Playing a movie for the que and entrance area

[Jim Warfield]

I feel in some ways..

If I owned a steak house, would I feed my customers waiting in line McDonald's hamburgers?
(Or if I had the Mcdonalds would I feed them steaks from another restaurant while they were waiting?)
After they make the trip, spend the time and money to be at your door, why remind them of your competition, movies, by showing them movies?
Maybe I'm just in a "purist" frame of mind right now?
Enough healthy, normally physically ambitious bodies are couch potatoes already.
Get off the couch! Turn off the box! Go see some live entertainment!

[Terror Girl]

During my "normal" job as the marketing coordinator for a local Harley-Davidson dealer I have done these drive in movie nights several time. www.swank.com is the easiest place to work with. They will ask you a ton of question (most in which you can bs right through). If you are a non-profit you get the movies very cheap (I have got some for as little as $100) but the more current, more people viewing etc the more expensive it is. I haven't ever done anything but a two day rental and never paid over $500. Give them a call ... great people to work with!!

[nightcrawl]

We have been playing outdoor movies for 15 years at our attractions and they are a big hit.
It makes the wait more tolerable and often the people stay to watch what's playing - of course this helps with popcorn sales.
We started by playing movie trailers and film clip compilations then went to full movies. As we grew in size and attracted more attention we realized we should be on the up and up.
We decided to produce our own films. We made them all short (15-20min.) so the patrons could see them from beginning to end while waiting. Every film we made related to the event in some way. For instance our hayride played a 16 minute film of people getting killed on a hayride. The trick was to make it very clean, pg, so it was family friendly.
I think ,as some of you mentioned - the best bet is to find some independent films. The filmakers would love to have them shown to a large audience. The trick is that most independent horror movies have foul language or nudity.

Check out our film"Hayride to Hell" on youtube.

[Jim Warfield]

I have almost always too

Shown a short video to inform, entertain and kill just a small amount of time that sometimes works out very well if it allows afew more customers to arrive and join the group.
Being 15 minutes late is not fashionable but it sure is common.

[snowfreak666]

I say do it but with you own film make the story of you haunt give it history. I know when i go on rides that have like a video before it i feel like it is more real I like how busch gardens has a story to all their rides and to their haunt attractions giving us a little bit more reason to be scared i feel like the more detail the better I makes it more real i think and that the fact that they are walking into this place where bad things have happend well that makes it even worse for the me lol if you need ideas let me know I would be glad to help

[jimmyfish]

royaltys

I own a radio station and believe me, we pay 3 major companies dearly every onth, BMI, ASCAP and Seesac. It is based on market size and income. We get a blanket to play any works from these agencies and most major works are from one of them. We have to pay extra for any other use, like internet stream or use in tv spots ect. We also can not use them in the background of commercials.

As for the music rights for mobile djs, you can play them as long as the venue where you are playing is covered. Most bars and public places should be covered. it is a grey area if you are playing at a school or outside somewhere.

I thought about playing music in the que line, we are in a mall and they are licensed to play musak on the over head speakers and it would be before people pay for their ticket in the mall outside the actuall haunt. So I am not sur about that. I am just going to make my own audio track about the history of the character using stock music librarys I have bought that are no needle drop and can be used anywhere as long as I don't tack the tracks and re-sell them. I have to have my voice over them and/or make them a part of a production.

[MovieRelics]

It's always best to use Royalty free music when you can find quality versions. You can always find a composer and commission them for custom music at reasonable prices. I occasionally hire composers for video and game projects I'm working on if they require something really unique that royalty libraries just don't work for the project.

Jimmyfish,
You said your paying BMI, Seesac, and ASCAP. What about SoundExchange? And as for the mall playing music, they are licensed to play music over the speakers, so if they are playing the music and have the licenses, your fine. Just make sure you've got the licenses if your playing the music inside your haunt. The moment they cross the threshold into your place, you need the license.

[DarkTikiEntertainment]

Erebus (a frequent "Top 13 Haunt" in Haunt World) shows what appears to be public domain movies while you wait in their que line. The fact that they are really old and grainy adds to the creepiness, if you ask me. Once you're at the indoor section of the que line, they play videos relating to the storyline of the haunt... Including a fake newscast about the crazy things occurring at the haunt. It's really good.

[estavares]

This topic has been covered pretty well, but I'll throw in my $0.02.

We've had a movie showing in our queue-line for years. It is comprised of about 50 old horror films that have lost their copyright, edited down into clips. We've added original videos we've shot -- commercials, news reports, 1950s style educational videos, etc.

We went with www.Swank.com to see about showing full length features. The problem is that A) they are expensive, especially if you want to show a different film each night and B) they mail them to you, you show them on the night contracted, and send it back. You have no replay rights and C) they WILL follow up to make sure you are in compliance. We had pictures of the posters of the proposed movies on our website, and they told us to take them down until we paid for the movie. The lady then kept following up via our website to make sure we complied.

Frankly, they were copyright nazis.

So we stopped showing expensive films and continue to expand our original shorts and videos. Patrons love it, and it's cheap. It just takes time. Here's our YouTube Channel to check some of them out:

http://www.youtube.com/user/DarkHollowHaunt

[estavares]

BTW, we theme the film area into an old 1950s drive-in, complete with classic cars, posts with speakers, the lot. Personally, it's a great way to keep people happy for they're waiting a long time.