Getting paid to watch movies might seem like a pipe dream, but it's more realistic than you'd think. The movie industry really needs information about their movies, reviews, and people who are willing to provide feedback on theaters and movie festivals.
All you need to make money watching movies is a little know-how and the willingness to stick to it until you start making money.
Can You Really Get Paid To Watch Movies?
Yes! There are a lot of ways to get paid for watching movies, you just need to know how to do it. Options range from apps that pay you for watching movies, movie trailers, celebrity videos, and TV ads, to becoming a professional movie critic.
There are so many options in fact that almost everyone could make money watching movies if you wanted to. Of course, some jobs are a little harder to get than others. We'll talk about what options are available, how you can get these jobs, and what kind of content you can get paid to watch.
If you're interested in making money to watch movies, you're in the right place.
How Much Can You Earn Getting Paid To Watch Movies?
There is a relatively wide range of pay rates for people who get paid to watch movies. Some people may get paid as little as a few cents per movie or video, while others could make hundreds of dollars from a single movie. It all depends on how you want to make money and how you'll get paid for watching.
For instance, people who get paid to watch movie trailers through an app will probably only get paid 1-2 cents per trailer, so it takes quite a while to make any real money.
Movie critics, on the other hand, can get paid hundreds of dollars per review, or may not get paid at all.
Movie bloggers and YouTubers have no theoretical cap to how much they might get paid per movie and per movie review, but also shoulder the risk that they might not make any money at all.
Realistically the earning potential of watching movies depends entirely on how much time you put in.
Can You Get Paid To Watch Netflix?
Yes! Getting paid to watch Netflix can be a more difficult job to get, but Netflix has an army of people who watch their shows and movies and get paid to do it. That's because Netflix needs people to review their shows, provide feedback during development, consult on what kinds of shows they should add to the platform, provide Netflix tag to navigate the site, and more.
However, unlike watching movies or starting an independent blog, it can be harder to get jobs with Netflix. The easiest way is actually to start blogging for vlogging about Netflix shows and movies and see if you get noticed and recruited by the platform.
Now that we've answered some of the most common questions about getting paid to watch movies, let's dig into some of the best ways to make money watching movies.
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15 Ways To Get Paid To Watch Movies
Below are some of my favorite ways to get paid to watch movies!
Join Movie Focus Groups
Joining movie focus groups is a fun way to make a little extra money on the side. You might not be able to get financial freedom from focus groups alone, but it's still an important way to contribute to the movie industry and get paid at the same time.
Movie focus groups discuss movies, watch early releases, and give feedback and suggestions at different phases of movie filming and development.
Joining focus groups is a great way to get a sneak preview of upcoming releases and to have your voice heard in the creation of a brand new movie.
Unfortunately, movie focus group opportunities can be few and far between and are most available to people who live in or around Hollywood.
Checker Patrol
Checker Patrol is a company that helps corporations check on their advertising and endorsements with other businesses, including movie theaters. Being a movie theater checker involves going to movies just like normal, but answering a series of questions about the establishment, previews, and your experience while you're there.
Checker Patrol also occasionally asks for incognito checkers to go to sneak previews and movie premieres without the theater knowing that they are a checker. For this kind of checking you'll likely be asked to find out what previews and movie trailers are being shown, roughly how many people are attending the event, and other details for movie studios.
It's a great way to get paid to watch movies, trailers, and videos. Checker Patrol is a good way to earn some extra money or gift cards, and is an easy enough job that even teenagers can get paid to watch movies!
Perk.TV
Perk. TV is a great way to make extra money to watch movies at home. The app pays you to watch movies by earning points for every one minute watched. They collect data on your watching habits and may also ask you to answer quick surveys about your experience with the movie. Earning points is fairly simple, and once you have enough points you can redeem them for cash rewards, gift cards, and more.
Watching movies through Perk.TV is quick, easy, and lets you get paid to watch your favorite movies.
Of course, Perk.TV rewards are relatively minimal, so while it's a good way to get paid to watch, it's better as side income than a full-time job.
Netflix Tagger
Netflix Taggers live the real dream, they get paid good money to watch movies, watch videos, and watch TV shows with a close eye. They then choose the specific tags for each movie to help people navigate through Netflix and find movies and TV shows that interest them.
If getting paid to watch movies and watch movie previews sounds like a dream job to you, this may be a perfect gig.
Unfortunately one of the big downsides of Netflix Taggers is that this job only comes up every once in a while and can be a difficult job to get.
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Become An Entertainment Writer
Working as an entertainment writer is a little more than just getting paid for watching videos, but it's still a great option if you want to get paid to watch movies.
Entertainment writers need to be able to watch, analyze, and review movies and other content fairly quickly. Working as an entertainment writer helps people figure out which movies and videos they want to watch, and can even offer some more in-depth analysis to help people understand their favorites even better.
Entertainment writers spend a lot of time watching movies, watching TV, and other videos. You may spend some time at a local movie theater to catch the most recent releases, or even playing games and writing reviews at home.
If you're looking for a way to get paid to watch movies that still lets you do other things and still make some extra money, being an entertainment writer is a good way to go.
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Start A Movie And TV Review YouTube Channel
If you don't mind working to build an online audience to make money, starting your own YouTube channel is a good way to get paid to watch movies. Movie and TV YouTubers watch videos, analyze and review movies, and make money off of advertisements on YouTube.
It takes a while to build a consistent audience, but if you're willing to put in the work it's a good way to watch videos for a living.
You can even get paid for watching movies live and streaming them through YouTube live or other streaming services.
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Watch Movie Trailers Through SwagBucks
While watching movie trailers isn't quite the same as making money watching movies, it's still a decent way to make some extra cash. SwagBucks pays users for watching videos and certain movie trailers in addition to a wide variety of other tasks.
If you sign up with SwagBucks you can also potentially make money from every day purchases and completing surveys. The problem is the offers on SwagBucks vary from day to day, so you may not always have the option of getting paid to watch movie previews.
SwagBucks is best for making a few extra bucks, most people aren't paid enough to make it their primary income. Once you've done enough tasks you can redeem SwagBucks rewards for gift cards, payments through PayPal, and other rewards.
Become A Movie Mystery Shopper
Mystery shopping is a great way to make extra cash on the side, but most people don't know that you can be a movie mystery shopper as well.
Movie mystery shoppers get paid to visit movie theaters and perform in-theater checks and providing feedback. It's a good way to get free movies, and sometimes you might even be able to get drinks and snacks for free.
Mystery shopping companies will ask for feedback on the theater's performance, ranging from how clean it was, how theater staff treated you, and whether they lowered the lights on time and dark enough. Some companies may even ask about how comfortable and accessible the theater seating was!
Best of all, movie mystery shopping can earn money more than just a free movie, so it's great for people who love watching movies and want to turn it into a source of income.
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Start A Movie Or TV Blog
Being a blogger might be the latest internet craze as a way to make money online, but if you have the writing chops to do it, movie blogs can make a lot of money. The main thing movie bloggers have to to is watch movies. You can also watch videos or watch Netflix releases, all with the goal of writing movie reviews and recommendations.
Blogging is a lot like running a successful YouTube channel, you need the disciple to write reviews and post them regularly. You'll also need to watch movie previews and write reviews about them as well.
Movie blogs can also wade into celebrity videos, playing video games, and other content, but you'll want to focus on a movie review blog to start.
Whether you decide to go with a blog or youtube channel you'll need discipline, time, and the dedication to watch all the latest blockbuster movies.
Become A Paid Movie Critic
The ultimate way to get paid to watch movies? Become a professional movie critics. Movie critics enjoy a lot of perks, including advanced showings, invitations to movie festivals like Sundance, and the opportunity to watch videos well in advance of the public.
The most popular movie critics are well paid, well respected, and can be treated almost like celebrities themselves inside of movie circles.
Being a paid movie critic is a little different than making money online or starting your own YouTube channel, but popular movie YouTubers might find themselves becoming critics anyway.
Professional critics get box office information in advance, are often invited to watch films before release, and may get early access to sneak previews, short films, and the first few episodes of new TV programs.
Critics are an important part of the entertainment industry, but it does take some dedication to make it work. Breaking in to this job is hard, but it's a fun job once you get there.
You just need to be a hardcore movie buff to make it work.
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Join Viggle
Viggle is a mobile app that offers rewards in exchange for watching video ads, movies, and more. It's a good way to earn money watching videos, especially if you find yourself spending a lot of time watching videos online.
However, Viggle does have limited earning potential. Watching videos earns a certain number of credits per video, but it takes 30-35 credits to earn a single cent.
But, if you watch celebrity videos, love movies, and want to get paid to watch videos online, Viggle is a decent way to go.
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Work As A Closed Captioner
Working as a closed captioner is a little different from some of the other jobs on this list since you'll need a slightly different skill set than just loving to watch movies.
Closed captioners are a specialized kind of transcriber. They can work ahead of time to create captions, or they may be asked to be a real-time closed captioner for certain kinds of events and movie premieres.
To be a closed captioner you have to be a fast typer, be able to type with high accuracy, and be able to capture the feeling of a line of dialogue by being as true to sound as possible.
Not only will you be able to watch movies and other videos in advance as a captioner, but you'll also be able to watch them several times over in order to get the captions correct.
Podcast About Movies
Another great way to basically get paid to watch movies is to start a podcast talking about your favorite movies and TV shows. Movie podcasts tend to be more than just reviews, they also include things like analysis of the messages and themes of the movie or TV show, predict what you expect in the next episode or sequel movie, and how each holds up against the latest movies and shows.
Podcasting is a great way to make money online in your spare time, especially if you love movies and TV shows and already have those kinds of analytical discussions.
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Work At A Movie Theater
Working at a movie theater might be an obvious way to get paid to watch movies, but a lot of people don't consider it. Theater staff have to watch movies along with the audience to make sure nothing goes wrong with the movie. For theaters that use film reels, theater staff also have to be there to load the next film so there aren't any interruptions.
The downside of working at a movie theater to watch movies is that you won't be watching movies every shift. You'll also need to clean the theater, work concessions, manage ticket sales, and other tasks to keep the theater in good condition.
Sign Up For Inbox Dollars
Inbox Dollars might be best known as a survey-taking site, but they also let users earn points and redeem rewards for watching certain videos and movies. You might be asked to give a review or take a survey about the video, but you might just need to watch the video in-app in order to make money.
Users are able to earn up to $200 extra dollars every month.
Inbox Dollars also respects your time more than most survey-taking and video-watching sites. When you agree to watch celebrity videos or a playlist of videos, or a movie, the app will tell you how long the playlist is ahead of time. That way you can plan your time and know when you have the time for any particular task.
Plus, Inbox Dollars offers a $5 sign up bonus for new users.
If your dream is to make money watching movies, hopefully this article gave you a few more ideas how to get started. It's not as difficult as many people think, as long as you love movies and don't mind putting in a little extra work.
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Final Thoughts on Making Money Watching Movies
Making money watching movies can certainly work if you take the right approach and dedicate some time to doing it.
While the pay might not be extreme, it can be a good side hustle to boost your income.
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