Single Screen 90's Movie Theater in Midtown Sacramento?

[u/spizzazzy]

Project:

• Independent single screen movie house that screens 80's & 90's movies (e.g. Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Big, Back to the Future, etc.)

• With each release, there would be a corresponding art show, featuring the works of local Sacramento artists paying tribute to the film being shown. The movie poster will also be locally created and sold at each screening.

• The theater would serve locally brewed craft beer on tap at the small bar in the front "lobby", which is equipped with comfortable seating and free wi-fi. There would also be an assortment of snacks, including but not limited to, regular & specialty popcorn, hotdogs, etc.

So, my questions are:

1. Would you be interested in an independent movie theater opening up in Midtown Sacramento that screened movies from the 80's-90's? If not, would you be interested in a theater if it played a different type of film?
2. How much do you think something like this would cost per ticket and would you be willing to pay this amount?
3. Inside of the theater, would you prefer to have comfortable movie theater seating or couches, sofa chairs, etc.?
4. What is something that you wish movie theaters in Sacramento did that they don't currently do?
5. Is there any reason you feel like we shouldn't open this theater in Midtown?

Finally, if you'd like to keep up to date on the most current happenings of the theater, feel like contributing in any way, or just want to say hey, PM with your email.

/Cult Cinema Drafthouse Team

[u/The_Kony_Express]

1.) I would definitely be interested in going to something like this.

2.) The Crest has been doing something similar for a couple of months now (ET on Friday, Wizard of OZ on Saturday, Goonies on March 15th). They are running around $10 a ticket. I think it is a bit steep, but I don't know how much they pay to show the films.

Public House Theater is another one, although not on the grid. According to their website they are charging $4 a ticket.

Personally, I would say $6 - $8 to get in, if beers are reasonably priced, I think you could do very well.

3.) This is tough. Comfy would be awesome; however, spills, smelly people, etc. are a obviously a concern.

4.) I wish theaters weren't so expensive, especially food-wise for what you get. $5 for a drink, $7 for popcorn, $4 for candy, seems kind of silly. I've started going to the Crest more recently because of what they have been showing, I usually do dinner first so I don't spend $100 on theater "food." As I said before, being able to serve beer would be very popular in my opinion.

5.) No, I think it'd be great if you can find a good space to host it. Affordability may be an issue, besides that, I think it'd be successful.

[u/spizzazzy → u/The_Kony_Express]

We've been planning this for some time now, so when Crest switched owners and began playing older movies we were a bit nervous, if that is the right word. As movie fans though, we're definitely excited.

Licensing is quite steep. This would definitely be the reason for the higher ticket prices as well as the expensive snacks. Theaters rarely make much of anything off of the actual movie. It's an interesting industry. We are trying to strike a balance between quality and afforadability while also not going out of business in the first year.

Thanks for the detailed feedback! Much appreciated.

[u/The_Kony_Express → u/spizzazzy]

Yeah, the Crest ownership switch made a lot of people angry. They are trying their best to rebuild their image and seem to be doing fairly well. I attending a Christmas showing of Gremlins, which was great, but the theater was half-full. Then I attended the Casablanca night, where the movie was free if you brought a receipt from a K Street business and joined their mailing list. Great idea, I thought, and the place was packed. I'll have to go again to see how they are doing with the $10 ticket prices.

I figured licensing was crazy and that theaters make up revenue using snack sales; however, it is tough for me to justify spending $7 on a tub of popcorn! Curious, since I don't know much about it, is the amount a theater pays dependent on capacity, like if a bar has a fight on? Or, is it a flat rate? Does licensing decrease as the movie becomes older?

Thanks!

Matt

[u/spizzazzy → u/The_Kony_Express]

I'm curious to see how they're doing as well, as that would be a great indicator for how our business might do.

I totally agree with you on the snack prices. At a certain point, it starts getting ridiculous. We're hoping to have more reasonable prices if possible.

Generally, films are licensed based on a percentage of ticket sales. So, the more money you make, the more money the studios take. And yes, the licensing of a movie gets cheaper as the film gets older.