Many Hollywood blockbusters and Chinese New Year films and New Year's films have been withdrawn one after another. After the resumption of work, the movie theaters face the dilemma of no new films and few viewers-
How the theater out of the survival dilemma
Our reporter Huang Shiqiang Wang Yu
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For cinema practitioners across the country, the winter that has just passed is tormented and long. From the domestic theaters that were shut down during the Spring Festival stalls, some of them resumed work last week. However, the status quo is not optimistic, new clips, few viewers, and funding pressure is still severe. Although many tax relief and subsidy policies are available, the road to recovery remains difficult.
The data released by Cat's Eye Professional Edition shows that, as of March 22, there were 529 theaters that had resumed business in the country in the past week, with a total of 3,810 moviegoers and a total box office income of 118,200 yuan. At present, Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Sichuan, Hunan and other places have successively introduced relevant subsidy support policies for the film industry. However, the results are not obvious.
Movie viewing is not just what citizens need
How much does the epidemic cost to the theater? According to the predictions of many domestic professional institutions, the total box office for the Spring Festival in 2020 is expected to reach a record 12 billion yuan. A number of theater directors told the Workers' Daily reporter, "In the first quarter of this year, the entire industry was basically zero income, and the box office loss was conservatively estimated at more than 10 billion yuan."
On March 16th, China Film Golden Palm Cinemas “sounded the horn of resumption of national cinemas”. Subsequently, theaters in Sichuan, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Jilin and other areas with low risk of epidemics, under the guidance of local epidemic prevention departments, have begun to resume work.
However, after a week of screenings, the box office data was not ideal.
"The first Spring Festival can be rested, but my mood is never panic." Xie Juan is a staff member of a UME international cinema in Chongqing, and has been employed for more than 3 years. Every time the Spring Festival is busy, only this year I'm free. She told the Worker Daily reporter that she was looking forward to returning to work every day, but when she saw the movie data in domestic theaters one week after the return to work, it seemed like she was being poured with cold water.
"If the weekends of the 21st and 22nd are set aside, the box office data will be bleak." An industry insider pointed out that although the theater has resumed work, the domestic box office market is not optimistic and the theater's survival is still grim.
Wan Qianghai, a cinema manager in Chongqing, said that watching movies is not just for the citizens to consume. Even if they resume work, they will really welcome a large number of audiences to return. It will take a while to wait, and it is estimated that they will have to wait around the May 1st holiday.
Although the return to work is announced, many theaters are only in the trial operation stage. Mr. Jiang, a person in charge of a resumed theater in Chongqing, told reporters that the theater is currently in a semi-opened state, and the cinema is partially open. The business hours are only half a day, and according to epidemic prevention requirements, the implementation of barrier-to-seat ticket sales measures strictly limits the number of moviegoers.
A senior professional manager in the Beijing film and television industry, who asked not to be named, said, "At present, the biggest dilemma is that many Hollywood blockbusters have withdrawn files, and Chinese New Year films and New Year's films have also been withdrawn. "
"In the early days of resumption, there is no audience without a film source, and a clever woman can hardly be a rice-free cook." Fang Bin, director of Dadi Cinemas, believes that the best way to resurrect a movie theater is to use multiple movies to activate the enthusiasm for watching movies.
Support and self-help are indispensable
From late January to mid-March, the movie industry's revenues almost cleared across the board. Under the crisis, many small and medium-sized theaters were shut down due to high cost pressures such as rent, wages and property. According to the data of the professional version of the enterprise survey, from the beginning of 2020 to March 10, a total of 3637 film and television companies were shut down across the country. The status of the enterprises was liquidation, suspension, cancellation and cancellation. Many were small and medium-sized studios.
"Cinema is the infrastructure of the entire film industry. Only by rescuing the theater can the film industry recover." Yin Gang, a senior filmmaker and head of Bega Cinemas (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., admitted that during the epidemic, what worries him most It is the living condition of the theater.
Just last month, when the domestic epidemic was the hardest, it was also when the Chinese film industry was suffering. Yin Gang's "For the Future of Chinese Films-An Open Letter to the Chinese Film Industry" has caused heated discussions online. The article mentions the huge losses suffered by the film industry during the epidemic prevention and control and corresponding countermeasures. This open letter has received enthusiastic response from the industry. The management also attaches great importance. Subsequent efforts to speed up the introduction of subsidy support policies have been made in many places.
Facing the dilemma of theater survival, from local governments to practitioners, they are trying to break through and rescue. At present, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Hunan and other provinces and cities have announced plans to help theaters survive the crisis in terms of increasing subsidies for theaters to produce domestic films and allocating support funds for outbreaks.
Film publishers are also acting. Shanghai Film Group recently launched the nation's first "cinema anti-epidemic relief fund" with a total amount of 1 billion yuan. China Film Distribution provided the list of released films for the first batch of resumption theaters, including "War Wolf 2", "Chinese Partner" and "Wolf Totem" and other 5 films. After consultation with the above-mentioned film producers (copyright parties), it was decided that the distributors and producers The deserved 43% of all the debits were given to the theater.
The theater party is actively self-help. Wanda Cinemas, Bona International Cinemas, Jinyi Cinemas and other theaters have successively launched "cloud business", selling popcorn, canned beverages and other snacks inventory online; and pre-binding the audience to return funds through low fares and high rebates .
On March 25, 10 film management companies including Perfect World, Jinyi, Bona, Hangzhou Carnival, and Evergrande Kakai Cinemas "moved" nearly 400 home theater theater ticket offices into the Alipay platform and launched special pre-sale tickets.
Faced with the "rental reduction" appeals issued by local film associations, many mall properties responded positively. "Many theaters are located in the core area of the business district, and the high rents have caused headaches for practitioners." Several theater directors in Beijing and Chongqing said that after negotiating and communicating with the owners, the rent reduction intention was reached, and anxiety was eased.
Industry pattern may accelerate change
"This epidemic has also exposed the disadvantages of the unreasonable revenue structure of the theater." Xu Zhiqing, a person in charge of a well-known theater company, bluntly said that theaters lacking the right to speak would be extremely vulnerable once they encountered sudden conditions.
It is understood that the previous profit of the theater mainly depended on food and beverage, derivative sales, pre-release advertising, and patch advertising, and ticket revenue was not the main source. "Especially in the past two years, the third-party ticketing platform has been madly occupying the market, which has greatly impacted the theater's own ticket purchase mode." Some insiders pointed out that in the process, the theater only saw the traffic and convenience brought by the ticketing platform. Ignoring user data collection, fund accumulation and other opportunities.
The brutal growth of domestic small and medium-sized theaters in recent years has also reduced the industry's ability to resist risks. "At present, there are 50 cinema theater lines in the country, and there are more than 15 theater lines with an annual box office of less than 200 million yuan. Most of them are very small franchised theaters, and their quality and management are poor." It is difficult for theaters to regulate their operations and to resist risks.
"After the epidemic, a group of small and medium-sized theaters will suffer heavy casualties." Xu Zhiqing agreed with the above statement. He pointed out that those theaters with poor anti-risk capabilities will be eliminated quickly, and the remaining theaters will accelerate their integration.
The industry structure will change rapidly due to the epidemic situation. Many industry insiders expressed such views to reporters during the interview. "Intensifying integration and expanding market concentration may be a way for theaters to continue and do well." Yingang said that it can set up M & A funds or provide M & A loans for conditional and powerful film investment companies to encourage They strengthened the integration of theaters to build the main force of Chinese movies.
Some people in the industry also suggested that the current mode of cinema operation is far behind the times. Especially the 5G era that has arrived provides an opportunity for the theater to transform into a comprehensive cultural platform in the future. "Why ca n’t there be live performances, live events, video games, quality education and business activities? The cinema industry can take the opportunity to break the original business model Constraints, follow technological progress, and create a new theater operating model. "
According to Wang Zheng, president of Central Studios, after the epidemic, the industry is accelerating its reshuffle, which is the so-called "good is better, bad is worse, until it is eliminated." Chinese cinema should enter the era of refined management and low profit. More state-owned enterprises need to take responsibility, integrate small and not highly concentrated theaters in the market, and promote the overall "optimization and upgrade" of the market.