Upfront News and Views: Bet On the Blockbusters, Says Screenvision

Venue amp160PlayStation Theater on the corner of W 44th St and Broadway for the second straight year amp160As in 2017 the space was divided in halfamp160 Attendees were seated in the upper half of the main floor to watch the presentation then stepped into the lower half for food drinks and special attractions themed to recent boxoffice hits amp160Brief movie clips were inserted on the blue screen in the middle of the theater Champagne and popcorn were served around the lobby amp160Grade 35 JacksPresentationamp160 Year after year the objective is to encourage sponsors to devote more of their overall ad budgets to prefeature ads amp160Now that theaters schedule blockbuster movies on a yearround basis such as Star Wars The Force Awakens Star Wars The Last Jedi Spiderman Wonder Woman Avengers Infinity War and Black Panther thereamp8217s a greater chance to reach audiences turning away from other media amp160amp8220Advertisers are trying to do more with less resourcesamp8221 CEO John Partilla pictured above explained at the start amp160amp8220We reasonably represent that salve that can help youamp8221amp160 Chief Revenue Officer Katy Loria and Executive Vice President of National Ad Sales Christine Martino used a trio of hit movie satires ItForrest GumpWhen Harry Met Sally to make points about how effective cinema messages can be with theater audiencesamp160 amp8220Thereamp8217s butts not bots in our seatsamp8221 declared Martino at one pointamp160 All three takeoffs had their funny moments but the Sally homage to the classic fake orgasm in the deli scene had the most thanks to the actress in the Meg Ryan role and ending with that classic punch line amp160Grade 4 JacksNews amp160Fastrising theater chain CMX whose locations include the Mall of America is Screenvisionamp8217s newest affiliate and the amp822010 Packamp8221 plan introduced last spring running ads on a monthly basis before 10 specific titles will continue in 2019 amp160What wasnamp8217t announced any enhancements to Front ampamp Center itself like launching a new series of featurettes or ad integration with current elements amp160Ironically a new short subject series was announced the week before Corner Stories starting July 4 weekend offering profiles of small business owners making a difference in their communitiesamp160 Great initiative why wasnamp8217t this brought up at the presentation amp160Grade 1 JackHosts amp160Loria and Martino make a standout pair moving things along and poking fun at each otheramp8217s cameo appearance in those film sequencesamp160 Partilla opened the proceedings in solid fashion amp160Grade 35 Jacks Star Time amp160No inperson celebrities so no Jacks awarded amp160Cuisine amp160Nice selection of afterpresentation treats amp160Best eats juicy Baha Mi chicken and lamb burgers sweet potato and Yukonstyle tater tots and minibite chicken wafflesamp160 Worst move no ketchup or mustard at the burgertater tots display amp160You had to go over to the hot dog stand for bothamp160 Also notable A miniarcade people could play before or after their food tripamp160 As a pinball machine fan playing the Goldeneye 007 game was a nice touch amp160Grade 4 Jacks for the food another 4 Jacks for the arcade amp160Note amp160Cuisine ratings do not figure in the overall Jacks scoreData Insight amp160Front ampamp Center currently averages a 48 Nielsen rating among moviegoers age 1849 Grade 3 JacksInnovative Opportunity amp160Hate to belittle the point but talking Corner Stories or announcing another new Front ampamp Center feature could have opened a path to some unique advertiser or theater chain relationships amp160Look at what American Expressamp8217 Open unit has accomplished with its small business campaigns amp160amp160Grade 0 JacksOverall Grade 35 Jacks amp160Terrific presentation in both substance and pace under 30 minutes except for the omissions noted aboveOur Jacks scorecard in reviewamp160 5 Jacks Excellent 4 Jacks Very Good 3 Jacks Good 2 Jacks Fair 1 Jack Poor 0 Jacks Donamp8217t go thereClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Upfront News and Views: Bet On the Blockbusters, Says Screenvision

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Simon Applebaum

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Upfront News and Views: Bet On the Blockbusters, Says Screenvision

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