Two years after bankruptcy, MoviePass is reborn.
Instead of allowing users to watch unlimited movies for $ 10 a month, a business model that attracted customers but did not make a profit, the new MoviePass will offer a staggered service, with movies that will cost “credits “depending on its popularity and projection time. Another twist: When the service is relaunched this summer, subscribers will be able to earn credits by viewing ads on their phone, as long as they allow the software to track their eye movements to make sure they are viewing the ads.
MoviePass founder Stacy Spikes presented her vision for the ad viewing service at an event last week at Lincoln Center in New York City. Spikes, which previously raised $ 56,000 on Kickstarter for the ad viewing program called PreShow, presented it as a way for viewers to take advantage of their ad consumption in exchange for free movies. According to Spikes, PreShow commercials are like ads that are played before a movie in theaters, but customized based on the interests of the viewer.
“It basically creates a transaction between you and the brand,” he said, adding, “The good thing about this is that your phone, your device, uses your own facial detection.”
Spikes demonstrated the software by looking at an ad for a taxi service that it detected when it was turned and paused the ad until it returned. This approach prevents viewers from fooling the system, he explained.
“We had an earlier version of this, where, you know what happened, people left the phone, left, didn’t pay any attention to it,” he said.
According to a spokesman for MoviePass, ad display software will work on any camera phone. The company has not yet shared details on how much it will charge for its new service.
“I love product placement”
Since the vast majority of video viewers choose to skip ads, it’s unclear how many viewers will submit to ads in exchange for free movies. But to hear the tone of Spikes, the software will have at least one enthusiastic user: himself.
“I love putting products in movies. I love cars, watches, clothes,” he told the audience on Thursday. “Sometimes I have a notebook and I’m writing down, ‘Is this Hugo Boss?’ and I’m at the computer trying to figure out what dress he’s wearing? I’m that guy. ”
According to Spikes, PreShow is a natural extension of in-film advertising, an industry that accumulates tens of billions of dollars each year. He also argued that since viewers could opt out of the show, they benefited directly from it.
“The intermediary is taken out, in front of the people who sell your data and give away information so that you have access to things. We will encourage this to happen to you directly,” he said.
Inside and out of bankruptcy
MoviePass was released in 2011 and grew slowly over half a decade. In 2017, it was acquired by Helios and Matheson Analytics, a data company. New owners reduced their monthly MoviePass subscription fee to $ 10 a month to grow their membership.
The movement worked. In a few months, MoviePass had 1 million subscribers, and a year later it reached 3 million. What this strategy did not do was make a profit. MoviePass tested increasing the price and posing restrictions on what the members could see, but by then most of its troops had been burned. In 2020 he applied for bankruptcy protection.
Late last year, Spikes repurchased his business for just $ 14,000, according to the Wall Street Journal. Spikes’ goal, which he admits is a “moonshot,” is to enroll 30% of U.S. viewers in MoviePass by 2030. At the moment, it has at least 200 users: Attendees to Thursday’s announcement received each a free subscription for one year.
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