Village Theatre: digitalisation will come with costly challenges
Sarah Kay, Village Theatre manager. Photo: Ina Holst.
Takaka’s Village Theatre is facing a serious funding challenge if it wants to survive long-term.
The digitalisation of the film industry is imminent and will encompass the entire industry, but significant costs are involved, said Village Theatre manager Sarah Kay, reporting back from the AGM of the New Zealand Motion Picture Exhibitor Association (NZMPEA) held in Wellington last week.
To go with the global flow will cost the Village Theatre at least $100,000, covering the purchase of a new projector and was now only a question of “jumping on board or undergoing a slow death and we don’t want that,” said Sarah. “While the supply of independent movies may continue for a number of years, the supply of Hollywood and children’s movies will not.”
“I am really excited about it. The real revolution is not so much about 3D but about going digital, with great digital sound and no scratched or jumping pictures. What it means is that the film will be sent to us as a 200 gigabyte file on a fancy portable hard drive. Of course, for the industry it is cheaper to produce a file on a disc than to create a 35mm print at $4000 a piece and freight the weight of 20kg around the world. The studios are really pushing it because it saves them a lot of money. They are approaching critical mass [in support of digitalisation] in the United States, the UK, Europe, India and China, and there’s no doubt this is going to happen.”
The film industry will provide some subsidises for the conversion for large commercial operations, but unfortunately it will not extend to The Village Theatre.
“For us, it means that we have to fund the whole project ourselves. This has an up side, in that we can show whatever we like on our digital projector, with no penalties or restrictions, and once we’ve made the change we can get movies the day they open, which will bring in a whole new audience. We also then have the option to upgrade to 3D, although this would cost an extra $40,000. We are already looking at different funding options and will need the support of the community,” said Sarah, “but there is no need to rush into it.
“The next step is to model the business scenario, or probably several variations, to give us an overall picture of what the change will mean for us.”
To face the challenges ahead for small independent cinemas, the NZMPEA, which is entirely run by volunteers, has opted to co-operate with the Independent Cinema Association of Australia (ICAA).
ICAA’s employees have already been working on negotiating bulk deals for equipment supply and support, studio subsidies, and content delivery.
“We need better representation, and as a larger group we have more clout. In New Zealand there are 470 screens in total, and 170 are independent cinemas. In Australia there are 1900 screens and 400 of those are independent cinemas. Together we form a good solid entity, and the New Zealand association has voted to become an associate member of ICAA so we can take advantage of their deals and add to their buying power.”
The issue will be discussed further at the upcoming Village Theatre AGM, a social event with nibbles, wine and a free movie. The cinema business will be kept to a minimum, promised Sarah.
The theatre has had a successful three months. It began the year with a negative bank balance, but a well-attended film festival, growing membership numbers, and the screening of a handful of popular movies have all served to return its accounts to the black.
The AGM is on 21 June, at 7pm. New members are welcome.
Ina Holst
