Are there too many ads and trailers before movies? Cinemagoers in Connecticut may see two start times for listed films — one before commercials and one after — if a lawmaker successfully gets a new bill passed.
State Senator Martin Looney of New Haven, Conn., proposed bill no. 797 on Jan. 21, in an effort to “require that each movie advertisement or listing include, and separately list, the scheduled start time for (1) the movie trailers and advertisements that precede the advertised or listed movie, and (2) the advertised or listed movie.”
Looney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
“It seems to be an abuse of people’s time,” the lawmaker said in an interview with The Register Citizen about his proposed bill.
If audience members “want to get there early and watch the promos, they can,” he added. “But if they just want to see the feature, they ought to be able to get there just in time for that.”
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In a Popculturology blog post last March, writer Bill Kuchman recalled a moviegoing experience when trailers did not begin until 10 minutes after the start time listed on tickets. “Before the trailers could begin, we had to sit through several Coke commercials, a promo for IMAX and a new bit where AMC thanks their investors,” Kuchman wrote. “By the time we got to the actual trailers, the crowd had grown restless.”
Kuchman continued, “Maybe it’s time we put our collective foot down and all show up twenty minutes past a movie’s start time.”
AMC
AMC, the world’s largest movie exhibitor, does include a note on its website or app next to a movie’s listed run time that urges patrons to “please allow approximately 20 extra minutes for pre-shows and trailers before the show starts,” per IndieWire. Among the clips that play before movies at AMC Theatres are Nicole Kidman’s ad for the company.
Peter H. Gistelinck, executive director at the Avon Theatre in Stamford, Connecticut, responded to Looney’s proposed bill by pointing out to The Register Citizen that it “would definitely disincentivize our business partners’ video messaging, which would have a direct negative impact on our financial stability in an already so challenging environment… We, as an independent movie house, are financially dependent on our previews.”
