Alexander Hernandez-Maxwell’s Post

US box office in 2023 passed $9 billion, the best total since before the pandemic However, it’s still 20% less than 2019 earnings, which brought in $11.4 billion. That year’s highlight was “Avengers: Endgame,” which earned $858.4 million in ticket sales. But compared to 2020, the height of the pandemic, the domestic box office gross saw an almost 300% jump, according to data from Comscore. Earnings are being generated increasingly outside of Hollywood, in locations such as Georgia, New Mexico, and Texas. The bias toward representing ALL of film news only from a "Hollywood" perspective leads to the perception that film earnings are all in a dramatic slide. They are, but that's in Hollywood. This is definitely not the case outside of Hollywood, otherwise, the increasing demand for sound stages would not be leading to multiple locations building new ones, or the occupancy rate for film sound stages, outside of Hollywood, would not be above 92%. The Hollywood bias is understandable. It has a historic foundation and the "Hollywood culture" has been a cultural myth for a long time. But new films are distancing themselves from the Hollywood culture, and as a result, are more attractive to audiences who appear to have tired of the "Hollywood culture." The future of the film industry looks very good, if you are not in Hollywood. https://lnkd.in/g-NbzXxF.

Is the key to saving money on office space...getting weird with it? As The Wall Street Journal reported, movie theaters are getting rent CUTS from landlords to stay in their current locations. Movie theaters are such unique spaces (e.g., sloped hallways, isolated rooms filled with seats) that it would be more costly to renovate these buildings into typical offices or retail spaces than to just keep them as a movie theater. Back in 2022, 76% of office space decision-makers at U.S. companies said in a Capterra survey that they had plans to move to a larger office (I'll 🔗 my research in the comments). Undaunted by hybrid and remote work, and eager to #RTO, companies have been keen on building out bigger offices that go beyond the archaic open office concept to get the most out of their workforce. So if you're looking for a unique space that can attract talent and save you money long-term simultaneously, think outside the box. In 2020, Austin Community College turned what was once a J.C. Penney in a mall into an open-plan learning lab. That same year, SpyCloud took over an old adult movie theater (!) and turned it into their company HQ. Taking advantage of the current commercial real estate crisis will take some lateral thinking -- and that means retooling what an "office building" could be. So I want to know: Is this a good idea or am I insane? And what's the weirdest building you've seen turned into an office?

It was Lord Kelvin who said that if you can’t measure it, you can't improve it. While working at CBRE, the concept of Workplace Consultancy was gaining traction. I had the opportunity to participate in building the Warsaw team under two great experts - Maciej (Matthew) Markowski and Karina Kreja, who are now industry leaders themselves. This experience often led me to ponder: How can we leverage knowledge and tools from other industries to enhance the cinema experience? Given that measuring must be approached differently for both cinema staff and customers, I will divide this discussion into two posts. Part 1: Measuring Staff Challenges: - Every cinema layout is unique, and a standard blueprint may not always be applicable. - Food and beverage (F&B) offerings vary, as do screen formats and levels of service (e.g., food auditorium delivery). - Legacy behaviors and processes. Opportunities: - Optimizing layout to reduce staff count and maximize efficiency. - Identifying and eliminating bottlenecks in specific processes and tasks to expedite service. What Can Be Measured: - Individual tasks and processes in F&B. Understanding the time required for each task can inform layout improvements and enhance overall efficiency in food preparation and service. While numerous publications exist, they must be tailored to the cinema's unique environment. - Staff facilities. Often overlooked in layout design, these facilities can significantly impact time wasted on unnecessary employee movements throughout the building. - Management office or no office? Being too far from the action can result in poorer customer service, but being too close can impact operational duties. Different approaches require different solutions, but each can be measured and improved. - Cleaning. Customer complaints often center on auditorium and restroom cleanliness. Detailed process understanding can lead to minor construction improvements that reduce staff time spent on this critical task. - Waste disposal. With thousands of daily customers generating waste, integrating recycling can create major bottlenecks and efficiency drops. Understanding site-specific issues allows for optimal construction-driven solutions, sometimes necessitating process modifications. And most importantly, a frequently overlooked but glaringly obvious point: Listen to the person performing the task, as they possess a deeper knowledge than you could ever understand solely from observation. Part 2 coming soon… #CinemaOperations #CustomerExperience #WorkplaceOptimization #DataDrivenDesign #CinemaConstruction

Are you empowering your Revenue Management teams to unlock the total potential for their property? Have you thought about what you can monetize beyond the guest room? I'd love to hear your ideas on how we elevate revenue generation in hospitality. Comment below with your thoughts!

Celebrating the 5th Anniversary of our Marketing Assistant who is making SoHo’s journey popular!! Dharmik Shah, our Marketing Assistant has finished 5 years with SoHo Dragon and he has been an invaluable asset to our company, contributing significantly to our growth and success over the past five years. Dharmik says “I've always believed that a workplace should be more than just a job—it should be a place that challenges, motivates, and inspires growth. That's exactly what I've found at SoHo Dragon. From day one, the management has shown great trust in my capabilities and also pushed me to step out of my comfort zone. Whether it’s about tackling the latest technologies or complex projects, SoHo Dragon has always given me chances to work with amazing clients. One of the things that sets SoHo Dragon apart is its unwavering support from management. Working here isn't just a job to me, but I try to be my best version delivering the best to the organization. Here, I don't just feel like another cog in the machine; I feel valued, respected, and appreciated. Whether it is about learning new technologies or managing personal life, Dharav Jhaveri sir, Anna Jhaveri, and Peter Ward have always supported me to grow. Proud to be a part of SoHo Dragon—a place where passion meets purpose, and where every day brings new growth opportunities. Cheers!" #5YearsStrong #MilestoneAchieved #HalfDecadeOfSuccess #5YearsAndCounting #WorkAnniversary #Celebrating5Years #5YearsJourney #CareerMilestone #5YearsOfGrowth #ThankfulFor5Years

It is time for a continuation of my last post. I recommend reading Part 1 before progressing further (link below). 🙂 Part 2: Measuring Cinemagoers Challenges: - Privacy and GDPR considerations when employing technology. - Target audience segmentation (boutique cinemas versus multiplexes). - Understanding competitors' customer bases. Opportunities: - Tailoring offers to specific customer segments. - Encouraging secondary F&B transactions. - Increasing dwell time and offering alternative experiences. What Can Be Measured: - Targeted surveys among customers, focusing on various aspects of the experience, including F&B, cinematic experience, seating, restroom facilities, and alternative offerings. - Surveys targeting competitors' customers, particularly crucial in competitive locations, albeit challenging to conduct. - F&B service time and product quality, with significant implications for physical design. - Introduction of new alternative offerings, such as gaming, coffee shops, alcohol bars, VIP lounges, and restaurant-style options, with measurement of success being paramount due to significant capital expenditure. - Introduction of alternative seating. Another capex impacting project that, if incorrectly measured, can result in wrong decisions. Our ultimate goal is to increase dwelling time, increase spending, and attract new customers. Without measurements, it is impossible to adapt to this dynamically changing environment and stay ahead of the curve. Construction teams can be the hero of the change or the villain. Very often, we are both. #CinemaOperations #CustomerExperience #WorkplaceOptimization #DataDrivenDesign #CinemaConstruction https://lnkd.in/eedGZUk9

Here's your Friday round-up of news, views and interviews from EG. 🎢 With the flex industry in flux, co-working office operators are trying to work out what the future will look like for workplaces and the businesses running them. At Industrious, the inspiration might seem unlikely – Disneyland. This week’s big interview is with founder Jamie Hodari and new European managing director Tom Redmayne. Hodari wants the company to do for workspace what The Walt Disney Company has done for theme parks. “You go to Disney and in certain ways it is a giant global mega-corporation for whom any individual visitor is a blip compared with a local amusement park and yet it has cracked the code to make every family feel a part of it,” he says. “The ambition is to get to a place where we can say we’ve done this enough and we’ve done it with enough heart and intent and conviction about trying to be the expert in how to deliver a great day at work, that we are able to do it for any customer in any location and they get the best of both worlds. They get a highly individualised experience that feels personal to them that is in part powered by many years of trying to refine that exact experience.” 🤝 There are moves and promotions at companies including M7 Real Estate Ltd, Avison Young, and Mitsui Fudosan. And in this morning’s listed real estate news, Home REIT continues to offload assets, while Irish Residential Properties REIT says its strategic review progresses “at pace”. These stories and lots more right here. https://lnkd.in/e2ESKK6p

Howard Schultz - retired Starbucks CEO wrote to his current Board with a key recommendation to avoid Starbucks losing its relevance… “We are not a beverage company serving coffee… we are a coffee company serving people… we’re not in the transaction business. We have to execute transactions but that has to be through the lens of being an experience. People are longing more than ever for human connection” This resonates so much for me. In a world filled with more hate and less connection, the chance to connect with someone over your morning coffee is exactly why we head out and spend £4 on, yes, the same thing you can make on your Nespresso or cafetiere at home, just with a nice plastic Starbucks cup. I often think about this in the context of the office. Just like with coffee, you can get the ‘raw materials’ done on your own at home: sit on your laptop, write emails, draft reports, join Zoom calls. But that's not enough. The office should be an experience, a place to build relationships and connect with others. This sense of connection and community is what will shape the best office spaces in the future. You can have the best building amenity but without human connection, it’s not enough. Amenity alone won’t keep you coming back each day. Like for coffee, it’s the ability to build meaningful relationships, to have unscripted conversations, to connect with other like-minded and differently-minded people, to have an experience, that defines the office of the future.

When a workplace aligns with a brand’s mission, it doesn’t just look great—it ✨ brings the brand to life. ✨ As companies consider where they want employees to work, creating an environment that helps them live and breathe the brand is crucial. NBCUniversal’s new campus is an interesting experiment, blending functionality with storytelling that connects people to the company’s identity, shapes its reputation, and influences the stories employees tell externally. Here’s how they’ve infused their story into their new space: ➡ The Commons: A social hub where employees gather for premieres and other shared moments, building a sense of purpose. ➡ The Veil: This architectural feature recalls a zoetrope, blending cinematic history with modern design to showcase their legacy. ➡ The Paseo: A main street with native plants and shaded seating areas that ties Universal’s story to an inviting outdoor setting. ➡ One Universal Office: A 350,000-square-foot office with creative lounges, iconic murals, and art celebrating Universal’s films, connecting employees with storytelling DNA. ➡ The Green and Meeting Pods: Open lawns and reservable pods by a waterfall encourage collaboration and innovation. With the rise of streaming and shifting industry dynamics, I’m curious to see how this campus sparks more creativity in the workspace, maybe even inspiring the next big blockbuster. What do you think? #WorkplaceDesign #BrandStorytelling #CreativeSpaces #FutureOfWork #BrandIdentity

How should the Reception area of the organisation be?? The reception area reflects a company's values, often underestimated yet crucial for shaping visitors' first impressions. While big firms boast about initiatives like 5S, true values are evident here. A warm welcome, genuine smiles, and refreshments convey hospitality and vision. Surprisingly, smaller firms often excel in creating impactful receptions. It's not just about aesthetics; it's about embodying company values and making visitors feel valued instantly.