Rave Motion Pictures to reduce prices

As the film industry struggles with the expansion of internet-based movie alternatives, Rave Motion Pictures at 40th and Walnut streets is looking to attract more Quakers to its showings by lowering its prices.

Starting Oct. 7, the Rave will offer a student rate of $8 seven days a week. In the past, student discounts only applied Sunday through Thursday, and the student ticket price was $9.

In addition, the Rave General Manager James Wroblewski said the movie theater plans to host a weekly “Quaker Night,” in which Penn students will be able to purchase tickets for $7. Additionally, the Rave is reaching out to local businesses to potentially help sponsor Quaker Night by showcasing their products or advertisements.

The Quaker Night day is yet to be determined, but feedback from Penn suggests that Tuesday is the likely pick.

“We wanted to make the Rave Cinemas a destination for students … and offer an incentive for students to come,” Wroblewski said. “We’re also trying to book more independent-style, art-house movies — as opposed to ‘popcorn pictures’ like shoot-’em-up action flicks — and bring in more thought-provoking material.”

These price changes come amid major developments in home movie-watching options, such as Netflix, which have incentivized movie fans to stay at home to watch films. As of Sept. 7, yearly theater revenues were down 4.3 percent from the previous year, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Jason Hiner, writer for business technology news website ZDNet, reported Sept. 7 that “the movie industry has been under intense pressure over the past decade as large-screen television sets have come down in price and high definition movies have made the home experience feel more and more like a small movie theater.”

Cinema Studies professor Paul Messaris noted other potential threats to the movie industry in the form of other visual media, such as video games, that “could well have major consequences for the film industry’s traditional assumption that its core audience consists of young males.”

Messaris also pointed to an anecdote of Avatar director James Cameron to illustrate the industry’s path. Five years ago at a public event, Cameron said making movies small enough to be viewed on a cell phone is “an abomination.” But earlier this year, “Cameron announced his creation of a new company that will facilitate the migration of 3D technology to smartphones ‘and other small-screen devices.’ In many ways, that says it all,” Messaris wrote in an email.

When informed about the Rave’s price changes, students — many of whom use Netflix or otherwise stream movies online — had mixed reactions about going to the theater.

College and Wharton sophomore Souhail Salty mostly watches movies on his computer using Netflix and Hulu, and only went to the Rave once or twice last year. However, Salty said that “if there was a special event [like Quaker Night,] I would probably go.”

College sophomore Shaye Roseman said that she and her roommates “plug [their] computers into their TV and watch online movies through that,” but if the Rave lowered its movie prices, she would “probably be incentivized to go, since [she’s] never been before.” College sophomore Emilie Abrams, on the other hand, said she would be unlikely to go to the Rave even if prices went down.

As the Rave has not begun an advertisement campaign for student reduced prices, it remains to be seen whether ticket prices will help the Rave overcome national trends.

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