A lot of people hate the man. A lot of people call him a spoiled rich kid (even though he made his own fortune from nothing). But to me, there is no owner (sports teams, studios, theaters chains) that understands common sense more than Mark Cuban. This guy is a maverick (and yes, he does own the MBA Dallas Mavericks), a true independent thinker, and seems to be more connected with the general public than any other major executive I’ve ever seen.
Recently, Cuban put up a post on his blog asking people for their suggestions about how to better market movies and improve the image of the theater going experience. He got over 900 comments on that post. Oh yeah… and did I mention that whoever gave him a great idea, he would give them a job to implement their idea? He’s awesome!
In response to some of the comments, Cuban followed up and talked a bit about how the MPAA is chasing their tails trying to fight piracy… and instead should be using their money to better the theater going experience and improving the theater experience image. I’VE BEEN SAYING THAT EXACT SAME THING FOR YEARS!!!! Here’s what Mark had to say:
In a meeting I had with senior folks at the MPAA, I suggested that the theater industry spend money on improving our image rather than fighting the “war” on piracy. (A stupid war, thats not really a war and is a waste of money). That ever nickel spent trying to stop a 13 year old or his grandmother from downloading a movie, or spent trying to lobby our government into spending millions upon millions trying to stop pirated DVD sales in China could be spent promoting the positives of the movie theater going experience. (And hopefully our government can spend the millions and millions over here on our shores doing something that helps our citizens instead of acting as new business development departments for movie companies who don’t need their help. Movie studios have lasted this long without any real business from china and similar countries, they will be just fine without government help for years to come. Sorry for the political rant )
Bang on Mark!!! I love this guy!
I just wish more studio executives and owners had as much common sense as this guy. I’m sure there are guys with higher IQs than Mark Cuban… but a high IQ doesn’t always mean your head is out of your ass.
I’m going to email him with my idea of “Tuesday half price ticket and free lap dance night“. I may be working for him soon. (via)
