Theaters try new ways to lure movie-goers
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- For many of us seeing a new movie still means watching it at a local theater, but with so many different ways folks can be entertained, chains are looking for new and exciting ways to lure folks away from their homes.
If you build a better theater and make the experience of going there more fun and more comfortable, folks will be willing to get off their couches and go out to the movies.
"To collectively laugh at a movie or to be scared by a movie in a group is really great fun and then on top of that, you can get an alcoholic milkshake," Cristina Cacioppo, program manager at Luxury Movie Theaters, said.
The Alamo Drafthouse chain started in Texas two decades ago; a labor of love built by movie fans for movie fans.
"Most of us are pretty much movie nerds because it's kinda required to work at a cool movie theater like this," head concierge Mark Levy explained.
Caring about what's on the big screen means texting and talking during the show are not allowed.
"It was hard rule. It was strict and it was hard because I'm always on my phone," one theater-goer said.
"I'm for it. 100% for it because I don't want to hear anybody's conversation or see their phones going off during the movie," said another.
Dinner and a movie is part of the draw at the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn and at iPic Theaters in Manhattan's South Street Seaport.
"I consider our guests no different than going to a fine dining restaurant: the flavors, the components; every last detail is so important," chef Sherry Yard said.
Food and drink are delivered to your seat at the touch of a button at a price of 14 to 24 dollars per ticket.
"Recline all the way back as if you're laying down in your very own bed so you get the comfort of watching a movie like you're at home, but with the experience of being in a theater," publicist Lexi Harrison said.
Both theaters are part of well-established chains showing first-run movies, but our city is known for its so-called "revival" movies houses where classics are shown alongside foreign films. My favorite is called The Metrograph on the Lower East Side.
