Article

More than just a pretty face Part I of III

Feature Factory's colorful kiosks don't just look good in theater lobbies, they provide a great service.  

April 9, 2002 by

You're late for the 5 o'clock showing of "Dude, Where's My Car?" at Canada's largest movie chain, Famous Players. What do you do? Run through the lobby, avoid the line at the box office and buy your ticket from the green alien. That's right, the green alien. While you're at it, order a large popcorn with extra butter.

"Dude, Where's My Car?" might not be your first choice on a night out at the cinemas, but for many Canadians the alien is. The extra terrestrial employee, a kiosk designed by Toronto's Feature Factory, sells 85 percent of the theaters' tickets.

"Only 15 percent are actually handled by the counter help," said Julian Bowron, Feature Factory president.  "In the film industry, you have these big pulses of people coming through at certain times. If you have to staff up to actually manually sell tickets to those people, then that staff is really sitting around doing nothing most of the time."

Though just 20 percent of its business is devoted to kiosks -- most of the company's efforts go into creating large exterior signs and unique architectural features -- Feature Factory's enclosures have made an unforgettable mark on the industry. With its sights set on the United States and a bigger piece of the pie, the manufacturer launched a company devoted solely to kiosks in December -- Kiosk Factory.

Feature Factory has 50 employees and generated $6.5 million in revenue in 2000. Kiosk Factory is expected to raise $3 million in revenue its first year with an estimated production run of 1,000 units.

Famous Players serves more than 40 million guests annually at 111 theaters, located predominately in Canada's major metropolitan areas including Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto. The company has approximately 7,500 employees.

Success by Design

For a company that prides itself on elaborate kiosk coverings, it wouldn't be surprising if it gave little attention to the interior of the machines. Bowron said that's not the case, however.

"We really have been focusing on image for so long and these things are all about image. To us, the technical side of it is a no-brainer," he explained.

"We do take pride in having produced by far the greatest array of kiosks of any company -- from the most bizarre and exotic to the more utilitarian."

The bulk of Feature Factory's ticketing kiosks run on software developed by RDS Data Group Inc. in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada. The kiosks feature Elo TouchSystems touchscreens, a receipt printer, climate control and a PC that is specified by the client. But on the outside, they can come in a variety of forms.

"We always try to imbue our work with an anthropomorphic quality. In other words, it suggests at some level a figure, whether it's animal or human," Bowron said. "This really, really helps to make them friendly, but also to lend them a subliminal level of interest."

Feature Factory has been producing kiosks since the early 1980s, though Bowron said that was before the word "kiosk" was known. He said the company had no idea then that the kiosk side of the business would grow so quickly. 

In fact, Bowron said that until 1997 that Feature Factory didn't consider kiosks as a key area of growth. That year, the company made its first kiosk for Famous Players. Known as the tall ATM, the unit is simple in design yet visually striking.

Encased in a metallic powder coat imported from Europe, the kiosk is 7 feet high with a bow-shaped profile. The unit was designed for Famous Player's Silver City concept theater: buildings with large central atriums.

"The idea, because automatic ticket machines were new, was that they had to be very in your face, very attention getting," Bowron said. "They would arrange them in a funnel configuration at the door in two banks, one on either side, and tapering wider toward the door and narrower as you got to the lobby. The clients, as they entered the theater, were forced to confront these things."

Consequently, usage rates -- which started off at 20 percent -- climbed steadily. "The rate has leveled off at 65 to 70 percent," Bowron said.

The second generation of Feature Factory kiosks for Famous Players, the low profile kiosk, was introduced in 1998. Theatergoers had accepted automatic ticketing machines and the design didn't have to be so arresting. Still there was something to love about the look: a kiosk that resembled a futuristic movie prop wrapped in chrome.

So where did the anthropomorphic concept come into play?

"Even that first ATM, the whole POS pad area resembles, to an extent, the mouth parts of a dragon fly or the face at the bottom of a tall African mask," Bowron explained. "The low profile ATM, it's definitely a body with a head and arms that reach out and support the POS pad."

Production on the character kiosk line -- a more obvious representation of the kiosk as a figure among the living -- began in 1999. Along with the alien, the line includes a Ming warrior and an ancient Egyptian kiosk planned for a Famous Players theater in Calgary that will open in March.

The character enclosures start with molds that produce fiberglass shells. The shells are joined with more fiberglass on their edges, each joint painstakingly sanded and filed repeatedly. Next, the characters are coated in automotive-grade paints.

Such a labor-intensive process naturally carries a weighty price tag. Each kiosk can cost roughly $10,000.

"Our products are really premium products," Bowron said. "They're for people who really want to set themselves apart and understand the value in setting themselves apart."

The company produces kiosks in small runs, sometimes with as few as 100.  "We are not after mega rollouts of 5,000 units," Bowron said. "We consider it quite acceptable and normal to make only 50 of something or only 100 of something."

The look of Feature Factory's first kiosks began with an interior design firm. Later versions took wheelchair accessibility into account, Bowron said. The low profile and character kiosks signaled the company's efforts to become involved in the design of the businesses where the kiosks would be deployed.

"We're saying, `Okay, you're doing an Egyptian-themed theater, let's do Egyptian ATMs for you,' " Bowron said. "We actually have arrived now on the level that we are contributing to the design of the theater in conjunction with the architect or the interior designer. We're taking their drawings and figuring out what would work in that space and proposing it."

There are about 600 Feature Factory kiosks in use at Famous Players theaters across Canada. About 85 percent of the theaters are stocked with half tall and half low profile    kiosks -- more than 250 of each have been deployed -- and 100 character kiosks. Up to eight kiosks are used at each location.

Ownership has its privileges

Feature Factory kiosks are prettier than most lobby decorations, and they have a two-fold impact, said Ron Rivet, executive director, design and construction for Famous Players. 

He said that from an aesthetic point of view, the units are an integral part of Famous Players' character-themed theaters. More importantly, the kiosks give customers who would have waited in line at the ticket counter more time to spend on Famous Players attractions such as interactive game centers and restaurant kiosks where food can be ordered.

"When we talk about a wild and crazy idea, they get the gist of what we're looking for and they also know how to translate it into an executed product," Rivet said. "They have a good understanding of what our requirements are."

Customer reaction to the kiosks has "always been very positive," Rivet said, and usage rates are increasing.

"At first people weren't sure how these things worked. But it's like automated bank    machines -- we took to them," Rivet said. "Many people appreciate the convenience. It allows them to walk in during the day and purchase movie tickets for that evening."

Famous Players' staff has come to appreciate their electronic coworkers as well, Rivet said. "It obviously eases the workload because you're diverting a fair number of people."

In addition to kiosks, Famous Players called on Feature Factory's first line of expertise -- custom architectural designs.

Movie-related props created by Feature Factory -- everything from Mighty Mouse to the shrimp boat from "Forrest Gump" -- are suspended from theater lobby ceilings. The playful concept was carried outside the theater where directors' chairs and other displays are displayed for moviegoers as high as 20 feet off the ground. Like the kiosk enclosures, architectural designs were constructed from custom-made molds.

"It's a pretty amazing thing," Rivet said confidently. "Certainly up here in Canada, no one else has done anything near what we've done -- and I can say that in all honesty."