Imminent closure of The Picture House

[Gus]

Maybe a bit harsh but I personally think that a picture house which is only showing 6 films in total per week during the school holidays could look to do a bit more.

Surely a couple of films during the day with a cheap admission for kids would be a good option, maybe not make a great amount of money , but would encourage kids to use the pictures. Maybe something like showing Star wars trilogy Monday to Friday etc

Also I still believe a Friday woud be a good night for going to flicks - its never really been here on a friday because of the bingo that used to be on.

Maybe a Friday would not work, but worth a try?????

[Ship called Dignity]

I was just going to say the same.

I still can't see the reason behind not showing Friday night films??

[Jonathan]

No Friday films.... eeeek!!!


Normal showing of a film then how about a late special.... classic horror or thriller?

[Goldielocks]

Jonathan I take it you dont stay in the town, not having a cinema to go to wouldn't bother you, Oh but then if you stay in Stirling or there abouts you will have a Cinema to go to wont you! Piracy is a problem and needs to be dealt with in some way for the sake of the Cinema and also for Dale's We dont want the Cinema to be another closed building or for that matter have another shop in main street closed

[Iona]

With all due respect Goldielocks, I don't think the problem of piracy will go away. Jonathan is merely pointing this out. Perhaps Woolies should start a thread complaining about all the illegal music cds and tapes(!) that we all have. (just a point - not reference to the Cinema, I may add)

[Jonathan]

Jonathan I take it you dont stay in the town, not having a cinema to go to wouldn't bother you, Oh but then if you stay in Stirling or there abouts you will have a Cinema to go to wont you! Piracy is a problem and needs to be dealt with in some way for the sake of the Cinema and also for Dale's We dont want the Cinema to be another closed building or for that matter have another shop in main street closed

I don't stay in Campbeltown - I did however live in Campbeltown before the cinema reopened and once it had. Also piracy was around then just as much as it now!!

What you must ask yourself is this - most people that buy pirated movies do so for a reason, but why do they do this? Pirated releases of new movies are always not DVD quality - that takes time to release - so obviously not as good as what you'd experience in the cinema!! Why do people want to watch inferior quality films?

It's because it's what they want to see!! And it's because it's done at a time more suitable to the watcher - and it's because of the environment the film is watched in!!

The cinema, or anyother business tbh, must be aware of it's customers needs. Does it know what they really want? Has the cinema ever asked this question?

I know the fact that the cinema being small etc has it's limitations - but it must be flexible.

[4th gen Suthen']

[before the cinema reopened and once it had. Also piracy was around then just as much as it now!!

.

you really think that?

[Jonathan]

[before the cinema reopened and once it had. Also piracy was around then just as much as it now!!

.

you really think that?

That's why I said it - and c'mon just think about it.


Thing is though - PIRACY is not the issue here - the cinema is!! If you wait to solve the piracy issue to save the cinema am sorry but it will be long gone.

[4th gen Suthen']

I'll just leave you to it on this one Jonathon............

Dont sound so bloomin' pleased about it though.

Did you get chucked out of an X when you were 17 or something?

[WC1]

Piracy IS at least one of the issues. Why else are cinemas running first-release films talking about banning mobile phones (see this week's Sunday papers)? Pirate videos were always about, but they were time consuming to duplicate and not cheap. But the technology has changed. With digital downloads via computers etc. it's both cheap and easy to get good quality pirated DVDs. See other posts on this topic as to how widespread they are even here in Campbeltown. It's still not the same as seeing films as they were meant to be seen, but teenagers aren't necessarily bothered about that, and it's the teenagers that are the biggest part of the 'lost' audience it seems.

[John S]

WC 1, Perhaps I am the exception, but I found it difficult to wait so long to see Return of the King - it seemed to take ages, I don't go to the cinema that often and for me this kind of film tends to get me along and I found it hard not to go and see it when up-the-road.

I know it is a catch 22 for the cinema, bringing high demand films early in their release but this market should be the bread-and-butter, people are desperate to see these films, and see it they will, the trouble is that when customers find another supply i.e. pirate dvd’s or trips to the city, how do you win them back?

And win then you must, I'm sorry but I find the use-it-or-loose jibe a real turn off. Customers create demand, you cannot demand custom, trips to the city can be reversed easily but when pirating or rather peddling pirate films gains a foot-hold how do you stop it?

And what about the Internet, as new competition builds for our leisure time through broadband, market shares for other entertainment will fall.

I have said before and do so again, I believe diversification is key to the survival of the cinema and the community business it the right vehicle for it. There are real opportunities to develop new local services, which could effectively subsidise and support the regeneration of the cinema and win back audiences lost to other technologies.

[WC1]

The problem for the Picture House (and any other small cinema) is that the 'renters' (the firms that release the films) demand up to 80% of the gross takings for the first week of release and usually tie that in to a minimum hire period of up to three weeks. If you look at the listings for the Highland Theatre in Oban you'll see that when they get a big film on the week of release, which they often do, they still have it on for two or three weeks afterwards. They have more than one screen, so what happens is that after the first week in the main hall the film trickles down to the smaller screens which in Oban are about the size of your living room. Paradoxically, the Picture House might have more chance if it had another screen! Even three or four weeks after release the renters are asking up to 60% of the gross nowadays, depending on the popularity of the film. The city multiplexes can pay that because about 60% of their takings come not from the box office but from the sales kiosks. Digital projection via satellite (essentially the same technology as the pirated DVDs) will help in the long run - if the Picture House can get the new equipment. I saw digital projection in Manchester some years ago on a screen four times the size of the one in the Picture House and you wouldn't have known the difference except there were none of the scratches you inevitably get with celluloid films. I agree with you about diversification and the need to rebuild the audience and I said as much on Friday night.

[Malky]

WC 1, Perhaps I am the exception, but I found it difficult to wait so long to see Return of the King - it seemed to take ages, I don't go to the cinema that often and for me this kind of film tends to get me along and I found it hard not to go and see it when up-the-road.

I found that too - so I saw it up the road then saw it here, oh and then I bought the DVD

I know it is a catch 22 for the cinema, bringing high demand films early in their release but this market should be the bread-and-butter, people are desperate to see these films

The film distibutors are part of the problem here. To take a film when it's first released, they demand 85% of the seat takings - not a problem up the road where cinemas can make their money from the kiosk sales. (By the way, two bags of sweets and two drinks cost me nearly £10 in UGC last thursday )
The film would also have to be taken for 2 weeks - again, not a problem up the road where it will be moved to another smaller auditorium but a major problem for the Picture House where it would be dead for the second week. Result - all profit gone. After all, it doesn't matter if there are 15 or 150 people in the audience, there are minimum staffing levels set by health and safety regulations that must be adhered to.

I have said before and do so again, I believe diversification is key to the survival of the cinema and the community business it the right vehicle for it. There are real opportunities to develop new local services, which could effectively subsidise and support the regeneration of the cinema and win back audiences lost to other technologies.

Such as John

Malky

[Jock Strap]

What about various shows like the one similar to the Music Festival event on the Saturday night this year?

6 times a year or the likes? It is amazing how popular these are.

And Friday nights are a must?

[WC1]

Great minds think alike Malky!