Boxoffice (Jan-Mar 1962)

Midwest Showmen Bear Down on Ticket Selling' Theat remen Are Told How to Hitch Idea Rides and Use Local Angle KANSAS CITY — In a brass-tacks approach which went straight to the point of exhibitor aims, ticket-selling was called just that in Show-A-Rama V’s how-to-sell clinic which spanned both morning and afternoon sessions on Wednesday (7). Program chairman Fred C. Souttar of Fox Midwest Theatres stood behind a rostrum painted to represent an old-fashioned ticket booth plainly labeled “Tickets." From this vantage point, Souttar called on Show-A-Rama's “father,” M. B. Smith of Commonwealth Amusement Corp., to take a bow. Before bringing on the lineup of specific selling presentations, Souttar alerted the wall-to-wall audience of more than 500 exhibitors to look for basic ideas they can “hitchhike” on from one picture to another. Souttar also said that, with all due respect to the distributors, advertising campaigns for major pictures are planned in New York with key-city first-run playdates in mind. Therefore, midwest showmen have had to restyle many — in fact, most — major campaigns on the local level to appeal to midwestern tastes. “In other words, to sell more tickets,” Souttar said, pointing specifically to “The Second Time Around” as an example. For New York audiences, Andy Griffith was not given prominent billing. In the middle west, on the other hand, Griffith was a magic name and was played up strongly by enterprising midwest exhibitors. Souttar added that 20th Century-Fox proved very cooperative and quickly supplemented its campaign material to give the so-called hinterland KANSAS CITY — The necessity for reduction of costs in concessions operations was emphasized by Spiro Papas, chairman of the board of the National Ass’n of Concessionaires, before the “Space Age Concession Forum” conducted Thursday morning (8> at the Show-A-Rama V convention here. Pointing to the fact that the food and restaurant business ranks fourth among national industries, Papas predicted that sales during 1962 would reach $17 billion dollars, marking an all-time industry high. He listed many of the problems facing concessionaires, giving labor costs as the greatest factor and he urged theatremen to try to design concession facilities that would use the minimum of help. Papas called for greater education and knowledge on the part of theatremen of the product which they handle in their concessions, adding that quality product always pays off. He asked the concessionaires to inform themselves on the specifications of the product which they merchandise, and he urged them to be “fussy” and watch every detail of their what it needed to sell more tickets. Speaker after speaker stressed the need for each theatreman to keep abreast of local tastes, trends and reactions and to use these for all they’re worth in planning each picture campaign, particularly the potentially big-revenue product. Films dealt with in detail during the morning were: Disney’s “Moon Pilot,” by Joe Vleck, Fox Intermountain Theatres: Columbia’s “The Notorious Landlady,” by Larry Day, Central States advertising chief; MGM’s “The Horizontal Lieutenant,” by Shelby Bourne, Commonwealth city manager in Columbia, Mo.; UA’s “Geronimo,” by Woody Barritt of Westport Theatres, Wichita; 20th-Fox’s “State Fair,” by Willis Shaffer, Fox Midwest city manager at Hutchinson, Kas. Shaffer, incidentally, had been sent to New York to catch a special screening of “State Fair.” Each of these presentations, while tailored to a specific picture, offered a fund of ideas which can be “hitchhiked” or adapted to fit other pictures. Another point which was hit from many different angles was to the effect that a national campaign is fine, but an exhibitor is missing his best bet if he simply relies on advance word to tell the whole story. Spread your word all over town, the speakers said; get the movie idea into the local shop windows, the juke joints, even the bars. Know your upcoming product and then let your whole community in on the news — that was the big point of agreement of the seasoned showmen who presented the new lineup of big pictures. operations. “Small details,” he said, “produce profits.” He asked the showmen what they knew about the popcorn they served and whether they knew what type hybrid they used, what its moisture content was and other details of its specifications. He urged showmen to analyze the other foods they serve, such as hot dogs, hamburgers and potatoes, to make sure that they were getting quality product. Pat Mahoney of Continental Apco Co., following the “Space Age” theme of the convention, listed new developments in automatic vending machines, such as the bill changers which give change automatically for $1 and $5 bills. Mahoney told of new venders now “on the launching pad,” such as the large capacity, first-in, first-out candy machine; the frost-free ice cream vender which drops ice cream into a delivery station in the same manner that a soft drink vender does, and the hot food machines which serve hot platters of food. Harold Chesler of Theatre Candy Distributing Co., Salt Lake City, Utah, urged theatremen to go to 15 -cent candy bars if they now were selling ten-cent bars, and he pointed out that this could be a gradual transition with only a few bars at first. “Never sell against nothing,” Chesler warned. “Always give the patron a choice of something against something.” He told theatremen that they must “sell dangerously,” with emphasis to concessions employes on smiles and courtesy. Ed Kidwell, Frontier Theatres, Roswell, N.M., speaking on increasing profits in soft drink sales, urged theatremen to utilize the combination advertising idea of promoting soft drinks with food. He told of his own experience in selling hot tamales as a special item and the resultant 350 per cent above normal drink sales. Floyd Bennett, Tarkio Popcorn Co., Tarkio, Mo., told the showmen that cheap popcorn does not make a low cost concession item, and that they should be selective of the corn they use for specific purposes. “Popcorn delivers almost one-quarter of the total concessions sales,” Bennett said, adding that the popcorn industry in 1961 reached a sales volume 17 per cent higher than it ever had before. In January 1962, he said, sales were 11 per cent higher than the previous January. William Meeder of the Vendo Co., Kansas City, pointed out the lowered costs possible through total automation of the concessions area, and said, “Some of you here today will be the first of the theatre operators to provide a 100 per cent automated refreshment and food service this year.” Augie Schmitt, president of NAC, told showmen to “get off your launching pad,” and observe what other concessionaires are doing. He urged them to convert and refurbish their concession stands and to use color to stimulate their sales. “We are living in an age of the unexpected and the improbable,” Schmitt said. Bev Miller, chairman of the concessions forum, concluded the program by summing up the need for lower costs and the necessity for cleanliness and courtesy. Skouras Warns on Toll TV (Continued from page 5) what he termed “extremely high salaries paid in Hollywood today, and the inconceivably high cost of production.” Consent decree abuses have disorganized the industry, Skouras said, and film companies today “are practically the captives of others . . . artists and creative people, fine people but certainly not businessminded, who not only dictate the salaries they are to receive, but state the number of pictures to be produced; where a film should be made; the season of the year when it is to be released, and the theatre where it may be shown.” The consent decree was also blamed for the high terms asked by producers and distributors. “The tremendously high cost of production has gone far beyond any sound or safe business judgment,” he said. Producers should not make objectionable pictures, nor should exhibitors consent to show them, the studio chief said, and attributed censorship troubles to straying away from the Motion Picture Code to make more so-called adult pictures “with more sex or more suggestive entertainment.” Need to Reduce Concessions Costs Is Emphasized by Spiro Papas 8 BOXOFFICE :: March 12, 1962