Theater Checker Guide: Get Paid To Watch Movies

In a month, how many times do you watch a movie in the cinema? Once a week? Once a month? How often do you go there? How much do you spend when you go out and watch a movie? A survey was done by Harris Interactive on that question and MarketingCharts also reported about it.

In average, a regular American adult watches a movie at the theater around five times each year. As for the expenses, the movie ticket nowadays cost a little less than $9, but if you’re going to watch a movie, you need snacks, right? Popcorn, chips and drinks can cost anywhere from $20 to $40. It is expensive, yes, and it would be nice if you get to watch a movie and earn some cash on the side, right?

Well, today is your lucky today because I will share three companies with you that will pay you to watch movies for them! The “job” is called Theater Checking and you will be termed as a Theater Checker. Theater Checking is a market research activity and it entails tasks, mostly note taking while inside the theater.

You will be paid to watch a movie and also provide feedback on the operations of local theaters. If you become an approved Theater Checker, you can gain access to many theater watching tasks which will earn you some cash.

What Does A Theater Checker Do Exactly?

Tasks involving Theater Checkers happen during busy days at the theaters. They usually on peak days like on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The tasks will vary, depending on what the company needs for you to do, but as a Checker, you may be asked to do these tasks:

Trailer Checks – You have to list down all the trailers shown before the movie is played.

On-Screen Ad Checks – This job makes you list all of the ads shown before the movie trailers.

Open Checks – You have to get some information from the ticket booth as tasked of you and write it down, plus it’s necessary to count all of the people inside the theater. The number from the booth and in the theater has to be balanced unless there are valid reasons why it’s not equal. You have to note all of that.

Blind Checks – It’s similar to open checks but you can’t reveal to the theater that you’re counting. You will have to do it manually and in secret.

Sneak Preview Check – You will attend a sneak preview film. It’s important to count the people also watching the movie, recording their reactions while watching it, and you also have to provide your feedback on the film including the sound effects. The sneak preview film is not open for public viewing as of yet.

Theater Lobby Check – As you go to the theater, you also have to list down all the promotional sources within the theater lobby.

Audience Reaction Audit – While the moviegoers are in their seats, waiting for the movie to start, and watching the trailers, you need to list down their varied reactions.

Mystery Shopping – This is like an evaluation process of how a typical theater customer experiences his time inside the theater. You have to evaluate the customer’s experience, rate the cleanliness of the theater and its layout as well, the services extended by the theater staff, and more.

At times, you will be tasked to do one job, but Theater Checkers have said that in many instances, the tasks are multiple at one go. Your observation and report will influence and improve the quality of the theater and that will benefit all moviegoers in general.

How Much Is The Pay For A Theater Checker?

The fee is different from one job to another depending on the task. For example, you can get a base pay of $30 for a trailer check. The work is for a few minutes only and it’s not that complicated. The fee is usually a flat rate.

Every task that you do is going to be paid. Some companies will even pay for your movie ticket depending upon the task at hand. Mystery Shopping tasks will include theater ticket reimbursements, though.

How To Become A Theater Checker And Start Doing Tasks

There are three companies which offer this kind of money-making opportunity – MarketForce, VeriTES, and Checker Patrol.

MarketForce

If you’re looking to collaborate with a stable and trusted mystery shopping company, then, MarketForce is the company for you. They have a Theater Mystery Shopping category which displays various theater checker jobs.

Register and complete the form at this page – http://www.marketforce.com/get-in-touch/theatre-checkers. Sign up is free and you can join instantly. You will have to fill out a form (8 pages long) so that MarketForce can make sure that you are a fit for the job. If approved, you can take on theater checker tasks and eventually, become a Certified Field Associate (CFA).

VeriTES (Theatrical Entertainment Services)

VeriTES has at least 50,000 theater checkers all over the US and in Canada. You can email VeriTES if you need more information about their offered position or you can go to this page – http://www.verites.com/corp/main/Index.aspx.

Checker Patrol

Aside from mystery shopping at theaters, Checker Patrol also offer tasks related to restaurants. The job is also about collecting various information in theaters and restaurants. They set up assignments like blind checks, trailer checks, sneak preview and more.

If you want to be a part of Checker Patrol, then, go to this page – http://www.checkerpatrol.com/become-a-checker. Wait for their reply.

OUR VERDICT: Scam or Legit?

The theater checker jobs from the three companies mentioned – MarketForce, VeriTES, and Checker Patrol – are 100% LEGIT. You can earn at least $30 per task and sometimes, you can also get a refund for your ticket. It’s not a job that will make you rich, but it’s something that can earn you some money while you do a favorite hobby, and that is watching movies in the theater!

YOUR TURN

Have you tried being a theater checker? How does it feel to work as one? How much did you earn per task? What tasks did you do? Was it hard? What was the easiest task that you did? What company are you connected with? Any comments, suggestions, feedback? Please let us know!

This is awesome. Had no idea this even existed let alone that you could get paid for going to the movies. I’ll definitely be applying for this. I love watching movies and being in the theater. So getting paid for enjoying your hobby is a total win-win.

Yes, it’s a great way to earn some beer money, while watching a movie or two. Highly recommend this job.

This seems like a really good part time job. However, the Blind Checks, Sneak Preview Checks and the Audience Reaction Audit parts seems most worrisome as I’m not good at counting people’s heads haha. I’m bookmarking this to check out the sites stated. I really do hope that it’s available internationally so I can enjoy movies AND earn.

Get paid to watch movies? Why yes, count me in, please!

My husband was a sort of informal theater checker back when he was in high school and trying to make some extra pocket money. Back then, it was more of checking to see if the theatergoers are bringing in contraband food (that particular movie theater wanted to promote their popcorn and candy concessionaire, so was strict about bringing in outside food), and of course, making sure that nobody brings knives or guns or any weapons to a movie.

In the process, he also was assigned to take note of the audience reaction to the current movie being played. He didn’t make too lengthy and detailed reports as opposed to what I imagine a real Audience Reaction Audit entails, though his manager did say that the feedback he gave helped them make up their minds about how long a movie will be shown in their theater, or if it should get replaced by another one ASAP.

As others said, it’s a great way to make some beer money though probably little else. But hey, if you’re an avid movie-goer like my husband and truly enjoys watching films, this particular odd job would be too good to pass up!

Thanks for the great review of making money as a theater goer! This is one of those jobs that make you wonder why you get paid to do that thing. In this case, that thing includes heading to the cinema to watch movies. Actually, it’s not JUST watching movies, as the op indicated. It’s an actual job. And it requires a lot of skill and professionalism that we might not readily associate with heading to the movie theaters.

For starters, you need to stay on top of your tasks. For example, being a movie trailer checker. We usually get excited during that time, even more so when a trailer to a movie we’ve been looking for comes up. But you’ll have to remember that you’re watching out for a specific trailer, or trailers. I’ve asked my partner several times if they’ve showed a certain trailer, since I got caught up in the moment.

Being an audience auditor also requires a great deal of attention to detail… or situational awareness, more like. Even if you like the movie you’re watching, you’ll have to pay attention to how they’re reacting. Are they laughing during the correct moments? Getting afraid during the relevant scenes? You need to take note, even anticipate, these reactions, even if you want to immerse yourself in the movie that is showing!

So just a small update. I actually signed up for this and became a trailer checker. It didn’t make me any money, but I got free tickets for the 5 different movies I went to plus popcorn and soda, so basically a free trip to the movie theatre which I guess if converted comes out to about $15, so $65 real value. Not too bad at all if you ask me.

Boy, what I would have given to get paid to watch movies when I was younger. Not only would I have had some extra pocket money, but getting to spoil the endings of movies to my friends would’ve been awesome!

I’m kidding, of course. Nobody likes a spoiler, including me. However, I really like the idea of spending time in movie theaters and getting to see the latest blockbusters (or duds) for free while you’re out performing doable tasks like previewing movie trailers, counting audience attendance (not necessarily counting but giving a rough estimate), making sure promo materials are up and intact, getting box office data, gauging audience reaction, and - based on my personal experience - posing as a theater-goer but secretly reporting the experience to a company that hired me to do so!

See, I wasn’t really a theater checker per se, but was doing a task under the mystery shopping umbrella. Basically I posed as a movie-goer but my real assignment was to see if a certain cinema was clean, had all the promotional posters on display, if the staff was helpful or surly, if the popcorn was fresh or used rancid butter (can’t be too careful with this one!) and if the overall movie theater experience in there was good or bad.

I liked that job, but unfortunately, it wasn’t repeated. I do look forward to getting another theater checker-related task, though. It’s like a real-life GPT site scenario for me, except that I’m paid to watch full-length movies instead of short video clips!