AMC Theatres
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| AMC Entertainment Inc. | |
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| Type of Company | Private |
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| Founded | 1920 in Kansas City, Missouri |
| Headquarters | Kansas City, Missouri |
| Key people | Edward Durwood, Founder Peter 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 1960, Stan Durwood took control of Durwood Theatres, renamed it American Multi-Cinema, 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 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 was the first American chain to install cup holders in armrests and to construct theatres with stadium-style seating, where the seat rows have a steep vertical offset so that each person is less likely to block the view of the person behind them. Both these items have become standard for nearly all new theaters. Stadium-style seating has made AMC into a popular target for ADA lawsuits by disability rights activists, as the vertical offset makes it impossible for a wheelchair-bound patron to sit anywhere except the front 4-5 non-stadium rows, except in larger auditorium. Litigation is ongoing, but reports are that AMC intends to remodel many of their older stadium-seat auditoriums, at great expense.
AMC has also had some disastrous flops, such as trying to sell microwave popcorn (that is, in place of the usual kettle-popped popcorn), replacing their usual popping oil with canola oil (resulting in a fishy smell throughout the theater) and 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, forcing many films to play in inferior analog sound at brand new locations. With the recent demise of SDDS, they now install Dolby Digital in all new locations, and are slowly retrofitting the older megaplexes at much higher expense.
In March 2002, AMC bought General Cinemas Companies Inc., which added 621 screens to the company assets. On January 26, 2006, AMC merged with Loews Cineplex Entertainment; AMC was the winner in the merger and formed American Multi Cinemas as the new operating company.
The new company now operates about 415 theatres with 5,672 screens in 29 states (plus Washington, D.C.) and 11 other countries. Some of the U.S. theaters are named for basketball legend and businessman Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who became a partner of Loews in the mid-1990s.
[edit] Some North American locations
AMC operates its flagship theatre at the AMC Studio 30 theatre in Olathe KS near where the company world headquarters are in Kansas City, MO. The busiest and AMC theaters are the following:
- AMC Empire 25 in New York
- AMC Neshaminy 24 in Pennsylvania
- AMC Mesquite 30 in Texas
- AMC Studio 30 in Texas
- AMC Grapevine Mills 30 in Texas
- AMC Mesa Grand 24 in Arizona
- AMC Ontario Mills 30 in California
- AMC The Block 30 in California
- AMC Mercado 20 in California
- AMC Covina 30 in California
- AMC Mission Valley 20 in California
- AMC Hoffman Center 22 in Virginia
- AMC Tysons 16 in Virginia
- AMC Cantera 30 in Illinois
- AMC Forum 30 in Michigan
- AMC Easton Town Centre 30 in Ohio
- AMC Pleasure Island 24 on the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida
- AMC Kanata 24 in Kanata, Ontario a suburb of Ottawa
- AMC/Loews Boston Common 19 in Massachusetts
The company also operates in Canada, including the 22-theatre AMC Forum in Montreal, within the walls of the former Montreal Forum ice hockey arena. The Metropolis 24 is under construction in Toronto, Canada's largest market, and is scheduled for completion in 2008.
[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. 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.
- 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 only works on Wednesdays. This is to encourage more people to come during the slowest day of the week for the movie business.
Moviewatcher members also receive the benefit of having their service charges waived if they order tickets online.
- = Free Tickets exclude Special Engagements, which is a term for a movie in its first ten days of release.
[edit] Movie Tunes - National CineMedia
National CineMedia is a National CineMedia, LLC is a is a joint venture by AMC Entertainment, Inc., Cinemark USA, Inc. and Regal Entertainment Group.[1] They provide the most of the AMC Theatres with Slide Show Advertisements, Movie Tunes, and Pre Show Commercial Advertisements. The Theatres gets new media for this monthly in various for depending on rather the theatre has a digital slide projector or a regular slide projector. This is one of the many ways the theater chain makes money. Some of the newly acquired AMC Theaters mainly the old Loew's Theatres still use other networks like Cinema Sounds.
[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
- AMC Cinemas, cinema chain in the United Kingdom owned by AMC Theatres.
[edit] External links
- AMC Theatres Website
- National CineMedia The provide the Advertsing and Music Media for most of the chain
- Movie Tunes They provide pershow music for National CineMedia for use with most AMC Theatres.
- Cinema Sounds This is also used at some AMC Theatres.
