Case Study: Coming Attractions Theatres, Inc.

James Sandberg is quick to point out the inherent challenges in the movie theatre business.

“For every dollar earned, 35 to 65 cents goes to the film studios,” explained Mr. Sandberg, Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Film, Coming Attractions Theatres, Inc. “That’s tough. Then, according to the press, we’re always doomed. First, it was VHS tapes, then Blue Ray, and now it’s streaming. While the press is wrong, we understand we’re in a challenging business with zero margin for error.”

Which is why he’s proud of what Coming Attractions Theatres has accomplished despite much adversity.

“We’ve got 18 theatres located across four states,” said Mr. Sandberg. “Lots of movie chains are either out of business or underwater. But we’re in a good position because Kelley Create ensures our shows always go on.”

And that’s the rub for each of our IT partners in retail: no matter the business, downtime means closed doors, and closed doors simply aren’t an option.

To keep the doors open for Coming Attractions Theatres, we developed the technology roadmap that will secure their bright film future. But it’s not a free for all – budget is always of top concern for our partners.

“Kelley Create lays out solutions in lockstep with the hit-or-miss nature of our revenues so we don’t break the bank,” said Mr. Sandberg.

In the meantime, if something goes wrong — say a firewall kicks the bucket in Crescent City, CA on a Friday afternoon, we make sure we’ve got their back.

“I had a spare, which was lucky,” laughed Mr. Sandberg. “I called Kelley Create and described my plan, and they said ‘let’s do it.’ I brought it to their office, they reinstalled the parameters, and I drove it to Crescent City and got that theater up for the Saturday night show. Kelley Create’s techs stayed on the phone the whole time to make sure everything worked.”

That’s because we know retail never sleeps. Which means our solutions don’t mean much if we don’t provide service and support 24/7.

“Kelley Create is going to push hard to get us back up and running,” said Mr. Sandberg. “Having that advocacy is huge. Nobody advocates like Kelley Create.”

Technology roadmaps. Back-end security and PCI compliance. Help-desk support and monitoring 24/7. Exemplary service. That’s how we deliver results for our IT partners in retail.

“I’m most proud of our uptime, to keep it all operating so we can continue to make money. Without our connection with Kelley Create and their repository of knowledge, it would all go out the window. They treat us right, they’ve grown with us as we’ve grown with them, and together we sell tickets 365 days a year,” concluded Mr. Sandberg.