Tensions between distribution and exhibition
The annual Cineeurope Trade Treaty in Barcelona brings together the distribution and exhibition sectors of films, focusing on common goals and successful sharing. However, as global box office revenue has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels, film distributors and film operators continue to offer a variety of perspectives on stop recovery.
Film studios should encourage films by providing balanced slates all year round, serving all audience segments, and giving venues a consistent, reliable, exclusive theatre window.
Now, cinemas need to keep up with consumer demand and expectations by making venues appropriate for their purposes and making sure every movie visit is memorable.
Cinemas are in a good place to serve it, a chicken and egg scenario that focuses the operator’s minds when the box office rises.
Potential cutting of distribution and exhibitions was investigated during a focus session on Groobi proposal on Wednesday, “Our Common Goal: Sell More Movie Tickets.” Amy Schmidt, managing director of Belgium release Sony Pictures, tackles the inherent invisibility and misunderstanding of the consequences of digital marketing exhibitors.
“You can hear exhibitors complaining, ‘I won’t look at your marketing anymore.’ Because they really don’t know what we’re doing or how marketing has evolved,” she said. “As distributors, we are within the marketing industry and have permanent contact with media agents and social media agents, but this is not particularly true for exhibitors. Digital has changed everything.”
Disney window challenges
Among the Big Five Hollywood studios, Disney is perhaps the most completely believer of the long theatre windows of films, as Disney’s streaming platform Disney+ has more subscribers than the studio’s contestants.
However, Disney appears to be caught up in a dilemma.
On the one hand, if other studios only offer short theatrical windows for the film, and audiences expect the film to move quickly into PVOD, VOD, streaming, it is growing perception that the film will always come home soon, and Disney gets caught up in contagion. Audiences may think of a new Pixar movie Erio You can quickly see it from your sofa.
“I don’t think consumers can convey the difference between films (from different studios),” said Andrew Cripps, Disney head of the theatre, during the executive brown table session at Cineuprope on the first morning of the convention. “We do a very good job of confusing people.”
Meanwhile, Disney is looking for a competitive advantage, and in its own slate presentation, Clips highlighted how studios release movies “only on the big screen, longer than their competitors,” urging cinema operators to “team together (with Disney) about trailing,” and highlighting “leaning together.”
Takeout: Crips hopes to join Disney window models at other studios to help audiences regain their cinema habits. Meanwhile, if not, they hope to reward Disney by fondling studio marketing materials in theaters.
The battle for attention
The battle for consumer attention in today’s social media saturation era and how to utilize social media were topics that Cineuprope addressed throughout the four-day event.
Adam Cunningham, Chief Strategy Officer of Allied Global Marketing, took a whirlwind on the first day, giving a slide-packed keynote speech.
Cunningham outlined how theatre retained a “structural moat” over content, distribution, production, and celebrities, and how these moats were challenged by the confluence of situations involving user-generated content, AI, and creator-driven microfames. AI is not going to replace cinemas, but it has attracted attention.
The better news is that in a world where everything is infinite, the value of the rarity of a film becomes its value. And its rarity lives not in content, but in time (unbreakable attention), place (co-presence), emotions (synchronization), and rituals. The keynote isn’t briefly summed up, but it’s available in Cunningham’s Strange Loop Subsack. “It was a lot,” one of the impressive verdicts at Cineuprope.
At the convention, scroll-to-screen panel: Turning social buzz into box office revenue” The panel spoke to Carla Boyd, senior social media and content marketing manager at Cineworld. She suggested that social media has become a digital foyer of films (“they’re where people go before they see the film, where people go after they see the film”), and suggested that “marketing created by the studio is still important,” but there is an opportunity to amplify the social feed, leaning towards excitement and create extra buzz around it.”
Boyd added: “Stop thinking of social media as another point of sale. Social media must be made to order. Social media must be a different way.”
There are no movies or stars!
Over the past few years, Cineeurope has been an opportunity for participants to see future releases, but in recent years they have included Mission: Impossible – Dead Record Part 1 and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
This year, all major studios have delved into opportunities to show the finished film despite the imminent release of titles like Pixar. Erio (Today), Warner Bros.Apple’s F1 (June 25) and Universal Jurassic World: Play (July 2nd). Sony showed its first 28 minutes. 28 years later Two days before the film’s world premiere in London, Warner Bros. showed similar size chunks Superman (July 11th).
Angel Studios performed animated film sketch By then, many representatives had returned home on the last day of Cineeurope.
Also, what’s not working on this year’s Cineeurope was the physical presence of the film’s talent, not just a film star but also a director. Well, exhibitor-friendly Tom Cruise didn’t have any upcoming films this year, but something like Aaron Taylor Johnson ( 28 years later) I have definitely attended in the past.
Lionsgate defeated the trend with a short, challenging slate presentation on Monday, bringing producers (Bobby Cohen) and director of the sequel to Robber Caper (Ruben Fleischer). Now you’re looking at me: Now you don’t In addition to the stage, Dapper’s Paul Feig, director and producer of the thriller. Housemaidstarring Sidney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Screner.
Content Trends: Dance, Retro Songs, Stephen King
While Star was absent, distribution executives went into performative mode with a Studio Slate presentation. It wasn’t just the Paramount team featured in the company’s annual filming comic kit.
Julien Noble, a marketing president at Universal, dug a trench into Britney Spears’ “Oops” stage. M3GAN Franchises and spinoffs soulm8te. The dance movements were featured heavily in the animation of Warner Boss Picture Animation Cat in a hat Universal/Dreamworks Animation Gabby’s Dollhouse: MovieIt also appeared in scenes displayed by Pixar. hopper And a photo of Paramount’ Smurf.
Without wanting to suggest that viral marketing is guiding creative choices, mimicable dance moves will not hurt customer engagement.
The nostalgic song dominated the trailer and sizzles shown in Cineeurope. This dominated the trailer and sizzle, from Studiocanal’s New Order’s “Blue Monday” and Heaven 17’s ‘Temptation’ (both 1994) to the Disney development of the new Radicals’ You Get You Give’ (1998). Paramount went to old school hip hop with the appropriate KRS-One Track “Sound of DA Police” (1993) for crime comedy Naked gun.
Stephen King isn’t used to adapting, but even by his standards, his film rights department was busy. Includes King adaptations presented in Cineeurope slate Chuck’s Life (Study for the UK), Long walk house (Lions Gate) running man (Paramount).
AI: A threat or an opportunity?
Artificial intelligence was investigated in another Unic focus session, “AI & Cinemas,” moderated by Omdia chief analyst, media and entertainment David Hancock. Dev Sen, co-founder and chief technology officer of Cinelytic, revealed how the company’s script analysis tools read the script and create 10-page coverage within 60 seconds. No one is illuminating the film green based on AI-generated script reports, but the algorithms help companies filter submissions and free up time for other tasks.
Eduardo Leal, VUE’s group director of screen content, revealed how the company’s automated scheduling system has been going on through 53 refinements since 2016, revealing how VUE plays more films, keeps the films longer, and schedules showtime sessions. Vue’s focus is currently exporting AI systems from the UK to other film markets (now in Italy, Germany is next), but it retains its prospects for licensing the technology to other exhibitors.
The focus session is presented by Trade Body Unic, the United Nations of cinemas offering Cineeurope in connection with the Film Expo Group.
Cineworld v vue
Unic works with Boxoffice Pro for the Cineeurope reception, which removes the exhibition giants each year.
Odeon Cinemas Group, Cineworld Group and Vue International continue to occupy the top three slots, but the gap between second and third places is tightening. Cineworld reduced screens by over 100 from last year’s count (down from 2,232 to 2,110), while Vue was increasing (up from 1,926 to 1,964), indicating the biggest rise in the circuit in numerical terms.
Next Friday (June 27th) Nottingham will open on the grounds of a former Cineworld cinema that closed in February. If Cineworld cinemas come out for lease renewal, will the landlord take over to other operators such as Vue?
(TagStoTRASSLATE) Europe (T) Exhibition
