MILDLY HOSTILE BUSINESS PRACTICES

When conducting Cinema Training Central's (www.cinema-training.com) management workshop I discuss what are termed "mildly hostile" business practices - small annoyances that by themselves may not garner sufficient weight to motivate a customer to cease dealing with your business but tend, over time, to compel customers to look elsewhere to satisfy their needs.

This is what Sony Pictures recently did when it informed movie exhibitors that come May 2012 it would cease paying for 3D glasses and referenced the fact that exhibitors adopt a "guest ownership model"  - which is code for have moviegoers buy their glasses and re-use them on future visits to the cinema.

The Sony LCoS based 4k D-Cinema projection system is more costly than the DLP based system used by it competitors, so it has many less installed D-Cinema platforms (and from what I hear the majority of these are loaner systems).  Sony's policy change on 3D glasses will come just before its release next summer of  Spider Man and Men In Black III, both to be released in 3D format.  Stating that "there are ways to deal with the cost of 3D glasses that will not adversely impact the (moviegoer) and also help the environment" , Steve Elzen, Sony Pictures spokesperson, called on exhibitors to work on the situation. 

In response, NATO (National Assoc. of Theatre Owners) noted that Sony's policy change was "insensitive" to consumers. While Regal Entertainment, the U.S.'s largest cinema circuit, in a statement issued by its CEO, Amy Miles, stated "if  Sony shifts costs to exhibitors we would be forced to evaluate this new economic model and program our screens accordingly".  Code for, Regal may not exhibit Sony pics in 3D format.

MY TAKE
First, charging moviegoers for the glasses would fall under my definition of "mildly hostile" business practices - and would over time decrease patronage at cinemas.  Second, do you really believe Sony when they say they want to shift cost to exhibs and moviegoers to save the environment.  Third, the more the distribs and exhibs battle the more eyeballs they loose to the in-home movie experience.

Best and Happy Movie Going!
Jim Lavorato