Based in Santa Monica, California, at the heart of the Silicon Beach, an award-winning start-up Atom Tickets was born out of a simple idea: people would go to the movies more often if buying movie tickets with friends and family was made easy. With the backing of Lionsgate, Disney, and Fidelity Management & Research Company, Atom Tickets is enabled on nearly 22,000 screens across the U.S. including AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas, and Showcase Cinemas.
The organization’s mission is to transform the moviegoing experience to make it easier for people to go to the movies, more often. Also, Atom Tickets is proud of the fact that it has grown to attract nearly 6 million monthly visitors. Atom’s user-friendly and socially driven interface allows movie lovers to search for films instantly, invite friends, buy tickets, pre-order concessions and enjoy a VIP experience at the theater. Due to the platform’s innovative marketing solutions and young yet diverse user-base help, studios exhibitors and brands reach their target audience and maximize revenue opportunities.
The organization looked to bring the ease of Amazon, Lyft, and Open Table and designed a socially-driven moviegoing experience with convenience at heart.
Inviting Friends for a Movie has Never been this Easy
With Atom Tickets, it’s easier than ever before to invite friends for a movie. The organization has created a simple way to pay for a group or pay separately. It has also created a digital ticket using a QR code which can be scanned at the theater and to pre-order concessions at participating theaters. These features weren’t available through other movie ticketing sites or apps when the cofounders were envisioning a new movie ticketing experience back in 2014. It took a couple of years to build the app but the company launched Atom Tickets nationally in September 2016 as the first to offer these features.
The free app and the website provide relevant reviews, trailers and synopses in order to help movie buffs make the best decision on what to see. App users may then invite friends (via their contact lists) to purchase their own tickets and join them with a few easy taps—eliminating IOUs and lengthy text conversations. Atom streamlines the process of purchasing tickets and concessions from any iOS or Android phone. At the theater, users can skip the box office lines and go directly to the ticket attendants and Atomexclusive express concession lanes where they simply scan a QR code on Atom-branded tablets to redeem their order. Paper tickets and IOUs have been replaced by Atom’s innovative platform that keeps all plans, messages, payment and tickets in one convenient place.
The Hawk Eyed Leader
As the Co-founder and Chairman of Atom Tickets, the social movie ticketing app, Matthew Bakal focuses on growth strategy and corporate development for the Santa Monica based startup that has raised over $125 million in funding. Matthew has a unique background that includes extensive experience on both the creative and financial sides of the entertainment business. He has worked for Warner Bros., Mandate Pictures, Good Universe, and IBM entertainment consulting. He has structured financial deals that balance creative ambitions with bottom line prudence. Previously at Lionsgate Entertainment, he oversaw day-to-day business development opportunities and strategic initiatives. Matthew wants people to watch more movies and he thinks there should be an easier way for the industry to match movie supply with consumer demand. All this experience contributed to the spark that has become Atom and its successful capital raise. Matthew holds an AB in English and American Literature from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Standing out Amongst the Crowd
As a startup, Atom Tickets feels that it’s the company’s responsibility to stand out and give users a compelling reason to try it opposed to any other known brand. The organization was born out of the idea that digital movie ticketing was in need of powerful new experience. Now Atom Tickets is in the market for more than two years and it is always trying to create innovative new experiences. This is what led the company to partner with Amazon on advance screenings for Amazon Prime Members, power movie ticketing on IMDb and Amazon Echo, and integrate Atom movie ticketing in Google search and Facebook. Atom Tickets also announced a partnership with the Honda Innovation team to develop movie ticketing for their Dream Drive Project.
Matthew Bakal | Co-founder & Chairman | ATOM Tickets
