Just in time for Valentine’s, immigrant launches Cinema Dating app
It’s like Tinder, but specifically for movie dates
Looking for a date for Valentine’s Day? If you’re a single movie buff, Ukrainian immigrant Yan Shapiro thinks he has the answer with this his brand new app Cinema Dating. It’s like Tinder, but for dates at the cinema, the entrepreneur explained to The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday on the eve of the launch of the application.
The app allows you to pick a movie and then to match with a partner registered to it. The basis for matching dates is movie interest, date of availability and proximity, in a similar format to Tinder. It includes cinemas across Israel.
A single man himself, Shapiro, 31, has found that finding a partner for a night out at the cinema is not such an easy task on the mainstream apps used in today’s dating world.
“You spend so much time talking to find common interests and after that common free time,” he said, explaining that his app streamlines this process, is free of charge and easy to use.
App users already bring to the table – or to the smartphone – one common interest, a love of movies. The app allows them to select their availability.
“For example, you’re a busy person and have time to go only on Sunday from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m., you can select that and match with people of the same availability,” Shapiro explained. “Also, not everyone is good at initiating communication, making that first step deciding what to speak about it difficult for some people... and here we do that for you by sending the invitation to the moviesthis is like the first step!”
“And even if you will be disappointed by how your partner looks in real life, don’t worry – just enjoy the movie!” he added.
Shapiro has 11 years of experience in the entertainment business and has high hopes for his app, which he cofounded together with Maria Alabyan, a Russian techie who he met while she was on a MASA program in Israel, and who is now based in Amsterdam.
Shapiro made aliya from Odessa to Tel Aviv last year with the help of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
Noting that Israel is the “startup nation,” Shapiro believes he has come to the right place to found the business and take it global.
He has established a partnership with the Cinematheque in Tel Aviv and is in negotiations with Cinema City. Eventually, he plans to form partnerships with international cinemas. Cinema Dating will go to CinemaCon in Las Vegas in April, where it hopes to garner interest from leaders in the industry.
But for now, Shapiro hopes not to “leave any singles at home this Valentine’s Day.” On a personal level, he also hopes he’ll get himself a date through his app.