Create an assisted schedule from a film forecast

Use forecasting and assisted scheduling to generate a cinema schedule based on expected film performance.

Before you begin

Make sure you have:

• Access to the film record in Film Manager.
• Forecasting data for the film.
• Permission to create and save schedules.
• Opening-week programming decisions for the site.

If you do not have access to this feature please reach out to your Vista Account Manager.

Create a forecast

1. Open the film record.
2. Select the Forecasting tab.
3. Review the Opening Weekend forecast report.

Build a forecast from similar titles

1. Select three films that are similar to the target title.
2. For each comparison film, estimate whether the target title will perform:
   • About the same
   • Better
   • Worse
3. Enter percentage adjustments.
4. Select Generate.

Review and adjust the forecast

1. Review the forecast graph.
2. Compare the results with the selected comparison titles.
3. Review circuit-level and site-level forecasts as required.
4. Open the data view to review:
   • Expected admits
   • Week-to-week drops
5. If necessary, select Edit and adjust the forecast.
6. Recalculate the forecast after making changes.

Create opening-week programming instructions

1. Open the Booking Chart.
2. Review the forecast.
3. Select the print format or formats to use.
4. Define the opening-week play strategy.
5. Confirm the opening-week plan.

Configure holdover instructions

1. Open Circuit Planning.
2. Open the required programming week.
3. Review films already programmed for that week.
4. For each title, decide whether to:
   • Keep it in contention
   • Drop it
   • Assign a specific print or version
   • Apply a policy such as Clean or Morning/Matinee
   • Leave it with no policy
5. Place lower-priority titles into shared slots if you want assisted scheduling to allocate shows automatically.
6. Enable the holdover sheet and send it to the cinema.

Generate the assisted schedule

1. Open the cinema site.
2. Open the day you want to schedule.
3. Confirm that any existing new-release sessions are already scheduled.
4. Load the holdover sheet.
5. Select Generate Showtimes.
6. Wait for the schedule to be created.

The scheduling engine uses:

• Existing sessions
• Assigned policies
• Forecast demand
• Available screens

Review the schedule

After the schedule is generated:

1. Check that showtimes are distributed appropriately throughout the day.
2. Confirm that policies have been applied correctly.
3. Review the number of sessions allocated to each film.
4. Verify that session allocations align with the forecast.
5. If a title received no sessions, confirm that its forecast demand supports that outcome.

Save and open the schedule for sale

1. Make any final adjustments.
2. Review the completed schedule.
3. Select Save.
4. Open the sessions for sale.

Tips

• Review the opening weekend forecast before creating your own forecast.
• Choose comparison titles that closely match the film's audience and expected performance.
• Use no-policy shared slots when you want the scheduling engine to optimise screen allocation automatically.
• Keep already-on-sale sessions for new releases whenever possible.
• Use the data view to validate forecast admits and week-to-week declines.
• Allow assisted scheduling to perform the initial allocation, then manually adjust exceptions.