HBO has released the trailer for MoviePass, MovieCrash, an upcoming documentary about the rise and fall of the movie ticketing subscription service. Watch it below.
MoviePass, MovieCrash primarily focuses on what went wrong in 2017, when the company introduced a bonkers $10 per month subscription for unlimited movie tickets. At the time, control of MoviePass had been wrested from co-founders Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt, with former CEOs Mitch Lowe and Ted Farnsworth leading the charge.
In the trailer, one former employee gives a peek into the behind-the-scenes drama, saying, “When they talk about MoviePass, you usually get a picture of Mitch [Lowe] and Ted [Farnsworth]. But that’s definitely not the case.”
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Muta’Ali, MoviePass, MovieCrash features interviews with the company’s co-founders, former CEO Lowe, and former employees, as well as subscribers, investors, journalists, and financial analysts.
“In a span of eight years, MoviePass went from being the...
MoviePass, MovieCrash primarily focuses on what went wrong in 2017, when the company introduced a bonkers $10 per month subscription for unlimited movie tickets. At the time, control of MoviePass had been wrested from co-founders Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt, with former CEOs Mitch Lowe and Ted Farnsworth leading the charge.
In the trailer, one former employee gives a peek into the behind-the-scenes drama, saying, “When they talk about MoviePass, you usually get a picture of Mitch [Lowe] and Ted [Farnsworth]. But that’s definitely not the case.”
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Muta’Ali, MoviePass, MovieCrash features interviews with the company’s co-founders, former CEO Lowe, and former employees, as well as subscribers, investors, journalists, and financial analysts.
“In a span of eight years, MoviePass went from being the...
- 5/16/2024
- by Eddie Fu
- Consequence - Film News
The MoviePass moment was an extraordinary one. Between 2017 and 2018, the company offered a service that granted subscribers admission to one theatrical movie per day for $9.95 per month. At the time, it felt too good to be true, because the business model seemed like it made no sense. And it didn’t – the service flamed out in spectacular fashion by 2019 after burning through hundreds of millions of dollars.
The story of MoviePass’ dramatic rise and fall is the subject of “MoviePass, MovieCrash,” a new documentary that premieres on HBO and Max on May 29.
HBO released a trailer for the documentary today, which promises a “Fyre Fraud”-style look at what went wrong. It’s a story of hubris, excess, and betrayal, and as a moviegoer, it will make you nostalgic for a moment in the relatively recent past that feels so long gone but was so fun while it was happening.
The story of MoviePass’ dramatic rise and fall is the subject of “MoviePass, MovieCrash,” a new documentary that premieres on HBO and Max on May 29.
HBO released a trailer for the documentary today, which promises a “Fyre Fraud”-style look at what went wrong. It’s a story of hubris, excess, and betrayal, and as a moviegoer, it will make you nostalgic for a moment in the relatively recent past that feels so long gone but was so fun while it was happening.
- 5/16/2024
- by Liam Mathews
- Gold Derby
The rise and fall of theater subscription service MoviePass is captured in new HBO documentary “MoviePass, MovieCrash.”
Dubbed “the Netflix of the movie theater” in the trailer, MoviePass was founded by Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt in 2011 before former CEOs Mitch Lowe and Ted Farnsworth allegedly utilized fraudulent business tactics; the duo were charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a 2022 lawsuit. The lawsuit additionally named ex-MoviePass Vice President Khalid Itum as a defendant, with Itum being accused of submitting false invoices for the company.
MoviePass filed for bankruptcy in 2020 after launching a $9.99 per month subscription in 2017 allowing people to see a movie a day. Upon moving to the $9.99 one movie per day model, subscriptions went from 20,000 to 100,000 users within two days, ultimately capping at more than 3 million subscribers in 2018. Yet the company still lost more than $150 million in 2017 alone. MoviePass filed for bankruptcy in 2019.
The company later...
Dubbed “the Netflix of the movie theater” in the trailer, MoviePass was founded by Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt in 2011 before former CEOs Mitch Lowe and Ted Farnsworth allegedly utilized fraudulent business tactics; the duo were charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a 2022 lawsuit. The lawsuit additionally named ex-MoviePass Vice President Khalid Itum as a defendant, with Itum being accused of submitting false invoices for the company.
MoviePass filed for bankruptcy in 2020 after launching a $9.99 per month subscription in 2017 allowing people to see a movie a day. Upon moving to the $9.99 one movie per day model, subscriptions went from 20,000 to 100,000 users within two days, ultimately capping at more than 3 million subscribers in 2018. Yet the company still lost more than $150 million in 2017 alone. MoviePass filed for bankruptcy in 2019.
The company later...
- 5/16/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
It is possible that one day an excellent narrative feature in the vein of The Big Short, BlackBerry, Dumb Money or Margin Call will be made about MoviePass, a company built––and destroyed––by several larger-than-life figures. For now, we have Muta’Ali’s documentary MoviePass, MovieCrash, which provides a broad overview of the deal everyone knew was too good to be true: a company that, for about a year, was so obsessed with subscriber growth that they offered customers the chance to see one movie per day for only $9.95 month.
Inspired by a series of Business Insider articles, MoviePass, MovieCrash features interviews with the company’s founders Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt along with other company––insiders including Mitch Lowe, the man who would ultimately take Spikes’ position. In a bit of good luck, Muta’Ali gets the interview with Lowe just weeks before he’s indicted on securities fraud alongside Ted Farnsworth,...
Inspired by a series of Business Insider articles, MoviePass, MovieCrash features interviews with the company’s founders Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt along with other company––insiders including Mitch Lowe, the man who would ultimately take Spikes’ position. In a bit of good luck, Muta’Ali gets the interview with Lowe just weeks before he’s indicted on securities fraud alongside Ted Farnsworth,...
- 3/11/2024
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
If you're a movie lover -- specifically someone who loves going to the movies -- there's a more-than-decent chance that you got sucked into a MoviePass subscription at some point between 2015 and 2018. At one point, it was a deal that seemed too good to be true. Unlimited movies, all for as low as $10 per month depending on where you live in the country. Either way, it represented insane value for moviegoers and felt like a real moment of change in the industry. Then, it all flamed out in spectacular fashion in the summer of 2018.
MoviePass lost tens of millions of dollars. The business model was called into question, and its parent company ultimately had to file for bankruptcy. It was a disaster of epic proportions. But, it turns out, most of us aren't even aware of just how bad it was behind the scenes. A new documentary is here to...
MoviePass lost tens of millions of dollars. The business model was called into question, and its parent company ultimately had to file for bankruptcy. It was a disaster of epic proportions. But, it turns out, most of us aren't even aware of just how bad it was behind the scenes. A new documentary is here to...
- 3/10/2024
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
Say this for Mitch Lowe, the former CEO of MoviePass: He may have helped destroy a briefly beloved brand and he may be awaiting trial on fraud charges stemming from that destruction, but he sat down for interviews for Muta’Ali’s upcoming HBO documentary MoviePass, MovieCrash and he gives what might be my favorite quote illustrating the true nature of capitalism.
Discussing the wave of out-of-control spending and public exuberance that preceded MoviePass’ fall — MoviePass-branded helicopters were landing at Coachella and Dennis Rodman was being trotted out in red hats while the offices were running out of supplies and seven customer service reps were handling countless complaints — Lowe says, without any evident self-awareness: “I sensed a resentment by the MoviePass employees. Each individual has their various roles and not all roles get to party.”
“Not all roles get to party.”
Man, that’s good.
As for MoviePass, MovieCrash?...
Discussing the wave of out-of-control spending and public exuberance that preceded MoviePass’ fall — MoviePass-branded helicopters were landing at Coachella and Dennis Rodman was being trotted out in red hats while the offices were running out of supplies and seven customer service reps were handling countless complaints — Lowe says, without any evident self-awareness: “I sensed a resentment by the MoviePass employees. Each individual has their various roles and not all roles get to party.”
“Not all roles get to party.”
Man, that’s good.
As for MoviePass, MovieCrash?...
- 3/10/2024
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
MoviePass CEO Stacey Spikes said the service may give users buying tickets on the app the option of watching a bucket of commercials in exchange for credits they can cash in for movie tickets.
Spikes – who relaunched the company out of bankruptcy in 2022 – wants to start a beta trial this coming summer. He spoke at SXSW after the premiere of the Muta’Ali directed documentary MoviePass, MovieCrash earlier today. Spikes co-founded the company, which was then acquired by Ted Farnsworth and Mitch Lowe. They ejected him and ran it into the ground with too-good-to-be-true ticket offers. Shareholders in MoviePass’ parent Helios + Matheson were wiped out when it filed for Chapter 11. Lowe and Farnsworth have been sued for fraud by the SEC.
MoviePass was reborn in the fall of 2022 and currently has three — more responsible — tiers that include movies as well as credits that can be used towards purchases.
In conversation...
Spikes – who relaunched the company out of bankruptcy in 2022 – wants to start a beta trial this coming summer. He spoke at SXSW after the premiere of the Muta’Ali directed documentary MoviePass, MovieCrash earlier today. Spikes co-founded the company, which was then acquired by Ted Farnsworth and Mitch Lowe. They ejected him and ran it into the ground with too-good-to-be-true ticket offers. Shareholders in MoviePass’ parent Helios + Matheson were wiped out when it filed for Chapter 11. Lowe and Farnsworth have been sued for fraud by the SEC.
MoviePass was reborn in the fall of 2022 and currently has three — more responsible — tiers that include movies as well as credits that can be used towards purchases.
In conversation...
- 3/10/2024
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
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