Motion Picture Herald (May-Jun 1936)

May 2 , 19 3 6 MOTION PICTURE HERALD 91 Or MOTION \\>U\. m PICTURE \5>v. O HERALD i;mP I I ■H / N AGE OUND TABLE CLUB zAn international association of showmen meeting weekly in MOTION PICTURE HERALD for mutual aid and progress op "AND THEN WHAT?" The assumptions and resolutions set down on this page few issues back as had to do with the necessity of job security for the manager brings comment from a visiting member. Gist of his contention was to the effect that while without question he backed the stand taken here, the subject calls for further finger-pointing. "Security first and rightly so," said the brother, "and then what? How about the manager who has no reason to fear the loss of his job but who is concerned over the lack of opportunity to increase his salary?" The Round Tabler quoted his situation as an instance. He is manager of a highly-held neighborhood circuit house and doing a very satisfactory job. His superiors are all nice folk, they like his work and say so, there is a conspicuous absence of any whipping tactics and things go along. But there doesn't seem to be much stirring in the way of advancement to a house that pays more money and the manager's repeated strivings for a shot at the Big Time have so far been unsuccessful. * * Well, without any especial straining to write a brief for the complainant's superiors, this choking off of natural ambition is not the fault in every case of the top executives. The answer often is that there are more good men than there are available bigger opportunities and although a man may clearly show his ability to handle a better paying situation, there are unfortunately not enough of these better spots to go round. So what to do? The problem is in process of satisfactory solution by those smart exhibitors and exhibitor-executives who have inaugurated a percentage system of payment; who realize that a capable manager is a skilled salesman and that the best salesmen are those remunerated on a basis of how much extra business they bring in. Giving your hard-hitting but dissatisfied theatreman a chance to dispel his financial worries by rewarding him for bringing in bigger grosses, at one stroke severs the Gordian knot that is strangling a lot of worthwhile initiative. Because it is the soundest and most satisfactory method yet come to this desk, reference is again made to what amounts to a commission form of payment now in its second year of successful operation by Famous Players-Canadian. The plan is simplicity itself for the manager shares in every dollar of increased yearly grosses at his theatre. Th us in one move, the circuit is assured of powerful weekafter-week showmanship in every situation and managers assured of both security on the job plus a fair exchange for their talents and labors — an equitable arrangement for all concerned. And best of all, the ambitious theatreman yearning for greener financial pastures may well find the answer to "and then what?" by this incentive to dig deeper for pay dirt in his own "back yard." V V V NATURAL BUSINESS LEADERS On a following page are the details reported by Round Tabler Bob Richardson of the annual "Citywide Sale" put on by the 5,000-community of Yorkton, up in Saskatchewan. And only recently was recounted in this section the story of Round Tabler Jack Nelson's promotion of a "Five-Star Sale" that obtained the cooperation of 90 per cent of the mercantile establishments in North Bay, Canada. The above are just a few of the instances strengthening the belief that in many smaller situations your theatre manager in addition to being the laddie who operates the picture house is also looked upon as a natural leader of city business drives — which of course is not surprising. For of necessity exploitation and advertising minded, the agile-brain theatreman is trained to conceive and develop ways and means of "bringing 'em in". And the impulses credited with boxoffice increases are often adaptable to a much larger canvass. V V V SHOW OF SHOWMANSHIP The challenge for more powerful showmanship in the exhibition of pictures is to be answered again in Motion Picture Herald's second annual "Show of Showmanship", announced through Managers' Round Table Club to open in Rockefeller Center on May 19. This, the theatreman's own exhibition of advertising, exploitation and publicity is intended to convey what definite advances have been made in the field to round up the elusive boxoffice dollar. Showmen and other visitors interested in the art of advertising as practiced in the theatre are invited to the "Show" in the expectation that what they see there will serve as an incentive to greater effort throughout the industry for yet more intensive showmanship and more practical recognition for the theatreman who so capably carries on.