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Old 08-12-2019, 8:55am   #1
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Default MoviePass:would cut off users once the company reached a certain monetary threshold..

Users were told “there are no more screenings at this theater today,” when in reality MoviePass was disabling its services to prevent it from burning through too much cash.

MoviePass reportedly changed account passwords to prevent users from seeing films
https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/9/20...-films-tactics

Struggling theater subscription service MoviePass reportedly resorted to extreme tactics to prevent users from taking advantage of core features, according to a new report from Business Insider. In particular, the report highlights a strategy the company used to keep users from bankrupting it, by changing account passwords to prevent ticket purchases that might cost it money it didn’t have.

Business Insider’s report looks at how Ted Farnsworth, CEO of MoviePass parent company Helios & Matheson Analytics, and MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe, transformed the company from a little-known subscription service to a nationwide sensation. It also delves deep into the questionable business strategies and tactics the duo used to keep the company afloat, all while it hemorrhaged money by fronting subscribers the full cost of a movie ticket. MoviePass was not immediately available for comment.

MoviePass has had an extremely rough couple of years, due in part to its buzzy $10-a-month fee it introduced back in the summer of 2017. The change, which allowed subscribers to see a movie a day every day of the month for less than the price of an average ticket in most American cities, resulted in an explosion in popularity and exposure for MoviePass.

The report, however, outlines how the price drop was mainly a marketing tactic to generate headlines, and that it led to a surge in sign-ups the company could barely keep up with. For example, MoviePass never anticipated the number of physical cards it needed, and its vendor ended up running out, leading to delays in on-boarding new users.

The goal was to get critical mass of new subscribers to boost profits, with the hope that a majority of users wouldn’t see more than one movie a month, much in the same way a gym offsets high overhead by relying on members who hardly ever show up. The problem is that people enjoy going to the movies in a way that they don’t particularly like going to the gym, and as a result, MoviePass was losing money with every visit. MoviePass founder Stacy Spikes argued the price was going to bankrupt the company, and he was eventually shown the door, Business Insider reports.

Because of the demand, the company ran into trouble. In April 2018, it cut back on its unlimited plan, allowing users to see only four films a month. Then it changed its user plans again, allowing users to only see films from a certain selection. Then it forced users to opt out of the new plans. In January, it unveiled yet another set of subscription plans. In March, it brought back the unlimited plan (with conditions). And finally in July, it announced that it would shut down for “several weeks” to retool its model.

Business Insider’s report outlined how the company took on a more adversarial stance toward power users that were costing it too much money. One employee noted, “Before Mitch came on it was, ‘How do we slow down those users?’ With Mitch [Lowe] it was just, ‘F--- those guys.’”

The company tried other tactics to actively make its service hard to use, like when it limited the ability for users to see high-profile films like Avengers: Infinity War and Mission Impossible: Fallout. Employees say Lowe demanded they change the passwords of “a small percentage of power users” ahead of those releases to prevent them from ordering tickets through the app, telling people that it was a “technical issue.”

The company also implemented a “trip wire,” which would cut off users once the company reached a certain monetary threshold each day. Users were told “there are no more screenings at this theater today,” when in reality MoviePass was disabling its services to prevent it from burning through too much cash.

Business Insider says the company’s subscriber base has dropped from “over 3 million to around 225,000,” and since the company shut down its operations in July, “Farnsworth and Lowe are nowhere to be found, as most of the staff have yet to learn the cause of the company’s halt.”



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Old 08-15-2019, 10:21am   #2
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I didn't realize how bad my driving was until...

my GPS said, "in 500 feet, veer right, stop, and let me out."
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Old 09-13-2019, 8:32pm   #3
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Default and they're done

https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/mo...rvice-saturday

MoviePass shutting down service Saturday, parent company announces

MoviePass is no more, unless its owner can find a buyer to revive the movie ticket subscription service.

Parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc., which owns a majority stake in MoviePass, said Friday that it was officially “interrupting” service for subscribers as of Sept. 14, though the company had already halted service in July as it claimed to be working on improvements to its app.

For consumers, the service had seemed almost too good to be true. For $9.95 per month, members could see a movie in a theater daily, even getting tickets for new releases. But even as new members flocked to the company, it struggled to make money. Customers began complaining about the MoviePass app not working.


MOVIEPASS RIVAL SINEMIA KILLS US MOVIE THEATER SUBSCRIPTIONS
Interrupting MoviePass service in July, during the busy summer blockbuster season, was probably a bad sign for the business’ future. Then, a cybersecurity firm discovered in August that MoviePass had accidentally exposed customers’ credit card data.

Helios and Matheson said its board had formed a “strategic review committee” that would explore the company’s options, including a possible sale of the company or its assets like MoviePass and Moviefone.

“The company is continuing its efforts to seek financing to fund its operations,” it said in the announcement. “There can be no assurance that any such financing will be obtained or available on terms acceptable to the committee.”

MoviePass isn’t the only ticket subscription service to fall. Its former rival Sinemia said in April that it was discontinuing its U.S. operations.

Similar services offered by theater owners seem to be more successful. AMC Theatres announced last month that its Stubs A-List program had more than 900,000 subscribers. The service allows members to see three movies per week, but only at AMC locations.
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Old 09-13-2019, 8:44pm   #4
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Wow. Didn't see that coming...

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Old 09-13-2019, 9:07pm   #5
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Movie Pass executive: "We're losing money on every customer. How will we survive?"

Other executive: "Don't worry, we'll make it up with volume!"
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