may not be an issue for you.

[Randy Stankey]

I don't know... Could you add a $1 or $2 cover charge, per person? Are dollar movies even still a thing?

As far as I understand, if you buy, rent or otherwise "legally possess" an arcade game or pinball machine you can "let it out" for public use, provided you don't alter it from its original form.

In other words, you can have a Pac-Man game and let other people play it but you can't copy the software/programming to something else like a computer or a generic arcade machine without permission from the original maker. Like Franks says, the genuine, original is okay but bootlegs are out.

[Ryan Gallagher]

If it was popular enough you could get around most of the licensing issues by making it a club with annual membership, just charge people in the moment for food and bev. Back catalog film licensing usually has a flat cost, or a percentage, whichever is greater, or sometimes both… and then there are the add ons such as distribution fees or shipping for DCPs. But a business concept like these does not feel like it has a lot to gain with DCPs versus just playing a bluray or streaming something. It really depends how “cinema like” the experience is or not,

[Mike Connell]

I think I need the option for dcp there, as yes, I want it to be the “full” cinema experience.

Well, I pulled the trigger. Assuming it’s not a massive scam I need to go and pick a cinema up sometime this week and I’ll see what I’ve got to deal with. Brace yourselves for newbie questions…