Dear Fort 8 Theatre Owner/Manager,

As I walk through the door of the theatre, the concessions stand attendant immediately greets my family and me. He always knows exactly what we want, so we don’t even have to tell him. “Special number one with extra butter on the popcorn and salted in between,” he says to us. And he is never wrong. This is what typically happens when all six of us in our family go to Humboldt’s Fridley Theatre for an evening movie. We have been attending their theatre for years. As much as I like going to Humboldt, though, I would rather attend Fort 8 Theatre here in my hometown. But because of the high prices that cause large families to cringe, we rarely, if ever, show our faces at our hometown theatre. If Fort 8 would only lower their prices or create a special family movie ticket package, then my family and several other families would gladly stay in Fort Dodge to watch the latest movie releases showing on the big screen.

My family and I are big moviegoers. There is nothing we enjoy more than an afternoon or evening spent watching the latest action-packed flick or the newest Disney animated picture. Through movies we can forget our troubles and worries of the day and just laugh along with our family. Movies have always been a special time for my family to spend with one another. It’s what has brought us together and kept us together for years. But as I’ve watched the movie prices soar and my family grow larger, our attendance to the movies has declined. For the six of us, our movie tickets range from $30 to $42, and that’s without popcorn or snacks! In fact, as The Big Picture website states, one of the reasons attendance to the movies has decreased nationwide is because of the price. And among large families, the attendance is at its bare minimum.

When my family goes to the movie theatre, we sometimes invite other large families to come with us. Most of my parents’ friends have three or more kids. One such family that we know has six kids, and they attend Humboldt theatre as a family quite often, but Fort 8 they shy away from. For this family of eight, the ticket prices would be $40 for a matinee and $56 for a regular priced ticket at Fort 8 Theatre. At Humboldt their family would pay $20 or less for all eight of them!

A common counterargument to lowering movie theatre ticket prices is that the theatre would not make as much money. The fact is that the theatre could make the same amount of money, if not more. The article “A Peek Into Movie Theatre Economics” explains that theatres make their big money from the concessions stands and even bigger money from advertisements on the big movie screens. “Popcorn reportedly makes 90 cents on the dollar, which means that the ‘large’ popcorn they charge US$4 for cost them, at most, 40 cents…bottom line: they make a killing off of concessions,” states this article. And the companies in need of advertising will pay more than $50,000 annually for their commercials to be shown on the big screen. Clearly, the money is not in the ticket.

If theatre tickets were lowered, I would go to Fort 8 Theatre more and more often, initially giving my hometown theatre the money I would regularly spend at Humboldt. With lowered ticket prices, my family wouldn’t have to wait for Humboldt to receive the one movie it gets a week, but we could go instead to Fort 8. By not having to wait on Humboldt’s choice of the week, our family could go see more movies at Fort 8 instead of only one a week in Humboldt. Therefore, Fort 8 Theatre would not only receive our regular fee for Humboldt movies, but Fort 8 would also receive more money from our family because of its expansive selection of movies.

Instead of outright lowering of theatre ticket prices, one solution for Fort 8 Theatre could be a Family Movie Ticket Package. If a family with more than four people attend, the fifth and sixth and continuing members of the family could either be free or $1 to $2 per additional person. This would make the ticket prices for large families much more reasonable; and as an added bonus, the lowered prices would make it more likely that families would buy concessions. For this Family Movie Ticket Package, though, it would only be for families, not friends.

Another possible solution is to have a Family Fun Movie Day. The theatre could pick one day of the week or even a Saturday afternoon where the movie ticket prices would be cheaper for families and individuals. Since Saturdays are the big family days, lowering prices on this particular day could draw more families to the theatre for an afternoon of movie magic. And as our family likes to do when the tickets are real cheap, we watch more than one movie. This Family Fun Movie Day could bring in more customers and give many more families a reason to visit the theatre together instead of separately on a Saturday afternoon or evening.

Because Fort 8 Theatre has several movie screening rooms, two theatres could be set aside at particular times, on particular days, or permanently for screening the two-week-old motion pictures at cheaper ticket prices. One of the movies could be G or PG for the kids, and the other could be PG-13 for the older teenagers in the family. The prices for these movies could be between $1 to $3 per individual. Most of the time the problem isn’t waiting for the movie, but it’s the price of the movie. By setting the tickets of the semi-older movies to cheaper prices, more families and even individuals would attend. And also by doing this, viewing a movie two or more times would be more likely to occur in the case of a great, cheap-ticketed, family-oriented movie.

In conclusion, movies are a great way to bring families together, even if the conversations revolve around the latest film. Talk of movies can lead to deeper conversations and so can bring families closer; but if high movie ticket prices hold back families from attending, where does that leave us? Why should good, clean family time be set aside for a meager profit? Lowering prices for a day or setting aside a theatre for one of the great new Disney movies could bring several families together. And even if only one family grew closer to each other, a difference could be made in our community.

Sincerely,

Katie Jo Kruger

Works Cited

Big Picture, The. Why is Movie Theatre Attendance Declining? Posted in 2005. Accessed on 10/10/2006.

Fisher, Ken “Caesar”. A Peek Into Movie Theatre Economics. Posted on 1/5/2006. Accessed on 10/5/2006.

(Simple) Interviews with Jennifer Schild, Molly Klemp, Don Poldervart, Ginny Kruger, and randomly selected ICCC students.