Analco 1

Alberto Analco
John Kubler
English 114B
19 February 2015
Film Industry and Movie Theatre Business
Movie theatres affect a variety of people in society. Most people enjoy going to a theatre
with family or friends to just waste a few hours watching a good movie. Movie theatres and
movies are good for society for several different reasons. They are part of the entertainment
business so they bring in money. Movie theatres are a social place where people go with friends,
boyfriends, girlfriends, or family. For others it can be a way to feel comfortable for a bit, to get
lost in the story of the movie. Overall I think the movie industry and movie theatres have a
positive effect in society because of those reasons.
In an interview with Tom Sherak, President of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Science from 2009 to 2010 and former Senior Executive Vice President of Fox Filmed
Entertainment, he explained that movies are stories, movies are people who come out with ideas
about something they want to say, something they want to tell someone (Shah 1). There
different types of movies that people set out to make out in the world and like Sherak says its a
way for people to tell us story with a message. There are different genres of movies but it doesnt
really matter what the genre is, it will still try to tell you something, even if its just a funny little
tale. The people involved in the making of the film get to be creative and when they are done
people in a society are able to decide whether they will watch the film or not.
A movie theatre can be a positive thing for an individual person. In the article "Theatre
Comforts" the author, Amelie Hastie, describes how she found comfort in going to watch a
movie the same afternoon that she was told her father had passed away. She described it as an
overwhelming "desire to go to the movies, to be enveloped in darkness, surrounded by the
comfort of images flashing before me" (Hastie 1). Her friend wasn't able to go with her that
afternoon but Amelie still imagined her friend sitting next to her in the movie theatre. I can relate

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to this. For this specific person, the movie theatre was able to affect her life in a positive way by
keeping her comforted and also occupied. The author continued to seek comfort in going in
watch movies even months after her fathers death. The situation doesnt have to be this extreme
for everyone. Some may just want watch a movie for entertainment after a hard weeks work. You
sit down in your comfortable chair, with company, and you enjoy the movie.
Personally I like going to enjoy a movie with friends and for reasons very similar to Tom
Sharak and Amelie Hastie. For Amelie going to watch a movie was her way of dealing with a
negative event in her life. For other people, like myself, its a way to be entertained and take it
easy after a week of school work, job work, or other things that may not be as fun. I completely
agree and feel the same way with what Sherak said about movies. He stated that films are about
escapism. Movies are about sitting in a theatre, watching something watching a story unfold
with people I dont know watching that happen and emoting an emotion knowing that for those
two hours, when I walk into that theatre, I dont have to worry about what is going on outside. I
lose myself in what Im watching (Shah 1). As I mentioned in my report part of the reason I like
going to the movies is because Im able to get lost in the movie for a few hours and kind of
ignore the outside world and Im not the only one that thinks this. Of course there are other
reasons why people like to go to this place. People like to go with their friends and family, I do
too. They can socialize about the movie or about anything so people coming together to socialize
is good.
There are some that argue that movie theatres are negative in society because the movie
theatre business is going down. According to an article from The Huffington Post by Gary
Susman, in 1948, 67 percent of Americans went to the movies at least once a week...in our
economic slump, its less than 10 percent (Susman 1). According to the information the author
gave in the article, the number of people that go to movie theatres weekly has decreased

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dramatically. However this decrease took about 60 years and there are reasons as to why this
happened. One of those reasons is because of technology. Recently people have able to watch
those movies from the comfort of their own homes. Through renting services, online services,
even illegal online websites. According to another article by Arthur E Gimmy many movie
theatres are at risk for closing. He explains that an estimated 1000 theatres are in danger of
failing, representing nearly 20 percent of the motion picture venues in the United States and
Canada (Gimmy 1). This means that a good portion of movie theatres open are just barely able
to stay in business. An example of this is Mann Theatres located in Van Nuys, California.
Unfortunately the company wasnt doing so well and the company had to see to another movie
company that was doing better. It reopened and the biggest change was simply the name. It
became Regency Theatre. Even though its a slow the number of people going to movie theatres
is decreasing. According the same article by Gimmy the number of tickets sold in 2011 were
1.28 billion, down 4 percent against 2010s 1.34 billion admissions (Gimmy 1). It could be
argued that this is proof that the movie theatre business is going down but this is only a small
difference and I think for it to be hard evidence the decrease in sales should be more dramatic.
The Motion Picture Association of America is formed in 1922 to help the film industry.
The MPAA is also in charge of the rating system for movies. The film rating system has five
categories, general audiences, parental guidance suggested, parents strongly cautioned, restricted,
and no one under 17 and under admitted. This association is very positive for society because it
provides many jobs which end up helping people and the economy. The website states that its
responsible for about 302K, 47 billion dollars in wages, and supports 1.9 million jobs
(Creating Jobs). These numbers are huge and prove that it does have an enormous impact on
society. The reasons it helps supports this many jobs is because it takes a ton of people to make
almost any film. There are so many different jobs people work on that the numbers arent

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shocking. There are directors, writers, actors, supporting actors, extras, camera people, the list
goes on. Even after the filming is done the film has to be edited and even after that someone has
to get market the film and tell people to go watch it. The amount of people that the film and
theatre business benefit is huge and in a positive way for society.
There no argument that the film and theatre industry effect society. I believe that the
positive arguments about them are far greater than the negative ones. Theatre business may be
going down very slowing but it doesnt mean people arent watching movies. People are still
watching movies from the comfort of their own homes because of technology. The fact that there
is a very small decrease in the number of tickets being sold in theatres doesnt mean the film
industry is failing. Like I previously mentioned people are now able to watch those films from
their home because of technology. Movie theatres even affect society at an individual level in a
positive way because its a form of entertainment and somewhere you go with other people. They
provide comfort for some or escapism for some and entertainment for others. For these reasons
the film and movie theatre industry are very positive things in society.

Works Cited
"Creating Jobs." Motion Picture Association of America. Motion Picture Association of America.
Web. 18 Feb. 2015.
"Film Industry Generates $5.1 Billion in Economic Impact - Georgia Department of Economic
Development." Georgia Department of Economic Development ICal. Georgia.org, 14 Aug.
2014. Web. 18 Feb. 2015.
Gimmy, Arthur E, and William Condon. "The Business of Show Business Act II: Appraising the
Movie Theater." Appraisal Journal, 81.2 (2013): 112-128. Web. 17 Feb 2015
Hastie, A. "Theater Comforts." Film Quarterly, 67.3 (2014): 50-54. Web. 17 Feb. 2015
Shah, Vikas. "The Role of Film in Society." The Role of Film in Society. Thought Economics, 19
June 2011. Web. 17 Feb. 2015

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Susman, Gary. "Movies and the Economy: Courting Adults in a Time of Declining Film
Attendance." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 17 Nov. 2011. Web. 18 Feb.
2015.