13 Ways to Get Paid to Watch Movies

Since we all do it so much, wouldn’t it be nice to get paid to watch movies?

Look no further, because now we’re going to run through a few ways to earn extra cash by watching movies, trailers, and videos.

From enjoying Netflix on your couch to getting paid to visit movie theaters, the methods below will help you bring in some extra cash doing what you love.

So what’s the catch?

None, really.

The biggest downside is probably that with few exceptions, most of these are only good for side gigs and can’t earn you a living by themselves.

13 Ways to Get Paid to Watch Movies

So without further ado, here are the best ways you can get paid to watch movies.

Side note: My personal favorite is #6.

1. Watch movies you like and get paid by Nielsen

I’ve saved the best and simplest for first.

Nielsen wants to know what you watch and when, and they’ll pay you $50 per year to do so.

All you need to do is download and install their app.

That’s it.

You get paid $50 and will be entered to win even more cash and prizes every month that the app is installed on your phone.

It’s the easiest way to get started.

2. Be a Movie Mystery Shopper

This is basically the best way you can get paid to watch movies in the theater.

The job is simple:

Go to your local theater, collect various data, watch a movie, and get paid.

It’s a great part-time gig that is also enjoyable, and a dream come true for any movie buff out there.

You’ll even get your movie tickets and concessions reimbursed.

If this sounds too good to be true, let me tell you why this job even exists:

Theaters and movie studios are constantly trying to collect data about moviegoers and later analyze this data to improve movies as well as the viewer experience.

At any given workday, you can have any of these different tasks:

1. Watch and record all the trailers that appeared on the screen and for how long.
2. Report the number of people attending a particular movie at a particular show time (for box office information).
3. Count all patrons who watched a particular movie for all showtimes throughout the day.
4. Watch and record what advertisements are being shown before the movie.
5. Watch a sneak preview and collect audience reactions and demographics.
6. Write reports about the quality of sound and visuals, the prices of the tickets, and the cleanliness of the place.
7. Evaluate the entire movie-going experience by posing as a movie patron. You’ll be asked to report on everything; from the quality of customer service, concessions, and overall upkeep of the theater, to the placement of movie posters, standees, and other promotional or marketing materials.

Pay varies depending on your assigned task and which company you join, but reported pay is at a minimum of $10 for simple trailer checks, plus reimbursements for tickets and concessions, as I’ve mentioned.

Imyst and HS Brands are good examples of companies that offer movie mystery shopping jobs.

3. Watch Movies and Videos Online

Swagbucks is another rewards-based website that pays you for several different activities. You can get paid to watch movie previews, celebrity videos, and more.

Instead, Swagbucks gives you points that you can then redeem for either gift cards or straight-up cash. The “movies” aren’t really going to be Blockbuster movies, but if you’re getting paid – who even cares, right?

What I usually like to do is I have Netflix playing on my laptop and Swagbucks playing on my phone, so I practically get paid to watch Netflix.

Pro tip: You can also do this at work: open up the videos on a new tab, mute the sound of that tab, and get to work!

4. Get Paid to Write About Movies

If you’re passionate about movies and have a penchant for writing, plenty of sites are on the lookout for quality content on movies and other entertainment.

Keep in mind, though, that many of these will be one-off assignments (guest blogger or contributing writer credit). Very few will offer you regular writing assignments.

There’s also a chance that your pitch or article may be rejected.

That’s no reason not to submit your best work, though. Read the submission guidelines and do your best to match the website’s tone.

Here are some sites looking for contributing writers.

• Taste Of Cinema
• ScreenRant
• Cineaste
• Paste Magazine
• Slant Magazine
• Culture Eater
• POPSUGAR
• Tilt Magazine

5. Make Money From Your Own Movie Blog

As I’ve mentioned, you might get rejected by these major movie blogs and magazines.

So why not start your own film blog and monetize it?

The most popular movie blog posts are reviews, but don’t limit yourself to being a film critic; talk about your favorite genres, live blog your thoughts while watching a particular movie, or list down top movies for a season, mood, milestone, etc.

Promote your blog through word of mouth, social media, movie forums, movie blogs, and guest blogging on other well-established movie blogs.

When your blog has enough traffic, you can think about monetizing your blog through AdSense, crowdfunding (e.g., Patreon, Ko-fi, etc.), affiliate marketing, accepting sponsored posts, selling merch, and selling digital products.

6. Start a Movie Vlog

You might be more comfortable with being in front of the camera than writing.

If so, then starting a vlog with movies as your topic may be a better way to get paid to watch movies.

As with a film blog, reviewing the latest releases may be the most common subject, but there are other unique topics to try so that your vlog stands out from the rest.

For instance, the CinemaSins YouTube channel is known for poking fun at movie clichés and tropes with their “Everything Wrong With…” videos.

Once you’ve built an audience, you can then make money off your vlog. There are different ways to make money through YouTube, Twitch, or any other vlogging platform, so read up on those before starting.

7. Join a Movie Focus Group

Movies cost a small fortune, and sometimes it just takes one flop to bankrupt and close an entire studio.

And so movie studios generally don’t release a movie until it’s been watched by test audiences, also known as movie focus groups, to make sure the movie is received well by their target audience.

Being a member of a movie focus group means you get paid to watch a movie, which may or may not be good, but your feedback and suggestions have a significant impact on the final version that actually gets shown to the public.

Some of the members of the audience also get invited for a moderated and more in-depth discussion, which usually involves extra pay.

Finding movie focus groups to join may be the most difficult part of the process, especially if you don’t know where to start. Here are some websites that you can periodically check or subscribe to so you can get updated on screenings you can join in the area.

• Gofobo
• Fandango
• USAAudiences
• iScreeningRoom (virtual screenings)

8. …Or Join a General Paid Focus Group

Even general paid focus groups run by market research firms sometimes discuss movies.

You might not get a free screening at a movie theater, but they’ll pay you for your time and honest opinions.

Focus group interviews may be held either in-person or virtually, but online focus groups have become more popular in recent years.

Here are some of the best online focus groups you can join.

• Opinion Outpost
• Branded Surveys
• Survey Junkie
• American Consumer Opinion

If you prefer in-person focus groups, you can check out Find Paid Focus Group and look for focus groups in your local area.

9. Sign up for Inbox Dollars

You’ve probably heard of Inbox Dollars before and how you can make money by taking surveys. But did you have any idea that you can get paid to watch movie previews?

But wait, it gets better!

When you sign up, they give you a $5 signup bonus (one of the best ways to get quick money as well!)

The web-based rewards company makes video-watching enjoyable by adding an entire video component.

There you can watch celebrity videos, entire playlists, and the news, and it tells you how long a playlist is going to be ahead of time.

You could get paid to watch movie trailers and earn up to $200/per month.

You could also use QuickRewards for the same idea – you get paid to watch movie trailers and videos, as well as play games. And there’s the $5 signup bonus as well.

10. Categorize shows for Netflix

If you want to get paid to watch Netflix, you can do so by signing up as a “movie tagger.” Most of us have a Netflix account (or know someone who does), so making money as a Netflix tagger is a great way to spend even more time on Netflix and get paid for it!

Netflix pretty much pays people to “tag” their movies with one or more keywords, taking into consideration which keywords viewers will use when looking for such movies.

The best part?

You can easily earn up to $300 per week to watch the shows/movies and tag them.

The only downside?

These jobs rarely open up. You’ll need to constantly keep an eye on the Netflix job board.

11. Work as a closed captioner.

I’m sure you’ve debated with yourself or your movie companion whether or not to turn on subtitles while watching Netflix.

The subtitles didn’t appear there by magic; people actually typed those subtitles.

If you think you have what it takes, consider applying for a job as a closed captioner.

Not all of those will be movies, but at least some of them will be.

12. Get a Job in the Film Industry

Well, if you love watching movies so much, you’re probably interested in how they’re made as well.

So why not pursue a job in the film industry (if you aren’t already)?

To get your feet wet, check out the remote film jobs listed on FlexJobs and see if anything interests you.

There are plenty of hands-on jobs in the entertainment industry that you can pursue as well, and careers typically start when you start interning for a director, producer, director of photography, gaffer, or any other persons in charge on a production set.

13. Build Your Movie-themed TikTok

Short-form videos are easy to go viral. One way to benefit from TikTok is to create content for this platform and monetize your TikTok videos. Here are 3 ways you can do this:

• Summarizing movies – When you summarize movies, you just introduce the characters, re-tell the plot, and conclude the story in as little as a few minutes.
• Creating listicles – A listicle is any content in list format. For example, “top 10 rom-com movies,” “7 best Christmas movies for families,” “Best 3 horror flicks for late-night Halloween screening.” People eat up these kinds of lists, since they’re easy to digest and there’s a good chance that you’ll include a viewer’s favorite movie or two with your list.
• Posting movie reviews – This would require you to watch movies more in-depth, since you’d have to do comprehensive analysis of plots, direction, soundtrack, and other aspects of the movie. But if you’re a movie buff, this should be a peace of cake for you.

Note that it would take several months or over a year for income to begin. However, if you stay consistent, the potential for passive income when you build a TikTok channel has no bounds.

Can you still get paid to watch movies today?

Absolutely. As long as movies are still being put out by the studios, you can find ways to get paid to watch them.

If you’re already spending plenty of your time watching movies and trailers, you might as well get paid for that time!

Other ways to get paid for doing mundane tasks

Wouldn’t it be great if you could just go about your everyday tasks and get paid for them?

Worry not; we now live in a time when you can make money watching TV, listening to music, eating, taking a walk, texting, or simply hanging out.