Distribution and exhibition: escapist Australians
As the weather warms, so too will the nature of films in coming months as distributors and exhibitors punt on belly laughs and local product as a means to escape the economic chill. Laine Lister writes.
More often than not when the world falls to pieces, the film industry responds with blue-skied optimism.
And that’s exactly what we can expect of movie theatres in spring, summer and ahead in 2010, as industry players draw up a slate of films designed to make audiences feel good again.
The season’s overriding theme? Lose the doom and gloom via a great escape. And so to the ringleader of this taskforce, Roadshow Films, which brought us the likes of Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince and The Hangover.
Joel Pearlman, managing director at Roadshow Films said there has been a strong correlation between exceptional performance for his slate of films with comedic material.
“Just look at the films that have really performed on our slate like 17 Again and He’s Just Not That Into You – it’s definitely easier to fill those sorts of films,” he said. Greg Denning, general manager of Icon Films agrees: “The marketplace is responding to films that make them feel good or allow them to escape”.
Evidently, Icon’s recent successes have included Academy Award winner Slumdog Millionaire, which grossed over $20m here and $5m in New Zealand, Knowing (directed by Aussie Alex Proyas and shot in Melbourne) which pulled in $7.6m at the box office, Transporter 3 which performed well with $3.3m and Last Chance Harvey, which made $2.6m.
The same was true for Hoyts Distribution, which recorded $21.7m at Australian box offices with its romantic Twilight and almost $4m in New Zealand, the biggest release for the company in its seven year history.
Robert Slaviero, chief executive of Hoyts Distribution said: “The audience response to Twilight was amazing. I couldn’t believe how fanatical the fans were for the franchise, we had very high repeat viewings”.
Paramount managing director Michael Selwyn sums it up like this: “Australia as a market tends to work well with romantic comedies and family films – comedies in general do well.
“Often action films will tend to underperform a bit compared to the international norm, which is why we were so delighted with the performance of Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen,” he said.
As for Universal Pictures, Fast and Furious and Bruno were the strongest performers at box office, with the latter earning almost $12m as Encore when to press.
While at Sony, the latest in the James Bond franchise Quantum of Solace helped the distributor to a successful year at the box office.
“At $30.5, it delivered big time and it went close to the result of Casino Royale, while some of our mid-range films were also gratifying,” managing director Stephen Basil-Jones said, referring to the NZ-shot Underworld, Rise of the Lycans (the third entry in the Underworld series) and Paul Blart: Mall Cop.
Meanwhile, Disney had a stellar year with its slate of cheerful films. Wall-E, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Bolt, High School Musical 3, Confessions of a Shopaholic and The Hannah Montana Movie were among its highest grossing.
Alan Finney, managing director of Disney said: “Obviously we always try to be both optimistic and realistic in our projects and we were especially thrilled with the performances”.
However, the distributor’s gritty Australian boxing drama Two Fists One Heart fell short of expectations.
“Releasing Australian films is always one of the most enjoyable, rewarding and challenging undertakings and naturally, when they underperform, one is disappointed and especially conscious of the impact on the filmmakers and those who have invested in them,” said Finney.
Disney was not alone in experiencing poorer results for its more challenging films; all other distributors admitted that more serious content is growing harder to sell.
“There’s been a worldwide rejection of films that have dealt with more challenging material,” Roadshow’s Pearlman said.
While Mark Spratt, director of Potential Films said: “Audiences, and exhibitors, seem cautious about anything that may be seen as downbeat or foreign with few known names or hooks”.
Less fruitful for Icon were historical dramas Hunger (winner of the first Sydney Film Festival Official Competition last year) and The Baader Meinhoff Complex as well as the apocalyptic fantasy City of Ember.
“With few exceptions, it’s getting harder and harder to get a result from the more serious or tougher films, no matter how critically acclaimed they are,” Denning said. Despite rave reviews and multiple awards, Denning insists that Hunger “asked a lot of audiences and they mostly avoided it in droves”.
And Basil-Jones admits that based on Sony’s expectations, serious films Seven Pounds (starring the usually infallible Will Smith) and The International underperformed, with each earning less than $6m at the box office.
Times are tough for more “middle-of-the-road” films, according to Mike Vile, general manager of Rialto, who insists Australians are making more premeditated viewing decisions than in the past.
“I don’t think you are getting as many people just turning up at the cinema to see any film. Rather they are doing their homework and determining whether they want to spend their money on that particular film or not,” Vile said.
It’s particularly true for the smaller indie film section, with the ‘good’ films maintaining strong numbers, but weaker films earning less than in the past.
Determining which films will be hits, however, is difficult to gauge, according to Natalie Miller, executive director of Sharmill Films, which distributes and exhibits ‘connoisseur’ films.
“I have been bringing films to the market for a very long time and one always gets surprises and unexpected failures. That is the challenge and you never stop learning.
“I do know that it is an overcrowded market place and too many films get releases on too many prints. So choosing your date for release and going narrow on releases is more sensible for specialised arthouse product,” she said.
Fellow independent distributor Gil Scrine of Gil Scrine Films agrees, adding that choosing the right film at a certain time is also crucial to its success.
“Certainly having a film that captures the intellectual, cultural, ethical or political climate of the time helps make the title successful,” he said.
The great thing about cinema is that in tough times people still want entertainment and escapism, according to industry players; a view borne out of statistics.
Screen Australia figures from the last calendar year show that cinema represents a largely recession-proof business, with box office results in the 2008 financial year reaching $945.4m, the highest annual growth on record, up 5.6 percent on the previous year.
And 2009 box office results for the first half show that cinema attendance is continuing to escalate, with a gross total of $542m by July, which is 15 percent higher than the same time last year, according to Val Morgan cinema figures.
Evidently, Amalgamated Holdings Limited (AHL) – owners of the recently ] rebranded Event Cinema chain, formerly Greater Union and Birch, Carroll and Coyle – is experiencing greater audiences than ever before.
“Cinema attendances are increasing at an exciting rate on the back of a strong slate of films,” said AHL managing director David Seargeant.
Palace Cinemas executive director Benjamin Zeccola agrees: “We are seeing a fantastic uptake in business across the board with quality films performing extremely well across our group of cinemas”.
His slate has been a potent mix of Slumdog Millionaire, Summer Hours, Samson & Delilah and Coco Avant Chanel – all proven seat fillers.
EXHIBITORS EXPLORE ALTERNATIVES
Between the hits however, cinema exhibitors are finding new ways to plump up their takings by introducing alternative content in the form of live music, arts and forums, following successful implementation in the UK and US.
While primarily focused around the arts categories with opera and stage productions, ‘live’ content via satellite is starting to grow and will continue to do so, provided the production standards are high.
Local pioneers in the technology, Hoyts Corporation has invested in satellite equipment in 10 of its cinemas across Australia and New Zealand. It has since aired a number of overseas operas, an Andre Rieu concert and test broadcasts of theatre performance Keating! and The Australian Ballet’s Swan Lake in partnership with Screen Australia and the ABC.
Anthony Thiessen, Hoyts director of marketing explained: “Alternative content delivers exhibitors a new audience who may not necessarily be regular movie-goers”.
Pre-school aged children have been among growing audiences flocking to see Hoyts offerings including Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builder and Dora the Explorer and her friend Diego.
Hoyts also conducted the first multi-location Australian Youth Forum in February this year, linking people from around the country in a debate lead by Youth Minister Kate Ellis.
“The forum was linked live by satellite broadcast so that all locations could share their discussion outcomes and interact on a national level simultaneously,” Thiessen said triumphantly.
Later this month the organisation will broadcast ecodrama The Age of Stupid across 36 cinemas in Australia and New Zealand followed by question and answer time.
“It is proving quite successful, obviously some content is performing better than others, but this is part of the learning process,” Thiessen said.
For Reading cinemas, the experience of alternative content has had varying results with little continuity, according to executive director Wayne Smith.
“Clearly 3D at the moment is a stand out success although the likes of opera and more specialised music events only have a niche market which is sometimes hard to precisely identify or tap into,” he said.
“Does it drive admissions, yes, but we find what may work well in say Melbourne does not necessarily translate to somewhere like Townsville, so every market is different and must be treated as such. The economic sensitivity is also a factor and something we also have to weigh up on a film by film basis.
“It’s fair to say that alternative content, excluding 3D, remains a work in progress with no clear successful commercial “stand-out”. For the moment we are programming it where we can and using that learning experience as to what will work and where,” he said.
Success depends on a number of factors, but most important is the quality of the event and its promotion, according to AHL’s Seargeant.
“Just like any event, they need marketing support to get the message out there. As we move into the digital age the technology makes it possible. Before digital, it was not really possible,” he said.
Live broadcasts have had strong take up among regional Australian audiences, with CinemaLive’s The Wiggles concert tickets selling out within a week of release in December 2008.
The show, You Make Me Feel Like Dancin’, was performed at Sydney’s Entertainment Centre and screened in as many as 45 cinemas on December 21, in predominately regional locations.
Mark Sarfaty, executive director of Independent Cinemas Association of Australia (ICAA), which represents about 80 percent of the independent cinema sector, said alternative content is adding depth and diversity to his member’s programming.
“This type of content is drawing new audiences to cinemas and emphasizing the position of cinemas as a community hub,” he said.
Seminars about alternative content were among the most attended at the ICAA national conference in March, as operators came to hear from peers representing both rural and city cinemas using alternative content with great success.
“3D content is also of great interest to independent cinema operators and an increasing number of them have installed 3D projectors,” said Sarfaty.
In recent years 3D technology has been showcased as a driver for the switch to digital cinema systems, and it is this issue that will once again dominate seminar sessions at the Australian International Movie Convention on the Gold Coast from 23 to 27 August.
Icon’s Denning said: “We’re seeing escapism in its newest form in the shape of digital 3D cinema, and audiences seem to be loving it”.
TRIED FORMULAS
“We’re also seeing more franchises and remakes/reboots than ever – mostly from the studios, again trying to give audiences more of what they like,” Denning added.
Australia doesn’t have a long history of film sequels. While George Miller is working on a follow-up to his 2006 hit Happy Feet, set for a 3D release in 2011, it’s unlikely that we’ll see Mary & Max 2 or a remake of Picnic at Hanging Rock any time soon, but the international offering will continue to include sequels and ‘re-imaginings’ using proven formulas. Expect another instalment of the Sex and the City franchise in June next year, along with Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, Twilight: New Moon and Eclipse (released only months apart) , Shrek Forever After, Toy Story 3, Iron Man 2, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (currently in production in Queensland) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part one (with part two to be six months later), all of them new sequels to be released in the next 18 months.
And following the popularity of the big-budget reboot of the Star Trek franchise, audiences will get further flashbacks when existing properties ranging from the literary Alice in Wonderland, Where the Wild Things Are, The Lovely Bones, Sherlock Holmes, A Christmas Carol and Robin Hood, to comic book characters The Smurfs and Green Lantern, TV shows The Green Hornet and The A-Team or old films such as Footloose and A Nightmare on Elm Street, are all given a new life.
This throwback to happier times is not unique to the film industry, rather it’s a phenomenon replicated in all aspects of life during tougher economic times. For example, shoulder pads and stonewashed denim have reared their ugly heads in the form of retro-inspired fashion. The food industry has taken a retrospective step, as cupcakes and home-style cooking regain popularity. Even marketers are looking to the past for inspiration with Streets Ice Cream recently re-launched its 1980s original television ad for Golden Gaytime to great effect, while Cadbury returned to its Glass and a Half campaigns in an effort to make audiences smile.
CONFIDENCE IN AUSTRALIAN CONTENT
Distributors and exhibitors are also betting on more local product and showing greater confidence in their Australian-dominated slates.
Australian films and success of great proportion often seem mutually exclusive within the mainstream set, so it is refreshing to hear local distributors and exhibitors forecast a future bursting with both traits.
“I’m firmly of the view that the slate of Australian films among all distributors seems to be more commercial and I believe we’ll see a better performance over the next 12 months,” said Roadshow’s Pearlman.
Paramount’s Selwyn agreed: “Together with Transmission Films, we’re absolutely convinced that the Australian share of the market can grow and there are some really good films out there. Our hope is to see some commercial films come through – in the sense that they address the broad mainstream market, as opposed to very specialised product”.
In recent months, trailblazers Disgrace, Mary & Max and Samson & Delilah, have helped ensure success for the new wave of Australian product; including Balibo, Blessed, Bright Star, Charlie and Boots, Daybreakers, Mao’s Last Dancer, Prime Mover, Stone Bros., Subdivision, The Boys Are Back and Wogboy 2: Kings of Mykonos, to name a few.
“Hopefully films like these and can set a pattern for what other Australian films can do,” said Selwyn. “There is so much talent down here and with the producer rebate I think there’s a chance that some really good films will be made,” he added.
Regardless of filmmakers’, distributors’ and exhibitors’ plans and intentions, the last – if not always the wisest – word is up to the audiences. ■
