Movie Theater Employee

Movie Theater Employee

PeopleOrderPopcorn

Boston Area, MA

Female, 21

I work at a movie theater. I work the concessions but I've worked long enough to know a little something-something about ushering and cashiers. And a little bit of what managers do. Ask me anything!

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96 Questions

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Last Answer on October 23, 2014

Best Rated

Why is it always either freezing or boiling in the theaters? And if a customer asks the manager to adjust the temperature, will he usually do it?

Asked by Theo O over 12 years ago

I've only been in a cold theater once. And that was when Titanic first came out. Where I work, the ushers have to regularly take the temperature. If a customer complains, I think an usher checks the temperature. If it's truly too cold or too hot, we'll change it.

How strict are you guys about letting underage teens into R-rated movies without an adult?

Asked by Kinsburger over 12 years ago

Pretty strict. You can't buy a ticket without an adult, you can't even get into the theater without one, and if an usher sees you, you can't continue to watch the movie without one. An adult has to be present at all times or else they'll kick you out if they catch you

Is saving seats in a theater allowed? Meaning, if I'm saving a seat for a friend in a packed theater and someone else requests it, does that person actually have the right to claim that seat? (I assume most people respect the saved seat, but for a popular, first-run movie, I can see where this could get ugly).

Asked by brassy monkey over 12 years ago

Ok, if you go into a theater with friends and you find seats, then your friends decide that they want to get food and ask you to save the seats for them, that's fine. Technically, there should be enough seats to accommodate everyone who bought a ticket and you were there first. the only time where there would be a problem with a shortage of seats is when people sneak into a crowded theater. In director's hall, people pay for reserved seats so there's no reason why anyone would be asking for your reserved seat. Of course, other patrons may not like having been denied a seat they prefer so an argument may arise. Then, a manager will be called to solve the dispute. If the people who stole the seat are being really nasty about it, its probably in everyone's best interest if they just find new seats to avoid conflict. Hope it helped :)

is it safe to say that most movie theater employees wind up seeing the majority of movies in their theaters? Could you be the next Siskel or Ebert? :)

Asked by N(an)C17 almost 12 years ago

At first, we do. Whenever someone first starts, they will see LITERALLY EVERY MOVIE that comes out. After a while, the novelty wears off and we start watching them less & less often. There was a point where I didn't see one for months. The employees would watch them as much as they did before they were hired or even less so. Only a handful of my coworkers watch movies enough to talk about them regularly.

With movie theater attendance on the decline, is your theater making any changes or offering new incentives to get people to come see movies?

Asked by hungryBird almost 12 years ago

The only thing I've seen lately, outside of the usual promotions, are the new rewards cards. we're all kind of taken aback by the lack of customers lately. Then again, most customers come in during vacation, like winter & summer break. It's also when the best movies come out.

How much does it cost to rent out a whole theater for a private event like a kids' birthday party?

Asked by Ray Zuhnets over 12 years ago

It's possible to rent out a whole theater but the price depends on the size of the theater. However, the cost needs to make up for the losses the cinema would have had as if they cancelled the showing. In other words, say a theater seats 300 people so you'd have to pay for all those 300 seats (about $3300) and I don't know think they charge you for other stuff. So we rarely get someone renting a theater unless it was a company renting it for it's employees. We do have birthday party rooms but it's just what they are: rooms with decor targeted towards a younger audience. It's $18/ child and it doesn't include food.

Have you ever caught someone bootlegging a movie? Do they really just do it by sitting there with a digital camcorder?

Asked by Hzah9441 over 11 years ago

I haven't heard anybody catching someone do that. From the bootlegged movies I've seen, it really does look like someone just sits with a camcorder. It'd have to be in an empty theater though, since a crowded one will have obnoxious teens, people getting up and talking as well as MUCH higher chance getting caught. If it's empty, not even the projectionist will glance at the seats. 

However, you might get an usher just taking the theater's temperature and might look at who's there.

*EDIT

Recently, we had a couple of kids sneak into Fast 6 and set up a tripod right at front row! They thought since it was a slow day, they wouldn't get caught. They bought child tickets online (usher was suppose to deny them entrance because they were clearly not under 11) and their bags weren't searched (been doing that since the Colorado incident). After they were caught and were told to put it away, they had the gall to stay and continue recording. When the managers caught wind of it, we remembered that it's a federal offense bootleg. Police were called and they will be persecuted. JAIL TIME!