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- MoviePass’ Los Angeles office closed down last week.
- The space housed the business development department of the movie-ticket subscription company, which was laid off in February, and the staff of Moviefone.
- The space wasn’t ideal for staff.
- One source who worked there said the only available power sources were a few extension cords and "repeated requests for pens, post-its, or bottled water were rejected."
Last week, MoviePass’ Los Angeles office at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood closed down, multiple sources told Business Insider, and the building’s staff confirmed.
According to several sources familiar with the decision, MoviePass was subleasing the space from talent agency Abrams Artists Agency. The agency notified the movie-ticket subscription company that it was looking to expand and wanted to use the space MoviePass was occupying. MoviePass agreed to move out.
The MoviePass staff of around nine who used the space consisted of the three-person business development department, who were laid off in February, and the staff of the movie-ticket site Moviefone, which MoviePass’ parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics (HMNY) acquired in 2018.
The Moviefone staff, which is predominantly made up of freelancers, will now have office space at MoviePass Films’ office (the movie production arm of the company), a source familiar with future plans told Business Insider.
"MoviePass has refocused the business model on subscriptions and making movies, and away from MoviePass ad sales to third parties," the company said in a statement to Business Insider on Monday. "Thus, all MoviePass Los Angeles operations were combined to a single MoviePass Films office, and the second office has been closed."
Sources told Business Insider they wouldn’t miss the office tucked away within the Abrams Artists Agency’s space at the PDC (MoviePass’ company name wasn’t even located in the building directory).
Though it had beautiful views, the work space was less than desired.
Read more: A class-action lawsuit against MoviePass competitor Sinemia from angry subscribers is heating up
One source said a few extension cords around the office were the best way for staff to plug in their computer power cords. And office supplies were scarce.
“Repeated requests for pens, post-its, or bottled water were rejected; especially the water because it’s too expensive,” the source said.
The source also said that internet access in the office was down for part of a week in July.
The space was large enough to comfortably staff 20-30 people, a source said, so there was hope that one day Moviefone could do regular in-house video pieces there, but it began to seem like a pipe dream as MoviePass’ troubles continued to pile up. When Abrams Artists recently made it known it was planning to expand, MoviePass was happy to pack up and leave, according to a source familiar with the sublease deal.
MoviePass’ New York City staff work at a WeWork in Manhattan.
The office closing comes after Helios and Matheson was kicked off the Nasdaq in February. It had failed to meet the Nasdaq’s listing standards by trading at less than $1 per share since July.
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Source: Business Insider – jguerrasio@businessinsider.com (Jason Guerrasio)