Cinemas should say what time film actually starts, US bill proposes

A lawmaker in Connecticut has put forward a bill to make cinemas advertise what time a film actually starts after advertisements and trailers.

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Senator Martin Looney of New Haven, Connecticut proposed the bill on January 21, which aims to “require that each movie advertisement or listing include, and separately list, the scheduled start time for (1) the movie trailers and advertisements that precede the advertised or listed movie, and (2) the advertised or listed movie.”

“It seems to be an abuse of people’s time. If they want to get there early and watch the promos, they can. But if they just want to see the feature, they ought to be able to get there just in time for that,” State Sen. Martin Looney told The Register Citizen.

“I got a couple of calls from constituents who said that they went to the theater a few times and the feature did not start for a considerable period of time after the advertised starting time. It does seem to me that people are, in effect, a sort of captive audience watching the advertising before they get to see the feature they came to see.”

Some cinema chains will give an estimation of how long the pre-film ads and trailers last, but Looney wants the actual start time to be clearer.

However, some small cinema owners say the move could be bad for their businesses.

“Announcing the start time of the actual movie would definitely disincentivize our business partners’ video messaging which would have a direct negative impact on our financial stability in an already so challenging environment,” Peter H. Gistelinck, executive director at the Avon Theatre in Stamford, CT told the same outlet [via IndieWire]

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