30 Secrets A Movie Employee Won’t Tell You
By Nick Hadji
1 year ago
1. The popcorn probably isn’t fresh
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2. Employees get to watch movies before they are released
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3. You can get a refund if you have a bad experience
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4. Combo meals don’t save you any money
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5. Employees can get into trouble if you sneak in your own snacks
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6. Parents leave dirty nappies under the seats
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7. Don’t be fooled by the alcoholic drinks
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8. There is a reason the popcorn smells so good…
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9. The theatres are only cleaned at the end of the day
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10. Employees probably won’t pass on your complaint to the manager
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11. People get really mad when the slush puppy machine is broken
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12. It is easy to sneak into a R-rated movie if you're underage
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13. They are slowly increasing the volume of adverts
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14. People leave inappropriate items in the movie theatres
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15. They don’t use real butter to make ‘butter popcorn'
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16. Nobody will notice if you sneak into a second movie
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17. Don’t look under your seat
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18. People get frisky in the theatres
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19. Lots of fights break out
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20. Avoid ordering the hot food snacks
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21. Nobody cares if you buy a child’s ticket…unless you’re rude!
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22. Employees have the power to kick you out
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23. They will serve you food that has fallen on the floor
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24. Lots of celebrities go to the movies
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25. They will call the police if you try and record the movie
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26. The popcorn is made days in advance for big movie premieres
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27. People hang about in the theatre for ages after the move has finished
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28. There are mysterious items in the nacho cheese sauce
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29. Half of your drink is probably ice
Image Source: reddit.comAccording to some movie employees who have revealed their secrets about working at the theatres, they are instructed to fill the cups with as much ice as possible to save on product. So the likelihood is you’re only getting half a cup of your chosen beverage so they can save money!30. There is a secret red button hidden in the office of all movie theatres
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31. They use lower screen quality on purpose
Image Source: buzzfeed.comThe movie theatres do not use the best quality, because it is easier to maintain. In fact, when you see “Extreme Digital” quality advertised you'd likely think this was extremely good quality. But it's actually lower than normal IMAX digital. So, this is a tip to look out for.32. The concessions are the money maker
Image Source: cinemapickYou may be surprised to find out that it's not actually the movie showings themselves that are the real money spinner. In fact, it takes a lot for them to make money off movies alone. It's the drinks and snacks where they manage to make the money. So, if you've ever wondered why the prices are so high, now you know...33. Stick to the classic movie's snacks
Image Source: cinemapickNow employees or ex-employees of movie theatres will reveal that they personally would not be opting for the cinema food. The classic movie snacks yes, for example, candy, popcorn, slushies... But the hotdogs and nachos...probably not. So, we will use this tip next time we make the choice.34. The size of the popcorn changes all the time
Image Source: cinemapickThe buckets of popcorn, small, medium, and large are certainly not set in stone. You may think that one time you get a lot for your small bucket. The next time you may wonder where the popcorn has gone. This is because the sizes are constantly changing.35. The microwave foods aren't instant
Image Source: foodrawA tip from employees; don't complain when your food is not ready immediately. The microwave takes a few minutes. These things need heating up. Unless you want a room temperature hot dog. And we aren't sure that people would enjoy that too much either.36. They don't give extra cups
Image Source: YahooPeople are always asking for extra cups. This is usually so they can buy one drink and split it into two cups to save buying another. But no employee will give you the second cup. It has to be accounted for as part of the inventory at the end of the night.37. The movies start late
Image Source: storyblocksYes, employees have admitted that the movies do start late. So, if you are wandering in on the minutes don't worry too much because it probably hasn't even started yet. But somehow, they do finish on time. Otherwise, there would not be enough time for the changeover.38. The food might be warm...but maybe not fresh
Image Source: PinterestLike we said before, the food can lie around on the counter for a fair few hours at a time just waiting in the counter. And maybe it gets put back in the microwave to heat it up before you consume it. But don't let that fool you. It probably does not mean that it is fresh.39. For the couple of months of screening, the money goes to movie studios
Image Source: storyblocksSo, for the first couple of months that the movies are paying in the theatre, the money does not go to the movie theatre as profits. Instead, all of those ticket sales go to the movie studios. Then, after the first couple of months the profits start to go to the cinema, and they can then start to profit from it.40. They know all of the ways you're trying to sneak in
Image Source: RedditIf you think you have found some ingenious way to sneak in the movie theatre for free without paying for a ticket, employees hate to break it to you but - it's been done before. Numerous times. They know all the tricks of the trade and are wise to it.41. The manager will pretend to be on your side
Image Source: blogspotWhen you complain, the manager will probably go along with you and make you think that they are taking your complaint seriously and that there may even be repercussions for the employee. But, in reality they will probably totally ignore it as soon as you've gone.42. Employees have played X-box on the big screen after hours
Image Source: YahooIf you're an X Box player, then this will sound pretty awesome. Imagine playing on the huge screen, with all of the surround sound with your friends. Maybe this is even better than the movie discount... Although this is definitely not standard movie theatre practice, and only happens in certain ones with lenient bosses.43. Popcorn became popular during WWII
Image Source: facebook.comNow here's an interesting fact that most people would not have thought. But it was actually during the WWII when popcorn started to become increasingly more popular. And reached its popularity peak. Since then, it has been maintained and it seems a snack that's here to stay.44. 14 millions of quarts of popcorn are consumed by Americans
Image Source: buzzfeed.com144 million quarts of popcorn.... now that sounds like a HECK of a lot of popcorn, doesn't it? But if you go to the movies then it's pretty much essential to grab yourself some popcorn, right? It's the ultimate movie snack. And Americans especially love popcorn.45. Digital projectors cost a lot to operate
Image Source: ebay.comIn recent years especially, cinemas have struggled. In fact, the large costs to run the digital projectors has forced some of the smaller movie theatres to permanently close because they cannot afford to run them. Especially when there are only a few seats taken. The profit is less than the cost.46. The level of the sound can affect your ears
Image Source: YelpIn some cinemas the level of volume is so loud that it can almost actually damage your eardrum. It's not good to subject your ears to it so often. Otherwise, you may notice that your sound is slightly, more muffled immediately after the film. It all depends on which cinema you go to of course.47. A lot of popcorn is wasted
Image Source: YankerIf you think about those huge buckets of popcorn - does anyone actually manage to finish them? More often than not, around half of them goes wasted. That's including the whole lot of popcorn that is spilled everywhere in the dark and rolls all over the seats and the floors.48. People get up to all sorts in the cinema
Image Source: blogspot.comNot only do people get frisky, but people do all kinds of things. Nowadays, vaping inside the cinema is a problem - and it will most likely get you thrown out. Smoking is less frequent inside the cinema but there definitely have been instances. Now it's a cinema guys go to eat your popcorn and watch your movie and save the other stuff for later...49. They get discounts!
Image Source: ebay.comIt makes sense that as an employee, they get an employee's discount. So, they can come back on their day off and enjoy the movies for a discounted rate as a reward for working for them. And... best of all, they also get discounted snacks too. It's only fair, right?50. People get kicked out more frequently than you'd think
Image Source: buzzfeed.comYou probably think it's a threat that if you misbehave or try to sneak in etc, you probably won't ACTUALLY get thrown out. Wrong. It happens way more than you think. In fact, employees are quite used to doing it as part of their job when someone is repeatedly doing something they shouldn't.51. You might be sat next to a serial killer
Image Source: a&eOne movie theater employee has revealed that they later found out a regular customer at the cinema they worked at turned out to be a serial killer. So when you go to the cinema and there's that awkward moment of being sat next to a stranger if there's a spare seat, it might give you a chill to think who they could actually be...52. Explosive diarrhea happens more often than you'd think
Image Source: redditIf you've never experienced this a single time in your life in the movie screen you're in, count yourself lucky - and it could still happen, because apparently it's very common. Workers have to clean up diarrhea on a regular basis, and sometimes it's a case of cleaning up after someone who's had to run out of the theater screen after having an accident - which may even have other moviegoers caught in the crossfire.53. Managers take inventory very, very seriously
Image Source: pinterestWorkers can be expected to count out all the cups, for example, that they're given in a sleeve at the start of their shift. They then have to account for any missing cups and update management on cup inventory. All cups counted at the end of the shift would have to correctly match what has been sold. Apparently management take inventory very seriously!54. Some employees do push the little red button
Image Source: imgflipThe red button inside a plastic case in the box office of a movie theater of course gets pushed every now and then by a rebellious employee. One such time was when a worker was told it was for making announcements for the sidewalk outside the theater - only for them to find out, after messing around and joking that all the movies had been cancelled, that it actually gets broadcast throughout the movie screens inside the cinema.55. Workers hate it when you wait around for an after-credit scene
Image Source: redditAt the end of the day, they're working long hours and they just want to crack on with cleaning up that spilled popcorn and possible diarreah. So when movie-goers are waiting around for an after-credit scene, it not only infuriates them, but it's worse when the movie doesn't even have one but people haven't bothered to check before waiting!56. Employees might eat your food after confiscating it
Image Source: redditAs you know, there's a strict policy on bringing your own food into movie theaters (because they need to make as much money as possible from concessions, of course). And if they do end up confiscating your food - especially big items like huge family-sized pizzas - they don't throw it away... they might actually eat it in the storage room instead.57. They might use diet coke to clean stains on machines
Image Source: redditWhen cleaning down their stations, employees might ignore traditional cleaning products and use the stock of diet coke for cleaning instead. Some workers have found diet coke effective for cleaning the stains off the hot dog machine! Well, it makes sense seeing as coke has acid in it - including diet coke!58. If you're rude, you'll get less drink
Image Source: redditDisgruntled workers will get their own back on you in drink-form if you're particularly rude to them. We already know most places try to save money on customer drinks by overfilling with ice so you get less, but if you're rude then you might find you get even more ice than you usually would - meaning barely any drink that you've paid for.59. And you'll also get the popcorn scraped from the bottom of the bin
Image Source: redditIf you're feeling extra rude today and you've really annoyed a movie theater employee - or you've ordered popcorn instead of a drink - then you can be fairly certain that the popcorn you're going to get is going to be the very, very awful bits that have been scraped from the very bottom of the bin leftover from the more tasty pieces of popcorn. So probably best not to be rude and order both a drink and popcorn!60. You might find loose change in your nacho cheese
Image Source: redditWith the nacho cheese sauce being made in huge buckets and stirred by employees, it's actually been known for loose change to fall out of employees' shirt pockets while they're bent over stirring - and there's no way of finding that change once it's in there. So you might want to be careful of biting into anything hard the next time you order movie nacho cheese!61. You might even find skittles in your nacho cheese
Image Source: redditThe loose change we can maybe forgive because it's a genuine accident (though after the first time you think they'd put their change in their pants pocket instead). But in the case of skittles, this one is purely intentional - some movie theater employees would decide to have a laugh by putting other stuff in the nacho cheese, like skittles. At least they're edible!62. Christmas is the worst for movie employees
Image Source: youtubeNobody wants to work on Christmas, but hey, there's always the bonus of double-time if you're getting it! But apparently movie theater workers in particular hate working the holiday season for a few reasons. First, it's movie-goers commenting on the fact that they're working - yes, thanks for stating the obvious - and secondly it's because family fights are actually likely for people forcing themselves to go to the cinema together 'because it's Christmas'.63. People have sex in Pixar movies
Image Source: redditIt's bad enough the idea of people fully having sex in the movie theater with other movie-goers around, but it's even worse when the film being screened is a kid's movie. You'd think at the very least a rom-com or something raunchy would inspire the bad habit, but nope - apparently people have been getting down to the background music of Disney Pixar flicks.64. Popcorn butter is gel and oil
Image Source: redditMovie popcorn tastes amazing so you may be able to blissfully ignore the awful truth behind this one - but yep, apparently popcorn butter is not butter at all, but some weird half-gel, half peanut oil concoction, which is only stated on the label hidden behind the counter from people seeing it. Everything else states that it's 'butter'.65. You're going to have your ID checked if you're rude
Image Source: redditMost workers will actually make an effort not to check your ID for an R-rated movie if they're having a good day, and if you're a nice customer. But if you're rude or just generally a bad person, you can bet your bottom dollar they're going to demand to see your ID and go out of their way to not have you sneak in.66. Before digital, movies in canisters had to be pieced together
Image Source: redditWe know how much digital has made a lot of things easier, but before the times of digital movies, films would actually be delivered in physical canisters and then need to be pieced together by employees. A standard movie might be six separate film reels needing to be put together. They'd then need to be previewed to check for problems or scratches.67. ... And then taken back apart to be sent back!
Image Source: redditIt wasn't enough that they'd be pieced together and then just kept safely at that theater - no they actually had to be separated again back to their original canisters so they could be sent back to the distributors! Set nights would be chosen for films to be taken apart, called "tear down" nights. It could also take an entire night to fix an unravelled movie.68. Poop isn't just a problem in the screens themselves
Image Source: redditEmployees have seen utter horrors in the actual bathrooms of movie theaters. You'd think it'd be a plus for it to happen where it's supposed to happen, but that doesn't make it any easier when employees are faced with entire bathrooms trashed with diarreah. On some occassions it's even been found to be trailing from the bathrooms to the screens, like some weird Hansel and Gretel adaption.69. People have actually taken their pets to the theater
Image Source: redditWe get it - you don't want to be parted from your furry best friend, and there's nothing better than curling up together to watch a movie. But that only counts in your own home! An ex theater employee once found someone's pet cat under the seats during a cleanup - which begs the question why the owner not only took the cat in the first place, but why they left it behind!70. Handicapped bathrooms can be the go-to for sex
Image Source: redditYou've got to hand it to the people who decide to be a little more discreet by having sex in the cinema bathrooms instead of the screens themselves - but that doesn't make it any better. Especially because the handicapped bathroom seems to be the hot-spot for hooking up with people in a movie theater. Apparently employees would catch people in there doing the dirty all the time!