Market trends at The Moxie
Written by Dan
The movie exhibition business is often described as "feast or famine" by those working on the inside. In the early days (read: pre-last week), my mental outlook was based on the highs and lows we experienced here at the theater. If it was a good week, I was happy; if it was a bad week, I was grumpy; and if it was a piss poor month altogether, I was an intolerable, whiny, little pantywaste. Now, as a veteran theater-owner of nigh on eight months, I've finally begun to harden myself against sudden attendance downturns. Two thirds of a year is a long time in the exhibition business, you know. I've seen lesser men buckle after only 2/3 of an 8 hour shift! Of course, I'd be lying if I didn't blame Paul - our cinementor - for at least some, if not all, of our shift in perspective. That man's been experiencing the ebb and flow of the indie arthouse scene for well over five years. If anyone knows the feeling of having a stellar month turn to crap, or vice versa, it's Paul. Thanks again for your help, ol' buddy!
Hmm...
What was the original reason for this post? Oh yeah, I remember: market trends at The Moxie. It's amazing how similar running a movie theater is to investing in the stock market - with us being brokers, and our audience being investors. We track daily transactions, read news hot off the wire, listen to analysts, research good investments, and publish our entire portfolio for all the world to see. Sometimes it's a bull market here at the theater, while other times attendance can be a bit bearish. There are literally hundreds of factors that can affect how our "stocks" perform: from the ones we can control (lack of exposure across the city, niche advertising, forgetting to turn on the outside lights, etc.), to the ones we can't (finals week, beautiful weather, tornadoes, baseball home stretches, pub crawls, snow storms, First Friday Art Walks, etc.).
Do all theaters see as much fluctuation in their attendance as we do? Probably not. Running a single screen theater is like having only one company's stock in your entire portfolio. So, in keeping with that analogy, with every additional screen you add to your theater, your portfolio diversifies exponentially. That's the biggest thing I envy multiplexes... diversification (am I really saying this?). Having eight or more screens allows theaters to hedge their bets and lessen the ups and downs of the market to a certain extent. Multiplexes, like the smart investors they are, can fill their largest auditoriums with high yield stocks like MI:3, POSEIDON, and RV, and make a killing from ticket sales!
Oh. Wait.
This just in: MI:3 and POSEIDON tanked at the box office this weekend.
Hmm. Perhaps it's a bear market all over this crazy industry! Who would'a thunk it? My hope is that this "finals week" slump doesn't downgrade into a summer long depression. I think as long as we continue to invest wisely, and further build the integrity of The Moxie portfolio, then we should bounce back in no time. With that said, September can't get here soon enough. Hurry back students. Hurry back!
Here's to a bullish summer, folks!