Exhibition: alternative content invades Australian screens
It’s not often that Andre Rieu, Iron Maiden and New York’s Metropolitan Opera descend on regional Australia to perform a strong of live shows, but our cinemas are helping to lure them. Laine Lister writes.
It all started with a purple dinosaur, a big red car and four jolly, middle-aged men sporting a rainbow fashion disaster.
It was Christmas 2008 and the illustrious musical group for kids, The Wiggles, lent its name and box office magnetism to launch a novel form of entertainment –alternative content – in turn jump starting new revenues for cinema operators.
Recorded at Sydney’s Entertainment Centre, The Wiggles’ Christmas concert You Make Me Feel Like Dancin’ was broadcast live via satellite to as many as 45 cinemas around the country brimming with delighted children and parents.
Although not the first to enter the alternative sphere – world opera and ballet has been broadcast on a smaller scale in our cinemas for more than three years – the colourful kid’s show marked a new era in the mainstream consumption of alternative content.
“We really do owe a lot to the Wiggles for taking that big leap of faith with us in December [2008],” says Janelle Mason, a director (along with Peter Skillman) at alternative content production firm Cinema Live, one of the pioneers in the field.
On the back of its success with the Wiggles show, Cinema Live has expanded its exhibition base from just three cinemas to 100, gradually installing equipment around the country.
Last month, it broadcast the Wiggles Big Big Show in the Round from Acer arena to the world, after a busy year luring global players.
It’s not only Cinema Live that has been advantageous in the field.
The benefits seem clear for all involved in alternative content, which essentially is any material screened in a cinema beyond traditional movies, including concerts, comedy, children’s content, live opera, ballet and even sporting events.
For exhibitors, it provides the opportunity to attract a new audience to the cinema and to program events at traditionally quiet times.
For audiences, it means the chance to see global events without travelling great distances, and often at significantly less expense.
However, many industry players are shy to embrace this technology completely, with some questioning its commercial potential and others vowing to trial the content further before fully committing it to a schedule.
Encore explored some of the more interesting conversations around this relatively new offering and took a few pointy questions to market – such as ‘what are the financial benefits anyway?’ and ‘are audiences open to all genres?’ As we found out, there is some serious food for thought for a new decade.
NEXT STEP: SPORTS
Wayne Smith, executive director at Reading Cinemas says there is no clear commercial incentive to have alternative content at this stage.
“It’s still early days, I wouldn’t say there are financial benefits, rather it’s more just broadening our offer and if anything, getting some incremental customers in,” he says.
That said, Reading is in the process of installing the necessary equipment to broadcast alternative content in more than a dozen of its cinema complexes.
“Yes it’s fair to say we’re evolving to the alternate programming that’s on offer, but it’s not definitive yet,” he says.
It’s not untried, but alternative content is untested, he argues, adding that the content that is currently available is a bit of a “hit and miss thing at the moment” because it’s so new.
What has worked for Reading in Tasmania has been less than successful in Townsville, according to Smith. He admits scheduling will become easier with time, but insists: “It’s never going to be a dominant part of the business”.
While the technology is still embryonic, patterns in consumption are clearly emerging, primarily around the arts categories, with ballet, theatre and opera among the highest revenue earners across the exhibitors.
That’s certainly been true for the Palace Cinema group, which will increase its alternative content this year when it adds theatre to its line up of ballet and opera events.
Executive director Benjamin Zeccola says Palace recorded an additional 30,000 admissions on top of its traditional scheduling during 2009, as customers flocked to experience live and delayed screenings broadcast from Northern Hemisphere theatres.
“At the beginning of the season I set a target [for alternative content admissions] and at the time I thought ‘if we could reach even half of that number it would be fantastic’.
“We’ve actually exceeded that goal,” says Zeccola. The most popular screening times for the additional content includes Wednesday evening sessions, as well as mornings and matinee sessions on weekends, he explains.
“Having alternative content means that you can have really healthy admission during a session that would otherwise be very quiet, some of those sessions have had as many as 70 people in them,” he adds.
It’s little wonder the additional opera and ballet shows have struck a chord with its 95,000 members, given that its new content is well suited to its viewing demographic.
“Our customers tend to be 25 years old and right up to elderly, whereas mainstream cinemas aim at the 14 to 24 year old age group,” he says.
“We also have licensed bars, espresso coffee and really good baristas, and beautiful lounges; the whole ambience we create really appeals to an adult segment of the market,” Zeccola adds.
AHL, owners of the Event Cinema chain, has had trialled alternative content with varying success.
MD David Seargent discussed this with Encore in July 2009.
“So far opera has been the most successful of the new content, but we believe live concerts and major sporting events will be embraced over time,” he said at the time.
There are certain gaps in the market – sport being one of those – but content providers are negotiating deals to overcome complex licensing agreements associated with screening high profile sports in cinemas.
“We’re chasing some sporting events at the moment. Sport is very difficult because if it plays on free-to-air you can’t charge [cinema admission] for it under various legislation,” says Cinema Live’s Skillman.
And obviously, cable networks are highly protective of their subscriptions, and unlikely to share content with cinemas.
But sport broadcasts can and will be done in cinemas, says Robert Ward, co-owner (with Neil Harrold) of alternative content provider Filmways Digital.
“Without a doubt, in time things like the Australian Footy Rules final or the Melbourne Cup will be on the cinemas screens in 3D, and I think it’s not far away”.
Public broadcasters are helping to close the gap and have a short history of sharing content with cinemas, including its broadcast of the previous FIFA World Cup.
When the World Cup returns to SBS in June this year, cinema goers will once again be cheering on Australia’s Socceroos, according to Skillman.
“We’re looking at how to change the model somewhat and be able to offer an exclusive-style event around it,” says Skillman.
An exclusive event often includes off field or backstage interviews recorded pre- and post-event, as was done to top and tail the Andre Rieu at the close of 2009.
“[Rieu] did an enormous amount of stuff for our cinema partners; interviews, for instance, and when he’s talking straight down the barrel of a camera and saying hello to everyone at say Lithgow, everyone goes berserk,” says Skillman.
“We treat it very much as an extension of the live event,” he adds.
LIVE IS MORE EXCITING
Capturing this kind of content requires plenty of planning and quick thinking on the part of the producer.’
Cinema Live’s pre-event planning involves meeting with creators early in development of a concert before thorough inspection of a venue.
“We’ll go to a couple of the shows, we’ll log it all, block it all, choose camera positions, set up all the cameras and actually run the OB (outside broadcast),”
Mason explains.
“We mix the sound on the run, edit on the run and have a satellite van there for automatic simultaneous uplink,” she adds.
From a cinema perspective, broadcast equipment is a little less complicated, and is often backed by support staff.
There are a number of models created to receive alternative content, including hard drive, digital film and live broadcast, to name a few.
To receive Cinema Live’s broadcast a cinema requires two decoder boxes; one visual and another audio rigged up to read encrypted signals broadcast by satellite, and a 2m dish to capture the signal, and a small LED monitor, the cost of which to install is somewhat supplemented by the content provider.
“We wanted to have something that was not so complicated that cinema projectionists had so much gear that they weren’t familiar with. It also needed to be straight forward so we could do an enormous amount remotely as well,” says Skillman.
Leading up to an event Cinema Live tests satellite signals and provides live technical support via phone during a concert to ensure the signal remains strong across its infrastructure.
“We’ve got people who have paid to see an event and we don’t want to have a blank screen,” he adds.
Anthony Thiessen, marketing director at Hoyts Cinemas says: “Live content via satellite is exciting and starting to grow, and will continue to, provided the
production standards are high”.
Hoyts cinemas runs a busy pre-school content program outside of the school holidays with properties such as Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builder and Dora the Explorer.
Last year it broadcast a number of international operas, screened the Andre Rieu concert with a live red carpet pre-show event, and even experimented with a live multi-locational youth forum.
“The forum was linked live via satellite broadcast so that all locations could share their discussion outcomes and interact on a national level simultaneously,” Thiessen said, adding that the Hoyts group has invested in alternative content in both regional and metro cinemas across the country.
REGIONAL AND BEYOND
Initially conceived for regional markets, alternative content was quickly picked up by operators in the capital cities, according to Skillman.
“Our initial thoughts were for a regional base, because we saw a need that a lot of people in regional areas don’t get the opportunity to come to the metropolitan areas to watch live concerts and live events, he says.
Currently, 60 percent of Cinema Live’s penetration is in regional areas.
“But the demand was so great that we couldn’t leave out the metro markets,” he says.
It’s this Australia-wide demand that is driving some of the world’s greatest artists Down Under, particularly to regional areas, to discover a market hungry for content. It is here that the likes of Andre Rieu, Iron Maiden and Pavarotti are reaching new audiences and maximising revenue.
“At the top end of what is being charged [for admission], which is something like Andre Rieu that’s $40 and half of that goes to the artist immediately,” says Skillman.
“The great thing is when acts come down here to tour it’s generally at the end of a world tour so they’ve already done the Northern Hemisphere up to eight months earlier, so their fan base is quite receptive to a live concert from Australia – it becomes an encore,” he adds.
As a result, Australian content providers are exporting local content to the world, with great success.
On December 21 last year, “Wake Up Jeff” was to be heard around the world, as Cinema Live broadcast globally.
“The Wiggles are absolutely huge overseas – they are big in America, Canada and in the UK and their appeal is starting to spread throughout Europe. They’re also big in Asia and the Middle East. Their database alone is a huge help for us to market this internationally,” Mason says.
It’s just another case of a new technology being driven by the world’s children. ■
