The Film Renter and Moving Picture News (Apr-Jun 1922)

6 THE FILM RENTER: & MOVING PICTURE NEWS. April 22, 1922. MAKING A FRESH START. An Article which gives a Number of Useful Tips on how to build up a Kinema that has been Allowed to go to T frequently happens that an ambitious and enter‘prising man, who is a bit new to the exhibiting business, starts on his first big independent venture by taking over a small provincial theatre which his predecessor has cither mismanaged or allowed to run to seed. Jn such an event his work of construction must necessarily start on the basis of reconstruction, for no achievement of any permanent stability can rise upon a mouldering foundation. Rebuilding a Clientéle. Every good showman, first and foremost, is out to secure a good public. It is not an easy task at any time to build up a clientéle, but that exhibitor starts off with a downright handicap who finds himself faced with the problem of dealing with a public which is not merely indifferent, but frankly prejudiced and antagonistic. His first care must be to ascertain for himself in what points his predecessor failed. This should not be difficult in a small community, where he can go round a bit and encourage the gentle art of instructive conversation. From the data he has succeeded in collecting he will best be. able to gauge on what points he must lay particular stress in his first newspaper and poster announcements. Aer epee ‘‘ Under Entirely New Management.”” For the sake of argument, let us suppose that you are the showman in question. It’s a less laborious method than taking the old algebraical ‘‘ x ’’ to represent the ‘unknown quantity.”’ First and foremost, of course, impress upon your prospective patrons in your press circulars that the theatre is. ‘‘ under entirely new management.’’ If the man before you was not overparticular in matters pertaining to cleanliness and hygiene, emphasise the fact that you have had the theatre renovated and redecorated and a_ thoroughly efficient and up-to-date system of ventilation installed. If the music used to be bad, engage a really good pianist and violinist, if your resources are small; and make it a quartette if you can run to the expense. Then play up vour ‘‘ orchestra '’ for all you are worth as an attraction for music-lovers. Attendants—and Attendance. Tf the attendance at the theatre formerly left much to be desired, you may discover that this had something to do with the attendants. (This is not meant to be a pun. In the kinema business, as in any other, it will be found that the quality of the one value very frequently influences the quantity of the other.) ~Well, as we ‘were going to sav: If you find that the attendants have had any hand in depreciating the attendance figures, emphasise in your “' ads.’’ that you have got an entirely new staff on the job, and request that any future case of discourtesy shall immediately be Google Seed, brought to your notice. And, as a bad precedent more often thun not sets a kind of pace which others feel justified in adopting, it will be just as well for you to keep a watehful eye on your attendants yourself, and not rely too much upon your patrons coming to you personally with their complaints, if they don't think much of the service they get. After all, they don't draw a salary for helping you to run your business. A Difficult Job. Of course, the man with the most difficult job before him is he who takes over a theatre which has been allowed to go to the dogs in the accepted sense of the term. You can always repaint and reupholster an untidy house, engage a good pianist in the place of a bad one, and supplant incompetency with willing and_ efficient service. But once a theatre has managed to establish for itself an unsavoury reputation, whether by the quality of the pictures it shows, its style of advertising or a predominant clement of raffishness amongst its own particular public, it will take the new owner exactly as long to create a decent and worth-while clientéle of his own as it will for him to convince such people that any good can be made to come out of evil. Anything for a Change. A man would better not take over such a house at all, however great his spirit of optimism, unless he is prepared to expend money on the task of thoroughly changing the face of his house to conform with its new character. ‘The casual pedestrian, who has not troubled to read your newspaper manifesto, must be made to realise at the first glance that drastic changes have been taking place since last he walked that way. Your great aim must be to efface, as far as possible, anv reminder of conditions as they used to be. Start right away by giving the building an entirely new name with its new coat of paint. Then announce with vour biggest poster that the theatre ‘thas passed into fresh hands, and in future is going to be rn strictly on ‘‘ family ’’ lines. Alter the look of things as much as you can from the out. side, so that you at once catch the eve of the regular passer-by with something that strikes him as unfamiliar and ‘‘ somehow different.’’ Try the cheerful effect of a white trellis with green climbingplants in your entrance lobby; alter the general character of your box-office, and if it is a ‘‘ movable fixture,’’ set it up at the side of the lobby instead of in the middle—anything for a change. Making a Fresh Start. Make out a list of the leading citizens of your town, if it is a small one: of vour own particular quarter or district, if the reverse is the case. Send each one a respectfully-worded circular letter with the information that (Continued at foot of next page.)