Every theatrical release is effectively a jointventure: the distributor supplies the film, the exhibitors provide the screens, and the arrangements are reviewed week by week. Like all retailers, cinema operators must be persuaded to 'stock the product'. Distributors screen their forthcoming titles for cinema bookers, and present release dates and advertising plans.
Potential blockbusters may be booked into every available multiplex simultaneously, while for smaller releases, particular screens are likely to be identified and the release nurtured carefully from week to week. Many cinemas aim to show
a broad spectrum of titles. Others, depending on their location and catchment area, may specialise in films for discerning tastes.
 |
Hugo Grumbar:
On persuading cinemas to play a film
Play clip > |
The distributor's sales and marketing strategies go hand in glove, with the film's target audience kept front of mind. For each film, the sales team negotiates a confidential license agreement bilaterally with each exhibitor interested in playing the film. Under English law, the maximum booking period for a new release is two weeks, after which, by mutual agreement, the film may continue to play if it is drawing a significant audience.
Distributors' print managers arrange for a print(s) to be despatched to each cinema playing the film. As films are 'locked' (completed and signed off) ever closer to their release dates, so the time available for print duplication and transportation gets tighter.
At the laboratories that duplicate the 35mm film prints, strict quality control procedures are applied and the colour specifications are rigorously checked to match the filmmakers' intentions. On arrival at the cinema, just a few days before first playdate, the cans containing the reels that form the 35mm print are unsealed. The reels are physically joined
together and laced on to the projector.
For digitally equipped screens, as we have previously noted, the data on the disks are ingested on to a server or hard drive, which is connected to a digital projector (completely different from a 35mm projector). Security protocols adopted across the industry ensure that all prints are kept safe throughout the theatrical run.
After their final playdate, the film prints are returned or taken securely to another cinema. Ultimately, most 35mm prints are destroyed under supervised conditions, with as much material as possible recycled, while digital disks can be reused. A print is usually archived for future generations.
A film can only be launched once. Its first weekend in cinemas is crucial to further progress. The distributor's marketing effort builds up to the opening weekend, which normally draws by far the largest audience of any weekend in the theatrical run. It's not unusual for a film to generate 30% or more of its entire box-office during the first three days of release!
Distribution plans usually assume that the revenues and number of screens on which a film plays will decline, often rapidly, as competing titles are launched in successive weeks. But such plans are necessarily flexible: better than expected box-office may lead to quick investment in some extra prints or advertising.
Distribution plans usually assume that the revenues and number of screens on which a film plays will decline, often rapidly, as competing titles are launched in successive weeks. But such plans are necessarily flexible: better than expected box-office may lead to quick investment in some extra prints or advertising.
Distributors may flash UK's no.1 hit on the second week advertising (as with Slumdog Millionaire, above, early in 2009) or add US no.1 smash to capitalise on a top opening in America. Although films conventionally start in UK cinemas on Fridays, distributors quite often open on other days or run previews the weekend before. Exceptionally, new releases may face competition from a major sports event such as the World Cup or Olympics, as well as other films. The weather can also be a factor: for example, unseasonably hot temperatures, which entice people outdoors, can affect any title's commercial destiny from day to day.
Since every film is its creators' intellectual property, the prints or disks are rented to, or hired under license by, the exhibitors, rather than being sold outright as with most packaged or manufactured goods. Exhibitors complete a weekly return for each title, indicating to its distributor how many tickets were sold (on the day or pre-booked) and at what price. Cinema ticket prices are always set by the individual exhibitor.
Out of the net share, the distributor aims to recoup any minimum guarantee plus the P&A
costs incurred in releasing the film. Any outstanding balance is shared with the producers according to a pre-agreed formula set out in the distribution contract. Alternatively, the distributor may simply retain a distribution fee, with all net proceeds remitted to the producers.
On Monday mornings, after the weekend box-office takings are collated, the distributor's sales team
discusses with each exhibitor the hold-over of any current release for a further week from Friday (four days later).
A vital fixture in the working week, these flexible, bilateral negotiations take into account:
- The new releases coming into the market (typically nine or ten each week)
- Any previews planned for the coming weekend, intensifying the competition for the available screens
- The screen average (the average box-office gross receipts per screen) of every film on current release, with only those ranked at or near the top likely to retain screens
Sustaining a release and keeping it on screens week by week is one of the key challenges in today's fastchurning
market. Films can be years in the planning and production phases - and then sometimes barely a few weeks on cinema screens.
Tim Bevan CBE.
|
A trio of British films showcasing the UK as a diverse creative hub: Eran Creevy's debut feature Shifty; Armando Iannucci's satirical comedy In the Loop; and John Crowley's drama Is Anybody There? in which Sir Michael Caine's leading performance was a tour de force. The star attended the film's West End premiere in April 2009 and gave many interviews to promote the release. |
|
