AMC Theatres
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| AMC Entertainment Inc. | |
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1920 in Kansas City, Missouri |
| Headquarters | Kansas City, Missouri |
| Key people | Edward Durwood, Founder Peter C. Brown, CEO |
| Industry | Entertainment (movie theatres) |
| Products | AMC Theatres |
| Revenue | $1.8 billion (FY 2004) |
| Employees | 24,000 |
| Slogan | Experience the Difference |
| Website | www.amctheatres.com |
AMC Theatres is one of the largest movie theatre chains in North America and the only chain out of the 12 largest on the continent that did not go bankrupt during the 2001-2002 recession, due in part to the fact that its theatres often dominate lists of the top 50 most profitable theatres in North America. Its mascot is the animated filmstrip Clip who stars in the pre-show policy trailers.
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[edit] History
The company was founded in 1920 by former traveling showman Edward Durwood with one single-screen movie theatre in Kansas City, Missouri. At a time when vaudeville was on its last legs, Durwood correctly grasped that motion pictures were the future of the entertainment industry. His small chain of single-screen theatres was moderately successful. Durwood's son, Stanley, subsequently attended Harvard University and served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II.
In the 1960s, Stan Durwood took control of Durwood Theatres, renamed it American Multi-Cinema, Inc., and began to apply military management and the insights of management science to revolutionize the movie theatre industry.[1] As he later explained to Variety, "We needed to define what our company was doing in the (exhibition) business. My dad wasn't that organized."[2]
AMC opened the first American multiplex (a two-screen facility) in 1963 in Kansas City. Durwood later claimed that "in 1962 he was standing in the lobby of his 600-seat Roxy in Kansas City mulling over its poor grosses when he realized he could double his box office by adding a second screen and still operate with the same size staff."[3] This insight arises from the fact that the real-time labor demands of a movie theatre are not constant. Rather, they come in bursts at the start and end of the movie. At the start, a large number of employees have to sell tickets, process tickets at an access point, sell food at the concession stand (a theatre's primary profit center), make sure the theatre is not overcrowded, and run the film projector. While the movie plays, a small number of employees are needed for security and access control, while the others are relatively idle. At the end of the movie, a number of employees are needed to clean the theatre for the next showing. When the start times for movie showings in several physically connected auditoriums are staggered correctly, one team can continually keep all of them operational with minimal downtime.
In retrospect, Durwood's idea seems simple, but it took a lot of trial and error to get the bugs out. Next, Durwood followed up on the two-screen Roxy with a four-screen theatre in 1966 and a six-screen theatre in 1969.
AMC also pioneered the first North American megaplex when it opened the AMC Grand 24 in Dallas, Texas in 1995, though the first megaplex in the world had been built by European chain Kinepolis in 1988. AMC has continued to open megaplex theatres and now operates the busiest theatre in the country at the AMC Empire 25 theatre in New York City, New York, located in Times Square.
AMC also opened the first American multiplex in a foreign country, when it built the AMC cinema complex in Milton Keynes, England.
AMC has also been a major innovator in terms of raising industry standards for customer comfort; it invented the cupholder armrest and was the first to construct theatres with stadium-style seating, where the seats are placed on risers so that each person has an unobstructed view of the screen. Both these items have become standard for nearly all new theatres. The early versions of stadium-style seating, which were part sloped floor and part stadium-style seating, made AMC a popular target for ADA lawsuits, as the stairs to the risers made it impossible for wheelchair-bound patron to sit in the stadium section, except in larger auditoriums. AMC solved the problem with full-stadium theatres, has appealed the litigation to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and continues to evaluate ways to provide superior seating to all of its guests. Remodeling of its older part slope floor, part stadium-style auditoriums will depend on the ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
AMC has also had some disastrous flops, such as experimenting with 16 mm film for projection.[3] They also stumbled by agreeing to install the Sony Dynamic Digital Sound system in all their new locations, rather than the more popular Dolby Digital or DTS systems. However, the majority of major releases have all three digital tracks, including SDDS. The SDDS processors with Le and Re equalization, along with the large/associated base of 8-channel equipped auditoriums, leave AMC ina very good position regarding the transistion to D-Cinema audio.
AMC has been successful in integrating competitive theatre circuits into its family. In March 2002, AMC bought General Cinemas Companies Inc., which added 621 screens to the company assets as well as Gulf States Theatres which had 68 screens in the greater New Orleans area. In late 2003, AMC acquired MegaStar Theatres adding top-quality assets to its Atlanta and Minneapolis-St. Paul markets. Then on January 26, 2006, AMC merged with Loews Cineplex Entertainment; AMC was the winner in the merger and with the newly merged company continuing with the name AMC Entertainment Inc.
The new company now operates about 382 theatres with 5,340 screens in 30 states (plus Washington, D.C.) and 10 countries including the U.S. Some of the U.S. theatres are named for basketball legend and businessman Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who became a partner of Loews in the mid-1990s.
The company's flagship theatre is considered AMC Century City 15 in Los Angeles.
[edit] MovieWatcher Program
AMC Theatres has a frequent-buyer program called MovieWatcher that rewards guests for loyalty to the company by giving them rewards every time they watch a movie at AMC Theatres. MovieWatcher is the industry’s first comprehensive loyalty program. Every ticket is worth two points, and one can receive four points per transaction (with a limit of one transaction every three hours). Every 10 points, a guest will receive a reward, and every time they visit they will receive a coupon for discounts on concession items.
- 10, 40, 70 points: Free Small Popcorn
- 20, 50, 80 points: Free Small Drink
- 30, 60, 90 points: Large Drink & Large Popcorn or Free Ticket*
- 100 points: Free Night at the Movies (Drink, Popcorn and Ticket*)
After 100 points, the program cycles back to the beginning, meaning at 110 points, guests receive a free small popcorn, at 120 a free small drink, etc.
Additionally on Wednesday, guests always receive a Wednesday Free Small Popcorn, a coupon that is supposed to only works on Wednesdays. This is to encourage more people to come during the slowest day of the week for the movie business, though typically managers will allow them to be used on any day of the week.
MovieWatcher members also receive the benefit of having the service charges from their online ticket purchase waived if they order tickets online.
- Free Tickets exclude Special Engagements, which is a term that generally means a movie in its first two weekends of release.
In addition to the MovieWatcher perk, AMC also has a program called A.M.Cinema, where guests can see movies before noon on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays* for less than the child’s price. Prices and availability of showtimes may differ between theatres.
- Please check your local theatre for specific program dates.
[edit] National CineMedia
National CineMedia, LLC develops pre feature entertainment (FirstLook); cinema and lobby advertising products; comprehensive meeting and event services (CineMeetings & Events); and distributes other entertainment programming content (NCM Fathom) on more than 14,000 movie screens nationwide operated by its founding member theatre circuits, AMC Entertainment Inc., Cinemark USA, Inc. and Regal Entertainment Group, as well as other theatre affiliates. National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: NCMI) is a managing member of National CineMedia, LLC.
FirstLook is a digital entertainment and advertising pre-feature program showcasing content from Discovery Communications, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Turner Broadcasting System and Universal Studios.
CineMeetings & Events facilitates live and pre-recorded networked and single-site meetings and corporate events in movie theatres.
NCM Fathom presents live and pre-recorded music events, sporting events and other entertainment programming in movie theatres, such as the popular The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD series.
The company distributes its products and services across its Digital Content Network (DCN), the largest in-theatre digital distribution network in North America, comprised of approximately 11,500 digital theatre screens.
[edit] Entertainment Centrums
Several of the Canadian AMC Theatres are anchor tenants for Entertainment Centrum's, entertainment plazas in Ontario containing restaurants, fitness centres, Mini Putt, and other forms of entertainment.
[edit] References
- ^ La Franco, Robert. "Coming soon: a megaplex near you." Forbes, 12 August 1996, p. 133.
- ^ Anonymous. "Durwood legacy packs 'em in." Variety, 16 March 1998, p. 42.
- ^ a b Klady, Leonard. "Obituaries: Stanley Durwood." Variety, 19 July 1999, p. 40.
[edit] See also
- Movie theater
- AMC Cinemas, cinema chain in the United Kingdom owned by AMC Theatres.
