MovieMobz: Audiences Choose What They Want to See

I love this idea: let audiences pick what plays at their local theater.

From John Hopewell's piece in Variety:

...MovieMobz goes a social step further.

Its website allows filmgoers from the MovieMobz.com film club, to "mobilize" by choosing films, both classics and new releases, and click on a "I Want to See It" button.

Once enough viewers vote on a film, it emails members with screening details.

So far, MovieMobz has attracted 4,000 members and staged 20 film sessions, MovieMobz CEO Fabio Lima says.

About 2.5 people attend for every member who's voted.

"People bring their friends. Newspapers highlight sessions. Our entry prices are always lower than the half-price tickets students get," Lima says.

Why doesn't someone in the US give this a shot?

One interesting twist on the idea would be to let voters put their money where their mouth is: what if a voter agrees to give the theater her credit card number when she votes... and if the movie that she votes for eventually plays, her credit card is charged $5, and she has essentially bought an advance discount ticket. That seems like a good way to encourage people to show up to the theater ... not just to vote online. It's not too unlike the way Priceline gets you to guarantee that you'll pay for a hotel room you've bid on.

But maybe, as Lima suggests, you don't need to motivate people to show up....

A Big Idea: Letting Audiences Pick What Plays at the Local Cinema

I'm intrigued by the possibility of local communities being able to program at least one of the screens of their neighborhood multiplex. It's an experiment that hasn't been tried much, if at all -- but think of the audience loyalty you'd get if ticket-buyers were helping to nominate and select the movies that played at the cinema.

Donald Ranvaud of the Rain Network, the biggest digital cinema operator in Latin America, talked about this possibility last fall at Digimart, during a panel I moderated. (Video is here.) He talked about the cinema becoming a sort of "jukebox." But he wasn't very specific, and he didn't respond to my e-mails asking for more details.

So I'm glad Variety has now done a story on Rain's initiative. From John Hopewell's piece:

...Beginning early next year, Rain's novel TOD [theatrical-on-demand system] will allow moviegoers, grouped in online YouRain Internet film clubs, to recommend what films play when and where over Rain's digital cinema network.

Virtual cinema club members can also refer wishlists to friends, and, exploiting YouRain's social networking system, let other people know what films they're attending.

...Films will be rented from rights holders on a revenue-share model, he added. Digital cinema already eliminates print costs. With Internet networking marketing hot and hip movies, TOD will also slash advertising costs, Lima argued.

Pretty cool... but I wonder if you'll have to charge people to participate -- perhaps making them buy a ticket or two in advance -- to make sure they actually show up to see the movies they vote for.