So that cinemas can better survive against streaming portals, they rely, among other things, on a stronger event character. This is reported by the magazine MIT Technology Review in its current issue 1/2022.
Some distribution experts, such as the Potsdam cinema scheduler Marc Eric Wessel, expect a reorientation towards events, especially for smaller independent films. Similar to a band on a concert tour, there are one or two dates announced long in advance per city, preferably with the makers present for discussion after the performance. The conventional continuous playback loop would then mainly be reserved for blockbusters.
According to Wessel’s experience, the event strategy ensures full cinemas because you cannot “put off going to a particular film”. Some rental companies have already successfully specialized in this segment. The market leaders include Trafalgar Releasing, founded in 2006 with over 4,000 cinemas in 120 countries, Fathom Events (45 countries, founded in 2005) and Iconic Events, created in 2020 as a reaction to the pandemic, with already 1,000 cinemas.
Dare to make the digital breakthrough – that should be the credo of the new government. In the new TR edition there are tips on how this can be achieved. You can read this and more in the new issue, which will be available from December 23. is in the trade and from the 22.12. can be conveniently ordered in the heise shop. Highlights from the magazine:
“Kino on demand” and Kino-Mobil
The “Theatrical On Demand” concept is even more exotic. Using an online platform such as de.demand.film, you choose a film and then get family members, friends and neighbors together. Once the minimum group size has been reached, you book the performance on a fixed date for a nearby cinema. The platform takes care of the logistics, the viewers pay normal entrance fees.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and other German regions implement this model in so-called playback rings such as “Dorfkino simply feasible”. The operators tour the country with a mobile cinema, the audience provides the hall. There is even a documentary about the project funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation (“Crazy About Cinema!”).
Tobias Rank has been on a similar mission in Europe since 1999. His vintage fire engine, built in 1969, contains the entire 16-millimeter demonstration technology to transform any location into an open-air cinema in the shortest possible time. The program includes silent, monumental, independent, avant-garde and experimental films.
Another idea is the “digital screen”: cinemas sell tickets for the stream of a current film at the same price as for an on-site performance. With this concept, the US cinema chain Laemmle saved itself from lockdown. In Germany, municipal and arthouse cinemas have merged to form the Cinemalovers.de network. Her motto: “Stream in solidarity with the cinemas”.
You can read this and more in the new issue 1/2022 of MIT Technology Review (can now be ordered in the heise shop and available in newsagents).
(grh)