The Founder's Brew - Vol.8 Part 3
This Week: Part 3 in our series on Innovation, West Side Heads South, and Pages from the Commonplace Book
Check out Part 1 and Part 2 for those who missed it.
Part 3 - Can Theaters Survive?
The short answer to the above question is yes with a massive qualifying but. As discussed in Parts 1 and 2, innovation and invention are not necessarily the same. Over the years, our cultural betters have trained us to think that tinkering around the edges represented innovation. As we have seen, that is not necessarily the case, which brings us to this week's newsletter: Movie Theaters.
Before we get there, let me tell you a story. It was 2013, and Jim Gianopolos had just become sole chairman of Twentieth Century Fox (R.I.P) and decided to hold a town hall to kick off the Jim G era at Fox. To begin the presentation, Jim put up many newspaper headlines touting the end of the movie business. Ultimately, the headlines lined up with seismic events that one would expect: the dawn of television, the rise of VHS, and eventually Blu-ray. His point was that the end of the movie business has often been greatly exaggerated. It was a heartening presentation and made me feel as if the best years for the industry were ahead of us. Uh, well, we all know how that turned out.
I bring this up not to again be the classic pessimist but to counter the arguments one often hears these days that this is just a bump in the road, but this is not just about a crisis for the industry. It's also about what we, as a culture, decide what makes a movie a movie. Is Red Notice a hit movie even though it was a blip in the theaters? Does this mean if Lifetime starts a streaming service (I think it will be called Lifetime+, but this is just a hunch,) their movies are on par with, The Godfather? I've struggled with this question myself and have discussed those struggles on the podcast. What ultimately delineated movies like The Godfather from The Cheerleader Mom Murders 7 was the theatrical release, but that is slowly dying away unless we find a way to revitalize theaters or, better yet, innovate in a way that truly transforms the experience.
Because I don't like being the guy who screams about a problem without offering solutions, here are three potential ideas that could help revitalize and reinvent the movie theater and prevent a slow and painful death:
End Us vs. Them - When that damaging survey about the theatrical experience came out, several folks in my Linkedin feed decried that this has always been the problem with exhibition. Too slow to make changes, etc. Since the dawn of time, the exhibitor vs. distributor battles have been an industry staple. Whether it was arguing over windows or the price of popcorn, it was always a matter of Us vs. Them. Well, that needs to end...NOW. Unless the distributors take a vested interest in the theatrical experience, the vaulted "studios" will just become cable production companies, throwing out content to the latest service and crossing their fingers. Movies will disappear, and "content" will just become something one flicks on after the kids are in bed and will be forgotten the next day. How can they do that? Well, that brings me to point two.
Experimentation - The end of the Paramount Decree, which Tim and I have discussed ad nauseam on Hollywood Breaks, should have ushered in a revolution, but alas, it has not. The big companies, notably Disney and Comcast, need to start looking for smaller theaters to buy out and experiment with a completely new experience. Disney has done some of this with The El Capitan in Hollywood, but it needs to be broader. Both Comcast and Disney own amusement parks whose claim to fame is prioritizing the customer experience, which is precisely what the theaters need. Richard Rushfield had an eye-opening Ankler newsletter with pictures from theaters in the middle of the country falling apart. Would Disney or Comcast allow that to happen at their theme parks? Absolutely not and with good reason. Prioritize the customer experience which brings me to point 3.
Throw the Boxes out with the Recycling - For too long now, theaters have been in huge box-like buildings that exhibitors had thrown up to stick a bunch of seats and big screens in and usually attached to malls. It was probably this way because it was the cheapest way to shove the most people into a building, but now, theaters are competing with everyone's coach, so the idea of going back to the theaters needs to entice audiences. I recently went to see Hamilton at the Academy of Music here in Philadelphia, a beautiful venue built in 1857 with superb craftsmanship. They wanted you to feel something when you walked in as if you were about to experience something extraordinary. Why can't that be brought back to the theater experience? Why does that have to be reserved just for our orchestras and symphonies? Bring back artistry not just to the movies themselves but also to the theaters. People have been home for nearly two years now. It'll take more than a Steven Speilberg musical to get them back (see below.)
These are just a few suggestions and I'm sure most of you have some thoughts, but the conversation needs to start now. The death of theaters will ultimately be the end of movies as we know it, and The Cheerleader Mom Murders 7 will be streaming its way to Oscar Glory!
Hits and Misses
I'm not going to pile on to all the post mortems that have been written about West Side Story, of which they are plenty. Yes, it is a bomb, and no, I don't think it will have legs like Greatest Showman for a multitude of reasons, but I do want to offer another reason why the movie didn't seem to connect, and it comes down to this: Disney/Fox just ran away from what the film is. It's a classic musical, with one of the most beautiful modern songs (Maria) written for Broadway. Yet, nowhere, and I mean nowhere, did you hear any of the music. Not in spots, barely in the trailers, and none of the promotional materials I've seen (and I even searched online.) Why? Well, you'll get a myriad of reasons like young people aren't going to see a musical, so make it more about Maria and Tony or the older people aren't going to the movies, blah, blah, which I think is just not the whole story. The show itself has some of the most kinetic songs in recent memory, and the spots had hardly any energy.
Granted, I don't have access to all the research that was more than likely telling Disney/Fox what was needed (but that's a whole other conversation.) Nor do I know the myriad of other complications they were dealing with, but it seems they were shooting themselves in the foot. The days of running away to what a movie is are gone. Embrace it and hope for the best. If it doesn't work, then onboard those lessons and move on, but that takes a willingness for risks which, as we know, is sadly lacking in Hollywood now.
Pages from the Commonplace Book
This week, we'll shift gears slightly away from the Founders and turn to a political philosopher, Alexis de Tocqueville, the famous Frenchman known for the classic Democracy in America.
"When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness."
You ignore the past at your peril. Don't think everything you're trying now hasn't been tried before. Use the lessons of history to guide the innovations of the future.
This Week on Hollywood Breaks
Our last episode before Tim and I take a much-needed holiday hiatus. Be sure to tune in to get your fix to last for the next couple of weeks.
See you next week!