Exhibitors Herald (Dec 1924-Mar 1925)

22 EXHIBITORS HERALD March 14, 1925 Creating Local Interest in Pictures The average exhibitor is mainly concerned with the price and the selection of his pictures, but is not enough concerned with the selling of the picture when it comes to his house to be shown. The exhibitor is the ultimate salesman of every picture. From the producer and distributor point of interest the renting of a picture is only part of the transaction. The consummation of the sale is the number of patrons who witness the picture in the playhouse. To sell the picture to the public is the exhibitor’s part of the process of getting the picture from producer to the ultimate consumer — the theatregoer — the most important function of them all. In my previous article I emphasized the need of a more thorough knowledge by the exhibitor of the desires of his patrons and of the selling points of the pictures he plays. I tried to convey to the exhibitor that he could not book pictures haphazardly, and then expect them to sell themselves, but that he must put considerable effort into finding out the entertainment desires of his community, and then book and exploit his pictures accordingly. How I would go about it, were I a small town exhibitor, is the purpose of this article. * * * To begin. Most of the stories reaching the screen are adaptations of novels or short stories. If the story in its printed form was widely read then it is almost a certainty that properly adapted it will be successful as a picture. The advertising that the story gets in book form is an inestimable asset in the exploitation and advertising of the picture. And further, anybody who reads the story, most naturally would be interested in the screen version when it is shown in his home town theatre. The exhibitor will agree that much of the success of “Flaming Youth,’’ “Ponjola” and Black Oxen’’ was due to the large circulation of these stories in book and magazine form before the film was released. Appreciating the added interest in film adaptations of widely read stories, I would want to keep informed of the type of fiction most popular in my territory. To do this I would keep tabs on my home librarian. Another valuable source of information is the production news printed in trade papers from week to week. I would keep posted on the sales of picture rights of books to the producers. When any of the novels popular in my section were reported for film production, I would make a record of the fact for future reference for, when the picture was offered me for showing, I would know that it would stand a bigger chance of filling my house than would the adaptation of a book unknown to my townspeople. I would keep a similar record of the magazine sales in my town. From the newsdealers I would endeavor to find which magazines were most popular. If, for instance, the Red Book was the largest seller, then I would watch for pictures adapted from stories in that magazine. * * * Watching this I would expect to find a RICHARD A. ROWLAND sales spurt now and again. One magazine with a comparatively small circulation in my district might go up in sales abruptly. No doubt the reason would be a new serial which the magazine was publishing. Here again I would be keeping tabs on the fictional fare of my public. If my town was within the circulation area of city newspapers, I would want to know which papers ran serials, and what effect these serials had on the paper’s circulation. Bear in mind that the newspapers print serials to increase circulation and keep accurate check on the results. By keeping tally this way on the type of stories that were being read by my patrons, I could not only learn much that would be helpful in choosing pictures to show in my theatre, but also I would be building up material to be used for advertising and publicity purposes when I showed the pictures. One can readily appreciate the greater value of picture advertising that has local interest. Informed by Jones, my newsdealer, that such and such a magazine had sold out within a few hours of its arrival in his store because of the interest in such and such a story, I would know I had wonderful material to exploit when the picture, adapted from the popular story, came to my theatre. How much more valuable would be an advertisement in the local paper telling my patrons of the interest that had been shown locally in the printed story than the usual, conventional advertisement the average theatre exhibitor generally runs. * * ♦ I would also want to know from my librarian, from the bookseller and the newsdealers, which authors were most popular among the readers of my town and would book pictures adapted from the words of such authors. And when the pictures came to my theatre I would lay stress on the name of the author in my advertising. Then there is the star and player following. Certain big-time stars, such as Colleen Moore, Milton Sills, Mary Bickford, Richard Barthelmess, Gloria Swanson, Douglas Fairbanks and Harold Lloyd have a general following. In almost any theatre in the country the names of such stars bring to your theatre a certain number of admirers who will pay to see their favorites, irrespective of the story. They are not so much concerned with the story as the player. The star is of paramount interest to them. But star attraction, like story attraction, varies with locality. The star that will pull them in in one city, or even neighborhood, has no hold upon another. The canny exhibitor knows the favorites of his particular fans, and notes players for whom they form new preferences. He knows, too, that supporting players have a certain drawing power at the box office. A clever exhibitor can get an accurate rating of the drawing power of the different players by working in conjunction with his local newspapers. Newspapers are keen for contests, because they stimulate circulation. Arrange with the newspaper for a voting contest to determine the most popular stars. In the order in which they finish in the popular vote the exhibitor has a record of their rating in his community. And if I were such an exhibitor I would make use of the vote results in my advertising copy when pictures in which these local favorites came to my theatre. * * * To repeat what I have said before, every picture should be sold to a community through its local value and appeal. This cannot be repeated too often. Player interest can be carried even beyond the star. In explanation, the exhibitor might find in the cast of a certain picture the name of a player, even a minor player, who was born in or at one time lived in his community. This is an interesting fact, and can be used to advantage in several ways. Irrespective of the story or star value of the picture, the appearance of this player has local import. The more local interest that can be woven around a picture, the stronger will be its drawing power. Producers strive to aid exhibitors in creating this local interest by their press and exploitation books. Press {Continued on page 26) Second of the Series: WHAT AN EXHIBITOR SHOULD KNOW ABOUT PRODUCTION By Richard A, Rowland General Manager of First National