Shorts & Horrors!

I now have over 50 programs ready to go into any café or bar that wants to give them a try. While putting each show together, my foremost thought has been "Will people enjoy these films in this kind of setting." On the finished shows my answer was naturally yes. If I didn't see the potential for Cafe Roxy becoming a big success in some venues, I would not be so optimistic. I would also not find something to write about here every week!

Yes, a film audiences will enjoy the shorts -- cartoon, serial, TV show -- and the features if they stay for them. Even if some leave a little way into the features, the films will have achieved their goal of attracting an audience who eats and drinks and has fun and will come back next week. It's a free show that sets your establishment apart from others, so don't be dismayed if some leave in the middle.

The completed shows fall into 4 series grouped around complete Serials shown one chapter a week. The All-Star Dozen is comprised entirely of shorts -- several cartoons, serial chapter, episode of the Beverly Hillbillies, Buster Keaton silent comedy and something special each week like Louie the Dog or Spike Jones. I'm not saying who or what Louie is, but take it from me he is an audience favorite that I have gotten requests for from viewers who only saw Louie once 40 years ago.

Undersea Kingdom is the serial that anchors this series for 12 weeks. It has everything kids loved in Saturday Matinees -- a muscled hero in a sci-fi costume, slimy villain, robots, futuristic air ships, stunts, action and cliffhangers. The trailer for this serial appears in the Free Sampler DVD. In fact the all-star shows are very much like the Sampler. Shorts allow your customers to come and go freely without missing much. If there is still a crowd at the end of the two hours, you can re-run from the beginning until the last patron leaves.

It's time to ask the weekly question. If you put up the poster on the right, will people come?

The 12 Nights of Horror include standard screamers like Night of the Living Dead and White Zombie that still send viewers home with a chill and glance over their shoulders down deserted, ominous alleys. The Brain That Wouldn't Die tries to scare but elicits giggles instead. Teenagers from Outer Space was a major hit on Mystery Science Theater 3000. Several others Like the eerie Carnival of Souls were independently made, which is why the makers didn't know how to copyright them! That includes prolific schlock director Roger Corman, whoseThe Little Shop of Horrors is an all-out comedy that works.

I feel each of the final 12 features entertain today.

A few titles did not make the cut. Teenage Zombies was not good enough quality and also simply boring. Maybe I can edit it someday down to ten solid minutes of thrills, laughs or any reaction other than snooze, but don't look for it soon! I eliminated two good titles because they were British films that seemed difficult for a drinking crowd to get into. I still recommend these for home viewing. Sweeney Todd, or The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, stars the supremely greasy Tod Slaughter. Just like Johnny Depp in the recent remake, Mr. Todd is a barber who turns clients into meat pies with a slit of his razor. Another British film I took out was Bela Lugosi's Dark Eyes of London, also known as The Human Monster. Pretty good, except all the actors other than Bela are British and the pacing at the start is slow. When a show is free, your audience can leave quickly with nothing lost, for them, and I didn't want to risk that. My substitute was the safe comedy with Lugosi and the East Side Kids, Ghosts on the Loose. You may like Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall and the gang, or loathe them, but the film moves right along for the many who have never faced that decision before.



www.caferoxy.com

Recipe for Success!

(I send out these hints with each Sampler Show.)

Café Roxy is not likely to show up in the local Starbucks. Only entrepreneurs who think outside the box will try something new to attract customers -- like showing free films -- and that’s you! Try innovative promotion as well. Give Café Roxy the best chance to succeed by following this recipe for success.

1) Make it a Movie Night!
Don’t run continuous films any old time. Make it an event your customers plan to attend. Schedule Free Shows for specific day(s) and time(s) either... on your least busy nights (Monday-Tuesday?), for Saturday and Sunday brunch, as mid-afternoon Saturday Matinees, weekend late nights, or whenever your regulars want to come! When you start a Roxy series of 12 shows over 12 weeks, be consistent with same day/same time each week. Multiple showings are great as long as they are the same DAYS and same TIMES. Remember that some viewers might want to catch the weekly adventure serial chapter!

2) Display the Posters!
Print out the posters from www.caferoxy.com, add you name and showdate info, and put them up! You can also print mini-posters to hand out. Will audiences show up to see the films advertised in this poster on the right? In many venues the answer is a resounding YES! If you have TVs, there is no cost or risk to try Free Movie Night.

3) Talk It Up!
Your best repeat dining/drinking customers, family and friends are most likely to attend the free movies. Make them aware. Ask what they would like to see. Ask their advice on days and times.

4) Show the Sampler First!
The free Sampler Show has a variety of shorts that allow viewers to come and go without missing much. That is the program that this poster advertises. I will mail you the Sampler Show free if you only email me at ron@caferoxy.com and ask for one.

If a late arriving, still eager crowd remains at the end of the show you can always re-play the DVD from the top so they can enjoy the serial trailers and cartoons.

5) Alert the Media!
Yes, seriously. Many papers would be happy to report on a new idea related to free entertainment in this economy. Later articles might cover your Buster Keaton revival or "Serials are Back!"

6) Free Popcorn!
Buy a popcorn machine. It just might be the bonus that sends drink sales through the roof.

7) Be Creative!
Film your grand opening for Youtube. Advertise on your website and Face Book. Include showdates in your printed monthly calendar. Install a red curtain around your large screen TV. Extend Happy Hour prices to Movie Time. Draft a local musician to accompany Buster Keaton silent films. Pass the kitty for the piano player. Etc., and please let me know what you come up with!

8) Have Fun!

Dim the lights and roll film....

www.caferoxy.com

The Big Crime...

...is that cigarette ads were ever allowed on TV! Or that smoking was invented. Jack Webb was a smoker. Webb suffered from acute asthma from age six until adulthood, somewhat surprising for a man whose cigarette intake reached three packs a day at its peak. He died in 1982 of a massive heart attack at age 62.

Speaking of Dragnet, the long-running TV hit that put Webb in the TV hall of fame... This American television police series was telecast on the NBC-TV network from January 3, 1952 through September 6, 1959. It returned to the air in the late 1960s under the slightly modified title Dragnet '67. During its first 12 months, Dragnet appeared every other week, alternating with Gangbusters. Of the 276 episodes of the tv series shown during the 1950s, copyrights on 171 were not renewed (Episodes 1-100, 199-264, 266-267, 269, 273, and 276).

Not renewed means those episodes are in the public domain. Since I have sold public domain for years I can attest that Alpha Video, among others, would have 40 volumes of Dragnet on the market if they could find them. Yet only the same 24 or so episodes show up again and again on various releases. Maybe 35 are known to exist, or maybe 40, but the inescapable fact is that at least 130 public domain Dragnets have been lost for years. The first episode -- "The Human Bomb" -- is lost. Since they were widely syndicated in the 1950s and 60s on 16mm prints, there is hope of an unknown collection surfacing someday.

While the Dragnets do not have episode titles in the credits, most of them after the first show are titled "The Big (Something)" as in "The Big Producer," "The Big Shoplift," "The Big Hit-And-Run Killer," and you got it. "The Big Crime" from September, 1954 is a lost episode. I took that as the series title for my recently completed "13 Big Crimes" Café Roxy programs. The features are a mixture of film noir like "Detour" and murder mysteries like "The Kennel Murder Case."

Here is the poster for Big Crime Program #4 "He Walked By Night," which features Jack Webb as a police detective in the film that gave him the idea for Dragnet. Plus a Dragnet episode, cartoon and serial chapter. If you put this poster in your café window for a week, would audiences show up to see the films? The cartoon, serial and TV show run about an hour. One can eat and drink quite a bit in an hour, then leave if they like or stay for the feature. That's the Café Roxy idea. Try it!

The series runs 13 shows instead of 12 to fit the 13 chapters in the serial Gang Busters. I first saw this serial as a child one chapter a week (I'll tell that story later). The villain is Prof. Mortis, played by Ralph Morgan, who kills gangsters only to bring them back to life to be his slaves. Mortis lives in a hide-out under a subway. An exceptional chapter ending is chapter 3. The girl reporter heroine is kidnapped by a wounded gangster who leads the police on a lengthy "dragnet" pursuit. When finally cornered he forces her out on the running board as a shield. This was 1942 and all cars had running boards. Police cars block the road ahead. They swerve onto a bridge, crash through the railing and plummet onto traffic below. Boom! Continued next week.

First Café Roxy?

Who will be the first Café Roxy? Many bars and eateries have shown films for some time, so I don't mean them. Who will be the first to exhibit a Roxy poster a week ahead, then show the Roxy Sampler, then report back how it went? Here are two ambitious possibilities who are expanding their cafés with attached screening rooms.

First is Susan Bosin's Revue Cafe in Fresno, CA, pictured here. "For those who prefer individuality over Starbucks, this very cute cafe is done up with huge vintage posters, unobtrusive lacy white curtains, and maroon walls with glossy black ceiling and trim. Use the traditional black cafe tables with two chairs per table, or sit along the booth against the far wall. There are small tables outside as well. Nice for sipping a hot tea or cafe mocha -- or iced mochas and smoothies in the summer -- while watching the alterna-crowds and other foot traffic pass by. Small selection of desserts, pastries, bagels and cookies. Students like to do their homework here."

Susan rented an adjoining room because the space was available and inexpensive (due to the recession). She is planning to start movies in June and made these comments on May 17:

"I can't wait to take a poster to kinkos and get it enlarged for our windows...and small ones for hand-outs. I KNOW they will be the primary advertising tool....THEY'RE FANTASTIC!!!"

"Its 106 degrees today so I couldn't get anyone to work in the attic to install the projector which arrived from BenQ on Thursday. I got the SP831...I think it is 4000 lumens so we can show even in a lit room if we want....Daytime TV, etc. The BenQ site has REFURBISHED units from their TRADE-UP program at about a third the cost....I'll let you know if its a good thing, in case anyone asks you about projectors."

The other venue about to debut Café Roxy shows is the Hideout Coffee House in Austin, TX: "The Hideout, home of both coffee AND comedy, is a welcome, new addition to the hub surrounding Congress and 6th St. When you first walk in to this newly renovated historic building, you are greeted by the soothing and familiar scents of coffee, very strong coffee. The coffee house part of this establishment dominates the front scene downstairs, with hardwood floors, high ceilings, and a long, meandering hallway finally giving way to the dark shadows of the theater in the back."

Greg Nelson reports: "I can't tell you how much I'm diggin' your enthusiasm. But you need to give us some time on getting things cleaned up on our side. Give us a month. We're trying to clean-up the theater, paint, carpet, seat repairs, new hardware, establish our advertising, etc. In other words, things are kind of hectic on our side (from financing to painting to scheduling) and we want to keep your creative productions on our 'let's do' list."

Two promising venues. Who will debut Roxy film shows first?

Sizzle. Fizzle.

My ad in Restaurant Report, shown here on the left, has come and gone with little impact on the dining world. I won't say I got NO requests for the free sampler DVD. Let's say somewhat less than I expected, since it was emailed to 7,000 restaurants, and I didn't expect too much. It only proves what I already knew -- that it takes awhile for a new idea to get looked at. It's also hard to give away anything free. I should have made it easier by putting on my home page: "Click here to receive a free DVD Sampler Show." I thought of that just now, which is too late for the current ad whose shelf life was two days, but I will go and add it now.

No ad is wasted. The ad may be the first glimpse some future customers got of the name "Café Roxy" and the idea behind it. Maybe next time they see the name or spot an ad they will go to the website, read enough to catch the idea and ask for a free sample DVD.

In my opinion the email ad looks very good, and is exactly how I wanted it. Jaime Oikle at Restaurant Report was very helpful in finalizing my changes. Maybe I can get Jaime to write an article on Café Roxy someday, but not until an actual successful program is in full swing in some café.

That is coming very soon.

Www.caferoxy.com.

Up Next!

Café Roxy will officially open for business when 7,000 people hear about it. Next week? I’m not sure when my ad will appear, but I am submitting one to the Restaurant Report E-mail Newsletter. They send out 2 or 3 e-mail newsletters a week, each with a featured article and ad. In their own words:

"For over eleven years, Restaurant Report has established itself as an indispensable ally of the independent restaurateur. Restaurant Report's Web Site and E-mail Newsletter are written for the owners, chef/owners, executive chefs and general managers of this vibrant group of restaurants. And they pay attention. As one of the largest resources focused on the independent audience our readers look to us for the answers and solutions they need to profitably run their restaurants."

Ordinarily I wouldn’t expect one ad of any kind to have much impact. Business usually builds slowly through a website, word of mouth, an online review, networking and so on. The sole purpose of this ad is to direct clicks to caferoxy.com website. However, that’s where they can get the Free Sampler Show by only clicking again and emailing their address. How many want something free, to try out free, to attract more traffic to their bar or café on slow nights.

If only 5% of 7,000 want the freebie, and I have to say it's darned entertaining, that comes to 350 requests. Guess I’ll find out.

The Plan

Like I had a plan back in February. I just had an idea, but stuff has happened since that looks like a plan to launch an Internet enterprise.

THE IDEA. As discussed on the site: Show Café Roxy programs free to attract customers. Will it catch fire?

WEBSITE. Www.caferoxy.com is up and running. I have had www.fesfilms.com site for years, but need the new one in case “Café Roxy” is googled by, um, the masses out there that hear about it. The new site has attracted unexpected attention. If you word search Café Roxy on Yahoo it directs one to this blog! If you google Café Roxy, the top four entries go right to my website. Of course, who the heck is googling “Café Roxy” these days?

PRODUCT. Variety programs of public domain films that will play well in Cafés is now a reality with over 40 DVD masters in the can. There are 12 shows each in the Horror series, All-Star Series and Sagebrush Sagas, plus three Buster Keaton DVDs and the first shows in projected Cartoon, Silent Comedy, Adventure TV, Detective TV and Comedy TV series.

FREE SAMPLER. This turned into a two-hour show in itself with excerpts from other Roxy programs. Then came the idea to give it out free. How many should I have in hand on Opening Day?

POSTERS. I feel the colorful posters are the key to success. Every poster at the website advertises a specific show for sale on DVD. Every poster may also be downloaded, printed and posted in the café a week before the free show. Who would not come for free? If they don’t like the films, they can walk out after their meal or drink.

TEST RUN. My plan to get a local Café to advertise and run the Sampler hasn’t gotten anywhere yet, since I’ve been too busy making up the shows to pursue it.

START A BLOG. That’s this here animal that I, for one, will read again after I post it. Oddly, Yahoo found it, and I never told them. Is anyone else reading? A free Sampler DVD goes to the first one who posts a comment.

START A YOUTUBE CHANNEL. Done, and there’s something on it, but watch at your own risk. Now if I could only stage that local test run, film the mob scene clamoring for free films and get that on Youtube....

WHAT’S LEFT TO DO? This coming week I will finish the Western shows, finish DVD covers and run off a batch, order another DVD duplicator, turn out a stack of the Samplers, clear my desk top and revise the website. Again.

Then I’ll unleash Café Roxy on the world. How? Stay tooned.