In the first half of this year, due to the new crown pneumonia epidemic and other reasons, the box office of the domestic film market declined significantly compared with the same period last year, but the number of theaters still maintained a growth trend. According to data released by the China Film Data Information Network of the National Film Specialized Office, 415 new theaters were opened nationwide in the first half of the year, and major film and television companies basically maintained the established pace of theater construction.
From the perspective of the long-term development of the film industry, it is very encouraging to see so many new theaters opening in the first half of the year. At the same time, we also see that when cinemas withdraw from the market from time to time, there are still so many entrants, which shows that society is generally optimistic about the prospects of the film industry.
also brought up an important topic - how can these newly opened cinemas adapt to the current market environment as soon as possible? At a time when the average attendance rate of theaters is generally declining, how to make new theaters affordable, retain and live well does require industry attention.
First we need to have a general understanding of these newly opened cinemas so that we can have a targeted discussion. According to data from the China Film Data Information Network, from the perspective of regional distribution, among the newly opened cinemas in the first half of the year, 30 new first-tier cities, 67 new second-tier cities, and 318 new third-tier and below. This shows that the number of cinemas in first- and second-tier cities is becoming saturated, and the newly added cinemas are mainly located in small and medium-sized cities in third-tier and below. From the perspective of provinces, Sichuan Province has the largest number of new cinemas, with 42; followed by Zhejiang and Guangdong, with more than 30 new cinemas in the first half of the year; next are Jiangsu, Hubei, Hunan, Hebei, Anhui, Henan, Shandong, Chongqing, etc., with more than 20 new cinemas. From the perspective of its affiliated companies, China Film Co., Ltd. has 45 new theaters, Wanda has 28 new theaters, and Hengdian has 23 new theaters.
Through the above data, we can roughly draw a picture for the new theater. Most of them are located in small and medium-sized cities in the third tier and below, many of which are direct stores or franchise stores of listed film and television companies. In view of the above characteristics, the author puts forward the following suggestions, hoping that it will be helpful for these newly opened cinemas to better adapt to the current market environment.
First, we must have the concept of "work hard for a long time" and strive to improve the quality of employees. It is currently unrealistic to require a newly opened theater to recover its investment as soon as possible, so we must focus on the long term, strengthen theater management, and improve employee quality. Employee quality is the most fundamental embodiment of the quality of the theater. Judging from the practice in recent years, newly opened cinemas often attach importance to the investment in hard power and do not pay enough attention to the soft power of employee quality, so that when the market situation is good, the cinemas will survive well; when the market situation changes, many cinemas cannot hold on. Now is the time to change this concept. How to improve the quality of theater employees depends on the specific situation of each theater. In short, the purpose is to enable theater employees to devote themselves to the theater work with one heart and one mind and enthusiasm, and to cultivate more loyal audiences for the theater.
Second, we must strive for the support of the local government and truly become an important base for propaganda and ideological work. New theaters often do not understand the central work of the local government and are not particularly familiar with the various departments of the local government. The "14th Five-Year Plan" released by the National Film Administration pointed out that movies are an important base for propaganda and ideological work, a literary and artistic form that is deeply loved by the people, and an important symbol of the country's cultural soft power. It may be difficult for grassroots theater leaders to quickly and fully understand the spirit of the document, but we must realize that there are still many places where theaters can play a role in cooperating with the work of local governments, such as film reviews and essay contests held on major festivals, and party members to watch movies on themed party days. This requires the theater leader to actively communicate with the local government to make the local government realize the important role of the theater.
Third, we must innovate cinema services and increase revenue outside cinemas. I visited a theater in Los Angeles, USA ten years ago. This theater is famous for providing specialty catering. Its box office revenue accounts for 30% of the total revenue, while catering revenue accounts for 70%. In recent years, my country's cinema revenue has increasingly relied on box office revenue. The author has not yet found that any cinema's box office revenue accounts for less than 50%.At the same time, we are also delighted to see that under the existing market environment, while some newly opened cinemas are solidly improving their technical level, they are also actively expanding new businesses in addition to the traditional film projection business, making cinemas the venue for the first show, first exhibition and first launch of the local cultural industry, building a diversified ecosystem with film as the core, and improving economic and social benefits.
"The playing style can be achieved quickly, but the skill cannot." I hope that the newly opened cinema this year will use the playing style while concentrating on it, spend several years to practice internal skills, and strive to become a new landmark of local cultural life.
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