NY Hairspray Screening Disaster- Page 3

[Anakela]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:26pm

Wow- these stories are better than my worst screening ever story...usually there are 'reserved' seats at free screenings, but it's usually one row, for the studio/production company guests- I've never been at a screening where one person's first come first serve free pass was better than another's and they let whole chunks of people in before others like that!

[fnyboi88]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:28pm

It all happened here in Kansas City too!!! AMC contacted New Line, no one could get in so they are sending something to people in the mail who had those printed tickets. Also AMC let everyone into a movie (besides hairspray) of their choice for free!

[cubanpab]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:29pm

anakela, at mine, people were walking right off the street, not waiting in line at all, and just walking right in... and management wouldnt say a single thing to them. then when all of us who were in the "evite" line begged to be let in, they had two cops stopping us. blocking the doors.

how does that sound??

[cubanpab]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:29pm

fnyboi that sounds very gracious! i wish our theater had been as kind.

[goofy108]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:30pm

ya. here in dallas, they only let the people with the special black passes in. everyone else was given a rain-check free movie pass. which was nice of the theatre.

but i was so suprised at how many people were there. the line was all over that theatre.
oh and a woman died while waiting. seriously. she just dropped dead. it was wierd and kinda scary.

[LouieLovesTheater]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:30pm

Wow...so sorry to hear about all this disaster...
I went to the show with LoringsGuy so I pretty much second everything he said. Maybe it's just MN Nice?? We had absolutely no trouble getting in.

I've been to hundreds of these screenings and never ever had trouble getting in or with theater management. Most of these screenings are handled by a promotional company/advertisting agency in whatever city who are subcontracted from the studio. The breakdown most likely came from the local company running the deal...very rarely is a studio rep on hand for these...normally only if the film is test screening. So if you are going to blame someone...blame the agency in charge of the screening. If they didn't give the proper info to the theater, it's not their fault.

Even when MySpace had the Harry Potter screening here 4 weeks ago, the agency handling it gave the first 100 people who didn't get in passes to see any other movie that night.

It's all very unfortunate...
But on the bright side...
It will make finally seeing the movie this Friday all the sweeter!

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:33pm

My Evite Screening Pass says:

"Theatre seating is limited to theatre capacity, and is on a first-come, first-serve basis."

So one (or thousands) would assume that this means if you get to the theatre early enough and get in line, the first people in line will be admitted until the theatre is full.

What is the point of saying "first-come, first-serve" if the theatre staff is going to walk down the line and hand pick the people who were from Proctor & Gamble and Hair Salons and admit them, and that the thousands of people in front of them who got there hours earlier have to leave?

Is there more than one way to interpret "first-come, first-serve" that the thousands of people waiting in line were not aware of when they made plans to get there early and wait?

[fnyboi88]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:37pm

Hairsrpay better be a damn good movie now!

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:38pm

Very well said, wannabefoster.

When there were about 10 of us evite passholders in line, one of the Sebastian ladies, said, "what are you doing here? Are you with a salon?"

We replied, we were seeing Hairspray. Then she proceeded to tell us that this was a "private" showing for salon owners and their patrons. What a bitch!!

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:44pm

Blame Shaiman!

[Anakela]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:44pm

then when all of us who were in the "evite" line begged to be let in, they had two cops stopping us. blocking the doors.

Yeah that sounds like a total fuster cluck alright.

I am really curious to know if those of you who were in a line in a city where New Line said they'd be sending you something to make up for it ever receive anything...and I'm so sorry for whoever got offered Chuck and Larry tix instead.

[JRybka]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:45pm

Cubanpap~ Uh... what movie where you at? I was in line waiting and there where not people walking in off the street. Seeing as the movie theater was THREE FLOORS UP! And yes, I felt it was a bit chaotic but we cannot blame the theater managers. It is not like they did it on purpose.

and okay... THEY ARE FREE! The tickets ARE FREE! you did not pay 100s of dollars to see it. It was FREE to get in.... They even say that they oversell a theater to guarrantee that it will be filled.

GEEZ! Anyway~ I loved it. We sat near the screeming for Zac Efram girls and had a blast. My partner who was not to keen to see it absolutely loved it!

But if I had not gotten in, I would not have rioted.. why? Cause it was FREE! A COMP thing.. they dont have to do this -- they do it to be nice.... let's all remember that folks.

[wheelsinmotion]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:46pm

The way that they treated us at the theater is UNFORGIVABLE. I got there at about 4:30 pm and they came out at 6:45 to tell us that, basically, we were screwed. Not 2 minutes after hearing this, the cops showed up and were pushing us off the sidewalk like common f-in criminals. Not acceptable, New Line. Not cool at all.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:47pm

JR, they said that ALL the internet passes were invalid. That's what people are mad at, not that they didn't get in (which was expected that SOME wouldn't get in, but not everyone who had an evite pass).

[JRybka]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:49pm

Well at the DC one they never said they were invalid.. they only said that they had to let the sebastian people in first and then those who won them in the CW contest.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:50pm

Well, at most, apparently, they were invalid.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:51pm

Yes, I realize it was a free event, but you can not state, "first come, first serve" when it necessarily isn't true. I got there at 5:00 and there were people who walked in at 6:15 or so, who got in before those who were at the beginning of the line.

[elimeyer]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:52pm

did anyone figure out how to contact New Line to let them know?

[deadparrot]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:55pm

Same exact thing in St. Louis. Drove 35 minutes through road construction, and arrived an hour and a half early, only to be turned away.

[bdboston]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:56pm

I, too, was at the Boston... er, Framingham... screening. Got in with the eVite print-out, no problems whatsoever. The attendants were very friendly. I think the fact that it was outside the city enabled a better chance for being admitted. We got there at 6:30 p.m. and there was no line whatsoever.

Oh, the movie was GREAT!!

[courtnyj]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 12:00am

I waited in line today too. I missed the cops though because as soon as they made the announcement that they weren't going to honor our passes my friend and I bought tickets to see Harry Potter.

[elimeyer]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 12:06am

When I go to Newline.com and then corporate then FAQ and click contact us at the very bottom it gives me a form, but when I fill it out, it says:
Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /cgi-bin/info/FormMailContact.cgi on this server.

How do we let them know?

[LoringsGuy]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 12:10am

"Not 2 minutes after hearing this, the cops showed up and were pushing us off the sidewalk like common f-in criminals. Not acceptable, New Line. Not cool at all."

I totally understand being enraged at how the police treated you, but you can't pin the blame for that on New Line.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 12:14am

http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools/whois.ch?ip=www.newline.com

[CapnHook]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 12:20am

That's just their IS dept. They have nothing to do with the screenings.