Text Movie Club... in the beginning

Back on March 19, 2008 we were asked by Zachariah
"I was just wondering, Who started the TMC, Why did they start it, How/Who decides which movies can be screened, etc?"

I posted a response to his forum post. I've decided to just copy it here in a blog and maybe provide it a little more visibility:
On May 23, 2008 I wrote:

"tMC was started by three pretty chill guys: Chris(me), Mark, and Kevin. One Buffalonian/Sun Devil, one Canuck, and one Chi-town/Sun Devil.

"Mark actually pitched this idea to me about combining SMS messaging with movie screenings. I said to Mark, "I like free movies."

"At the time Kevin and I were trying out this idea where we would use SMS messaging to let people know about sweet deals at the bars and clubs in the Phoenix Valley. I called up Kevin, "Hey Kev, Mark has this idea...." That's how the ball got rolling.

"We kicked things off in March of '07 with our first screening, "Shooter", and we've been going ever since. Slowly, but surely, tMC has grown and it's all because of you guys.

"Why did we start it? We like movies, and why not do this for a living? It's not easy to provide a FREE service like this. We've had our ups and downs. (Please support our ads) We're actually kicking around the idea of adding some value to our SMS blasts in the way of coupons to local establishments. You get discounted grub or gadgets, we can pay for the messaging costs. Win-Win right?

"As for the screenings we blast out... its a case by case basis. We ab-so-positively do not want to spam our members. If there are two screenings on the same night, we pick the one that we think will have the best response. We try and limit ourselves to a maximum of three screenings per week, again we don't want to spam our awesome subscribers. We try to pick movies that not only we like, but maybe our wives (okay, mine) or our girlfriends would like (hot date right?) We try to pick movies that a flippin' sweet like Superbad (we did three screenings), Transformers, or No Country for Old Men.... or the ones that get us brownie points (Made of Honor ).

"What has totally amazed me is how this community has grown. We have relied mainly on word-of-mouth. You've told your friends, they've told their friends, and so on. After we launched this new site you've logged in and created some pretty amazing profiles. tMC has taken on a life of its own. It's pretty gosh darn amazing (I'm trying to cut down on my pervasive use of expletives).

"So yeah, that's about right. I'm positive that's more than you asked for. Keep the questions coming. We love your suggestions and we really do listen, because without you, there wouldn't be tMC.

"(To the subscriber I met at Cloverfield: I know you dislike the Instant Wins we send out. Often they are last minute and the message needs to get out to everyone in short notice. Or... maybe it's a Made of Honor and we're not sure how many people will really wanna see a chick flick... sorry ladies. All in all, it keeps costs down and you get to win passes to movies!)"

So there you have it. At over 2000 SMS subscribers and over 500 tMC Web goers, I think we've grown pretty well over the last 36 months. Can't thank you enough!

All the best,
Chris