Thinking About Change

I think, on many levels, it is a time for reinvention within our society. I believe for the past decade, we as a culture have been flailing all over the place, trying to decide how we are going to define ourselves. The old constructs of religion, politics, and social function have come untethered, and many individuals and as well industries have become untethered and find themselves floating around in stormy seas.

?I am so lucky to have witnessed the evolution of the motion picture. From single screen to multiplex, the evolution of stadium seating, stereo to THX, and chemically based mediums to digital mediums. Every point of this evolution had its good and bad sides. Cinema was elastic and was always moving forward in a manner that forced change. Now we have had announcements that the exhibition business was going to reinvent itself again with the investment of $2.2 billion into reshaping itself. The commitment was made by the 8 largest circuits in the USA and Canada. These circuits include? AMC, Regal Cinemas, Cinemark, Cineplex, Marcus Theatres Corp., B&B Theatres, Harkins Theatres and Santikos Entertainment.

?According to NATO, the monies will be spent on an "array of projects to modernize and improve theaters of all sizes," including adding the latest laser projection technology and cutting-edge sound systems, installing more comfy chairs, and finally moving towards having theaters become "family entertainment centers" featuring both arcades and bowling. I can understand the move by the majors to reinvent themselves as FEC’s Cineplex has been touting this for years, but as an industry it's not where I would put my focus.

?“This investment of resources is the next step in our industry’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that going to the theater remains a unique and special experience for generations to come," said National Association of Theatre Owners Executive Board Chair and CEO of B&B Theatres, Bob Bagby, in the announcement.

?They seem to forget about what's on the screen.

I firmly believe that the circuits should say to themselves, it's great to give the consumers a great place to sit, but concurrently we should be working with independent filmmakers to create incubators to promote and place indie movies on the screen. Let’s create a partnership between theaters, social media players, and bright young filmmakers to start creating distribution and promotional pipelines for the public.? Let's take a look at past models that have seemed to work, take into account the social media influencer world, the YouTube star world and let’s redefine the ecosystem so that it works.

?The good folks at The Arthouse Convergence did an audience survey. Forty-six theaters participated in trying to define why moviegoers go to art house cinemas. The first response at 84 percent was seeing movies that are? outside of the mainstream, 73 percent said more interesting programming and events, 66 percent said that the art houses showed “more movies? I like”, and not surprisingly 60 percent said “more of a sense of community”.? Comfy seats and neon display lighting did not even enter into the equation…go figure.

If the major circuits abdicate the content game and rely on Hollywood for the majority of its programming they will soon find themselves stuck in the mud again.

We need within exhibition to begin to foster a culture of innovation. Reimagining and putting new twists on classic or tentpole movies can be interesting, but when these movies take over the culture of movie going, the big screen becomes bland very quickly. We need so very badly to inject into this industry a culture of big ideas, more importantly fresh ideas. Because of the perceived cost of moviemaking and the perceived need to have a national campaign, many worthy independent movies are being stopped at the door and not allowed to enter this exhibition hall.

It is time that the blockage by Hollywood products stops. The mindset imposed by the studios onto the theaters is corrosive. Frankly, for companies who are increasingly relying on Wall Street financing, it is kind of odd that they do not enter a period of experimentation. There is a deep surplus of screens. Allotting 3 or 4 screens to independent products is not going to impede the next Marvel franchise. As I have stated before the Virtual Print Fee regime really imposed a stratified thinking on the business of exhibition. We have to shake off the old and start promoting the new.

?So you major circuits out there, you are spending $2.2 billion smackers. Here is a thought each one of you pony up $500,000 to create an incubator to re-invent exhibition. Put it in the MidWest somewhere. Staff it with some smart kids and task them with creating models for major circuits, midsize theaters, independent theaters, and small-town theaters.? Make sure they spend one week working at one of the above-mentioned theaters, get them talking to moviegoers …and let them write a study for each form of theater.? Then have them create a couple of traveling film festivals with a focus on emerging independent movies and the communities they are tied to. Make sure that each one of these distinct festivals plays in at least 50 theaters. Take a look at what works and what does not….rinse and repeat.

Part of the inspiration for this essay was that I had the honor of hosting a showing of an independent movie at an Emagine Theaters in the MidWest. The movie was well made and the screen dripped with cinematic skill and perspective. Upon reflection in an audience of 70 to 90 people only one filmmaker from the metro area bothered to show up. This struck me as an opportunity lost and a display of the failure of community building on the part of those that put forward the organizations that put forward the idea of local independent film. The filmmaker got his audience by handing out tickets, malls and in the theater itself. The filmmaker should be deeply admired.

Maybe it's time to think outside the box, or at least outside the theater.