Past Winner Stories
Hollywood Bar & Filmworks
www.filmworksonline.com
"Francis Ford Coppola once said that $10,000 spent audaciously was worth $1 million. It was time to get as audacious as possible."
Hollywood: If it doesn't break you, it will make you. Nobody knows this better than Ted Bulthaup III, founder of Hollywood Bar & Filmworks, a movie theater/restaurant in Indianapolis' downtown area. "Hollywood has had to overcome many challenges, any of which was severe enough to put us out of business," he says.
Challenges for the restaurant included an untested new concept, enlivening a "dead" downtown, uncooperative movie studios, a mountain of short-term debt, the filing of Chapter 11 and even the firing of Bulthaup by his own investors. After a few dire months, Bulthaup was brought back on board, and Hollywood began its turnaround.
The company mounted an aggressive advertising, marketing and public relations campaign with freebies, two-for-one margarita nights, frequent moviegoer passes and radio tie-ins. The plan worked: Hollywood now experiences a 70 to 90 percent occupancy rate, compared with the industry average of 20 to 30 percent.
Hollywood now faces its latest challenge: parking. A new downtown field house has led to escalating parking prices that keep moviegoers away. What will happen next? Stay tuned.
Hollywood: If it doesn't break you, it will make you. Nobody knows this better than Ted Bulthaup III, founder of Hollywood Bar & Filmworks, a movie theater/restaurant in Indianapolis' downtown area. "Hollywood has had to overcome many challenges, any of which was severe enough to put us out of business," he says.
Challenges for the restaurant included an untested new concept, enlivening a "dead" downtown, uncooperative movie studios, a mountain of short-term debt, the filing of Chapter 11 and even the firing of Bulthaup by his own investors. After a few dire months, Bulthaup was brought back on board, and Hollywood began its turnaround.
The company mounted an aggressive advertising, marketing and public relations campaign with freebies, two-for-one margarita nights, frequent moviegoer passes and radio tie-ins. The plan worked: Hollywood now experiences a 70 to 90 percent occupancy rate, compared with the industry average of 20 to 30 percent.
Hollywood now faces its latest challenge: parking. A new downtown field house has led to escalating parking prices that keep moviegoers away. What will happen next? Stay tuned.