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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