MoviePass, MovieCrash

MoviePass was the idea of seeing as many films as you like in cinemas for a fixed monthly fee. Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt founded the company and grew it slowly for years. Then outside investors arrived, took control, and cut the monthly fee to ten dollars. Subscriptions exploded; the company was losing money on every ticket. Within two years it collapsed and its management came under investigation. Muta'Ali's documentary tells the story through the founders. At the centre of the narrative is not a flaw in the business model but the story of two Black founders pushed out of their company; the executives who replaced them aimed at the share price rather than the business. The film offers a concrete example of how subscriptions work and how fast venture capital can consume a business. Who it's for: Viewers interested in business documentary, stories of technology-company collapse, and the cinema industry. Who it's not for: The narrative rests on the founders' point of view and the other side gets little room. Some of the financial detail is also passed over lightly.