Showmen's Trade Review (1945)

November 3, 1945 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW 13 W 1 y "i1 'Rithmetic to Remember Every penny saved in operating the theatre goes toward making the gross that much more profitable. It's simple as readin' and writin' and 'rithmetic. Thus, if your operation cost is seventy per cent, a dollar made is thirty cents in profit. But a dollar saved is one hundred cents in the bank. Those big grosses are mighty nice for talking points — and you should keep after them. But you should also remember that, after all, net profits are what make your reputation as a top-grade theatre manager. Understudy Essential To Theatre Manager At ft meeting of theatre managers a few years ago a zone manager, in commenting on a slip-up in one theatre which was caused by the manager's absence while at a newspaper garnering some very valuable publicity, stated that no theatre manager was worth his salt to his company unless he had trained some subordinate to take over the next higher job and several other key jobs, in case something happened to require an immediate and sensible decision. For example, suppose one of nature's ills suddenly descended upon you, say appendicitis. It has happened to many a supposedly healthy person. On the other hand you might be lucky enough to receive some valuable award, from a will perhaps, which would require your immediate presence in another city. In either of such cases does someone have the combination to the safe, know about bookings, how to write and compose a newspaper ad, how to meet and satisfy your patrons' requests? A manager has so many duties that he thinks he alone is capable of performing that anything could happen in his absence. Put the Plan Down on Paper Examine your own conscience and come up with the answers to these questions : Does someone have a duplicate key to your theatre to ©pen the doors? Is anyone authorized to sign checks in your absence? Your help has to be paid, even if you are not present. Is the person who has the combination to your safe bonded? Has anyone been trained to prepare advertising and publicity copy in your absence? A newspaperman might be briefed along these lines just in case the occasion might arise. Can your operator set up a show schedule? He should be familiar enough with your methods to be able to do this. Try him out. Practice, Not Theory, Cited All of the foregoing means simply that the discerning theatre manager will have made an analysis of his own job and set it down on paper. Copies of this analysis should be distributed to the various persons concerned to prepare them to step into any possible breach caused by the absence of key personnel. In addition, it permits a hard-working theatre manager to have a little time off once in a while when he desires a little well-earned respite from hi* duties. The Brass Tacks of Efficient Picture Theatre Management By Jack Jackson This is the first of a series of articles in which a veteran theatre manager, circuit executive and outstanding showman discusses the theatre and its operation right on through from front to rear and from cellar to the projection booth. It may be added in this editorial note, that there is no theory in this or the following articles, they are straight from the shoulder of a man who is not sitting in the bleachers but is actually on the job running several theatres operated by Hdrwitz-T exan Theatres Co., Inc., of Houston, Texas. Are you operating a theatre whose business is certain to recede? Yes, the word is RECEDE and the question is not nearly as silly as it sounds. For the past few years there has been — and there still is — no end of managers and owners who have been following a formula of operation that offers high promise of driving business away from their theatres. To say that they FELL into a slip-shod manner of treating their patrons and handling their theatres would be totally untrue as most of them worked hard and are overly familiar with the difficult pattern of operation necessary to attract and hold consistent business. That they were PUSHED by an unprecedented influx of unsolicited business — born of the fattening pocketbooks of Mr. and Mrs. War Worker — which came flocking to their doors without any of the hard work or careful planning so essential to the garnering of steady patronage, is, by far, the more probable answer. The so-called "war conditions" acted as a kind of narcotic on a whole passel of showmen, which made them either forget or ignore the process of patron appeal that built their theatres, and lulled them into a state of suspended cerebration so far as their sense of showmanship was concerned. Whole heaps of them seemed to actually think that the whirring of the ticketchopper would go on forever — or at least they slouched down in their chairs and the way they neglected their operations would make any casual observer think they had arrived at that false conclusion. Now that the war is over it's time to wake up. All the neglect and inattention they have allowed to be visited on their patrons must be atoned for — and quickly — if they expect to remain in business in competition with the new theatres and other ventures that promise to take exacting toll of present revenue. Quiz Is Key to Efficiency The writer (not as1 an abstract observer but as an actual operator and rather critical supervisor ) is well aware of, and fully conversant with, the difficulties of maintaining a keyed-up operation under present conditions. It is no easy task, but experience has proved that exacting and definitely detailed instructions to new employes ( regardless of how frequently the changes in personnel occur) will go a long way toward keeping your theatre the kind of well cared for institution that makes the customer feel welcome and comfortable to the point where they actually want to come back for another visit. We still face an employe problem despite the fact that the war is over and the promise of a drop in business during the reconversion period is an impending certainty. This condition, coupled with the added fact that so many theatremen have gotten so far way from the ABC's that bu;lt their patronage, prompts the presumptuous thought that possibly a series of questions might serve as a self-analysis chart that would help to guide many managers and owners back along the road that led theatres to "top" rating for customer service in the American business world. Some of these questions may seem almost childish. But we seem to have drifted so far from the channel of showmanlike effort that made ours the most envied of business fields, the points covered in the queries are really important and, their effect on certain managers and the patron results obtained prove the value of this kind of a check-up. Have YOU: been diplomatic in instructing and correcting your employes? Have YOU: been careful to say "please" and to make your corrective remarks in a voice that was friendly and helpful rather than harsh and distracting? Have YOU: knowing well the duties to be performed, given the kind of instructions to new help that would impress them with the importance of their work? Have YOU: told the new cashier about: not chewing gum? not reading? not allowing friends to gab too long at the window? not failing to say "Thank You" when dispensing tickets? being overly nice and polite to disgruntled or ill-mannered patrons? making a polite ceremony of issuing refunds and apologizing for the crowded condition or any other circumstance that made the refund necessary? keeping her hands clean and her nails manicured? keeping her hair neat? her dress orderly? her makeup smooth? yet being certain that all personal details are attended while off duty and NOT in the cage? Have YOU: impressed the doorman or door girl with the necessity of exchanging a friendly smile and a "Thank You" for every ticket she accepts? about her appearance? (in detail the same as the cashier) her conduct? impressed the importance of avoiding (Continued on Page 16)