Like all cinemas, The Frida Cinema has experienced the effects of a major change in customer behavior. “Over the last 10 years, streaming has become more and more prolific and COVID really, institutionalized it as the way to watch movies,” said Frida’s Founder and Executive Director, Logan Crow.
For Logan, the result is two-sided. “I have a love/hate relationship with streaming,” he said. “The love comes from the fact that people have access to movies and television shows from all around the world, including micro-budget movies that would never reach the big screen. The hate is what it’s doing to the cinema industry, as well as socialization.”
For Logan, cinema is as much about community as it is about film. He grew up visiting independent cinemas. So, when the opportunity came to open his own theater, it was more calling than vocation.
“New generations are taking in all their content and their socialization on their screens. At home. I think: ‘Gosh, who would I be today, if I didn’t go out to these places and meet people and get inspired by the things I would stumble upon just by being out.’ So, it’s become crucial to me that we get these new generations out of the house and experiencing film together.”
But, in a world where practically any movie can be accessed from home, how does Frida fill its auditoriums? And, how can its PoS system help?
Bringing it all together
Togetherness is a central theme for Frida. For Logan, shared experience is critical. “The energy that’s shared in the room is vital to the way you experience the film. Having people laugh or gasp around you brings it all to life. You can’t check your phone, you can’t pause, you’re totally immersed in this shared experience.”
This sense of togetherness and community is critical to the success of the theater. Logan fills his auditoriums by finding local movie enthusiasts and opening up a dialogue with them. “People send us requests left and right,” said Logan. “We have a large student volunteer base and we speak with them to understand what our young community wants to see. Our program director keeps a list of every single film that is requested, and that’s what informs the majority of our programming.”
Logan also sees the importance of using his theater to serve the local community in other ways. “We tap into our local community by putting ourselves at its center,” he explained. “We’ve hosted plays, concerts, student film showcases, weddings, civic engagements, and city council presentations.”
Of course, all of this has to be underpinned by a robust operating system that’s capable of flexing to meet Frida’s diverse needs. The more varied its offering becomes, the more sophisticated its PoS system needs to be.
Taking things to the next level with Tapos
Frida has come a long way since its early days when it operated on a combination of Excel spreadsheets and raffle tickets. Its next system was more digital but the team quickly ran into issues when it tried to make its membership programme work.
“We needed a ticketing platform that would work within the site so that we didn’t have to double our efforts by creating an event page and a ticketing page. We had gift cards and all these things we had developed. We were sometimes working with four different platforms just to make things work.”
Tapos had been on Logan’s radar for a while and, two years ago, he thought his theater was ready to go to the next level. “We had grown to the point where we needed a robust ticketing solution,” he said. As a small cinema with big ambitions, he needed a partner that was able to support the day-to-day while helping him take things further. “We are constantly adapting and learning and I love working with companies that do the same,” said Logan. “Like us, Tapos is happy to acknowledge that its system is a constant work in progress. They are proud of what they do and are always happy to consider suggestions for improving.”
Connected ticketing
A key priority for Frida was to tie its online ticketing site to its in-person ticket sales. “In the past, we had to work with an event ticketing plugin and then manually link every ticket from our ticketing platform into the theater plugin.” Now, because Tapos handles all ticket sales in one system, the two are automatically linked. “The ability to integrate Tapos right into our website is huge for us,” said Logan. “It’s saved us so much time.”
Membership
As a movie theater that’s built to nurture community, membership is a central component for Frida. With Tapos’ membership module, the Frida membership card is now linked to a profile within the Tapos system. Membership benefits can be unlocked by swiping the card at the theater or entering a membership number online. These code-activated discounts are also useful for students of affiliate schools.
Easy bookkeeping with QuickBooks compatibility
A report is only as good as its accessibility or its ease of comprehension. Tapos offers reporting in various formats with drag-and-drop components. It also integrates smoothly with popular accountancy tools, like QuickBooks. This was a game-changer for Frida. “Now, if our bookkeeper needs to access reports, it’s super easy since it’s all connected via a seamless integration between Tapos and Quickbooks,” said Logan.
Bespoke development
As a non-profit arthouse cinema, Frida has specific needs that can’t always be met by a generic system. In this case, Logan has a direct line to the management team who are happy to receive requests and build new functionality, especially if it will benefit multiple cinemas. Frida, for example, needed to add sponsor logos to movie listing pages. “I reached out to the team and explained that I needed the HTML functionality to be able to add a hyperlinked logo. A few weeks later, we were good to go. Little things like that really mean a lot.”
Teamed up for success
With a lifelong passion for cinema, Logan values a partner that shares his dedication. “With Tapos, you feel you have a partner that genuinely cares about the success of your cinema,” he said. “Management knows that the more they can diversify their offerings based on the varying needs of their clients, the better the product is.” This results in a flexible system that is always willing to adapt. “So far with Tapos, everything I’ve needed has been possible,” said Logan. “The team is always interested in taking things further. They’ll ask questions like: Where else can we go with this? What else can we add?”
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Curious to learn how Tapos could be a good fit for your cinema? Get in touch and we’ll set up a demo.