![]() ![]() ![]() To cater to this alternative crowd, theaters offer concessions beyond the normal fare. The theater started dedicating one screen for independent film and is finding new programming for that crowd, Mayo said. The Indian movies even generated cross-over appeal for the American crowd.īloomfield 8 is particularly searching for the older audience underserved by Hollywood movies. The Bloomfield vicinity sports a large Indian population, and Bollywood screenings were popular years before Digiplex bought the facility, Mayo said. The aggressive move to alternative program was inspired, in part, by Bloomfield 8’s recent success showing Bollywood movies, which are produced in India. In addition to opera and ballet, Bloomfield 8 started branching out to find other crowds, such as trying to create a comedy club atmosphere and offering Kidtoons, which is Saturday and Sunday morning programming catering to children. The Bloomfield 8 Cinemas drastically increased its alternative programming after Digiplex Destinations purchased the theater in March. The reduction was meant more as a reward to loyal customers but is expected to increase attendance. To reward Bow-Tie patrons, the company lowered all its ticket and concession prices by 10 percent for the summer running June 17 to Sept. “It is still a very small part of the business, but it is growing steadily.” The theater also offers live concerts and specialty cinema events such as “Life in a Day,” which is a feature length documentary compiled from 80,000 YouTube users who shot video of what they did on July 24, 2010.Īlternative programming “basically takes times and days that you normally wouldn’t be busy,” said Joe Masher, chief operating officer for Bow-Tie, which has 18 locations in five states. The economic model of alternative programming gives theaters a lot more options to experiment, and slowly build audiences.īow-Tie Cinemas in West Hartford started offering live screenings of Stephen Sondheim plays. “It is beyond its infancy, and it has a lot of room to grow.” “The economics of running alternative content has gotten to the point where the concept is going to get a lot bigger,” Devine said. Niche programming - such as the “Tekken Blood Vengeance 3D” video game event on July 26 at Buckland Hills IMAX - doesn’t need to attract a huge crowd to be profittable, said Jeremy Devine, vice president of marketing for Rave Motion Pictures, which operates the Buckland Hills theater. Cinemas no longer rely on the much more expensive process of shipping in reels of film and setting them up in a projector. “People are surprised they can see something for $18 that would cost them $60-70 to see in New York,” plus the travel cost, Corcoran said.īecause of digital streaming, movie theaters can screen anything that can be digitized, including live broadcasts of sporting events such as college football bowl games and concerts such as Foo Fighters and Phish. ![]() The ticket prices for these events tend to be higher than most movies - the Shakespeare showings cost $15 in Connecticut - but people get to watch events they otherwise couldn’t have seen. With 3-D and live streaming, theaters can screen events in new ways, Corcoran said. More than half of all movie screens nationwide are now digital, said Patrick Corcoran, director of media and research for the National Association of Theatre Owners. The movement has gained more momentum in the last couple of years after more and more movie screens have been converted to digital. By 2010, that grew to 74 events in 600 theaters across the nation. By 2005, it was streaming 15 events per year. NCM first started offering alternative programming in 2002. “It was a challenge to generate awareness for this type of programming,” said Michelle Portillo, NCM Fathom spokeswoman. The NCM Fathom programming has included the ballet “Giselle” streamed in 3-D from Russia, four William Shakespeare plays streamed from London’s Globe Theatre, an opera series including “Madame Butterfly” from the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, and live sporting events in 3-D such as soccer’s World Cup and the Wimbeldon tennis finals. Instead of targeting the same crowd during the week and hoping a few stragglers buy enough tickets, popcorn and soda to generate a profit, Connecticut’s cinemas are enticing new groups of people by screening events they could only see otherwise by traveling to far-off places.Ĭolorado-based National Cinemedia Fathom offers a variety of alternative programming to theaters around the nation, including the Buckland Hills 18 IMAX in Manchester, the Branford 12 Stadium, the Connecticut Post 14 Cinema De Lux in Milford, and the North Haven 12. ![]()
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