Two years after the bankruptcy, MoviePass is reborn.
Instead of allowing users to watch unlimited movies for $ 10 a month – a business model that attracted customers but failed to make a profit – the new MoviePass will offer a scalable service, with movies costing credits based on their popularity and the time of their screening. Another twist: When the service re-launches this summer, subscribers will be able to earn credits by watching ads on their phone – provided they allow the software to track their eye movements to ensure they watch the ads.
MoviePass founder Stacy Spikes presented his vision for the ad tracking service at an event last week at Lincoln Center in New York. Spikes, who previously raised $ 56,000 on Kickstarter for the ad tracking program called PreShow, presented it as a way for viewers to benefit from consuming it in exchange for free movies. According to Spikes, spots on the PreShow are just like commercials before a movie, but are personalized based on the interests of the viewer.
“It basically creates a transaction between you and the brand,” he said, adding: “The nice thing about this is that your phone, your device, uses your own face detection.”
Spikes introduced the software by watching an ad for a taxi service that tracked when it turned and stopped the ad until it returned. This approach prevents viewers from cheating the system, he explained.
“We had an older version of it, where – you know what happened – people put the phone down, they left, they didn’t care,” he said.
According to a spokesperson representing MoviePass, the ad tracking software will work on any camera phone. The company has not yet announced details on how much it will charge for its new service.
“I love product placement”
Given that the vast majority of video viewers choose to skip ads, it is unclear how many moviegoers will submit ads in exchange for free animation. But to hear Spikes speak, the software will have at least one enthusiastic user: himself.
“I love putting products on film. I love cars, I like watches, I like clothes,” he told the public on Thursday. “Sometimes I have a notebook and I write, ‘Is that Hugo Boss?’ and I’m at the computer and trying to figure out, what suit is he wearing? I’m the guy. ”
According to Spikes, PreShow is a natural extension of film advertising, an industry that earns tens of billions of dollars each year. He also argued that because moviegoers could choose the program, they benefited directly from it.
“It withdraws the middleman, against people who sell your data and give you information to access things. We will allow this to happen directly to you,” he said.
Inside and out of bankruptcy
MoviePass was released in 2011 and has been growing slowly for half a decade. In 2017, it was acquired by Helios and Matheson Analytics, a data company. New owners dropped their monthly MoviePass subscription to $ 10 a month in an effort to increase their subscription.
The traffic 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 tried increasing the price and putting restrictions for what the members could see, but by then he had burned most of his cash. File for bankruptcy in 2020.
Late last year, Spikes bought his company for just $ 14,000, according to the Wall Street Journal. Spikes’ goal, which he admits to being “moonlit”, is to enroll 30% of American viewers in MoviePass by 2030. It currently has at least 200 users: Participants in Thursday’s announcement each received a free subscription lasting one year.
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