Movies & Cinema during the Pandemic? Catch-all Discussion (1 Viewer)

[Tino]

Better cleaning

Cleaning meaning primarily sanitizing.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Cleaning meaning primarily sanitizing.

Sure. Good idea.

 

[Bryan^H]

Cleaning meaning primarily sanitizing.

How often do you think the cup holders are disinfected in theaters? All the hands on them throughout the day. Janitors wouldn't have time to do it between screenings. Germ city.

 

[TravisR]

The chains will probably tell their employees to clean more but there's no chance that someone making $8 (and that's almost a buck over minimum wage in PA so that would be a well paid theater employee) and is supposed to keep a tight schedule is going to be able or interested in cleaning anything more than the popcorn and trash on the floor and in the cup holders. And with the financial hit that chains are taking, they're going to slash hours and employees to the barest minimum when they reopen so there will be no more help given to achieve the goal of cleaning more. They'll say the usual "You'll have to do more with less" nonsense and pretend to not know that you get less with less.

 

[Tino]

How often do you think the cup holders are disinfected in theaters? All the hands on them throughout the day. Janitors wouldn't have time to do it between screenings. Germ city.

Exactly my point. Moving forward it will need to be done. Changes are inevitable.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

We’ve already seen theater going starting to morph into an upscale, luxury activity as opposed to the low cost mass entertainment it’s historically been.

The big chain theaters are slowly but surely eliminating two thirds of their capacity to replace traditional seating with big recliners. Prices have increased outpacing inflation/normal economic growth. Disney, the most powerful studio, has started charging a premium to see the first showings of their new releases. And the discount theaters have been made extinct between the expensive transition from 35mm to digital that many couldn’t afford, the immense marketing pressure to see a new movie opening weekend, and the collapsing of the theatrical window.

So that could be the change: an acceleration of rising prices coupled with shrinking capacities. Skittish audiences mean the theaters will have to put effort into making people feel safe, and the instantness of social media will probably be used by patrons to keep them honest. Maybe they’ll start putting the recliners even further apart and break them up into pairs and groups so that you don’t get strangers sitting right next to each other. The business model in place has already shown that a certain segment of the audience will pay more for luxury amenities, so theaters will charge more, and some of that may go into cleaning. You may see showtimes spaced further apart.

The biggest players both in terms of theaters and films will probably find a way forward, but this may make it even harder for non-established brands to draw interest. There will be even less incentive to go out to see something you don’t know whether or not you’ll enjoy in advance if you’re concerned for your safety.

Or people will forget and move on.

I still think it’ll be somewhere in the middle. If you wind up being someone who gets the virus, gets mildly sick for a couple days or a week and then it’s back to life as normal, you might walk away wondering what all the fuss was about. If you’re someone who loses a friend, colleague, family member or partner because the overburdened medical system wasn’t able to provide care, you might be a bit more hesitant to be out in those kinds of spaces while carrying the memory of people needing help and not getting it, and not wanting to take the chance of being in that position again.

I think reactions will run the gamut based on what everyone sees happening most immediately around them, and until it plays out, we just don’t know how many people will fit in each camp.

 

[jcroy]

@Josh Steinberg

How long ago did this start happening?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Which part?

Chain theaters adding luxury recliners? Probably over the last ten years, faster in some markets than others, still a work in progress.

Disney charging more for the first showing? Maybe four or five years ago?

 

[Jake Lipson]

Disney charging more for the first showing? Maybe four or five years ago?

The first time I recall Disney doing one of their up-charged "fan events" was for Beauty and the Beast, which was three years ago. Interestingly, my local theater has stopped programming the "fan events" (which usually start at 5:00) and just does the first show on the premium screen at usually 6:00 now. I like this much better and am more apt to go out on opening night for a big movie because of it. I would have gone to Thursday night for Beauty and the Beast had I been able to get to the premium screen without paying an arm and a leg for it, but I waited for a matinee on Saturday when it was normal priced.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

The chains will probably tell their employees to clean more but there's no chance that someone making $8 (and that's almost a buck over minimum wage in PA so that would be a well paid theater employee) and is supposed to keep a tight schedule is going to be able or interested in cleaning anything more than the popcorn and trash on the floor and in the cup holders. And with the financial hit that chains are taking, they're going to slash hours and employees to the barest minimum when they reopen so there will be no more help given to achieve the goal of cleaning more. They'll say the usual "You'll have to do more with less" nonsense and pretend to not know that you get less with less.

One potential advantage of reserved seating: theaters could know which seats were occupied per showing and only clean those.

Not a perfect solution, but it'd make the process more efficient...

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Back on topic, whenever theaters reopen, hopefully new policies will be implemented to protect theater goers. More sanitizing stations, better cleaning of theaters, psa’s before every show etc.

As I think I said earlier, I can see the 50% capacity rule in place for a while - long enough to placate people and make them feel safe, at least.

Not that this guarantees social distancing - a 50% full theater could still be crowded if all 50% choose to sit close together!

 

[BobO'Link]

Which part?

Chain theaters adding luxury recliners? Probably over the last ten years, faster in some markets than others, still a work in progress.

Disney charging more for the first showing? Maybe four or five years ago?

The theater here converted to "luxury recliners" over the past year - all of their rooms - and replaced carpeting with simulated wood plank flooring. I was totally surprised as it's a regional company (Malco) and didn't think they cared enough to bother and that it'd likely up the ticket prices that were, IMHO, already high (and they did - went from a $6.50 matinee for kids/seniors to $8.50). They also added a "Grill" and recently obtained a liquor license (raising the ire of the local populace - it's a dry county). They usually had fairly large attendance (based on the number of cars in the parking lot during evening showings). It'll be interesting to see what happens with them once people can go again.

I already dislike crowds and generally avoided the movie theater unless it was a movie I *very much* wanted to see (a rare thing - only a 7-8 times in the past 20 years) so it's not impacting my normal activities at all in that respect. The last movie I saw was the 1933 King Kong on a special Fathom event (and at a huge premium over the normal prices here). Outside the Star Wars movies (and those were an annual event going only because my son insisted) it's the only movie I've seen in the theater in over 10 years. There were 12 people in an 88 seat room.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I haven’t read the entire thread, so if this has been covered, oops. Will movies or TV (all forms of it) address this pandemic? Not documentaries, but dramatic shows. Or how abut the Conners. Their lives are already screwed up.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I haven’t read the entire thread, so if this has been covered, oops. Will movies or TV (all forms of it) address this pandemic? Not documentaries, but dramatic shows. Or how abut the Conners. Their lives are already screwed up.

Can't see why they won't. How many works referenced 911 or alluded to those events? We saw it even in SF, where shows like the reboot of Battlestar Galactica were informed by 911 and our country's reaction. (Civil liberties vs. security for instance.)

So yeah, once this has all cleared up there will be plenty of works that deal with the pandemic and society's reactions to it and the post-pandemic reality of the U.S. and the world.

- Walter.

 

[jcroy]

I haven’t read the entire thread, so if this has been covered, oops. Will movies or TV (all forms of it) address this pandemic? Not documentaries, but dramatic shows. Or how abut the Conners. Their lives are already screwed up.

If they do, it will be next season. Filming has already been halted over the past month. Too late to write any new episodes about pandemics for the current season.

 

[SamT]

As a Virus Upends Hollywood, There May Never Be a Return to Normal

Amid an unprecedented shutdown of movie theaters and entertainment production, major players are experimenting with new business models as digital platforms ascend and artists take up a DIY ethos: "You have to adapt."

 

[SamT]

Golden Globes Changes Film Eligibility Rules in Wake of Coronavirus Crisis

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is implementing changes to its film eligibility rules for the 2021 Golden Globes because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Since movie theaters and screening rooms are indefinitely closed due to the global health crisis, the organization temporarily suspended the rule that a film had to be screened for HFPA members at a third party facility in the greater Los Angeles area.

 

[Sean Bryan]

Lots of people are barely bothering to change due to COVID right now!

My college friend's 19-year-old son just completed basic training for Marines, and he went home for a week or so. He hung out with friends like there was no threat at all.

My friend says his son "doesn't care" if he gets COVID.

My friend had been very cavalier about the threat of COVID, and I suspect that's at least partly why the son is so unconcerned.

My friend is now more worried about it, but the damage is done, I suspect....

May be too late now, but maybe your friend would take this to heart:

 

[Tino]

That was pretty fuckin’ funny!

 

[Robert Crawford]

May be too late now, but maybe your friend would take this to heart:

I have to admit that I was laughing while watching that’s video.