If Movie Theatres Were Honest | Honest Ads

What if were your local movie theatre was honest? Roger Horton investigates.

CAST:
Roger Horton: Jack Hunter
Man: Michael Strauss
Woman: Britt Migs

Director: Gabrielle Williott
Director of Photography: Rob Menzer
Producer: Gabrielle Williott
Writer: Michael Strauss
Associate Producer: Michael Strauss
Editor/Colorist: Rob Menzer
Sound: Max Mellman
Gaffer: Nathan Cohen
Camera Assistant: Rachel Mossberg
Production Assistant: Jesse Eisemann

#movies #movietheater #honestads

[mrsir]

This man needs some movie roles. Maybe a series or two.

He's a treasure.

[zorgonak]

This is like, 99% accurate. 😂😭 The only thing is that Millennials and Gen Z aren't going to think of their date as a "cheapskate" for choosing the "discount" ticket price or going light on the overpriced snacks. Like, you look *better* if your date sees you being frugal; means you aren't wasteful of the precious little money we both know we both have.

[ProductBasement]

I worked at a movie theater for a year, and yeah, this is all 100% correct. A large popcorn, the most popular size, was $10.50, and that was in 2008

[Gamer]

It's worth noting that from working in fast food, I know that those drinks literally cost the company only a few cents for a large drink. Where I worked they were, from the higher ups' perspective, considered the most profitable thing we had. It's why most fast food places offer free refills on sodas in the US, because they know even if you sat there for hours drinking constantly, they probably still made money off of you.

[krudmonger]

I was hoping Roger was going to tell us how even though they raise the ticket prices and mark up the food, they still feel the need to pad the movie's runtime with 10-15 minutes of advertising at the time the movie's supposed to have already started, in addition to the advertising that leads up to the showtime.

[mason]

In 2004 I was a 15 year old kid interviewing for my first job when the manager told me straight up "we don't care if they hop theater to theater... Money isn't in the tickets, it's in the concessions!"

[kimberlywilliams]

I worked at a theatre for 10 years. People would complain about the movie prices, while our staff made minimum wage: most discounts were literally 25 cents off of the total.

[YolandaAnneBrown]

I worked at several theaters back in the day, and he's so right about the concession stuff. I worked at a theater in San Francisco which had 8 theaters, with not just several concession stands, but cafes. They also had film festivals with a lot of celebs. Those were the good days before everything started turning the movie experience into a joke.

[wilhelmburgdorf]

I haven’t even seen the video yet but I know he will bring up the overpriced mediocre snacks

[levelheaded]

As an AMC manager of many years, I applaud you. I have worked for many movie theatre companies, and AMC is by far the least competent. There is no training of employees, no maintenance budget or concern. When AMC takes over a theatre, you can be sure there will be excessive signage covering unused second concession stands and abandoned bars. You can be sure the bathroom stall doors will be "out of order", or hanging off-hinge. You can be sure there will be a concession line to the door every Friday and Saturday night, because managers are not allowed to staff properly in order to help the company save money.
Also, a giant bag of popcorn kernels the size of my torso costs pennies to buy. Popcorn became a popular snack for movies because it was all people could afford to buy and sell during the Great Depression. Now we upsell it for a gazillion percent.

[duckyface]

We’re your feet sticks to the floor is the most realistic part. Also Horton is must be a Trillionaire or at least a multi billionaire with all the franchises and business he owns.

[JohnnyFoxGaming-yl]

Roger is a legend. He owns almost every type of company!

[aarong]

He didn't even mention all the ads they force you to watch after you've bought your overpriced tickets, or the whole swindle of movie trailers being "part of the experience" that people will shush each other over.

[thefizzwizz]

Most of all this is pretty accurate but it is missing some context. Ticket prices are usually so high because studios make a majority of the money off ticket sales. Depending on the studio (I.E. Disney tends to take a higher cut than say WB) and how long the movie has been showing (first week vs a month or two in), the actual theatre itself makes a pitiful amount of money from it. This is why the concessions are so expensive, theatres only way of making any real money is through the concessions which is why the prices are marked up a bit. Even without the mark up, concessions would still be more expensive at theatres than at stores due to the fact that convenient stores buy stock in bulk and therefore can sell at a lower price while theatres order stock based on predicted demand so they can't actually make any profit from marking down the prices like stores do. I'm not entirely sure about the marked up price for 3D, Imax and other display types of movies but if I had to imagine, the additional money is probably also calculated into the sale share.

Theatres also have no control over the quality of the film itself which is why they sell you the experience. Especially with streaming services, the 'experience' is the only reason people go to a theatre anyway. Being in a big room with surround sound and a bunch of other like minded people to watch a huge film is why most people go to a theatre nowadays.

If you want to support your local theatre, buy concessions. If you dont really care, just watch the movie at home if possible. But regardless of what you do, dont mistreat the employees. They are not paid enough to deal with your bs.

[POINTS]

I'm surprised that sneaking in snacks wasn't brought up but the snack prices are on point

[Darklg]

I've worked at a movie theater. Cleaning the auditorium after a kids movie is a nightmare

[southcoastinventors]

Those sticky floor sound effects are next level no expense is spared to horrify us that why this channel is the greatest.

[metalgamingwarrior]

As a small time film maker, I must say this is spot on. The theaters only get revenue from all the junk food they sell. The money from the tickets goes to the film producers. And it depends on which theater you're at, but some have a cleaner environment than others.

[jasonchard]

The only theatre I go to regularly is an independent(Highland Cinema) in cottage country. The ticket prices are lower, food prices are reasonable, there is a museum of memorabilia to look at while waiting for your movie and the theatres themselves are decked out with vintage art deco theatre interiors.

[emberthewitcher]

How could you not bring up the fact that the person behind you is always kicking your seat 😭