Omaha Film Festival

General Booth Guidelines

• Good Customer Services is THE MOST important part of this job.  Come to your scheduled time with a smile and energy.  Be polite and patient as you will be answering a lot of questions for a lot of people.  Help us get people excited about the films they are about to see!

• Be knowledgeable about the festival!  While we don’t expect you to know everything, take some time to look over the movie guide and be familiar with the films.  Make sure you have your cheat sheet that tells you when each film starts/stops and which theater each is showing in.  

• Be attentive to your area.  You have been assigned to a particular area because we have a need for you to be there.  If another area seems to need help, let the booth manager know so they can get the appropriate help.  

• No food or drink on the outside of the booth.  You may have a drink or snack on the inside of the booth area, but not on the outer table in customer view.  Please make sure you clear your items before the end of your shift.    

• Keep your area clean and stocked.  We will have film guides, postcards, buttons and other items around the table for customers to take.  Keep those items stocked and looking neat.

• Encourage upgrades to the All-Access Passes – It’s the best value for avid film goers

• Encourage everyone to visit the merchandise booth and the silent auction

• Ask Questions.  If you are not sure of something, please ask!  

The tasks at the booth include:

1. Selling Individual Tickets (Page 2)

2. Cashier (Page 2-3)

3. Will Call (Page 4)

4. VIP/All Access Pass es (Page 4-6)

5. Groupon/All Films Passes (Page 7)

Individual Ticket Sales

This person will run the iPad square and sell tickets to individuals who have not previously purchased tickets.  The ipad will run credit cards.  Cash transactions will be handed to the cashier in the center of the booth.  Let the cashier know how much change you need.  Quick basic math skills will be important!

The tickets will be in a container based on the day of the film.  The films for that particular day will be sitting out near the cash register but customers may wish to purchase tickets for a film on a different day.  

If the film is for that day, inform them of what theater it will be in and let them know where to wait in line for seating.  

Invite them to the look over the silent auction and the Merchandise Booth

If they are purchasing a lot of tickets and seem interested in a number of films, suggest they purchase an All Access or All Films Pass! 

You will also be responsible for keeping a record of the number of tickets sold to a particular movie and stopping at the designated cutoff point to ensure we do not oversell tickets to a particular movie.  

Cashier

The cashier will sit in the center of the booth and take cash from either the individual ticket sales or the pass sales.  

They will be handed cash and asked for a certain amount of change.  This is to be done promptly as we do not want cash to be out in the open.  

Make sure the cash box is neat and organized, with larger bills and checks going underneath the tray.  

While in this position you are keeper of the money.  Do not leave the cash box open.  Do not walk away from the cash box without making sure there is someone specific looking after it.  

If you are the first cashier of the day, count the money in the box and write it down on the OPENING DRAWER line and put your name in the COUNTED BY spot. 

Will Call

Find the envelope with the name of the person. They will be alphabetized by last name. Open the envelope to make sure the tickets are for the correct show and there is the proper number of tickets. 

Inform them of what theater their film will be in and let them know where to wait in line for seating. Invite them to the look over the silent auction and the Merchandise Booth

If you cannot find the name of the person in the stack of envelopes – DON’T PANIC!!

• If a person is buying tickets for a large group of people, they will sometimes list the names individually and sometimes they will put them all under one name. Ask if they purchased the tickets themselves or if someone else purchased for them. Look under both their name and the person that bought the tickets.

• If you still can’t find their name, you will have a list of the pre-purchased tickets list at your station. As hard as we try, we occasionally miss a name. Check the list to see if they are on the list of having bought a ticket for that particular film. If so, get a ticket from the cashier (make sure they know about it so they can keep track of the number of tickets) and give them to the customer. APOLOGIZE to the customer for the mistake!

• If they have a printed or phone receipt proving tickets were bought for that particular film, get a ticket from the cashier (again, make sure the cashier knows) and give it to the customer.

• If you don’t find their name on the list and they don’t have any kind of receipt or verification of purchase, contact the booth manager to help resolve the situation.  

ALL ACCESS PASSES

There are five categories of passes that allow a person access to all films and festival events:

ALL ACCESS, SCREENWRITER, FILMMAKER, SPONSOR, OFF ACADEMY

While these five passes have a lot of common elements, there are some specific details for each and it is important to understand these details.  

Let’s start with what they all have in common!

• Get the holder priority seating into any of the films/panels throughout the festival

• Get the holder into ALL of our nightly parties!

• Passes that we know in advance (pre-bought, comp’d and VIP) will all be pre-assigned a badge and placed in the Pass Will Call 

• Each badge has a pre-assigned number.  This number MUST match up with their name in the appropriate log book.  

Now let’s look at each pass individually…

ALL-ACCESS

These are the passes that can be purchased by anyone.  These are also the passes that can be comp’d by one of the directors.  

Encourage them to check out the Merchandise Booth and the Silent Auction.

If a person purchases an All Access Pass they get

• 1 - All Access Badge

• 1 - T-shirt ticket good that can be redeemed for a t-shirt at the Merchandise booth

If a person is the recipient of a COMP’ED All Access Pass, they get the pass only – No T-Shirt. There will be a provided comp list in the booth.

UPGRADES

We encourage UPGRADES!! If someone has purchased an All Films Pass (either through the website or Groupon) they are able to upgrade to an All Access Pass by paying the difference in price between an All Films and All Access pass. If this happens, you collect only the money needed to upgrade. VOID the ALL FILMS pass and place it in the envelope. State that the badge has been upgraded in the ALL FILMS log. Enter them into the ALL ACCESS log and issue them an ALL ACCESS PASS with all the perks! (see examples below).

FILMMAKER/SCREENWRITER

These are our VIP’s and it’s important to treat them as such! Let them know we are happy they are here. Feel free to chat with them about their film/screenplay, where they came from etc.  Invite them to the VIP lounge for a drink, snacks and being able to chat with other filmmakers / screenwriters. There will be a list provided at the booth of which Filmmakers / Screenwriters are expected and what film/screenplay they are associated with for easy reference.

Each Filmmaker/Screenwriter gets

• Filmmaker or Screenwriter Passes 

o Feature Length VIP’s – 3 passes

o Short VIP – 2 Passes

**Only the VIP gets a Filmmaker/Screenwriter Pass, the other passes will be normal all access (no t-shirts)

• 1 T-shirt ticket to be redeemed at the merchandise booth for a t-shirt. *Even if the people present for the film both played a role in the creation of the film (i.e actor/director or director/screenwriter) They only get 1 t-shirt.

• 1 SWAG bag (under the table) – We may have some filmmakers/screenwriters who are minors.  There will be special SWAG Bags for them that do not include a bottle of wine.  *This is the same as the t-shirts in regards to only receiving ONE bag. 

• Give each Feature Film and Documentary Filmmaker two free individual customized tickets to their screening for keepsakes (or they can give them away if they like.)

• A PERSONAL greeting from one of our directors.  (Contact the booth manager to radio for a director)  *When informing the booth manager of a VIP, please have the name of the Filmmaker/Screenwriter and the film/screenplay they are representing.

Only the filmmaker listed on the sheet can pick up the passes unless specifically stated by a director

Special Note – It has happened where a screenwriter/filmmaker has had both a film AND a screenplay or two screenplays in the festival.  In this instance, that person is entitled to one set of passes/shirt/swag bag for EACH film/screenplay etc. 

SPONSOR

MOST of the Sponsor Badges should be pre-pulled and in the Will Call Box or will be on the comp list.  If a situation arises where this is not the case, please contact the booth manager.

T-Shirt Tickets:

These tickets help us keep track of how many of each size of shirt we have and helps us to accurately link badge numbers with sizing.

To issue a ticket, write the badge number of the pass in the appropriate place on the ticket (highlighted area in the example).

Hand the ticket to the customer along with their badge and let them know that they can take the ticket over to the merchandise booth to redeem their ticket.

At the end of the day, the completed tickets will be picked up from merchandise and the t-shirt size will be filled in to the log book for the matching badge number.

ALL FILMS

The All Films passes get them into all of the Film Festival Films they want, but does not include entrance to the parties or a t-shirt.  In the past we have had a groupon, but we have discontinued that as of 2019.

Encourage ALL FILM Passholders to upgrade to an ALL ACCESS PASS.  Highlight the perks of ALL ACCESS.  See Below about how to handle an upgrade.  

Encourage them to check out the merchandise table and Silent Auction.

An ALL-FILM Passholder gets

 1 ALL FILMS Badge which allows them second priority seating into all of the films and panels throughout the festival. 

UPGRADES

We encourage UPGRADES!!  If someone has purchased an All Films Pass they are able to upgrade to an All Access Pass by paying the difference in price between an All Films and All Access Pass.  Make sure their ALL FILMS badge has been voided out and placed in the envelope and that the ALL FILMS log indicates and upgrade has been made. (see the example below)

Booth Set Up

Day One

1. Tables and tablecloths in place (see setup map)

2. Squares Charging – at least one ready to use (see square S.O.P)

3. Money counted – in cash box with proper amount put into the square for opening cash

4. Laptop up with Comp List and Log Book pulled up and ready to enter

5. Lanyards and Plastics out of the box and ready to use

6. Will Call tickets printed from Brown Paper Tickets – Begin to pull tickets, put in envelopes, label, and alphabetize – This will take a significant amount of time on the first day, so start as early as you can!  SAVE THE SHEETS TO COMPARE TO THE PRINTOUT THE FOLLOWING DAY FOR NEW SALES!!

7. Film Tickets and Passes Organized into the storage containers

8. Festival Guides and Buttons (make sure they are latched and facing up) on the table

9. Film postcards and posters arranged NEATLY on the table

10. Ensure extra boxes etc. are stored neatly under the tables, not showing

11. Establish a “dead tickets” box to keep leftover tickets from films already screened.  We keep these, do not throw them away.  Keep this in a hidden area.

12. Doors usually has a designated spot reserved for them under the postcard section to keep upcoming ballot envelopes, etc. 

13. As the booth starts to get busy, you can open up a second or third square/computer. They all utilize the same cash pool so an opening amount does not need to be put into any squares but the initial.

Daily 

1. Gather items from secure area

a. Square/tablets

b. Laptops

c. Will Call Tickets/Passes

d. Individual Film Tickets

e. Unused Passes

2. Charge Tablets/Squares

3. Set up one square for immediate use

4. Count Cash – enter starting amount into square

5. Charge Laptops

6. Set up one Laptop for Immediate use 

7. Find Tickets for the days shows and put them in a place for secure but easy access

8. Print will call sheets from Brown Paper Tickets

a. Compare names to previous days – ONLY PULL NEW NAMES!

b. Sheets that have will call for films already screened can be thrown away

Booth Tear Down

Daily

1. Count Cash and prepare deposit – Give cash bag to Marc only!

a. Following day startup cash will be given to a trusted person per Marc OR kept with him

2. The following items are put away and locked up overnight

a. Square/tablets

b. Laptops

c. Will Call tickets/Passes

d. Individual Film Tickets

e. Unused Passes

3. All other items can be stored under the tables overnight – Ensure that nothing is showing under the tablecloths

4. Postcards and a decent number of guide books and buttons can be left out overnight, but don’t leave a large number out. 

5. Clean up the area.  Trash thrown away, empty booth trash bin, tuck in chairs etc.

Last Day 

1. When there is down time on the last day – Go through the dead tickets box and reserve a couple of tickets from each film and a couple of each of the unused passes and set aside for our scrapbook.

2. Put leftover postcards and posters in the designated boxes**

3. Close out Squares 

4. Count Cash and give ALL cash to Marc in cash bag

5. Put away the squares and tablets in their designated boxes.  DOUBLE CHECK that all cords are with the proper square/tablet and are included in the appropriate box.

6. Put laptops in the appropriate bag/box DOUBLE CHECK that all cords are with the proper laptop and are included in the bag/box

7. All leftover tickets and unused passes can go in the dead ticket box**

8. Will call tickets not claimed can be pulled and put into the dead ticket box**

9. Will call passes not claimed can be pulled and thrown away**

10. Separate any plastic from the lanyard and organize them for easy access next time. **

11. Put empty storage containers into the ticket storage bin

12. Put any misc. booth items in a booth tote.  Do not put NON-Booth items into the booth tote! 

13. Set aside dead ticket box, any leftover film guides and poster/postcard boxes for Marc to take with him

14. Take off tablecloths and fold in a reasonable fashion and place together

15. Tear down tables and set in the designated location

**These items can usually be done throughout the day during down times and do not need to wait until the very end.