How to support Canada’s independent cinemas
- Executive Summary
- What is the independent cinema sector?
- Canadian film needs Canadian cinemas
- The shift back to theatrical
- What independent cinemas bring to Canadian communities
- Independents need support with: Cineplex and ‘zones’
- Independents need support with: ‘Clean runs’ from studios
- Independents need support with: Capacity to grow
- Act now: Write a letter to support your favourite independent cinema!
Lucas Shaw
Screentime, February 2023, Bloomberg
While the pandemic forced movie studios to experiment with releasing expensive movies at home, just about every major media company is backing away from streaming films […] Under pressure to deliver profits, they once again see value in theaters.
The rise of streaming has undeniably impacted cinemas, and the resultant flattening of content into massive online libraries has not given Canadian film much room to grow.
A.O. Scott, New York Times chief film critic
Our Film Critic on Why He’s Done With the Movies, The Daily, March 2023, New York Times
Netflix has blunted their impact, because what happens to movies on streaming is that they go into the algorithm—so that you can find them, they’re there, but they don’t have the same kind of cultural presence that movies used to or traditionally distributed movies still do.
Major Hollywood studios and even tech companies like Amazon and Apple have learned that streaming alone does not give their films high impact, and are pivoting back to cinemas in order to support their own product.
Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Box Office Pro
Apple to spend $1 billion making movies for theaters, matching Amazon: Report, March 2023, Yahoo! Finance
Now that streaming has begun to mature, the pendulum is certainly swinging back toward a balance as these distributors see the kind of success they’ve been leaving on the table with an all-in approach to streaming.
In order to develop an audience for Canadian film that will eventually run of its own accord with a sustainable profit model, we need to invest in Canadian cinemas. As the major studios know, cinemas are the best way to make money off a film.
Lucas Shaw
Screentime, February 2023, Bloomberg
A big hit in theaters, like Top Gun: Maverick, makes more money for everyone involved than a movie released online. Tom Cruise will make more than $100 million from that movie, according to people familiar with his deal. That is more than any star has ever made for a streaming movie.
How to support Canada’s independent cinemas
- Executive Summary
- What is the independent cinema sector?
- Canadian film needs Canadian cinemas
- The shift back to theatrical
- What independent cinemas bring to Canadian communities
- Independents need support with: Cineplex and ‘zones’
- Independents need support with: ‘Clean runs’ from studios
- Independents need support with: Capacity to grow
- Act now: Write a letter to support your favourite independent cinema!
