It pains us to see people watch films on their phones. These beautiful works of art deserve to be seen on the biggest screen with the best sound, amongst a crowd, and with a big bucket of popcorn in your lap. MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe agrees. He just wants more people to feel that way.
MoviePass is pretty great if you’re an avid film fan. The idea of paying less than $10 a month for practically unlimited access to films in theaters sounds too good to be true, yet MoviePass gives you that option today. As they say, things that are too good to be true often are, right? Well, the MoviePass CEO is here to set the record straight.
According to Lowe, MoviePass is not only here to stay but it is the future of the movie-going experience. In a lengthy interview with ScreenJunkies News on YouTube, the MoviePass CEO sat down to answer all the tough questions, and the answers will probably surprise you. Yes, ScreenJunkies is the place to go for those Honest Trailers and Movie Fights, but they pivoted from the hijinks and asked some tough questions for Lowe, in what is an enlightening interview.
First, the big question is asked, how can MoviePass even stay in business? With the cheap subscription model, it seems crazy to think that MoviePass could ever become profitable. If you’re a fan of business and economics, Lowe breaks down every revenue stream the company has and their ultimate long-term goal of attracting enough “normal” film fans to offset the smaller numbers of film obsessives. While I’m no financial genius, his path to profitability actually sounds plausible, if not likely.
Business aside, a bulk of the interview is just Lowe explaining that he’s not the enemy of the big theater chains like AMC and Regal. In fact, he says he wants nothing but success for these companies, as long as they are willing to play ball. The sticking point between the large theater chains and MoviePass seems to come down to profit-sharing. MoviePass believes that they provide more butts in seats, and in exchange for that, they’d like a little cut of the new profits. Whether or not that happens is the big question.
Ultimately, if you’re a film fan and are worried about the future of the industry, especially if you want more independent fare in the theaters, you should give this video a watch. MoviePass might not be the answer that theater chains were hoping for, but it might just be the only option.