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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 2018)
phetos MoviePass: Popular but still a tough sell v BY JEANETTE WRJ-©HT< THE CLACKAMAS'PRINT'T 3$ One small card, hundreds of movies for free? After lowering its monthly subscription cost, the MoviePass service experienced an enormous surge in users, causing many to wonder: ‘W hy is it so popular?’ -' " " a Subscribers to MoviePass now pay less than $10 per m onth in return for the ability to see more movies in 30 days than most of us watch in a year.- Once registered, people receive a Visa card u n d e fth e ir nam e, that they can use at any theater that supports MoviePass to watch one movie per day, while only paying the monthly fee, ' Finding a theater that supports M oviePass' is relatively easy, as the MoviePass website reports th a t 91 percent o f U .S . theaters participate. Large theatre chains like AM C Theatres, Cinem ark, and Regal Cinem as, as well as many sm aller, independent theaters support MoviePasss How ever, there are pros and cons to the service. While ticket costs are cut drastically, the card can only be used to see 2.-D movies, and only regular seating. The Visa card makes buying much easier, but users have to be able to connect to the phone app to complete the purchase. The ability to purchase m ultiple tickets, or even buy tickets online are currently unavailable, s M any subscribers have com plained about poor custom er service, or cards arriving weeks to m onths later than expected. In an . update on the MoviePass website, the delays were caused by the unexpected influx of new . subscribers, and they have since increased staff and production. MoviePass now has a prompt and helpful customer service line, and staff reassure callers that cards arrive w ithin two weeks of subscribing. $0 far, it seems like a great deal for movie goer^, but for MoviePass, a sustainable system is far in the future. MoviePass still pays full . price for each ticket, no matter the cost of the ticket. They’re depending on their subscribers and participating theaters to pull them towards profits. “ I honestly don’t even know how MoviePass makes a profit,” said Clackamas Comm unity College student Stephanie Stewart. Stewart’s fam ily Uses MoviePass to go out together more; Clackamas P rin t There are three local theaters that accept MoviePass: Regal Hilltop 9 In Oregon City (top), * Canby Cinema (middle) and Century Theatres in the Clackamas Town Center (bottom). often. She definitely recommends the service for people that want to see more / m ovies. Stewart said she used to watch movies in theaters about once a month, but now goes about three times a month, depending on w hat’ s showing. M oviePass was launched in 2011, but has only recently become a widely-used service, most likely because of its lowered subscription cost. W ith the increase in users, theaters J that accept M oviePass have also started * profiting. Moviegoers that didn’t buy concessions, f i lt before are more likely to now, because of the reduced ticket cost. Brad.Gab ski, the assistant manager at the I . Clackamas Town Center Century Theatres said MoviePass hasn’t really brought more ' people to the theater, but more people are using it to w atch m ovies. G abski said the . biggest problem he’ s noticed with MoviePass is people not knowing how to use it, and^slowing down the line. Some theaters are opposed to MoviePass, namely AMC Theatres,because MoviePass could potentially pose competition to the theaters’ o w n re w a rd s‘clubs. G abski said m any people subscribe to both MoviePass and a rewards club, and use the com bin ed b e n e fits to save even more on tickets and concessions. M oviePass has been slow ge ttin g started,* but if-it m anages to stick around, not only moviegoers, but also "the theaters and the m ovie p roduction / b u s in e s s its e lf could profit. Conflict between MoviePass S H an d th e a t e r s is « | s t ill p re s e n t, and ., som eon e w ill h ave;, to a cc o m m o d a te if the service is going to stick around. M eanw hile, M o v ie P a ss p re s e n ts an am azing deal for anyone that loves the theater experience. th e c la c k a m a s p rin t.n e t JA N U R A R Y 2 4 , 2 0 1 8
