Movie Posters - theater employees

[joeranger]

I recently asked a local theater if they had any Alien posters left. The kid said, No; all the employees keep the cool ones.

I did get the last one at a different theater but they really tried to talk me out of it. It's our last one, it's in the upstairs office,,,

They now have small 18x24 givaway ones, but I love the full size double sided ones.

Anyone want to share ideas about how to suck up the the theater staff? What happens to the huge displays?

 

[NeoRutty]

Back in the day I used to go for the BIG posters... BUS SHELTER POSTERS.

We tried to get them to sell us them, but they refused... when we asked what they do with them, they said the collect and dispose of them.

So we didn't consider it "stealing"... it was "preserving a piece of art".

We were good though... we had tools. We would find a bus shelter out in a low traffic area, my friend would undo the bolt, and when things were clear, I'd lift the glass, and he'd pull down the poster, roll it, and then we'd casually make our way to our car.

I've since given most away... I think I still have "The Fifth Element" and "Mulan" (The one that looked like a Chinese painting)

 

[Snikt]

I had a friend get a job at the movie theater when the first spiderman came out just so he could get the big vinyl wall hang of him peeking out from behind a building. Scored it, then quit.

I think he sold it on ebay for hundreds of dollars if IIRC. I tried getting some displays in the past, but got shot down with the same reasoning, that the employees nab em first. With the advent of the internet, even if you offer em 20 bucks or something, they know they can sell it online, depending on the film, for even more. So basically I dont know, when you find out let me know :lol

 

[Coop]

The local theater that I frequent most often doesn't even have physical posters. It's all monitors with digital posters now. :unsure

 

[Richard]

I worked for multiple chains, not since the early 2000s. Near the end the corporate policy was to either cross promote films (one chain owned multiple, sometimes different types of theaters) or the posters and other promotional material was suppose to go back to the studios. I always thought the studios probably got rid of the stuff when the original run was finished. For those reasons it was hard for employees to "call dibs" on theatrical posters.

By the time I had moved on from that business to go back to school, the movie companies and maybe studios were checking eBay to see if posters and other promotional material was being sold.

It doesn't hurt to ask. If you see a movie poster you'd like, pretty much expect it to be spoken for or they're not allowed to give it away.

You might be able to legitimately buy theatrical movie posters through poster/art sites. It's possible the posters are being re-produced even for current movies. If owning a reproduction doesn't bother you, it might be an easier route to go.

 

[Treadwell]

I've had friends and relatives who worked at chains, and although the studios technically wanted them returned, none of them ever were, and they either piled up in the office, were taken home, or tossed in the dumpster.

 

[cayman shen]

Get a part time job at a theater?

I worked at a theater for two years, got tons of posters. The only one I really wanted was a TPM poster, but the owner snatched them all up for himself. Oh well.

I also worked at a video store for two years. At both venues we gave away tons of posters and displays if customers asked. We'd just put their name and number on a post-it or whatever. But employees always got first pick, so getting really good stuff is hard if you don't work there, except the huge cardboard displays which are a pain to deal with and most managers are happy to see someone cart off.

 

[joeranger]

I saw this on Acidcow