Campus Events Commission’s latest change ““ $2 film screenings becoming free ““ can now work for even the poorest college student’s budget.
In a move suggested by administrators of Associated Students UCLA, the CEC’s $2 film screenings will now be free of charge.
The move makes the films more cost efficient, according to Charles Ma, CEC commissioner.
“Since we had to hire employees to take the cash at the door, the cost combined with the low attendance didn’t justify the $2,” Ma said.
Prior to the move to free movies, students working for the Central Ticket Office would sell tickets in the foyer outside Ackerman Grand Ballroom.
“It was costing us more money to charge for the movies,” said Hanna Linstadt, CEC director of films.
Initially, CEC charged for the movies as part of a plan to give the community an opportunity to watch recent films that were between theaters and DVD release for a low price.
According to Ma, this plan was not well-marketed and resulted in little outside appeal among the community.
“Our marketing resources aren’t unlimited, so events like movie sneaks are generally higher up (among our priorities,)” Ma said. “I think that’s why we let it fall by the wayside.”
Movie screenings will no longer be extended to the public.
The events will now be restricted to students who will have to show their BruinCards in order to gain entry to Ackerman Grand Ballroom.
Since the films have become free, the advertisement of “Free Dollar Movies” will be more extensive, according to Ma.
“Now, since it’s free, we can push it a lot more, and we can focus on students only ““ that’s what we do best,” Ma said.
Even though the price tag has changed and a BruinCard will be required for entry, everything else at the events will still be the same.
“It will be the same caliber of movies that we’ve always had for $2,” Linstadt said. The same company which provided the films before will continue to be utilized.
In order to choose which movies will be shown from the company’s selection, the film staff sits down together and often uses student input from the film section of the CEC website.
“We look at what’s available to show and determine what would be the best fit for the UCLA community,” Linstadt said.
The first movie to be shown this school year will be “Toy Story 3,” according to Linstadt.
Other movies that will be shown fall quarter include “Twilight: Eclipse,” “Inception” and “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.”
“I think it’s pretty great that an event that was so cheap before is free now,” said Ramin Rajaii, a second-year neuroscience student.
“There’s no reason for me not to go watch these movies now.”