wessman
May 27th, 2003, 06:39 PM
So, I take it from this Slashdotter's wording and British Airway's ads for NY-to-London for $100 flights that flights in Europe are cheap? I wouldn't know, as I've never even been outside the U.S. But the more important question pertaining to this Slashdot post is: Can somebody please explain to me the macro/micro economic problem the MPAA has with easyCinema's low ticket prices? Like the post says, easyCinema would still be charged the same amount your local theatre or multiplex cinema is charged for showing a major motion picture...
Low Cost Cinema Through Dynamic Pricing
from the pack-'em-in dept.
posted by michael on Saturday May 24, @01:06 (movies)
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/05/23/208226
cinesprocket writes "[0]EasyJet, the European pioneer of [1]LowCost airline travel has broadened its horizon into the entertainment field. [2]easyCinema is to open tomorrow in Milton Keynes, England, offering cinema-goers cheap rate tickets as low as 20 pence (33 cents) using the same formula that made their airline company revolutionise the industry in Europe. However, according to the [3]the BBC, easyCinema is being given the bird by Hollywood who will not allow it to show it's high cost movies for a low price for fear that it will create a domino effect in the future, like the airline industry has felt (in Europe). Given that easyCinema is willing to pay the movie producers the same price as the other multiplexes, it shouldn't matter what price they sell on the tickets at for we poor folk? Their success depends upon showing the big films and their lawyers are reported to be already mounting a case. Given that the case will be heard in England, where the MPAA have less of a hold on the government, it will be interesting whether they can bring the behemoth to its knees."
Links:
0. http://easyjet.co.uk/
1. http://www.cfoeurope.com/displaystory.cfm/1738886
2. http://www.easycinema.com/Enquiry/Enquiry.aspx
3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3051075.stm
Cinema Paradiso it ain't
By Jonathan Duffy
BBC News Online
Published: 2003/05/23 09:47:42 GMT
The man behind the no-frills airline Easyjet is opening a low-cost cinema along the same lines. But you won't be able to see the hotly-awaited Matrix sequel here, yet.
How much did you fork out last time you went to the cinema? It was probably considerably more than 20p.
But that's how much you can buy a seat for at Britain's newest cinema, which opens in Milton Keynes on Friday.
Easycinema is the latest venture by Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the entrepreneur who helped revolutionise flying with his no-frills airline Easyjet.
And just like a low-cost airline, the price you pay for a seat at Stelios's cinema depends on when you buy it. Book early for the cheapest deals; pay top whack if you buy just before the curtain goes up.
But that's not the only radical idea behind this venture. At Easycinema there is no popcorn stand, hot dog stall or pick 'n' mix concession. In fact, there is not even a box office.
Seats have to be booked on the internet, either from home or at one of a half-dozen computers in the lobby of the cinema.
Instead of an ordinary ticket, customers print off a barcode which they scan at the turnstiles to get into the auditorium.
The totally automated process cuts down on staff, so keeping costs to a minimum.
Anyone who still likes to believe in the romance of a night out at the movies will be in for a shock. Cinema Paradiso it isn't.
A day before the doors are due to open to the public, there is a distinctly unfinished look to the venue, which occupies an old multiplex known as The Point in the centre of Milton Keynes.
But while there is still much work to be done by the army of builders and fitters, the plan is not for a sleek finish.
"It will be an empty experience coming in here because people are used to seeing a box office, men in velvet suits and bow ties and the smell of popcorn," says James Rothnie, of the Easygroup.
The sign above the old pick 'n' mix concession remains, but the fittings have been stripped out and it will stay empty.
The same goes for the old refreshments counter. If customers want popcorn at Easycinema they will have to bring their own, says Mr Rothnie.
"When you look at the cost of serving popcorn it's actually quite expensive - you have to buy it, cook it, employ people to sell it, get a health and safety person to check it's at the right temperature.
"Then you have to employ someone to clean it up after the show. We don't aspire to be professional caterers, we aspire to show films people want to see."
But that is proving easier said than done. Easycinema says it is being denied the rights to screen the blockbusters because film distributors are opposed to the company's radical pricing policy.
In short, they don't want to see their big-budget releases being sold for a song.
So on its first weekend Easycinema must make do with screening minor movies and so-called "second runs". The Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock film Two Weeks' Notice is probably the best known.
There is no sign of the year's most hotly-awaited film, The Matrix Reloaded.
Easycinema has a team of lawyers working on the case but it could be a long and expensive battle for Mr Haji-Ioannou, who will judge the cinema a success if he sells one million tickets in the first year at an average price of £1.50.
Across the road, at the plusher Cineworld multiplex (ice cream parlour in the lobby, sweet shop and oodles of popcorn), youngsters are queuing for the new Matrix movie. They give a cautious thumbs-up to the no-frills philosophy.
"I tend to buy tickets on impulse, at the last minute. But I'm not bothered about the popcorn - I go to see the film," says Matthew Dugante, 16.
Sarah Morrison, also 16, likes the idea of no adverts or trailers before the film, but admits she doesn't plan ahead enough to benefit from the 20p seats.
The dearth of blockbusters is enough to put off Paul Scarlett, 21. "Low-cost interests me and I think once people know how to use it, it will catch on.
"But they'll need to get the big films in to get me - I'm looking forward to the follow-up to The Fast and The Furious and Lord of the Rings Part III."
If Easycinema's "dynamic pricing" policy is a success, it could send shockwaves through an industry which traditionally in Britain sells only one in five of its seats, says Mr Haji-Ioannou.
Milton Keynes, home to Britain's first multiplex in 1985, could again be nursing another revolution in cinema.
© BBC MMIII
Low Cost Cinema Through Dynamic Pricing
from the pack-'em-in dept.
posted by michael on Saturday May 24, @01:06 (movies)
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/05/23/208226
cinesprocket writes "[0]EasyJet, the European pioneer of [1]LowCost airline travel has broadened its horizon into the entertainment field. [2]easyCinema is to open tomorrow in Milton Keynes, England, offering cinema-goers cheap rate tickets as low as 20 pence (33 cents) using the same formula that made their airline company revolutionise the industry in Europe. However, according to the [3]the BBC, easyCinema is being given the bird by Hollywood who will not allow it to show it's high cost movies for a low price for fear that it will create a domino effect in the future, like the airline industry has felt (in Europe). Given that easyCinema is willing to pay the movie producers the same price as the other multiplexes, it shouldn't matter what price they sell on the tickets at for we poor folk? Their success depends upon showing the big films and their lawyers are reported to be already mounting a case. Given that the case will be heard in England, where the MPAA have less of a hold on the government, it will be interesting whether they can bring the behemoth to its knees."
Links:
0. http://easyjet.co.uk/
1. http://www.cfoeurope.com/displaystory.cfm/1738886
2. http://www.easycinema.com/Enquiry/Enquiry.aspx
3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3051075.stm
Cinema Paradiso it ain't
By Jonathan Duffy
BBC News Online
Published: 2003/05/23 09:47:42 GMT
The man behind the no-frills airline Easyjet is opening a low-cost cinema along the same lines. But you won't be able to see the hotly-awaited Matrix sequel here, yet.
How much did you fork out last time you went to the cinema? It was probably considerably more than 20p.
But that's how much you can buy a seat for at Britain's newest cinema, which opens in Milton Keynes on Friday.
Easycinema is the latest venture by Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the entrepreneur who helped revolutionise flying with his no-frills airline Easyjet.
And just like a low-cost airline, the price you pay for a seat at Stelios's cinema depends on when you buy it. Book early for the cheapest deals; pay top whack if you buy just before the curtain goes up.
But that's not the only radical idea behind this venture. At Easycinema there is no popcorn stand, hot dog stall or pick 'n' mix concession. In fact, there is not even a box office.
Seats have to be booked on the internet, either from home or at one of a half-dozen computers in the lobby of the cinema.
Instead of an ordinary ticket, customers print off a barcode which they scan at the turnstiles to get into the auditorium.
The totally automated process cuts down on staff, so keeping costs to a minimum.
Anyone who still likes to believe in the romance of a night out at the movies will be in for a shock. Cinema Paradiso it isn't.
A day before the doors are due to open to the public, there is a distinctly unfinished look to the venue, which occupies an old multiplex known as The Point in the centre of Milton Keynes.
But while there is still much work to be done by the army of builders and fitters, the plan is not for a sleek finish.
"It will be an empty experience coming in here because people are used to seeing a box office, men in velvet suits and bow ties and the smell of popcorn," says James Rothnie, of the Easygroup.
The sign above the old pick 'n' mix concession remains, but the fittings have been stripped out and it will stay empty.
The same goes for the old refreshments counter. If customers want popcorn at Easycinema they will have to bring their own, says Mr Rothnie.
"When you look at the cost of serving popcorn it's actually quite expensive - you have to buy it, cook it, employ people to sell it, get a health and safety person to check it's at the right temperature.
"Then you have to employ someone to clean it up after the show. We don't aspire to be professional caterers, we aspire to show films people want to see."
But that is proving easier said than done. Easycinema says it is being denied the rights to screen the blockbusters because film distributors are opposed to the company's radical pricing policy.
In short, they don't want to see their big-budget releases being sold for a song.
So on its first weekend Easycinema must make do with screening minor movies and so-called "second runs". The Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock film Two Weeks' Notice is probably the best known.
There is no sign of the year's most hotly-awaited film, The Matrix Reloaded.
Easycinema has a team of lawyers working on the case but it could be a long and expensive battle for Mr Haji-Ioannou, who will judge the cinema a success if he sells one million tickets in the first year at an average price of £1.50.
Across the road, at the plusher Cineworld multiplex (ice cream parlour in the lobby, sweet shop and oodles of popcorn), youngsters are queuing for the new Matrix movie. They give a cautious thumbs-up to the no-frills philosophy.
"I tend to buy tickets on impulse, at the last minute. But I'm not bothered about the popcorn - I go to see the film," says Matthew Dugante, 16.
Sarah Morrison, also 16, likes the idea of no adverts or trailers before the film, but admits she doesn't plan ahead enough to benefit from the 20p seats.
The dearth of blockbusters is enough to put off Paul Scarlett, 21. "Low-cost interests me and I think once people know how to use it, it will catch on.
"But they'll need to get the big films in to get me - I'm looking forward to the follow-up to The Fast and The Furious and Lord of the Rings Part III."
If Easycinema's "dynamic pricing" policy is a success, it could send shockwaves through an industry which traditionally in Britain sells only one in five of its seats, says Mr Haji-Ioannou.
Milton Keynes, home to Britain's first multiplex in 1985, could again be nursing another revolution in cinema.
© BBC MMIII