Well, I am a movie fanatic, but here are some things that people should know about films and the lack of funding thereof. And of course things that deal with funding include money. so here we go.
1. Theater tickets are raising their prices! Yes, and they need to in order to survive. Most people now-a-days would never invest in movies because they realize that there is no money to be hand in movies. In fact, videogames might be a better investment since it makes more money in a year than the film business does. How does that affect ticket prices? Well, to be honest, most theaters don't make any money off ticket prices...What? It's true. They make a little, but nowhere near enough to sustain itself and the qulaity of films and seating and food and other arrangements that we as theatre-goers take advantage of when we visit these places. In fact, theaters try to make their money off of the concessions so that they can keep everything running and still be able to pay employees etc. Mostly this is due to fewer turnout of viewers to theaters in the last few years. Some people point the blame at Hollywood for not making good movies, others at new media outlets such as legal and illegal downloading, the popularity of home entertainment, the decline in highpaying jobs and the surge in poor in America as the divide between rich and poor becomes more disparate and cleans out the middle class. I doubt that it is because Hollywood does not make good movies, mostly because films that are terrible like Norbit and Ghost Rider are usually the same films that make the most money at the box office. So really, Hollywood isn't willing to sacrifice its quality for greater attendance might be a better accusation. I think the turnout of theatregoers and the fractured society we live in might be better answers to the problem for movie theaters since it is ridiculously hard nowadays to make a movie that appeals to the mass public of America. Also, add in the fact that with netflix, for 15 bucks a month you can watch as many movies as you can squeeze in on DVD on your own homemade surround sound and not have to trust that the theater you watch a movie in doesn't have busted speakers, or cola-stained seats. The fact that you can ask someone to see a movie and they will look at the film and simply say, 'naw, I think I will wait to see that on DVD'. I believe this is one reason why more fantasy like epic movies are being made, because those types of films require a big screen showing to be fully appreciated and it often shows in the box-office. Not to mention that these films are usually well made like the recent Bridge to Terabithia and Chronicles of Narnia series. Simply put, less people turning out means less money for movies, especially in such a diet centered culture where that bucket of popcorn and gallon sized cola might not sound like a good idea. Perhaps if they brought in more alternative snacks they would survive longer and do better? Maybe, but because most movie theater owners are movie purists that love their first time experience, they tend to stick to the hardcore movie goer's idea of it must have popcorn and candy and drinks as it always has. Less people means raised prices on concessions and tickets which equals more grumbling and waiting for DVD and less people and more raised prices, etc until shortly thereafter the theater dies or closes. Some theaters get around this slightly better through in depth contracting talk which wouldn't interest anyone for me to discuss and by showing movies that have been out for a while already. These tend to be the dollar cinemas and the art houses that appeal to niche audiences and survive by taking a certain portion of the audience away from more mainstream theaters. I once had a professor who told me he only went to a small arthouse theater 30 minutes away because they showed indie films and let him buy a beer and sit in nice leather seats. Upon further investigation, yes that was a nice setup, but the theater is small place that really survives off of being one of the only places in that area that shows unconventional movies, everything else is simply tailored to that more elitist taste. Not only is there a smaller percentage of theatergoers than even 4 years ago, the number of movies being made for theatrical release and the # of distributors and directors make it hard for theaters to decide what to show. An example is the newly formed Weinstein Company which has released several films, all of which has not performed well. The people who own this company used to run Miramax and have a long illustrious past in the film business. So, should you bank on their film being able to sell out your theater? Well, I would at least for their release Grind House by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. But have you heard of Nomad? No? Too bad. See, movie theaters need to try to pick the movies they think will best appeal to their audience so that they can sell the most concessions or tickets in order to finance their operations and employees. This is why films that are deemed arthouse are typically given lower production budgets, because it is expected they will have more of a limited release and therefore make less money than say...300. So now you know why the theaters are making such little money and why whining about it won't do you any good. If you like the experience like I do of going into a theater and sitting down with fellow theater goers and sharing in an immersive 2-d experience, then you will go out more often and splurge a bit more at the film house. The whole idea that when you buy a ticket you help the director is only partially true since what the box office really does is convince other theatersto run the film. Most film companies make money off of selling the rights to display their films to the theaters, who in turn try to get the audience to help in paying off these costs. Interestingly, a recent change of events is shaping up that could make for a very different future. IMAX has been around and some films are shown on their screens but it hasn't taken off partially due to the few conversions to the IMAX screen because of the hug amount of money required for said conversions. The recent trend in Hollywood is 3D theaters, which should be all over the place by 2009 possibly. Dreamworks has even come out and said that al of its future pictures will be originated in the 3d format. Why? Because by releasing 3D films, it gives an experience that illegal downloaders and home entertainment gurus cannot match or rival...at least until someone figures out home 3D technology. A lot of Hollywood believes that 3D theater are the future for raising the box office levels again, it just leaves me with the question of what will we do with all of the old 2D theaters?
2. DVD sales are excellent! I must admit that I normally buy some cheap DVDs as much as possible because 4 for 20$ is awesome and I can usually come up with a 3-4 gems in a generally crap filled heap. Whats most amusing is that these DVD sales are really cutting in to the theater business. When DVDs first came out, they were the new advanced better picture quality videos of their day. As they progressed in technology, DVD copmanies began to figure out all of the cool stuff they could do with DVDs. For proof, watch any of the special extended cut DVDs of Lord of the Rings and notice the riduculous amounts of extras and extra footage on the DVD. Somewhere around this point, it became a collector's dream. Director's cuts of famous past films and extra footage and scenes and new commentaries made fans and collector's alike seek the best DVD of a film possible, sometimes forcing them to buy several DVD's of the same name before they receieved the Ultimate Package. Studios, seeing how easy and cost-productive it was to make these special features available and sensing a need for them on the market have started to release them like made, oversaturating the market. Want the full screen or widescreen version? The Richard Donner cut or the original? One that can play in 1070i or 1070p? etc, etc, etc. In fact, most studios release a film now as simply that, the film by itself for those who wanted to rent or buy it and the go back to work on creating a second and maybe a third edition of the DVD that will add specials, features, deleted scenes, or if you are M. Night Shyamalan, a special short film that you made as a young kid director. Several studios such as Fox and WB have reported that their theater releases took such a hit that they were surprised when they made a total profit during the year due to DVD sales. Hell, DVD sales are so powerful that two television shows have been renewed due to excellent sales, Family Guy and Futurama. Serenity, the movie, was made partially in part due to the astounding sales of the DVD of the series Firefly on which the cancelled show was based. While theaters and studios are losing business, studios are at least able to make it up usually in sales of DVDs. Also, because of the cheaper nature of DVD production, many studios are setting up direct to dvd divisions that can produce ridiculously sub-par movies to sell to the average person. Disney's animated sequel division did so and produced Cinderella III, the top selling DVD in February. Tons of bleh horror films and many niche independent films are now released direct to DVD for anyone who feels like trying to find some rare gems. I find this new market idea too sketchy for me to trust my money to these films usually, so I will let someone else take on finding direct to DVD gems since I think right now the crap to gem ratio is too high for my liking.
3. Last but not least is the recent report made to Hollywood that suggests that Hollywood should release films simultaneously in theaters and DVD and online or at least shorten the gap between the releases thereof, since it would boost the sales in all aspects. I don't know what the hell they are thinking, but there is a big push by the artists and creators in hollywood to fight this idea. Theater owners especially are opposed as they should be. While it might help the studios to do such a thing, it would effectively kill theater going as we know it. Why bother when I could download the movie on my computer and burn it and watch it the same day it is released? Then, only those movies filmed in IMAX format or are of such an epic scale would be worth seeing in theaters if I wasn't a cheap ass. And even then, I might spring for my own projection system or big screen tv and just say to hell with it. I mean, there, that's it. I have nothing else to discuss really about this topic although I'm sure I missed some things or didn't answer some questions so feel free to post and ask one and I will answer it. Just know that when George Lucas and Steven Spielberg both turn to television and claim that there is no money in film, you better believe it. (Lucas has already said that after Indiana Jones IV, there will be no big-screen films from him or LucasArts. Instead he will redirect his focus completely to creating a Star Wars Live-Action television show and a Star Wars cartoon series, each 100 hours long so that he can evenatully reveal a Star Wars channel, which will probably never show the now famous Star Wars Specials he made so long ago...hehe)
As always,
Wannabe
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