How to Get Your Martial Arts School Into Movie Theaters (Without Writing a Big Check)

One of our members walked into a Regal theater last week, had a two-minute conversation with the manager, and walked out with “sounds good — send me an email with more details.”

Then he asked me the question almost everybody asks: “Is there a template for that?”

There is. But before I give you the template, you need to understand the game — because the packet isn’t what gets you in. Understanding what’s in it for them is what gets you in.

Two Doors Into Every Theater

With the big chains — Regal, AMC, Cinemark — there are two ways in.

Door one: National CineMedia. The chains work with NCM, which will sell you what’s called a tabling — a booth in the lobby. They have a standard rate depending on how busy the theater is. Two things to know: first, whatever they quote you, I’ve always found you can negotiate them down about 25%. Second, their contract says they get to see everything you’re going to hand out. That’s reasonable — they want to make sure it’s appropriate for the seven-year-olds coming to see Minions and doesn’t conflict with anything they’re doing.

What’s in it for NCM is simple: you pay them, they give you access, and as long as the theater isn’t mad at them, everybody’s happy.

Door two: the theater manager directly. This is the better door — but it only opens if you lead with what’s in it for him.

Here’s what most school owners get wrong. They walk in thinking about what they want: leads, a booth, access to families. The manager doesn’t care what you want. And any money you offer a big chain theater is a rounding error. So what do you actually have that he wants?

More than you think. You have a customer list. You have a prospect list. You can email them, text them, hit social media. You have relationships with elementary schools all over your area. You are a traffic-generating machine — and traffic is the one thing a theater manager always wants more of.

The Pitch That Works

When I was building these relationships, the conversation went like this:

“We’re in the area, and I’d love to help you while you help us. For us, it’s valuable just to be in front of the families coming in to see the big family movies. For you — we’d love to do special showings for our students, we’d love to rent out the theater for events, and whatever your big promotion is, we’ll push it to our entire email list, our prospect list, and our social media. During the school year, we’ll promote it through the schools, daycares, and camps we work with.”

Then you tell him what you’re not going to do: you’re not going to sell anything at the table, you’re not going to take up much space, and you’re not going to get between his customers and the concession stand. Understand this: the theater manager’s money is made on popcorn and Coke. His single biggest fear is that you’ll intercept the last twenty bucks in somebody’s pocket before it gets to his register. Take that fear off the table explicitly.

One of the smartest moves I’ve ever seen: a couple of owners who were having trouble getting in simply bought a hundred boxes of the theater’s own popcorn. Everybody who spun the prize wheel at their booth won a box — redeemable at the concession stand. Suddenly the booth was driving concession traffic instead of threatening it. Doors opened.

How Far This Can Go

Back in the early ’80s, when I was doing this the first time around, I offered a theater twenty martial arts uniforms for their concession staff to wear during a martial arts movie release, plus thousands of one-month passes — real value, $197 each — for anyone who bought a ticket. In return they gave me slides on the screen before the ads, poster cases in the lobby, the works.

When Sidekicks came out, I had elementary schools doing PA announcements inviting kids to come meet Chuck Norris, we ran co-op advertising with the theater, and we hit every list we had. We overwhelmed the Arvada Police Department trying to direct traffic. Students used to walk into theaters and ask me if we owned them. We didn’t. We were just that dominant.

That’s the ceiling on this. The floor — a table, a prize wheel, and a hundred appointments booked over a busy movie weekend — is still one of the highest-leverage marketing plays available to a martial arts school, BJJ academy, or MMA gym.

What Goes in the Packet

So when the manager says “send me more details,” here’s your outline:

A one-page cover letter leading with everything you’ll do for them — co-promotion to your lists, special showings, buddy days, theater rentals. Photos of exactly what your setup looks like: the table, the price wheel, the professional signage. Copies of the literature you’ll hand out. And the explicit assurances: nothing sold at the table, no money collected, no interference with concessions — in fact, tell them you’re happy to help drive concession sales.

Keep it tight, make it look professional, and remember what the packet is actually for: nobody reads every page. It exists to make you look like a professional worth talking to — and to get the meeting.

Which brings up the one rule that matters more than everything above: never leave that conversation without a scheduled follow-up appointment. But that’s a big enough topic that I wrote it up separately.

Want the complete community-marketing system — theaters, schools, live events, and the follow-up machine that converts them? Get my free book, “Six Simple Steps to Add 100 Students to Your School,” at FillYourSchool.com, or call/text 1-720-256-0208 and ask Bob Dunne to set up a free school evaluation.