Movie Theater Employee

Movie Theater Employee

PeopleOrderPopcorn

Boston Area, MA

Female, 21

I work at a movie theater. I work the concessions but I've worked long enough to know a little something-something about ushering and cashiers. And a little bit of what managers do. Ask me anything!

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96 Questions

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Last Answer on October 23, 2014

Best Rated

Since you've been working there, what movie have the most people walked out of?

Asked by rotten tomato about 13 years ago

The only time I've seen people swarm to customer service is when there's something wrong in the theater, not the movie. As communication among movie lovers increases and sites like rotten tomatoes exist, only fools would watch a movie after they've heard it was crappy. The only instances where I can imagine people walking out like crazy would be in movies where it was heavily hyped and star studded but it was actually terrible. Like "the tourist" lol

Why don't more theaters have pre-assigned seating? If I could reserve a seat online so I wouldn't have to get to the theater super early to get good seats I'd go to the movies A LOT more often. Will that eventually become the norm?

Asked by byroNOLA about 13 years ago

It probably won't become the norm. There are already problems with pre assigned seats like double booking. Also, what happens when your preferred seats are already bought? Will you not watch the movie or will you just sit someplace else? Will other people be as cooperative? Even in our pre assigned seats, people still sit wherever they want. Even when an usher tells tells them to move to the seat they bought, customers can get pretty nasty. Pre assigned seating is similar to going to a regular seated movie as you would still have to go either online or go early to get the seats you want.

Why is it always either freezing or boiling in the theaters? And if a customer asks the manager to adjust the temperature, will he usually do it?

Asked by Theo O about 13 years ago

I've only been in a cold theater once. And that was when Titanic first came out. Where I work, the ushers have to regularly take the temperature. If a customer complains, I think an usher checks the temperature. If it's truly too cold or too hot, we'll change it.

If you could commandeer the projector and show any 5 movies you want, what would they be?

Asked by 2121 about 13 years ago

Hmm. That's a tough one.. if I was to pick my favorites: 1. Everything is Illuminated 2. The Princess Bride 3.Lord of the Rings: Return of the King 4: Shutter Island 5: Howl's Moving Castle if I was looking to make my employees hate me and fill my theater with people, I'd pick movies that have developed a legion of fans. 1. Harry Potter series 2. Twilight series 3. Hunger Games 4. High School Musical (ew) 5. The Dark Knight

To get into a rated R movie can I just show the ticket worker my birth certificate?

Asked by TreShon Rouse over 11 years ago

So then, how will they know it's yours? If you're going to do that, you might as well get a state id.

In short, no.

Is saving seats in a theater allowed? Meaning, if I'm saving a seat for a friend in a packed theater and someone else requests it, does that person actually have the right to claim that seat? (I assume most people respect the saved seat, but for a popular, first-run movie, I can see where this could get ugly).

Asked by brassy monkey about 13 years ago

Ok, if you go into a theater with friends and you find seats, then your friends decide that they want to get food and ask you to save the seats for them, that's fine. Technically, there should be enough seats to accommodate everyone who bought a ticket and you were there first. the only time where there would be a problem with a shortage of seats is when people sneak into a crowded theater. In director's hall, people pay for reserved seats so there's no reason why anyone would be asking for your reserved seat. Of course, other patrons may not like having been denied a seat they prefer so an argument may arise. Then, a manager will be called to solve the dispute. If the people who stole the seat are being really nasty about it, its probably in everyone's best interest if they just find new seats to avoid conflict. Hope it helped :)

What percent of a theater's revenue comes from concessions versus tickets? How about PROFIT?

Asked by DimDime about 12 years ago

Ok, I wasn't able to get percentages. Basically, a HUGE chunk of the revenue comes from concessions. That's where we make our money. A little comes from ticket sales. How much of the ticket sale profit we get depends on the movie company (for example, Paramount gives more than the other companies) but the average is about 10%. Some money comes from local businesses advertising at the theater.

But like I said, a big slice of the pie comes from concessions. This article might shed some light on why and might give you a better idea of how much : http://goo.gl/u19Ow