Posters from Movie Theatres?

I don't know what their policies are regarding posters - but what I do know is that they give them out to employees. Promotion managers usually gets first dibs, then the rest are given the crappier movies posters. So even if you're working there, don't expect to walk out with an Inception movie poster ;). no clue if they hand them out at all to the public.


[quote name='51jack']I thought this section might work, since it involves movies. Anyway what are theatres policies about movie posters? Are they free or what?[/QUOTE]
 
They now are to be destroyed because of workers asking for them and then eBaying them. Depending on the poster sometimes promotions companies request them back.
 
I work at a movie theater, and it's like Interstella said, Managers get first dibs then the employee's get the rest. We really don't give them out to the public too often. I've given out a couple before when I was changing out posters, but they were really crappy ones like Dear John and stuff like that.
 
it depends on the theater. one theater near me said they dont give out posters to the public but send them back to the studio. Another theater said that you can put your name down on a poster and they will call you when they take it down and you can pick it up...The only reason that theater would say no is if someone claimed the poster before you...
 
Ha, this brings back memories of fighting over SW banners with co-workers. Kinda makes me wonder what my original Harry Potter banner with the man himself on it is worth. We're talking vinyl quality here.
 
The send them back to be destroyed because of eBay is a myth, I'd tell people that all the time. Usually management takes what they want and give away the others to employees and/or customers via promotion. Smaller theaters might be more lenient or have sign ups.

The thick 3D posters (Avatar, Toy Story, whatever) are usually picked up by studio rep a few weeks after release.
 
I get alot from raido stations who have movie tie ins. cd101 in columbus has a few bins in the loby for the taking.
 
I'm a manager for a certain national theater chain and I can tell you that we usually get A LOT more posters than we will ever need for any reason. I take home the ones I want when we're done with them, and if an employee asks for one I will give it out, but otherwise 99% of them end up in the trash, and while I don't think we necessarily have a policy against it, we typically don't give them out to the public.

As far as the eBay thing, I know we are prohibited from selling anything, it doesn't even matter. A quick look on eBay will show you that 99% of movie posters are worthless. They are printed in far too much abundance for them to have any value, and despite the fact that they are typically only available to theaters, there really isn't much interest in them as far as collectors go.
 
[quote name='Scotts85']The send them back to be destroyed because of eBay is a myth, I'd tell people that all the time.[/QUOTE]

thank you for pulling the veil back off that one
 
There used to be a CAG who sold a ton of movie posters from theaters. Haven't seen any of those postings lately but I remember he had some from time to time.
 
When I went to see Scott Pilgrim on launch after the movie when me and my buddy were walking out of the screening an employee handed both of us a poster for the movie, so it seems like most people are saying they probably judt try to hand them out if nobody that works there wants it. This was at a Marcus Theatre btw.
 
[quote name='exRounder']thank you for pulling the veil back off that one[/QUOTE]

I had to pull a lot of strings to get that information, you all are welcome.
 
I have an acquaintance that always hooks me up with stuff at the theatre he works at. Only one I cared for was the Michael Jackson cardboard display one. Might be worth a bunch of moola later. I told him to stop after a while, I have no care for any and can give a crap about ebaying them. Seems like pretty relax at his location but I bet it varies from place to place.
 
I work at a cd/dvd store and we haven't done it in years, but the movie theatre by our mall used to give us free movie tickets to put up posters or a small display to promote a big release. Normally they would take a couple pictures of it to send to their corporate bigwigs then take it down. They were also very generous in giving us posters and things if the store had contests or giveaways and needed prizes.

Also nowadays a lot of movies come with free posters if you reserve them on DVD/blu ray as a bonus from the studio to push pre-sales, but before that was a common thing we would go to the theatres and get the posters when they were done showing a movie and give them away/raffle them off to people who reserved the dvds.

Like I said this was years ago under different management at both the movie theatre and my store, corporate offices a little more strict about these kind of things now.
 
[quote name='MoCiWe']When I went to see Scott Pilgrim on launch after the movie when me and my buddy were walking out of the screening an employee handed both of us a poster for the movie, so it seems like most people are saying they probably judt try to hand them out if nobody that works there wants it. This was at a Marcus Theatre btw.[/QUOTE]

Almost certainly a promotional item, not a true one-sheet.

Anyway, I have experience working at movie theaters, and it is as people have already said. It usually depends on the theater, but almost certainly the best stuff is claimed by the promotions manager or the general manager, then other management, then employees.
I can verify that there are cases where distributors want the posters back, but that only seems to apply for super narrow releases, where the companies want to save all the money they can. And posters are destroyed usually when there is an error or correction, like the Shutter Island posters with the October 2009 release dates on them, or concerns over content (One of the Saw movies had this problem, if I recall it was Saw 3.)

And just for any aspiring collectors, nearly every legitimate movie poster is double sided, with a mirror print on the back, for display in lightboxes. That being said, there are exceptions in both ways, with some official posters being one-sided, and some re-prints and knockoffs being double-sided.

/shameless bragging: My best items are a Batman Begins poster, Hot Fuzz poster, Incredibles poster, three Transformers posters (The Prime and Megatron faceoff set and the theatrical), Harry Potter 5 teaser (Voldemort) and theatrical, and a Sin City 7ft vinyl banner with Jessica Alba on it. There might be more particularly good pieces, but these are the ones I remember right away.
 
I work at a theater. Whoever calls dibs first on a poster gets the poster for free. I've got a few good movie posters since I've worked there. I got Public Enemies, Wanted, Death Race, Rush Hour 3, and few others. I haven't tried to get any posters lately.
 
Pardon my ignorance.

But there are hundreds of web sites out in the wild that sell movie posters. So why would movie studios and whatnot be so afraid of these 'originals' being given out to the public or ending up on Ebay?

Someone earlier said, "Good luck getting an Inception movie poster."

Who really needs luck, when I can pick them up on Amazon if I wanted one?

Anyway, set me straight on this one, folks. I'm curious. =P
 
I personally threw away like 5 Inception posters, it was no big deal. And in the 8 years I've worked at the theater the ONLY time I've seen a distributor want their materials back was in the case of the aformentioned Saw 3 poster that the MPAA said was too violent, but even then, I just told them we had never gotten any, and took the 3 we had home, and they never said a word.
 
[quote name='Rouzhokuu']Pardon my ignorance.

But there are hundreds of web sites out in the wild that sell movie posters. So why would movie studios and whatnot be so afraid of these 'originals' being given out to the public or ending up on Ebay?

Someone earlier said, "Good luck getting an Inception movie poster."

Who really needs luck, when I can pick them up on Amazon if I wanted one?

Anyway, set me straight on this one, folks. I'm curious. =P[/QUOTE]

It can be difficult to ensure that they are authentic when buying from a third party. Authenticity might sound like something that only extreme collectors care about, but it's generally an indicator of quality as well. People looking for something for long-term display might care more about it.

And we've already mentioned that movie companies don't care about what happens to the posters after movie theaters use them, except in special cases described above.
 
I literally have a crate full of movie posters from when i worked at a theater. I was in charge of all the promotion crap so i basically took what i wanted when i wanted. As someone said, you generally get way more than you need in terms of posters, standees, banners, and other promo crap. I remember our theater getting a roll of 45 We Were Soldier posters, so when it came out, i just put the posters in every poster window we had for the weekend.

I do sort of wonder if any of these posters are worth anything. I've got all the Planet of the Apes banners, the Shrek 1 banners, a standee for The Two Towers that i never put together, the Freddy vs Jason banners that "ripped" at the end, a few Blow posters (easily the coolest poster ever) and so forth. So basically any movie from 00-04 i've got posters for.
 
This might have already been asked but can't you just buy them online or in a store? I had a few movie posters back in the 90's but don't remember where I got them. I just know they were a large poster and had the movie credits at the bottom of them. I know they didn't come from a theater because I never went to the theater that was in town and asked.

EDIT: Nevermind I see that it was already talked about.

EDIT 2: Is their a way to tell if a poster bought 3rd party is authentic or not? Anyone know of any sites online that sell authentic movie posters?
 
You could rasterbate your own, i tried it recently and it came out good. i mean, this was done with scotch tape and regular paper from a laser printer -- so I can only imagine what movie poster you'd be able to make if you were hardcore about the design and paper quality.
 
On a semi-related note, I am a former employee of Fandango.com. At the HQ in Southern California, they have posters on display all throughout the suite and employees were free to get some really high quality posters to hang in your cubicle or just to have. Like a movie theater, the posters would change with the releases of movies, just like in a movie theater, so the old ones would be given out. You can try acquiring posters from any place that regularly puts posters on display, but other than movie theaters, Fandango HQs, and video stores, I can't think of any.
 
I'm the manager of a movie theater and have been in the business for the better part of a decade. I have never once received a request from the studio to send back their posters (even Paramount who never seems to send less than 20 posters for a single movie). Everyone in this thread is pretty dead on, as most posters are given to employees and/or thrown away. I put all the posters of the movies that have already come out and give the employees a week to claim them, and throw them away after that. Same goes with standees, banners, bus shelters, etc.

Customers always ask me for posters, but I give them the whole we have to destroy them or send them back to the studio speech. I know people get frustrated because they know it's not the truth and we should give back to the customers since this stuff is free anyways. I humbly ask you not to get mad at any theater employee who tells you this. The fact of the matter is that most movie theaters have thousands of people come in throughout the week. If the word gets out that we are handing out free posters, then everyone will start asking and get upset if they ask for the poster but another customer gets it. No offense to customers, but we really don't have the time in our day to handle poster requests on top of the day to day operations and handling customer issues and what not.

I will admit that occasionally I will make an exception for charity events, schools, etc. We usually get at least one request a month for this type of stuff and if we have the time in a day, we will usually pick out some stuff to give to them.

The bottom line is, it doesn't hurt to ask, but don't get offended if they tell you no.
 
[quote name='AFarewell2Arms']I'm the manager of a movie theater and have been in the business for the better part of a decade. I have never once received a request from the studio to send back their posters (even Paramount who never seems to send less than 20 posters for a single movie). Everyone in this thread is pretty dead on, as most posters are given to employees and/or thrown away. I put all the posters of the movies that have already come out and give the employees a week to claim them, and throw them away after that. Same goes with standees, banners, bus shelters, etc.

Customers always ask me for posters, but I give them the whole we have to destroy them or send them back to the studio speech. I know people get frustrated because they know it's not the truth and we should give back to the customers since this stuff is free anyways. I humbly ask you not to get mad at any theater employee who tells you this. The fact of the matter is that most movie theaters have thousands of people come in throughout the week. If the word gets out that we are handing out free posters, then everyone will start asking and get upset if they ask for the poster but another customer gets it. No offense to customers, but we really don't have the time in our day to handle poster requests on top of the day to day operations and handling customer issues and what not.

I will admit that occasionally I will make an exception for charity events, schools, etc. We usually get at least one request a month for this type of stuff and if we have the time in a day, we will usually pick out some stuff to give to them.

The bottom line is, it doesn't hurt to ask, but don't get offended if they tell you no.[/QUOTE]

This.

I'm sure most people would shit if they knew how many Iron Man 2 posters went in the trash. Why Paramount thinks I need 30 of them, I will never know. And don't get me started on the Bus Shelters that Sony sends me for every single movie, even though I've told them a hundred times that I have no place to hang them and they go right in the trash as soon as we receive them. The opposite end of the spectrum is Summit pictures who will send you all of maybe one Twilight poster, and refuses to send you any more, no matter how hard you beg and plead, but I digress.
 
[quote name='spmahn']This.

I'm sure most people would shit if they knew how many Iron Man 2 posters went in the trash. Why Paramount thinks I need 30 of them, I will never know. And don't get me started on the Bus Shelters that Sony sends me for every single movie, even though I've told them a hundred times that I have no place to hang them and they go right in the trash as soon as we receive them. The opposite end of the spectrum is Summit pictures who will send you all of maybe one Twilight poster, and refuses to send you any more, no matter how hard you beg and plead, but I digress.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I hate handling promotional materials. You are dead on about Summit. I was only able to hang the teaser of Eclipse (which they sent me 7 months before it came out) because when the final version arrived, the courier had apparently used the the tube to beat the shit out of the rabid Twilight fans who were probably trying to jump him for it. Universal is the biggest pain in my ass right now. They only send me standees, bus shelters, and banners. We only hang up posters at our theater. I know it's strange, but the company wants us to keep a classic feel and we just don't have the space. Oh well, what can you do.
 
Just to add my two cents-- a local theater in northern VA sells their posters-- If I recall correctly, they said the money goes to charity. When purchasing a movie ticket, they'll ask if you'd like to purchase a poster-- if you say yes, they'll show a list of what they have available-- then they have to find it. I think it was $5 each...
 
When Spider-Man 3 was out, I really REALLY wanted the lenticular poster of his chest that changed from red to black when you passed by it. I called up a few movie theaters for it. The manager at a local movie theater told me that it was coming down in two weeks and that I could have it then (even going so far as to take my name and number). Fast forward to two weeks, I called the manager back up, and then he said I couldn't have it and that it was given to an employee.

Needless to say, I was pissed. Still don't have it because people want outrageous $ for it.
 
[quote name='sephiroth61787']When Spider-Man 3 was out, I really REALLY wanted the lenticular poster of his chest that changed from red to black when you passed by it. I called up a few movie theaters for it. The manager at a local movie theater told me that it was coming down in two weeks and that I could have it then (even going so far as to take my name and number). Fast forward to two weeks, I called the manager back up, and then he said I couldn't have it and that it was given to an employee.

Needless to say, I was pissed. Still don't have it because people want outrageous $ for it.[/QUOTE]

That damn lenticular Spider-Man poster was impossible to get even when it originally came out. I remember my boss at the time pleaded with Sony to get one, and they wouldn't send it.
 
Ha, I used to work for several Cinemark theatres, one handled it by a first come first serve basis, so if you were a concession or floor sweeper peon, good luck! When I went to college, I was a low-level manager. Once I realized they kept them all in this stock room, I started taking them to my car one-by-one by putting them up the sleeve of my sports coat. I guess they caught on to me when the box slowly dwindled down and I think the got me on film at some point b/c I was fired for it. But oh well, it was a shitty movie theatre job, and you know, I was in college, make 45x more now than I ever did there..
 
Just ask, it's really up to the managers if they want to hook you up or not. Worst case scenario they just say no anyway. Really depends on the movie for what you're asking. Typically anything that would be popular between the late teens to 30 or so will be snagged by employee's. My brother and I have worked in projection booths for a long time and we have a crap ton of banners/posters/buttons and other movie stuff.
 
[quote name='spmahn']I personally threw away like 5 Inception posters, it was no big deal.[/QUOTE]

you MONSTER
 
[quote name='sephiroth61787']When Spider-Man 3 was out, I really REALLY wanted the lenticular poster of his chest that changed from red to black when you passed by it. I called up a few movie theaters for it. The manager at a local movie theater told me that it was coming down in two weeks and that I could have it then (even going so far as to take my name and number). Fast forward to two weeks, I called the manager back up, and then he said I couldn't have it and that it was given to an employee.

Needless to say, I was pissed. Still don't have it because people want outrageous $ for it.[/QUOTE]

Sounds like he just said that for you to be "Happy" and probably kept it for himself. I liked that poster too when it was out.
 
I know this is way, way off topic but I'm considering working for the local AMC.

Has anyone here worked for AMC or any other theater? They pay next to nothing, so I'm doing it purely for the love of movies.

It sounds crazy, I know but I want to try working around something I actually enjoy.
 
[quote name='Broseph']I know this is way, way off topic but I'm considering working for the local AMC.

Has anyone here worked for AMC or any other theater? They pay next to nothing, so I'm doing it purely for the love of movies.

It sounds crazy, I know but I want to try working around something I actually enjoy.[/QUOTE]

I worked at AMC for six years. It wasn't too bad. The pay is real low. It really all depends on the management you get. I've worked at several different theaters with the company, and some were better than others. My biggest gripe is their GuestFirst training program. The company is too quick to hand out a pass for every little complaint. There are so many people who complain about stupid little things and they get a pass for it. Corporate is very distant from the individual theaters and it's frustrating because all they care about are the numbers and not the individuals who work there. That being said, most large corporations are like that, so don't let that discourage you from applying.
 
Hmm, I think I'm gonna start asking my local theater. I live in a little town and the theater has like six screens, so it probably won't hurt to ask.
 
I'm a movie poster collector and I'm wondering if anyone knows of any good, cheap (as in inexpensive not quality-wise) poster frames that can be used for these movie posters? I'm looking for frames where I can change out the posters frequently. I tried to use a frame from Wal-Mart but the little plastic tabs that held the back of the frame would wear each time I tried to open the frame. Eventually the tabs would break and the cardboard backing wouldn't stay on. The ones I use now I got from FYE for about $18 a piece and they are the frames where the sides, top, and bottom come off, so there's no backloading required. These frames fall apart easily though and don't quite fit the movie theater poster size (27X41). I have several posters where about an inch of the sides, top, and bottom of the poster have been ruined because they didn't quite fit in the frame.

On the subject of movie posters, I used to work at a theater and any time someone asked a manager for a poster they would get the "let me get your name and number" spiel but I never heard from those people again. We used to have auctions where we would bid on those posters (with our fake company money that we got for doing something well). I managed to get a House of Flying Daggers poster that way because no one I worked with knew what the heck that movie was (plus our theater never got it, ironically).

I say your best bet is eBay. I know a lot of the sellers on there are crap but just look for posters that are double-sided (sometimes written as DS) and 27X41. Anything under that size for a modern movie poster is not authentic. If you're displaying them, chances are no one is going to know the difference between an authentic movie poster and a non-authentic one. Hell, some people think there's no difference between the posters at the theaters and at Blockbuster. I've gotten some good ones off eBay though, including the B&W Jessica Alba Sin City poster for $9.00 shipped. It's double-sided and if it's a fake, I can't tell. Try buying a lot of posters from the same seller to save money or search for movie poster lots.

Also try movie poster websites like http://www.movieposter.com. They even have a discount section with posters ranging from $5-$10. Slim pickins but you might find a good one. Just don't expect to get a real popular movie poster for real cheap.
 
[quote name='AFarewell2Arms']I worked at AMC for six years. It wasn't too bad. The pay is real low. It really all depends on the management you get. I've worked at several different theaters with the company, and some were better than others. My biggest gripe is their GuestFirst training program. The company is too quick to hand out a pass for every little complaint. There are so many people who complain about stupid little things and they get a pass for it. Corporate is very distant from the individual theaters and it's frustrating because all they care about are the numbers and not the individuals who work there. That being said, most large corporations are like that, so don't let that discourage you from applying.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the info!

I've bounced in and out of retail since '95 so I expected a lot of corporate America BS. It always bothers me a bit, but I can deal. There seems to be quite a few nice theaters here in the Oklahoma City area so if AMC doesn't work out, there's other options - including a couple of drive-ins. I haven't been to a drive-in since the original Matrix.

I'm hoping my face time with the public will be limited after the initial training stuff. Pretty burned out on running a register. Plus, I have about six years of experience transferring film to DVD so hopefully I can end up near the technical side of things in short order...maybe?

On the topic of posters, I have several Austin Powers 1 and 2 posters from a friend who worked the local theater in college. There might be Something About Mary and a Jackie Chan poster as well.

Wonder if they're valuable. They've been in a tube all these years.
 
[quote name='Broseph']Wonder if they're valuable. They've been in a tube all these years.[/QUOTE]

According to the site above, you might be surprised. I didn't check your posters, but a quick check of that site claims that an Ultraviolet poster, which I gave to a friend years ago, is worth $80. Even if it's worth half that, I never would have guessed people cared so much about such a blah movie.
 
[quote name='metallicoholic']I'm a movie poster collector and I'm wondering if anyone knows of any good, cheap (as in inexpensive not quality-wise) poster frames that can be used for these movie posters? I'm looking for frames where I can change out the posters frequently. I tried to use a frame from Wal-Mart but the little plastic tabs that held the back of the frame would wear each time I tried to open the frame. Eventually the tabs would break and the cardboard backing wouldn't stay on. The ones I use now I got from FYE for about $18 a piece and they are the frames where the sides, top, and bottom come off, so there's no backloading required. These frames fall apart easily though and don't quite fit the movie theater poster size (27X41). I have several posters where about an inch of the sides, top, and bottom of the poster have been ruined because they didn't quite fit in the frame.[/QUOTE]

You could try Micheal's. Their Trendsetters frames are somewhat expensive but they routinely have 40% off coupons which help a lot. I use them and have never had any problems.
 
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