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☆ MoviePass and Mastercard have signed a multi-year deal on a discount subscription plan for seeing movies in theaters
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Jason Guerrasio | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

MoviePass has partnered with Mastercard to offer cardholders a 50% discount on the first two months of a Standard or Premium subscription. The deal is part of Mastercard's enhancement of its cardholder benefits in health & wellness, travel, and lifestyle. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementMoviePass has partnered with Mastercard in the app's efforts to get more people to the movies. Any Mastercard holder will receive a 50% discount off the first two months of a Standard or Premium MoviePass subscription when signing up with their card.

Persons: MoviePass, — Organizations: Mastercard, Service, Business

☆ Wall Street is getting nervous about Tesla
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In today's big story, we're looking at why Wall Street is getting nervous about Tesla . South China Morning PostEarnings season is approaching, and Wall Street's already ringing the alarm on a high-profile company. AdvertisementTesla won't report its full earnings until later this month, but Wall Street is preparing for trouble. One analyst called it a "nightmare" quarter for the company, while another firm labeled Tesla "a growth company with no growth." One strategy is getting more Tesla drivers subscribed to its Full Self-Driving software, which can run $199 monthly.

Persons: —, Wall, Insider's Beatrice Nolan, Tesla, It's, that's, Elon Musk, ANDERSEN, Alyssa Powell, Donald Trump's, Ken Griffin's, Claire Merchlinsky, MoviePass, Ted Farnsworth, Manoj Bhargava, Putin, Elvira Nabiullina's, Forbes, Dan DeFrancesco, Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, George Glover Organizations: Service, Business, Tesla, China, Bloomberg, Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Getty, BI Trump Media, SEC, Citadel, BI, Street Journal, Authentic Brands, Energy, Bank of Russia, The Locations: China, Russia's, Connecticut , Delaware , New York, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, New York, London

☆ How the businessman who blew up MoviePass tried to create a 'TikTok killer' and cost investors millions
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Ashley Rodriguez | Jason Guerrasio | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +22 min

At Vinco, Farnsworth employed several of the same tactics that he had at MoviePass and at his earlier ventures. "Ted took these press releases and really treated them like they were works of art for him," Matt Argall, a former advisor to Farnsworth, told BI. Hudson Bay has not been served the lawsuit as of the publication of this story. "Hudson Bay's investment in Vinco Ventures was a standard, fixed price convertible loan of which millions remain unpaid," Hudson Bay told BI in a statement. "If served, Hudson Bay will seek to have these baseless, factually flawed and frivolous claims, which have been repeatedly dismissed in other proceedings against other parties, dismissed expeditiously."

Persons: MoviePass, Ted Farnsworth, Maria Bartiromo, he'd, Farnsworth, Jaeson Ma, Ted Farnsworth playbook, Ted, Barnum, John Fichthorn, I've, Shadwrick Vick, Rudy, Vick, Roderick Vanderbilt, who's, hocking, La Toya Jackson, Helios, Matheson, Brian Quinn, Farnsworth's, Michael Hartstein, Vinco, Matt Argall, Mitch Lowe, Reuters Farnsworth, David, Goliath, TikTok, We're, Argall, Elton John, Jamie McCarthy, Lomotif, Lil Nas X, Snoop Dogg, Grimes, Zash, Allan Stern, Get2it, Stern, Robert N, Scola Jr, Scola, he's, —, Lowe, Getty, Dave Kotinsky, Stringer Vinco, expeditiously, Farnsworth —, Vanderbilt, Jesse Law, Katherine Long Organizations: Fox Business, Hollywood, Business, Zash Global Media, Entertainment, Vinco Ventures, Fox, Hudson Bay, BI, Helios, Matheson, Matheson Analytics, Boston College Law School, Palladium Capital Group, Vinco, BHP Capital, Armistice, CVI Investments, National Enquirer, Reuters, AMC Theatres, AMC, Gemini Valuation, Hudson, Eightco Holdings, Elton John AIDS Foundation, 91st, EDC, Tampa Marriott, SEC, Publishing, National Examiner, Globe, The New York Times, Southern, Southern District of, Bloomberg, Bay, Vanderbilt, Federal Bureau of Investigation Locations: Hudson, Vinco, Zash, Hudson Bay, China, Syracuse , New York, Lomotif, Syracuse, West Hollywood , California, Vegas, Tampa, Argall, Boston, India, The, Miami, MoviePass, Southern District, Southern District of Florida, New York

☆ I went to SXSW and saw Netflix and Amazon competing with splashy sci-fi, while Paramount+ pitched its whole line-up
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Nathan Mcalone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Netflix, Amazon, Paramount+, and Disney competed for attention with premieres and eye-catching installations. While there, I got to witness South by Southwest's opening weekend, which was dominated by the streaming heavyweights Netflix, Amazon, and Paramount+, with a cameo from Disney. Netflix held a premiere for "3 Body Problem," and Amazon built an interactive postapocalyptic world to promote "Fallout." AdvertisementNetflix's 3D projection for "3 Body Problem" stopped people in their tracks. Nathan McAloneLater, as the "3 Body Problem" premiere began, I heard "Game of Thrones" alum John Bradley (of Samwell Tarly fame) mutter an anxious "Oh God."

Persons: —, Max, Nathan McAlone Netflix, David Benioff, Weiss, Alexander Woo —, Doug Liman, Nathan McAlone, John Bradley, mutter, Bradley shouldn't, Palmer Haasch, Bradley, Blake Griffin, Nathan McAlone Amazon, Bass Reeves, Alex Garland's Organizations: Southwest, Netflix, Paramount, Disney, Service, HBO, Hollywood, Amazon, Paramount Theatre, Rotten, Mortal Media, Apple, Studios, Austin Convention Locations: Austin, Hollywood, United States

☆ MoviePass had its first profitable year ever in 2023, its CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Jason Guerrasio | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

MoviePass turned profitable for the first time in 2023, CEO Stacy Spikes told Business Insider. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . But after relaunching in 2022, the service ran a profit for the first time in its history in 2023, company cofounder and CEO Stacy Spikes told Business Insider exclusively. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: MoviePass, Stacy Spikes, Spikes, — Organizations: Service, Business

☆ A publicly traded media venture with ties to MoviePass' former chairman has been suspended from Nasdaq and its stock is in free fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Ashley Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Embattled digital-media company Vinco Ventures has been suspended by Nasdaq after a board exodus. It became a meme stock in 2021 after teaming up with the ex-chairman of MoviePass and touting buzzy acquisitions. The future of Vinco Ventures, the publicly traded media venture with ties to ex-MoviePass chairman Ted Farnsworth, is hanging in the balance after a series of buzzy deals collapsed and a board exodus has put the stock on the brink of a Nasdaq delisting. Shares of Vinco have nosedived 99% since their recent peak in September 2021, when meme-stock investors helped propel the stock. Farnsworth led the 2017 acquisition of MoviePass as chairman and CEO of the then-publicly-traded company Helios & Matheson Analytics, or HMNY for short.

Persons: Ted Farnsworth, we've, Shadwrick Vick, Farnsworth, Vick, It'd, Vinco, They're, Mitch Lowe, Lowe, MoviePass, Chris Bond, Mr Organizations: Vinco Ventures, Nasdaq, Zash Global Media, Entertainment, National Enquirer, Street Journal, MoviePass, Helios, Matheson Analytics Locations: Vinco, Clark County , Nevada

☆ MoviePass is back with subscriptions nationwide, starting at $10 a month
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

It's offering four monthly subscriptions, starting at $10 to watch one to three movies per month. MoviePass previously offered a $9.95 monthly plan for unlimited movies before its parent company filed for bankruptcy in 2020. The standard plan costs $10 a month and lets you see one to three movies a month. With the basic plan, which MoviePass says is a best seller, you can see three to seven movies for $20 a month. The premium plan costs $30 per month for 5-11 movies.

☆ MoviePass has landed a deal with Walmart to sell subscriptions in stores across the country
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Jason Guerrasio | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

MoviePass will be available at Walmart, several sources familiar with the deal told Insider. MoviePass relaunched last year in beta form and plans to be available to all customers by the summer. MoviePass will have displays in Walmart stores across the country where its subscription cards will be available for shoppers, sources said. No details were given to Insider about what the offer on the MoviePass Walmart cards will be, or when the cards will be available in stores. "This is a huge win for MoviePass and for the theatrical movie business," Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian told Insider.

☆ From McDonald's $200 million Arch Deluxe to Colgate's frozen lasagna: Here are 5 of the biggest food 'failures'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Nicolas Vega | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

For every massive hit like the Popeye's chicken sandwich, the food industry produces countless duds. At the museum, visitors can see failed products ranging from the once-promising 3D TVs to the infamous MoviePass. "What I really appreciate with the food and beverage industry is that they have this sort of evolutionary approach," West says. "If we don't accept the failures, we can't have the good stuff," West says. These are five of the biggest culinary duds at the Museum of Failure.

☆ A former MoviePass exec has been arrested and charged with wire fraud and money laundering, the third to be indicted in recent months
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Jason Guerrasio | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A former MoviePass exec was arrested Tuesday on allegations that he embezzled $260,000 from its former parent company. Khalid Itum was charged with two counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering. According to the indictment, Itum, 42, registered the Los Angeles-based company Kaleidoscope Productions LLC in 2017 that provided production and marketing services. Itum was arrested by the FBI and has been charged with two counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering. In November, Farnsworth and Lowe were charged in a securities fraud case by the Department of Justice on one count of securities fraud and three counts of wire fraud.

☆ AMC Theatres shouldn't be charging more for the best seats — it should be getting rid of the empty ones
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

AMC Theatres announced this week that it would charge more for the best seats in its auditoriums. Here's what it looks like on the AMC Theatres website for a screening at a New York City location:What the new seat pricing looks like on the AMC Theatres website. "This new initiative by AMC Theatres would essentially penalize people for lower income and reward for higher income." AMC's seat-pricing plan isn't going to help the theatrical business. Patrick Corcoran, spokesman for the National Association of Theatre Owners, told Insider in September.

☆ National Enquirer to Be Sold to Group Including Former MoviePass Executive
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Joseph De Avila | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Financial terms of the sale of the National Enquirer weren’t disclosed. The National Enquirer, the scandal-plagued supermarket tabloid that facilitated a hush-money scheme involving former President Trump, is being sold to a joint venture run by two digital-media companies. VVIP Ventures, owned by Vinco Ventures Inc. and Icon Publishing, has agreed to purchase both the U.K. and U.S. version of the supermarket tabloid from magazine publisher a360 Media, the companies said Monday. The purchase also includes the National Examiner and the Globe.

☆ National Enquirer sold to group that includes indicted ex-MoviePass chairman
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Mike Calia | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In this photo illustration, celebrity gossip dominates the cover of a National Enquirer magazine on April 11, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. The National Enquirer, the tabloid at the center of many controveries involving former President Donald Trump, will be sold to a joint venture involving Theodore Farnsworth, the former MoviePass chairman who has been criminally charged with securities fraud. The Enquirer's parent company, a360 Media, agreed to sell the publication – along with other tabloid brands the National Examiner, the Globe and the National Enquirer UK – to VVIP Ventures, a joint venture made up of Vinco Ventures and Icon Publishing, the companies said Monday. The deal's price wasn't disclosed, but Farnsworth, the founder of Icon Publishing, told The New York Times that it was a little under $100 million. The National Enquirer has been on the block for about four years.

☆ AMC will start charging more for better movie theater seats
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN —AMC Theaters is changing the way it charges for seats. The ticket pricing initiative, called Sightline at AMC, will roll out at all of its roughly 1,000 movie theaters by the end of the year. AMC said a seating map will show the adjusted prices and Sightline will only be used on showings after 4 pm. Live theater, such as Broadway, has long been using a similar method of pricing for seats (although front-row there can fetch top price). Movie theaters outside the United States also have similar location pricing standards that remain uncommon for American movie theaters.

☆ You'll have to pay more to see a movie at an AMC Theatre if you want prime seating
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

It's the latest evolution in variable pricing at movie theaters. AMC Theatres, the largest theater chain in the world, announced new pricing variations for seating on Monday in an imitative called Sightline at AMC. The variable pricing is for any showtime after 4 pm, and doesn't apply to "Discount Tuesdays," AMC said. Here's the catch: Value Sightline is only available for members of AMC's subscription program, AMC Stubs A-List. But it's also the latest evolution of variable pricing at movie theaters — which has until now been more focused on charging different prices based on the movie or format, and not necessarily on seat location.

☆ MoviePass is planning to relaunch with an unlimited option
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Jason Guerrasio | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

MoviePass is working on an unlimited option in its new beta form. Spikes said MoviePass will leave beta and be available to the general public by the summer. During an interview with Insider, cofounder Stacy Spikes revealed that the movie-ticket-subscription service is working on an unlimited plan. "In at least two the unlimited option is being tested. Spikes told Insider he plans to open up MoviePass to the general public by the summer.

☆ Salesforce employees demand answers from execs about layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Salesforce employees demand answers. More than 500 employees wrote a letter to execs, demanding answers about the layoffs. Amazon employees told not to share confidential info with ChatGPT. Current and former employees told Insider that the social media company is shedding employees. This is what employees told us.

☆ MoviePass CEO Stacy Spikes on his plans to relaunch the service (for real) and bring back an unlimited option
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Jason Guerrasio | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +20 min

Stacy Spikes told Insider he plans to put MoviePass out of beta and make it available for all by the summer. You would think Spikes would want to run as far away as possible from the movie-ticket-subscription startup. Before Stacy Spikes created MoviePass he created the Urbanworld Film Festival. I wanted to put that down because I see so many times people approach me and think MoviePass was my first business. MoviePassThe MoviePass beta version is focused on the credits system, e-ticketing, and fixing bugsWhat have been the biggest challenges in getting this beta version of MoviePass off the ground?

☆ Robert De Niro was almost my 50-50 partner in MoviePass — and he showed me the 'Raging Bull' boxing ring to try to seal the deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Stacy Spikes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

One night, I said to Marianne, "What if we made a Netflix for the movie theater industry? I tried to push my subscription idea, but it fell flat. I continued to tread water on my subscription idea, but things were slow going. One Saturday, a dear friend of ours named Peter called and asked how the movie subscription idea was coming. They're interested in buying both the Urbanworld Film Festival and the movie subscription company for one million dollars.

☆ I pay $30 a month for a 'season pass' to a dine-in theater chain that is strict about not talking and texting, because I can't stand the experience at normal theaters anymore
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

I subscribe to its Alamo Season Pass, a subscription that lets you see a movie a day for $30 a month. The Alamo Season Pass lets me see one movie a day for $30 per month. Alamo DrafthouseI subscribe to its Alamo Season Pass, a membership that lets me see one movie a day for $30 a month. I chose Alamo Season Pass last year, after realizing I was going there quite a bit for all the reasons I mentioned and would save money that way. For instance, you can only get a ticket with your Season Pass within seven days of your screening.

☆ Former MoviePass executives face fraud charges
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The men each face one count of securities fraud and three counts of wire fraud with a maximum of 20 years in prison. Farnsworth had a first appearance in DC District Court Friday after he voluntarily turned himself in. But MoviePass’ business model was at best unsustainable — and at worst nonexistent. Spikes helped found MoviePass before being pushed out in 2018 after selling the company to HMNY. Details remain scarce, but the company says the new MoviePass will have three pricing tiers that will cost $10, $20 or $30, depending on the market.

☆ Ex-MoviePass Executives Are Charged in Securities Fraud Case
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Denny Jacob | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

MoviePass, a Netflix-like subscription service for movie theaters, made a splash in 2017 when it made its debut. Former executives at MoviePass and its prior parent company were charged in a securities fraud case, accused of defrauding investors, the Justice Department said Friday. Former MoviePass CEO J. Mitchell Lowe and Theodore Farnsworth , who led Helios & Matheson Analytics Inc., the movie-subscription company’s parent at the time, are accused of engaging in a fraudulent scheme to inflate the company’s stock and attract new shareholders, the Justice Department said.

☆ Federal prosecutors charge ex-CEOs of MoviePass, parent company in alleged fraud scheme
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Former executives at MoviePass and its parent company have been charged with fraud, according to a federal indictment that was unsealed Friday. MoviePass skyrocketed to popularity in 2017 because of its seemingly too-good-to-be-true unlimited movie pass that initially offered customers one movie voucher per day for $30 to $40 a month. However, many MoviePass subscribers began to use the service too frequently and the company started to lose money quickly. According to the DOJ document, the pair also allegedly knew that the price of MoviePass' unlimited plan would not be enough to offset losses. Instead, the pair had directed employees to implement tactics to prevent subscribers from using their unlimited service, according to prosecutors.

☆ The former CEOs of MoviePass and its parent company have been charged in a securities fraud case
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Jason Guerrasio | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Two former execs at MoviePass and its former parent company HMNY — Ted Farnsworth and Mitch Lowe — have been charged in a securities fraud case, according to court documents. Per a Department of Justice statement, the court documents allege that Farnsworth and Lowe "engaged in a scheme to defraud investors through materially false and misleading representations relating to HMNY and MoviePass's business and operations to artificially inflate the price of HMNY's stock and attract new investors." The statement says: "Farnsworth and Lowe are each charged with one count of securities fraud and three counts of wire fraud. If convicted, they each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count." More to come...

☆ Former MoviePass executives sued by the SEC, which alleges they made 'false or misleading statements' to the public
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Jason Guerrasio | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The SEC is suing former MoviePass executives Mitch Lowe and Ted Farnsworth. The suit claims they made "false and misleading statements" about the company being profitable. In a complaint filed late Monday, reviewed by Insider, it claims that the duo made "false or misleading statements" in financial filings and in the press. Itum is accused of submitting false invoices and receiving more than $310,000 from both MoviePass and HMNY. Last June, Farnsworth and Lowe settled with the FTC and reached a $400,000 settlement with the California district attorneys.

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