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| Tracking MoviePass’s Bumpy History as It Slashes Movie Allowance | Tracking MoviePass’s Bumpy History as It Slashes Movie Allowance |
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| Like many film plots, the story of MoviePass has been filled with monumental peaks, contentious rivalries and plenty of confusion. And in the past few weeks, amid plunging stock prices and widespread criticism, the subscription-based movie service has resorted to a dizzying array of stopgap maneuvers to keep the final credits from rolling. Here’s a timeline of events to keep track of it all. | Like many film plots, the story of MoviePass has been filled with monumental peaks, contentious rivalries and plenty of confusion. And in the past few weeks, amid plunging stock prices and widespread criticism, the subscription-based movie service has resorted to a dizzying array of stopgap maneuvers to keep the final credits from rolling. Here’s a timeline of events to keep track of it all. |
| Aug. 16, 2018: The restrictions keep piling up. MoviePass says subscribers will be able to choose only from six movies daily, with limited showtimes. The company promises these restrictions will be implemented “during this transition period.” | |
| Aug. 6, 2018: MoviePass reduces the number of movies that subscribers can see from one a day to three a month. Mitch Lowe, the company’s C.E.O., justifies the cuts by saying most people don’t see more than three a month anyway: “They will not be affected at all by this program, and even better, they’ll stop hearing MoviePass is going out of business.” The company also backtracks on a price increase announced only days ago — dropping the price back down to $9.99 — and says it will do away with surge pricing. | Aug. 6, 2018: MoviePass reduces the number of movies that subscribers can see from one a day to three a month. Mitch Lowe, the company’s C.E.O., justifies the cuts by saying most people don’t see more than three a month anyway: “They will not be affected at all by this program, and even better, they’ll stop hearing MoviePass is going out of business.” The company also backtracks on a price increase announced only days ago — dropping the price back down to $9.99 — and says it will do away with surge pricing. |
| Aug. 2, 2018: MoviePass’s parent company, the data firm Helios and Matheson Analytics, slides 56 percent on the stock market. In a defensive press release, the company writes: “We’re going through a rough patch not unlike what other disruptive enterprises experienced in their early days.” The statement also lashes out against theaters, accusing them of charging “exorbitant prices” and selling “overpriced concessions.” | Aug. 2, 2018: MoviePass’s parent company, the data firm Helios and Matheson Analytics, slides 56 percent on the stock market. In a defensive press release, the company writes: “We’re going through a rough patch not unlike what other disruptive enterprises experienced in their early days.” The statement also lashes out against theaters, accusing them of charging “exorbitant prices” and selling “overpriced concessions.” |
| July 2018: MoviePass suffers a service outage and borrows $5 million after admitting it cannot pay its bills. The company announces it will raise its subscription price from $10 to $14.95 a month and limit the viewing availability of blockbuster releases. Michael Pachter, a research analyst at Wedbush Securities, predicts that the outage signifies the “end of the end.” | July 2018: MoviePass suffers a service outage and borrows $5 million after admitting it cannot pay its bills. The company announces it will raise its subscription price from $10 to $14.95 a month and limit the viewing availability of blockbuster releases. Michael Pachter, a research analyst at Wedbush Securities, predicts that the outage signifies the “end of the end.” |
| June 2018: “Gotti,” a film about the mobster John Gotti starring John Travolta, is released by MoviePass Ventures, the company’s film-financing arm, and Vertical Entertainment to a zero percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The same week, MoviePass’s onetime partner-turned-rival, the AMC theater chain, jumps into the game with its own subscription service. It costs $20 a month, which AMC says is the price point for profitability; the company not-so-subtly adds that “other discounters by contrast will continue to be hemorrhaging cash.” MoviePass responds with some sass on Twitter: | June 2018: “Gotti,” a film about the mobster John Gotti starring John Travolta, is released by MoviePass Ventures, the company’s film-financing arm, and Vertical Entertainment to a zero percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The same week, MoviePass’s onetime partner-turned-rival, the AMC theater chain, jumps into the game with its own subscription service. It costs $20 a month, which AMC says is the price point for profitability; the company not-so-subtly adds that “other discounters by contrast will continue to be hemorrhaging cash.” MoviePass responds with some sass on Twitter: |
| April 2018: The MoviePass subscriber base approaches three million people. But cracks begin to emerge, as customers complain about glitches, shifts in service and extensive delays in membership card arrivals. An auditor even expresses “substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern,” while Helios, at this point, has lost $20 million a month since September. But if company leaders are fazed, they aren’t showing it: “I’m not worried about the viability of MoviePass at all,” Ted Farnsworth, chief executive of Helios and Matheson, told The Times. “We have plenty of money to get through the next year.” | April 2018: The MoviePass subscriber base approaches three million people. But cracks begin to emerge, as customers complain about glitches, shifts in service and extensive delays in membership card arrivals. An auditor even expresses “substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern,” while Helios, at this point, has lost $20 million a month since September. But if company leaders are fazed, they aren’t showing it: “I’m not worried about the viability of MoviePass at all,” Ted Farnsworth, chief executive of Helios and Matheson, told The Times. “We have plenty of money to get through the next year.” |
| December 2017: The company is thriving outwardly, as a million new subscribers sign up within just four months. Mr. Lowe tells The Times that the venture will succeed by collecting and selling data about the tastes and habits of consumers, particularly millennials, who make up 75 percent of subscribers. | December 2017: The company is thriving outwardly, as a million new subscribers sign up within just four months. Mr. Lowe tells The Times that the venture will succeed by collecting and selling data about the tastes and habits of consumers, particularly millennials, who make up 75 percent of subscribers. |
| August 2017: An alliance with AMC breaks when MoviePass drops its price to $9.95 a month. More than 150,000 new users sign up in just two days following the announcement — crashing the service’s website and app — and AMC responds by saying MoviePass users are “not welcome here.” “In AMC’s view, that price level is unsustainable and only sets up consumers for ultimate disappointment down the road,” the company writes in a statement. MoviePass also catches the eye of Helios and Matheson, which buys a controlling stake in the company for $27 million. | August 2017: An alliance with AMC breaks when MoviePass drops its price to $9.95 a month. More than 150,000 new users sign up in just two days following the announcement — crashing the service’s website and app — and AMC responds by saying MoviePass users are “not welcome here.” “In AMC’s view, that price level is unsustainable and only sets up consumers for ultimate disappointment down the road,” the company writes in a statement. MoviePass also catches the eye of Helios and Matheson, which buys a controlling stake in the company for $27 million. |
| December 2014: After a worrisome year in movie attendance, AMC grudgingly enters into a partnership with MoviePass, which until then had been swatted away by major theater chains. “It frankly wouldn’t be smart to ignore the success of subscription in other areas of media,” Christina Sternberg, senior vice president for corporate strategy at AMC, said in a Times interview. | December 2014: After a worrisome year in movie attendance, AMC grudgingly enters into a partnership with MoviePass, which until then had been swatted away by major theater chains. “It frankly wouldn’t be smart to ignore the success of subscription in other areas of media,” Christina Sternberg, senior vice president for corporate strategy at AMC, said in a Times interview. |
| October 2012: A beta version is rolled out, with monthly prices ranging between $29 and $34 a month. “I found it to be a wonderful service for this time of the year, when the temperature is in the 30s and I have to get ready for the Oscars,” Joshua Brustein wrote in The New York Times after testing out MoviePass in January 2013. | October 2012: A beta version is rolled out, with monthly prices ranging between $29 and $34 a month. “I found it to be a wonderful service for this time of the year, when the temperature is in the 30s and I have to get ready for the Oscars,” Joshua Brustein wrote in The New York Times after testing out MoviePass in January 2013. |
| July 2011: Led by the entrepreneurs Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt, MoviePass starts its service with an initial beta test in San Francisco, with the hopes of letting people see a movie a day for a monthly fee. The company hopes to outlast its other fledgling competitors to become the “Netflix of movie theaters.” But when 19,000 people sign up for the service in a single day, they find theaters resistant to letting them in. The test run never gets off the ground. | July 2011: Led by the entrepreneurs Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt, MoviePass starts its service with an initial beta test in San Francisco, with the hopes of letting people see a movie a day for a monthly fee. The company hopes to outlast its other fledgling competitors to become the “Netflix of movie theaters.” But when 19,000 people sign up for the service in a single day, they find theaters resistant to letting them in. The test run never gets off the ground. |