HBO’s original documentary about the meteoric rise and devastating implosion of film subscription service MoviePass has unveiled its trailer.
In the first look at director Muta’Ali’s “MoviePass, MovieCrash,” insiders tee up the untold story behind the company. “When they talk about MoviePass, you usually get a picture of [former CEOs] Mitch [Lowe] and Ted [Farnsworth]. But that’s definitely not the case,” one former employee says.
While the company was founded by Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt, they eventually found themselves cast aside, watching from the sidelines as the new executives seized control. “This is a company, not a family, and not all roles get to party,” Lowe says in the trailer, which calls attention to leadership’s lavish spending on parties with celebrities like John Travolta and Big Boi.
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In a span of eight years, MoviePass went from being the fastest growing subscription service since Spotify to total bankruptcy, losing over $150 million in 2017 alone. “MoviePass, MovieCrash” chronicles the company’s beginnings as an innovative movie ticketing model beloved by cinemagoers, exploring the visionary mission of its entrepreneur co-founders, its early successes and its downfall caused by mismanagement and corporate greed.
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MoviePass offered access to movie theater tickets at a discounted monthly subscription rate. In 2017, with a “too good to be true” promotional deal of $9.95 a month, subscriptions exploded, the company’s stock soared and investors rushed to get in on the venture. However, under Lowe and Farnsworth’s leadership with a fundamentally unsustainable business model, the company shuttered abruptly in 2019.
In November 2022, Lowe and Farnsworth were indicted on securities fraud charges for allegedly deceiving investors about the company’s business model and sustainability. Another former executive, Khalid Itum, was found guilty in February 2024 of embezzling at least $260,000 from the subscription service and its parent company, Helios & Matheson Analytics, to repay debts incurred by producing a marketing event at the Coachella music festival in 2018. MoviePass was revived in 2023 by Spikes, who now serves as CEO.
“MoviePass, MovieCrash” features exclusive interviews with MoviePass co-founders Spikes and Watt, MoviePass board member Chris Kelly, former MoviePass CEO Lowe, Business Insider journalists Nathan McAlone and Jason Guerrasio, former FTC director Daniel Kaufman, as well as financial analysts, retail investors and former MoviePass employees and subscribers.
The documentary is an Unrealistic Ideas production and an Assemble Media production in association with Nightbrain Pictures and Tower Way. It is produced by Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Archie Gips, Jack Heller, Scott Veltri, Jevon Frank and David Wendell. Muta’Ali, Jason Guerrasio, Joel Stonington are executive producers. Jennifer Leamy and Javier Quintana co-executive produce, while Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller executive produce for HBO. Anna Klein serves as supervising producer.
“MoviePass, MovieCrash” debuts Wednesday, May 29, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on Max.
