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How to Open a "Movie Cafe"?

Posted by Cliff on from the new-ideas-in-entertainment dept.

tunari asks: "Here in my neck of the woods (Cochabamba, Bolivia) there are hundreds of Internet cafes and Nintendo salons, where you can rent games by the hour. I would like to open a movie salon. I imagine a central CD/DVD jukebox and either dumb terminals or, if possible, TVs. Users would need basic control over playback, and, if possible, some automated way to request new titles. Cost is a big issue, as we will probably be charging less than a dollar per hour. What are some of the ways we could set this up?"

6 of 57 comments (clear)

  1. Biggest cost by MattCohn.com · · Score: 4, Informative

    The biggest cost you need to worry about is the movies themselves. Every time you turn on any movie you see a big 'FBI WARNING: ...movie is licenced for private home viewing only...'. Now, most of us have already gotten used to this but if you try and set this up you are going to need special licences. And they don't come cheap. Whenever you loose a blockbuster movie, know why they charge so much to replace?

  2. MPAA by Trusty+Penfold · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is answered in the MPAA FAQ :- How do I open a Movie Cafe?

  3. Dear Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I would like to have a lot of money, but I don't want to work for it. Would everyone who reads this please send me some money. Thank you.

  4. Large Server + Fast Network by Usquebaugh · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Copy the DVD to a hard disk and strip off that encryption guff. OK now you just have to decompress and play.

    You can decompress on the server and stream a large quantity of data or stream a smaller quantity of data and uncompress on the client.

    I would start doing some quick mental calcs. How many clients can I support with a given infrastructure?

    This seems a very expensive way of providing said service. Why not just buy a bunch of TV+DVD players?

  5. Wait a minute by Samus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Hey guys I don't think this guy has too bad of an idea. He is essentially opening up a video store where the movie is returned within hours instead of days. The turn around time is great. The biggest problem would be real estate and infrastructure. I think you would need at least 20 - 30 rooms to fill possible demand. Each room could seat say 8 people and there would be some kind of terminal to order food and what not. You would also have to install cameras to keep people from leaving nasty stains on the couches too. Still if the facilities were nice enough I think I would catch a flick or two at my own private theater/resturaunt.

    --
    In Republican America phones tap you.
  6. No-hassle refunds @ Joe's Movie Cafe by realgone · · Score: 5, Funny
    Just a thought, but would it be possible to get around this by "selling" the DVD to the cafe customer at full retail price (i.e., a deposit), then allow them to "return" it two hours later? You'd then give them a full refund -- minus a small restocking charge (i.e., your fee). For those two hours, that DVD was legally their property, and they were privately viewing it in youer kiosk. No harm, no foul. *whistle*

    (This is all moot, of course. The MPAA would still sue you to Weehawken and back. But hey, it's fun to dream...)