Running a Cinema

[reddragon105]

Something I've always wanted to do is run my own business in something that I am interested in, passionate about and good at. One thing I'd love to do is run my own cinema, an independent one so that it could be more than your average cinema.

There's a local theatre/cinema in the town where I go to university and what I love about it is that there's a little cafe/bar area where you buy refreshments between the acts of plays, but of course they're not adverse to you sitting around in there before or after a film, or just for lunch, and I'm not 100% sure but when the bar is open I think you can take alcohol into the films.
My cinema would definitely have to do that, I'd want a cafe to encourage people to stay between films so that they watch 2 or more in one go.
I would of course have the latest releases, you've got to appeal to the mainstream, but there would always be older films on, anything from any time in any country, I'd show trilogies like Star Wars, Back to the Future, Indiana Jones etc. back to back (that's something else that my local cinema did, they put all the Lord of the Rings on in one afternoon), I'd have seasons, eg. a western season, gangster season, horror season, Scorsese season, Kubrick season etc.
And I would also want it to be educational - I would have a book shop selling books on film history, language, theory, specific films and filmmakers etc., plus novels that have been adapted, hoping to encourage people to read around the films. Plus I could have a DVD shop. I would also want to put on lectures before the films, for eg. if Battleship Potemkin is showing there could be a lecture giving a brief background of the Russian revolution, Eisenstein himself, his film techniques, so that the film can be put in context for the audience to appreciate it a bit more and also learn something.

I would also like the cinema to be a bit of a community by bringing together fellow aspiring filmmakers. Meetings could be held for anyone wanting to make films so that a director can meet a writer and cast and crew. The cinema could also support the filmmakers by loaning equipment and finance, producing the films on DVD and of course screening the films to a public audience (hopefully getting the attention of agents, awards bodies and production companies)

Does anyone here know anything about running a cinema or have any experience?
I'd love to set one up but it seems difficult, I'd have to find an appropiate building, have it fitted out with expensive equipment and I have no idea how to get new films in to show, but I do know that reels are expensive. Plus how would I get rights to publicly screen older films? (basically anything I have on DVD!)

 

[reeceracer]

projecter

You could always set it up as at DVD projection cinema making it cheaper for digitally shot indies to get screened. I don'at know much about it, other than you need to find a building first.

 

[clive]

I've never run a cinema, but I did lots of research when I was thinking of setting up a digital cinema network.

I found the local arthouse cinemas really willing to talk about how they do business.

The basic deal is most film prints are rented out at a fixed cost for the week, about £250, plus a percentage of the door, usually about 25%.

Getting older films can be problematic because often the distribution companies either can't find them or more often their cinema distribution deals have lapsed. So, for instance it's not possible to show the film Blade Runner from a print because the distribution agreement has lapsed. However, it is possible to show it from DVD, and their are companies that rent copies of DVD's for projection for cinemas at £80 per night. You can't just show from your bought DVD's because the distributors would shut you down in an instant.

The biggest problems with getting into ondpendent cinema right at the moment is that the captial investment in 35mm projection equipment is massive and the margins for these venues is getting smaller and smaller. It's tough to recoup the intial investment costs. This is the reason that most of the arthouse cinemas depend on film council funding.

The other issue is that the industry is really nervous at the moment about changes in new technology. The largest growing sector is DVD and home cinema and picture/sound quality diferences between cheap home equipment and massively expensive film projection is getting smaller.

If you were looking for a good indie cinema to base your business model on, The Broadway Cinema in Nottingham is as good as it gets. They also support their indie film making community, the place has a real buzz.

I think the traditional cinema modle is just too scary to look at from a business point of view right at this moment.

The whole indsutry is looking at HD projection (Film Council has just invested £11million in HD projectors systems for Uk indie cinemas) However, until the main distributors start distibuting digitally it's a huge risk. however, to invest in film projection now and then have to reinvest in HD projection in two years time is a huge risk.

You might want to look at two existing thread in the distribution section.

"Lets get serious about distribution" and "Hijacking the thread"

Both of these discuss the merits of digital cinema. You might also want to do some net research into D-Cinema and E-Cinema, which is the cinema industries lingo for various forms of digital projection for professional cinemas.

There is also a European independent cinema organisation, they're based in France. I've got some details somewhere, I'll look them up and put them in my next post.

Hope this helps.

 

[WideShot]

I am kind of interested in starting something similar here in my town, I basically have the facilities for it too.

Right now, I'm thinking the most cost efficient thing to do is DVD project. Have you seen the quality you can get from a simple home projection? Its really amazing how much information these little SD DVD's and 1024x768 projectors put out. And, thats also really cheap. A projector is maybe $3k at most, and screens/sound can be had for very inexpensive nowadays. (getting a regular movie screen for a large house might be expensive, but a smaller, say, 12'x10' screen can be had easily or slightly larger). Now if you're talking about a huge facility, the rent should be more than the cost of the equipment, but if you convert an existing building to a cinema it could work. Indie cinema can be had for nothing really - I bet if you ran an ad in the UK indie film rag you could get tons of submissions for free - for many filmmakers, an opportunity to 4-wall their movie for perhaps a percentage of the gate or something would be very desireable, especially if we're talking several nights.

But then you also have the responsibility to advertise in some way.

But I think with the right business model, a small independent cinema *could* be doable.

 

[knightly]

I'm in...I'll start shopping around my area for locations and projector/screen cost/options. Maybe we can get HP or someone to sponsor us by providing projectors to help support local indie cinema. State/Federal Fine Arts grants to help offset the initial costs. Tons of possibilities! I have a distribution sceme listed in the hijacking a thread...um...thread as well.

 

[Mikey D]

What I like about reddragons ideas are the diversity of income possabilities. Not just film and popcorn, but books and DVD. But I say why stop there. Why not create a space that can be utilized by the entire art communtiy. Host poetry readings/contests. Support local bands. Sell new and used CDs, DVDs, and books. Also a full kitchen is a must. Hell you can even utulize some space to feature local painters, photographers, etc. Think of it as a one stop shop for all your artistic needs.


As Clive pointed out it is increasingly difficult for cinaplexes to maintain their profitability so why not find creative ways to bring in more income.

And the space is already there and waiting. I can't speak for the UK but in the US smaller multiplexes are shutting down all over the place making way for the big neon uberplexes. In my town there is a six screen theater just sitting empty. The duplex in town also closed years ago but was taken over by a church group. In a smallish town like mine, ie mostly divoid of any cultural worth, a strictly art house cinima could barely survive. We already have one and even they have to subsidize there income by having concerts(more high brow non electrified instrumental type concerts, mosty of a historical nature since this is williamsburg after all) and hosting traveling theater groups. And while I am sure this town has its fair share of ciniphiles I just can't believe that there is enough demand to support a business. So why not attract the local suburban kids with expendable income and too much time. Feed them pizza and soda, sell them a cd, charge a cover so they can see the newest local band. And in one of the smaller theaters off to the side play the Godfather trilogy with enough time in between films to order another pitcher of beer. And thats just Saturday. On slower nights you have poetry readings and open mic nights, while showing the most recent indie films.

Damn this is a good idea. Any investors out there?

 

[reddragon105]

thanks for the positive comments guys!

i've just had another idea - video games
you could have gaming sessions where you hook up PCs and consoles to your digital projectors and people can come in for some multiplayer goodness

and thanks for the input mikey d - the cinema in my town i was talking about does poetry nights, i forgot all about that until you mentioned it. of course that's a theatre as well so they have plays, stand up and live music nights. that's what you need, at least one stage.

as for location, university towns are a must. you've got intellectually hungry people, at just the right ages to be in to films, literature, music, plays, video games etc.

we definitely need some investors on these projects! we're not just talking cinemas anymore, we're talking cultural epicentres. if anyone has any idea how they can get investment, let me know. if anyone wants to get together to try to get this off the ground, let me know. to be serious i would be willing to relocate any where in the world to get this done, i live in the UK and would love to start over here, but if anyone in the USA, Canada, anywhere(!) thinks it's feasible in their part of the world, i'd be happy to move.

 

[spinner]

And I would also want it to be educational - I would have a book shop selling books on film history, language, theory, specific films and filmmakers etc., plus novels that have been adapted, hoping to encourage people to read around the films. Plus I could have a DVD shop. I would also want to put on lectures before the films, for eg. if Battleship Potemkin is showing there could be a lecture giving a brief background of the Russian revolution, Eisenstein himself, his film techniques, so that the film can be put in context for the audience to appreciate it a bit more and also learn something

.

...you know, in the US, you might be able to talk one of the book chains (barnes & nobel, borders) to set up a kind of exchange so that you could have a shelf for books in this area. And if you didn't have the book someone was looking for, you could refer them to the store, which would bring more foot traffic to them...

I would also like the cinema to be a bit of a community by bringing together fellow aspiring filmmakers. Meetings could be held for anyone wanting to make films so that a director can meet a writer and cast and crew. The cinema could also support the filmmakers by loaning equipment and finance, producing the films on DVD and of course screening the films to a public audience (hopefully getting the attention of agents, awards bodies and production companies)

...this is a good idea, because the biggest problem I am having in my city, is not having any like minded people to bounce ideas off of. Present company excluded. But in this way, you know people who are really interested in doing this sort of thing and you create a creative, cultural hub of people in your community...

quite the cool idea. A move from the UK is quite a big step for you to take...

--spinner

 

[Joe_Hunt]

I think it is worth pointing out that this is being done all over the place. Just look at the explosion of small film festivals. A lot of the newer smaller festivals are hosted in non-conventional screening locations. My film showed in an art museum and a bar among other locations. The trick is having a sustainable flow of clientelle if you want to make it a business. Working with Indie bands, etc. is a good way to bring in a young crowd. In big cities this is more likely to be successful because you have a larger group of people to pull from. College towns as mentioned before are also a great idea.

It seems you would be more successful if you just supplemented an existing business such as a bar or restaurant with film screenings, and other cultural events though.

Another question, what rights would you need to get if you were to try the video game suggestion above?

 

[reddragon105]

yes the rights part is the bit i don't get...

i thought i would be able to use my own dvds. i know that in the copyright information they say 'this dvd is licensed for private exhibition only' but i thought it would just be a case of getting in touch with the movie studio and applying for a license, paying an extra fee, and showing the movie. but clive said above that you would have to actually rent a different copy of the dvd, one that is licensed for public exhibition.

and as for the video games, i've never seen a place before that allows you to pay to enter to play video games, so i'm not sure if there are even provisions for applying for a license for public performance of a video game. it would even be different to having the consoles on display in a store because you are charging for their use. i will have to look in to that.

 

[Zensteve]

i've never seen a place before that allows you to pay to enter to play video games, so i'm not sure if there are even provisions for applying for a license for public performance of a video game.

This is a huge business; mainly online games where one rents by the hour for the use of the computers.

Since most of the games require an account to play (which the individual upkeeps), as long as the account is current they can log in from anywhere. The software client itself is a one-time purchase (at worst) or a totally free download (at best) through which one can create an account.

I'd kill to play EVE in a theater with a 50' screen.

Spoiler

Not a nerd

 

[reddragon105]

well although i'm into online gaming i've never seen a place that rents out computers by the hour for gaming, only for internet access, i guess that is something that just hasn't taken off in the UK. i only know of 1 or 2 cyber cafes and they are used more for the 'cafe' than the 'cyber'.
i've been thinking of this cinema idea for a while, but i did see a property for sale in my town last year that would have been suitable for a cafe, and i thought of making a cyber cafe where you could have lan parties and online gaming on both pcs and consoles. but yeh, a lack of money meant that i couldn't do that either, and if i was going to get funding i would go for a cinema because films are my primary passion.

but i was wondering how well a place like that would do over here, there's got to be plenty of kids wandering around town on a saturday afternoon that would like to just pop in, get a soda, sit on a sofa, and have a game of halo, or UT2004 amongst themselves, plus other customers and people from across the world. so i'm surprised that places like that haven't taken off here. i always knew i was born in the wrong country.

 

[spinner]

but i was wondering how well a place like that would do over here, there's got to be plenty of kids wandering around town on a saturday afternoon that would like to just pop in, get a soda, sit on a sofa, and have a game of halo, or UT2004 amongst themselves, plus other customers and people from across the world. so i'm surprised that places like that haven't taken off here. i always knew i was born in the wrong country.

...maybe its a cultural thing, but I always thought that kids seem to want/need a place to hang out. There are coffeshops with nothing but coffee and piped in music and they are always full. So full, in fact, that there can be about 3 or 4 almost within a stones throw of each other and they all get some business...

--spinner

 

[clive]

You might find the rights issues different if you aren't charging for entrance. It would mean that you were't a cinema, but a cafe that shows films. You may well be able to arrange a license from the distributors for that. I'm not sure who I'd ask about that, probably someone at the film council. There must be a way of doing that, because they already have agreements in place for oilrigs/airlines and even coaches to show films to their customers.

The only thing I know for sure is that it all changes if you decide to run a cinema where you charge ticket prices to see a film.