Free Movie Night ups numbers at Viking Theater

As the popularity of SAC Cinema’s Viking Theater Student Night grows along with the length of the line outside the theater, Viking’s business and SAC Cinema’s influence at the theater are also increasing.

Almost 500 students flock to Viking Theater on an average Student Night, hosted by SAC Cinema. The Student Night in February attracted 711 students, proving to be the most popular by far.

“Prior to this new arrangement, [Viking’s] Thursday night numbers for showings after 9:00 p.m. were slim,” said Trish Neubauer, SAC advisor. “Now, its not unusual to see audiences approaching 500.”

As a result, Viking Theater has seen an increase in revenue from concession sales. The theater is also able to employ more workers on Student Nights.

“There were a lot more people working last night than before,” said Megan Kluge (‘11), a SAC member, of Thursday night’s showings. “Obviously they have the amount of resources that they can have more people on staff, and those people get more money for working that night.”

SAC has been working closely with Fridley Theaters, which operates Decorah’s Viking Theater along with many other Iowa theaters. Officials at Fridley Theaters have noticed the boosting numbers on Student Nights at the Decorah theater and have begun considering students when choosing film showings.

“Business is up on that given show time on the Thursdays that they have [Student Night],” said Brian Fridley, vice president of Fridley Theaters. “We do like to take college students into account when we’re scheduling the films but it’s not always possible because of commitments with film companies.”

Although they are unable to choose each movie shown on Student Nights, SAC Cinema members have gained influence at the theater. In past months, SAC Cinema co-chairs have chosen which movies show in the theater with the most seating. This month, the leaders were given another decision.

“This time, they let us choose whether to keep ‘Valkyrie’ or to show ‘Inkheart,’ but that’s the only control we’ve had,” said Ryan Kitchen (‘11), SAC Cinema co-chair.

For future Student Nights, SAC members have been brainstorming ways to decrease the length of the line outside the theater. For this month’s Student Night, students waited up to an hour as the temperature hovered around 0˚ Fahrenheit.

“There’s no need, really, to come so early because they never really sell out,” McGrath said.

McGrath added that only one movie has sold out in the past.

Still, the committee is considering options of later show times and distributing tickets in advance while trying to work through loopholes.

“The Luther Box Office Staff is very willing to accommodate us if we decide to sell tickets in advance,” Neubauer said. “We appreciate the offer and will consider this option for the future.”

“It’s hard because there are a lot of tweaks and loopholes that we need to figure out before [selling tickets at the box office],” said McGrath. “There’s really not the space to make different lines for different tickets, so it gets really confusing. We’re more likely to switch the process than the time of the shows if we did switch anything.”

The next Viking Theater Student Night will be April 16. Suggestions and comments can be emailed to Ryan Kitchen (kitcry01@luther.edu) and Mallory Heinzeroth (heinma01@luther.edu).