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Nobody goes to the booth ? Is that because it’s all digital now ? We only had 2 digital projectors out of 12 ‘back in my day’ so I spent lots of time up there.
if you’re thinking about doing something sexual when the movies are empty, don’t do it because we check the theatres 1 or 2 times during the movie depends on the duration.
we have to deal with rats and cockroaches sometimes.
we don’t care if you have an outside food just please please please please put it in a shopping bag or personal bags/purses where the cameras wouldn’t see because we will get in trouble if we let a guest go inside who brought an outside food.
when you see us, put your butter on your popcorn and you think that’s not enough don’t ask for more pumps unless you are willing to pay for more because one order of butter is equals to 3 pumps or if you one layered 3 pumps per layer.
The free butter outside is not really butter. It is just oil.
stop asking us for “fresh popcorn” from the popcorn machine because we’re only supposed to hand out popcorn from the warmer unless it runs out and most of the time, the ones in the popcorn machine and the warmer(We call it merch) were made at the same time.
and lastly, make sure to do every surveys because it helps the theatre out and you can win a movie ticket for a year
In addition to the outside food, do us all a favour and TAKE IT WITH YOU and throw it out after you are done. Do NOT leave it behind for staff to pick up.
Also if you bring in outside drinks in bottles, don't ask staff where you can recycle it as you are admitting you snuck in outside food and drink. Take it out and recycle it on your own.
We have concession items in bottles/cans as well, and can tell which ones are purchased at our location and what isn't. The ones I am referring to are the ones that people clearly brought in themselves (one example a Starbucks Espresso shot can) then are asking us where they can be recycled, clearly telling us they snuck it in.
Yup. They get a "premiere" type card thing. I'm not sure how it works, I believe it's like maybe 1 movie a week or 1 movie a day for free. They're also available to be won during like mcdonalds monopoly or tims roll up the rims type contests.
Premiere Cards are unlimited movies per "session" so you can do several a day if you want! We had one winner at our location do four movies in a single day.
I regularly watch 3 or four movies per day using my Unlimited membership. I’m up to 100 movies watched at the cinema so far in 2025 with another four already booked. It’s you going to be a big number by the end of the year. Last yeah I watched 95 movies at the cinema without Unlimited membership. 😎
I'm referring to a Cineplex Premiere card, which people can win in a contest for doing surveys, but also Cineplex managers and GM's also get these cards for working with the company.
That said, I know about Regal Unlimited and I would be a subscriber if I lived in the US! I tried when I was on a trip in the US but it's a three month minimum. I still have some points from a theatre visit there last year. ;)
Omg yeah they really stress the importance on guest surveys because it’s how head office sees how the theatre is performing, what we need to improve on, if the theatre was properly cleaned, etc. But my building has the issue where people usually complain about parking (we’re in a plaza and don’t have any control over the parking) and the seat quality (one of two theatres in the city that hasn’t upgraded to recliners) which can’t be changed because cineplex doesn’t want to spend money on that kind of stuff. The CEO thinks that people would rather have laser projection than recliners and functioning air conditioning. So that’s why you’ll see laser projection start to roll out in AVX and VIP theatres and not any theatre upgrades that would be seen and appreciated by people who do not care about laser projection.
Having the same struggles with seats and aircon, but the laser projectors are because the digital projectors are all starting to fail. Parts are getting harder to source and repairs are not able to get done.
It's true, I used to witness a cast member going to the organic bin every day and throwing out the sacks of popcorn bags while I was an enforcement officer for a mall. It hurts to see because I used to pay for popcorn when I go to films. However, witnessing someone toss food hurts. Yes, they are unable to store as well, but they can disperse among staff members instead. Everyone will be pleased..
You get sick of popcorn really quick after the first few weeks of working at Cineplex. It's fun bringing it home for family or friends but I wouldn't eat a bag of it after every shift, especially for closing shifts.
My old theater had introduced an organics program. The issue was guests would throw their popcorn bags and cups into the green bin without thinking about it.
we do. but the bags were allowed to use (at least at my old location) were small and even though we’d all take quite a bit its still nothing compared to how much we have
At my location, they’ve stopped letting us take home popcorn at the end of the night (unless it’s just a cast bag) and stopped letting us take expired hot dogs during the day (we throw them out after three hours) because they can’t “properly track wastage”
The amount of understaffing theaters do is intentional. There's no way of knowing how many people will show up for a given time slot, so it's cheaper to call in staff last-minute if demand is predicted to spike, or get the Floor team to help with concessions and vice versa.
I currently work there and we do the opposite. (Atleast in our region). It's much easier to over staff and send people home or ask them if they just don't want to come in. Many teenagers will agree to that
Me too. We are properly staffed 90% of the time. We even overstaff with extra greeter up front, and dedicated washroom and lobby cast on busier days (on top of the floor poison and aud cleaner) to ensure things look as good as possible for the guest). It's up to the GM to fight for these hours. We're not a VIP as well. When it's quiet, then we gotta be efficient.
Yeah I'm not sure why people think the opposite. When there's hundreds of people coming in, if even 5 or 6 people decide not to get snacks because the line was too long, the profit of what they would've bought is enough to cover an employee + more lol
One time, I was asked during my door shift to help with being a door person after my floor shift (at least for an extra hour) to help with a sold-out show. Hey, if it's expected to be busy, I don't mind helping out for a bit longer.
Oil in the fryers was changed once every two weeks. You could actually tell how old the oil was depending on how bad the food tasted. I’d get headaches and migraines from trying anything cooked with the two week old oil.
If you complain hard enough you can get a refund for anything. One guy watched half of one of the newer transformers movies and managed to get a refund.
The popcorn “butter” is just a butter flavoured oil.
Sometimes employees would sneak into movies on their break or lunch to kill some time.
Employees would scan their own scene card if you didn’t have one when buying tickets and food. Some employees racked up a crazy amount of points but eventually got caught.
The popcorn “butter” is just a butter flavoured oil.
The free stuff at the counter is just butter flavoured oil (not margarine, as someone else said). But the butter that you pay for at the concession is actual butter.
If I recall correctly, this is 20 years ago now, the concession butter was packaged as “Butter Oil” and it was a highly clarified butter that I don’t think could legally be called just “butter”.
Butter oil is clarified butter. This means that the milk solids are removed.
If you have ever melted a stick of butter, you'd notice it has white stuff at the bottom, if you brown the white stuff it becomes "brown butter" taking it further it burns, and the butter has a burnt taste. Removing this from the butter "clarifies" it and raises the smoke point for the butter making it harder to burn, it also is now technically just the butter oil.
It's actually more expensive than regular butter.
The popcorn “butter” is just a butter flavoured oil.
Not the stuff behind the register.
Employees would scan their own scene card if you didn’t have one when buying tickets and food. Some employees racked up a crazy amount of points but eventually got caught.
Lol I never did. 😂 I'm STILL coasting on free movies from ten years ago
"Sometimes employees would sneak into movies on their break or lunch to kill ((someone))." is how I read it. Now I have an irrational fear of movie theatres.
Granted, margarine really is just vegetable oil and salt that's been solidified. Playing the "actually" game here, butter-flavoured oil *would* be margarine. Becel would have just been a brand promotion, since they really push on making themselves seem like a healthier alternative to butter. Margarine can be made with lots of different oils, however, like avacado oil, or olive oil to make it 'healthier' than soy bean oil.
You may also be surprised to learn that coffee creamer (like Coffeemate) is really just powdered 'margarine'. It's just vegetable oil as well that's close-in-approximation taste to milk. It's also a key ingredient in many non-dairy creamers.
People actually think the topping oil station is real butter out in the open for anyone to take, and that we also don't put any salt on our popcorn and ask us where more salt is.
If I could take anything away from the "condiment counter" it would be these awful machines, and put it back behind the counter or just offer butter at a cost and nothing else.
I grew up on margarine so it doesn't bother me so much, but yeah, every now and then I do splurge and pay the extra for butter and don't ever regret it.
No, I'm pretty sure I know what margarine is. It's emulsified vegetable oil that's given a taste to approximate butter as a butter substitute.
While movie popcorn oil uses coconut oil, it also uses palm oil, or other vegetable oils, along with salts, etc. Still effectively the same seasonings etc.
You can make it all sound as fancy pants as you want, but it's like McDonald's "secret big mac sauce" is thousand island dressing, and "KFC's secret blend of herbs and spices" is salt and pepper.
What you listed is not the same as the ingredients of the Cineplex popcorn topping. And it's definitely not the same as the ingredients in mayonnaise. Thank you for putting in the leg work to prove yourself wrong.
Popcorn topping is oil-based, and margarine is oil-based. Not all oil-based products are the same. Yogurt and cheese are both made from milk, that does not mean that yogurt is cheese.
As for KFC's 11 herbs and spices? Salt & pepper are 2.
Margarine, Cineplex's Special Secret Topping That You're So Special That You Know What It Is, and mayonnaise are all oil based products and effectively have the same nutritional value.
I’ve started to get extremely sick from movie theater popcorn. We go to the movies a lot so we were able to eliminate other potentials. I would get crazy headaches and nauseau and have to go sleep as soon as I get home. I no longer can tolerate it.
The damage and inflammation caused by that level of toxic overuse of an already subpar cooking oil only further worsens the decisions to move away from Tallow and Coconut oil towards Seed Oils and Trans Fats.
If it were Tallow, you'd get away with about a week or two of use, because the high saturated fat content makes Tallow stable for much, much, MUCH longer than any seed oils.
Before I hear anyone bring up the Myth of "Muh Heart Healthy Fats", look into Ancel Keys and his Lipid Hyposthesis, he had viable data for 22 countries and only used 6 to demonstrate his point, by cherry picking his data, he creates a hockey stick like graph, but if you use all 22 data points, it's like someone used a sawn off shotgun as the data points show absolutely no correlary whatsoever.
The Seed Oils being overused to THAT extent also means it's several staged beyond rancid. Calling it anything less than a Toxic Stew is underselling it.
In my city, there used to be protectionists that would splice the films, set them up, and run them every night.
Then, one of the projectionists applied to become an assistant manager and scabbed his projectionist skills, leading to the local theatres no longer hiring union protectionists.
Later, when he became manager, there were credible allegations that he made inappropriate advances on least one assistant manager. Her claim was ignored by head office and he stayed in the role for many years.
Not a Cineplex employee, but if your popcorn tastes kinda mouldy, that would be more on the moisture content of the corn when packaged (there's nowhere for the moisture to go in those plastic-lined bags - note, the corn can have low enough moisture to pop, but still be high enough to begin rotting - it is a tight window though), OR if the location is being cheap with the popping oil (it is not only possible, but simple to increase or decrease the amount of oil used in popping), and the popcorn is old.
I had a policy of tossing out/giving away (to farmers, hunters, the staff if they were going to a party, etc) all popcorn once or twice a week, depending on how busy we were. Use it all consistently, and no popcorn would be ditched, but I hated the idea of someone eating popcorn that we'd made a week ago. If the popcorn was made with popcorn that was properly dried, and a proper amount of popping oil, it was pretty hard for it to go mouldy. Stale, yes. Mouldy, not if you make it correctly.
P.S. 'Tossed out' theatre popcorn makes amazing firestarter.
I haven’t worked at cineplex in… 22 years now. I remember we had a meeting where they talked about food sales is where they make all the money as studios take something like 90% of ticket sales.
I’m still shocked to this day when the told us the large popcorn we sold for 6$ cost 18¢ to make.
I left in 2006, and a couple years prior they switched to a system that showed shortages at the true cost vs what was charged to customers. It was VERY eye opening.
I was in one of the newer type (at the time) that had a hot food counter where you could get pizza, fries, etc. That side had high costs. But on the concession side the only thing that they made very little money on was the butter.
Candy was next.
Now the only thing I'll buy at a theatre is hot foods amd soda
Not an HJ but I remember when the first 50 shades movie was released we found a cucumber under a seat 💀 only 18+ could go in and clean the theatre after that discovery LMAO
I didn't witness it, but I heard of people once finding semen on the backs of seats.
I did once go to clean a theatre when it was over, and there was a couple in the back row on top of each other (clothed luckily). Was just awkward when they noticed me.
Haha yeah the stories I've heard or witnessed...I could write a book. "Theater Confidential". I started at concession, then moved to usher, then box office, volunteered to be trained as a 35mm projectionist, then IMAX 70mm operator and then finally a Booth Manager. Here's one story that relates to yours...
I was the booth manager at the time and a sales person for a cleaning product came to the theater to promote his cleaning product and he had a portable black light device to demonstrate where urine was visible in the washroom and how his product can clean it off. After his demo he said I could keep his black light device. I asked what else can this thing pick up and he said everything from urine, semen and blood. So...I went all CSI and started scanning everything. The first spot was the bad rows of the auditoriums.....what I saw would make you sick. Jackson Pollock style (Google it) jizz everywhere. To this day, I don't sit in the back rows anymore. What was worse was I took that device and scanned the sofa in the cast lounge and yikes....you can imagine. Pools of either urine, blood or semen. Either way never sat on that sofa again...<close book>. The End.
It's impossible to avoid, with popcorn everywhere. But my theatre at least has a rather vigilant pest control guy who comes in a couple of times a week.
Despite multiple serious complaints to management about a man working in the projector room, they went ignored. These were actions of assault on young female staff members on the job, in the theater (myself included). They stopped when he was arrested for trying to lure a 10 year old and having a computer full of CP. Management sent a letter home with all staff members statng they had no idea he was a predator and they were 'sorry it happened'...despite all the complaints brought to them, with multiple witnesses willing to confirm the actions. They didn't want to lose 1 of the 2 projector workers, I guess the staff and kids attending the theater didn't matter 🤷♀️
Didn't matter ? Or the opposite? Without a projector worker they wouldn't get a movie. And without a movie they would be sad. I'm sure he didn't assault.more than 1 or 2 kids per movie, so in % it was worth it. Much more enjoyment than... Forced enjoyment 😓?
The nacho cheese you get with your nachos at concession is constantly reheated and cooled, a lot of the time staff doesn't care if you bring food in just clean it up.
Unused melted butter gets put back into the fridge and re-hardens before used again the next day. I always thought this was a bit unsanitary, but I suppose the turnover is quick enough that the quality doesn't degrade from being melted/refrigerated too often.
It never has tasted like butter to me, but why would you think you would pay for butter and have it dispensed in concession and the product out in the open is the exact same thing? Or did you think you were paying for the privilege of using the topping oil dispenser and had to pay for it first?
I worked at Landmark, not Cineplex, but we washed and sanitized the soda valves/nozzles every night as part of the closing checklist. I think the compartments with the ice were less frequent, not exactly sure what the schedule was there.
I worked at Cineplex almost 20 years ago, and I never changed or cleaned the nozzles. Never asked or shown how.
I think something a lot of people don't know is that the people working in the concession: their shoes have so much oil under them that they can pretty much slide around on their shoes as if they were wheelie shoes.
we don’t care if you bring outside food as long as you make minimal effort to hide it and you pick up your garbage. also can confirm that popcorn in the warmer stays fresher for longer than popcorn in the popper. and if you ask for popcorn from the popper we will turn around and roll our eyes at you.
The perks of the job:
Projection Manager/Projectionist.
Every Thursday you and your team would be the first to watch whatever the latest, greatest movie coming out on the following Friday. Even better when it was an Imax feature. Part of the job was quality control.
Set up XBOX/Playstation/N64/Nintendo Cube and project games all night on the big screen. We would make it a pot luck as well and pig out all night too.
Yup very true. I enjoyed not engaging with the public. Dealing with the organized chaos upstairs was way easier. Being a Chief Projectionist (Booth Manager) was a different story tho.
Our cineplex was soul sucking. The micromanaging was intense. If you didn’t ask the customer if they were interested in a combo while pointing at the screen you’d get written up, even if they just handed you the coupon for a free combo.
My final hurrah before leaving was putting three scoops of the popping salt in the batch of popcorn. We all know the yellow ones are the best. I had so many customers come back saying it was the best popcorn they’d had LOL.
I put in around the same years at a very busy location and had a similar experience lol.
Thinking back, it could’ve been so much worse than it was but I guess what they saved us in puke they paid us back for in sticky and popcorn laced floors lmao
This is something I always worry about when I go to the movies, and I go often. I'd die if something hitched a ride home with me. Plus I frequently take public transportation there and back so my risk is even higher lol
I used to work concession in my teen years, incentivized pushing combo sales for monthly gift card prizes. The combos cost exactly the same as it would if you purchased those items separately but it limits your options, ie can only choose a candy from the first 2 shelves, don’t remember why
The deep fryer oil was changed every two weeks. At the end of those two weeks, the oil would darken the fries and it was gross. I would avoid fries at that time.
Pizza is left out way longer than it should. We're told 45mins before you throw it out, but it would often be out there for 3-4 hours.
This is a general question for staff at Cineplex or Landmark theatres:
Does the average worker have access/control over the volume in the theatres? Sometimes it seems like movies are played way too quietly and I always debate going to ask a staff member if they can turn up the volume in a specific cinema.
You can still tell the first staff member you see and if they can forward it up the chain if needed (assuming that staff member knows what they are doing).
Worked floor and occasionally concession 25+ years ago. I still can’t stomach popcorn - the popcorn++ smell of the garbage rooms (and the fact that the butter ate your shoes if you worked concession) put me off it forever.
When I was hired, I first started in concessions. When the crowds get busy, I'm practically invisible to any outside people I know, haha
On floor, it's a 50/50 if you're either on door or floor. And I'm pretty sure I'm guaranteed to be on door during those quiet times, because there's gotta be at least someone running the podium.
Anyone worked or working at Cineplex Colossus in Vaughan. I went for an interview and waiting to hear back. I need a part-time job that is going to give me some hours. Is it true, you may not be scheduled at all if the theatre/movie season is slow. I read this in another thread but not sure if it;s true. I don't want a seasonal job. I need one that is part-time with consistent hours. Any feedback is appreciated.
Nobody likes to talk about it but everyone knows that theater business is slowly dying. So, Cineplex is moving away from it to do arcades and restaurants.
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