MoviePass 2.0 Lessons
Movie Pass 2.0 has finally been unveiled- and had everything from Web3 to Black Turtlenecks! After watching the presentation, I have made a list of the Good , the Bad , the Ugly , and the Weird. Watch the presentation for yourself here.
If you want the cliff notes:
The founder (Spikes) now knows Movie Pass’ strengths and weaknesses
This could be an opportunity to revive the industry
Going all-in on Web3
Black Turtleneck!
§The Good
Movie Pass as a Discovery Tool: Spikes mentioned a simple + different value proposition for Movie Pass: it is used primarily as a discovery tool for indie movies
Leverage the cult: Movie Pass’ cult following gives a leg-up when it comes to the rebrand- and Spikes is fully leaning into that advantage
Shouting out diverse founders: Spikes pointed out that in the Venture Capital industry, only 2.6% of VC funding has gone to women/minority founders - something that needs to change ASAP
Returning engineers: Bringing back the founding engineering team is a testament to Spikes’ leadership and salesmanship ability
Tiered plans: Something I thought Movie Pass was sorely missing in its first iteration is on the horizon :)
I think it is clear that the founding team knows that worked and what did not work in Movie Pass 1.0. From giving up control to understanding the true value proposition- there were plenty of lessons learned since 1.0 shutdown. Good on them!
§The Bad
Movies != Sports Event: Spikes equated the theater to a live sporting event. I agree that seeing blockbusters (Dune, Endgame) can be a good “live” experience. However, for indie movies, the difference between watching at home or in the theater is negligable
It’s not me- it’s you: It looks like a lot of the marketing, technology, and pricing will still be on the theteres to implement. Independent theteres will struggle with the “Web3” future that Movie Pass wants to exploit
Overselling the industry prospects and giving theteres more issues to deal with is a tough sell for me. This could get ugly!
Speaking of which…
§The Ugly
Web3 Future: Movie Pass is staking its future on Web3. Maybe Web3 will be a success, but to stake your whole business on this does not seem wise
Co-op Model: Apparently, there will opportunities for customers to invest in Movie Pass and receive benefits. Selling Movie Pass as an “investment opportunity” to raise money from your customers seems…yucky (note: business models that have done this well such as credit unions require little initial capital to grow!)
Black Turtleneck! : Why do founders still do this??
Betting your business on Web3 and pitching yourself as a Steve-Jobs like figure (innovative technology, being ousted, Black Turtleneck!) is just plain ugly to me. What happens if Web3 fails? What happens if a co-op is not the right structure? What happens if Spikes stains the Black Tutleneck? Yuck!
§The Weird
Product Placement: Maybe I hang out with the wrong people- but I have never heard them express interest in the product placement from a movie. Yet Spikes apparently has a notebook to write down what suit James Bond is wearing? That’s just weird, man
Preshow: This feature will allow direct marketing- using facial detection to make sure you are watching the ad. Look away and the ad pauses! Although this is a big plus for advertisers- it just seems weird to me
Overall, this presentation was about what I expected. Take the lessons from Movie Pass’ blowup, throw in some Web3, and boom. What more can you ask for? Spikes even threw in a Black Turtleneck. Movie Pass is slated for beta use this summer - let’s see how this one plays out! Best of luck to Spikes and his team!