My team and I researched on the popularity of Cinespia for the final project in JOUR 463: Research in PR. This slide is my individual component, examining Cinespia's success within the movie industry in particular.

1. Individual Project: Cinespia within the Movie Industry
ShuWen Zhang

2. Research Questions
How does Cinespia fit into the wider context of the
movie industry?
What explains Cinespia’s success within the industry?

3. Methodology
survey
monkey
email
interview
literature
review
content
analysis

4. General Movie-Watching Trends
1. Increasingly watching
movies at home
2006 report by PEW Research Center

5. General Movie-Watching Trends
2. Movie attendance
hasn’t changed
too much in last
few years
based on data from CNC, MPAA

6. General Movie-Watching Trends
2. Movie-watching still
popular as a leisure
activity
based on data from a 2013 Harris Poll
11%
42%
37%
19% 18%
10%10%
Q: Two or three of your
favorite leisure
activities

7. Even though attendance of movie theaters in decline,
movie consumption itself is still flourishing.
People are simply watching movies via other methods today.
A-HA!

8. First Drive-in Theater
● Richard Hollingshead
● Opened June 6, 1933
● Camden, New Jersey
● Combined two interests:
● cars + movies
Comparison: Drive-In Theater

9. Eg: Mission Tiki Drive-In
● Montclair, CA
● Americana experience
● Opened 1956, renovated 2006
● 50s aura
● Concession stands
● Double-bill, screens new
releases
Yelp reviews from 2014 summer →
Comparison: Drive-In Theater

10. Content Analysis:
● 8 articles published between
1948-58
○ Baltimore Sun, Christian Science
Monitor, LA Times, etc
● Coded for themes
Comparison: Drive-In Theater Popularity

11. -- Jim Kopp, the United Drive-in Theatre Owners Association
Comparison: Drive-In Theater Popularity
They offered family entertainment. People could
sit in their cars, they could bring their babies, they
could smoke. Drive-ins offered more flexibility
than indoor theaters.

12. Decline of Drive-Ins in U.S.
Source: Drive-ins.com
(extensive statistics on
drive-ins)
337
4063
● Competition from cable TV, movie rentals
● Rising cost of land
● Influx of more flexible indoor theaters
○ Simultaneous multiple screenings
○ Not limited to night-time

13. Google Trends: “Drive-In”
Google Trends: “Outdoor Movie”

14. So why is Cinespia growing so steadily
in attendance?
Google Trends: “Cinespia”

15. Content Analysis:
Media Coverage
● Only 10 articles in major outlets in last
10 years
● Coded for both themes and key
words

16. Content Analysis:
Media Coverage

17. Content Analysis: Media Coverage
Part of LA
experience
Going
for
experience
Im
portance
of location
Historic
Appeal of
com
m
unity
aspect Appeal of film
selection

18. Content Analysis: Media Coverage

19. Content Analysis:
Public Sentiment (Yelp)
● Yelp reviews more comprehensive
than other social media
● Time frame: 2014 summer season
(5/9 - 9/27)
● 51 reviews
● Coded for themes

20. Content Analysis: Public Sentiment (Yelp)

21. Email Interview: Jaime Katz
Cinespia attendee
Q1: How did you first hear about Cinespia?
“Wanted something cheap and fun.”
Q3: What appeals to you most about Cinespia?
“Huge movie fan...love being outdoors.”

22. Email Interview: Jaime Katz
Cinespia attendee
There is something surreal about sitting
under the stars, enjoying wine and
snacks and watching a great movie
while in a cemetery filled with
Hollywood legends.

23. Email Interview: Jay Boileau
VP & Director of Cultural Events Programming, HFC
Q1: What do you look for in events?
“Space and history...beautiful experience.”
Q2: Why did you decide on Cinespia?
“Liked their approach to screen classic films.”

24. Email Interview: Jay Boileau
VP & Director of Cultural Events Programming, HFC
Watching older movies is
an act of remembrance.

25. Film Selection:
Cult Classics

26. Q8: What do you
think is similar or
different about
Cinespia compared
to other outdoor
movies?
SurveyMonkey

27. ● food
● outdoor
● family
● comfort
● social
● post-war
● automobiles
● baby-sitting
● flexible
● cemetery
● historic
● film selection
● experience
Drive-Ins Cinespia

28. More and more people are watching movies at home,
but the reasons for going out to movies is similar to those
50 years ago.
Cinespia provides
food, comfort, family time and socializing
+
outdoors, great film selections, unique location & experience
A-HA!

29. Challenges
● Difficulties in research process
○ Survey:
■ respondents not familiar with Cinespia
■ respondents skipped questions/dropped from survey
○ Media coverage:
■ very little
○ Interview:
■ getting responses from busy Cinespia and HFC staff
○ Cinespia’s “mysterious” branding

30. Challenges
● Different research methods reached different audience groups
○ Results don’t necessarily coincide → must make sense of it
● Deciding on individual project topic and direction
● Group dynamics
○ Finding an equal balance of work distribution

31. the end