Jason KingStop Whingeing About Cinema Ticket Prices
June 24th 2010 11:04
:
Movies Still Crap All Over DVDs
Category: No Category
This is an article from JESSICA IRVINE - AN ECONOMICS WRITER FOR THE SMH
CINEMA patrons should think twice before whingeing about expensive ticket prices or the seemingly never-ending line up of ads shown before a film. You can complain about one, but not both.
Without the advertising, movie buffs could be paying more than $20 per cinema visit, said the executive director of Palace Cinemas, Benjamin Zeccola.
And if you did not buy popcorn and a choc top, you really can not complain about the ticket price or the ads.
"I don't think there is a Palace Cinema that could operate on box office alone. They would all be running at a loss," he said.
While Screen Australia says the average movie ticket has risen in price by 50 per cent in the past 10 years, industry insiders say it still does not even begin to cover the costs of running a cinema.
By far the biggest cost cinema owners face is payments to film distributors for the rights to screen a movie.
These fees are fixed as a percentage of all box office sales. For a blockbuster film in its first week of screening, as much as 55 per cent of ticket revenue goes to the distributor, such as Warner Brothers or Paramount.
This rental fee falls the longer a film is shown, but not to less than about 25 per cent.
Distributors of independent films demand less, but still up to 45 per cent of the ticket price. Cinema operators must ensure there is enough money left to pay staff, rent premises, pay electricity bills, maintain and replace projection equipment and refurbish as needed.
To cover these costs, cinemas supplement their revenue from other sources, such as the candy bar, advertising, sponsorships and special events.
This is particularly important for arthouse or boutique cinemas.
Mr Zeccola said: "We put a lot of effort into our hospitality offering and its just as important as the film offering. We rely on people saying 'let's go there early and get a coffee or a pinot grigio'."
Salty Popcorn would go as far as to mention that this is why candy bar pricing is so expensive - it is to keep the cinemas open for patrons to attend
I know it sux that it costs about $50 to go to a movie now for two people including basic candy bar food but when you pick a good movie it is all worth it. Someone has to cover the ridiculous $20MIL for some actors.
CINEMA patrons should think twice before whingeing about expensive ticket prices or the seemingly never-ending line up of ads shown before a film. You can complain about one, but not both.
Without the advertising, movie buffs could be paying more than $20 per cinema visit, said the executive director of Palace Cinemas, Benjamin Zeccola.
And if you did not buy popcorn and a choc top, you really can not complain about the ticket price or the ads.
"I don't think there is a Palace Cinema that could operate on box office alone. They would all be running at a loss," he said.
While Screen Australia says the average movie ticket has risen in price by 50 per cent in the past 10 years, industry insiders say it still does not even begin to cover the costs of running a cinema.
By far the biggest cost cinema owners face is payments to film distributors for the rights to screen a movie.
These fees are fixed as a percentage of all box office sales. For a blockbuster film in its first week of screening, as much as 55 per cent of ticket revenue goes to the distributor, such as Warner Brothers or Paramount.
This rental fee falls the longer a film is shown, but not to less than about 25 per cent.
Distributors of independent films demand less, but still up to 45 per cent of the ticket price. Cinema operators must ensure there is enough money left to pay staff, rent premises, pay electricity bills, maintain and replace projection equipment and refurbish as needed.
To cover these costs, cinemas supplement their revenue from other sources, such as the candy bar, advertising, sponsorships and special events.
This is particularly important for arthouse or boutique cinemas.
Mr Zeccola said: "We put a lot of effort into our hospitality offering and its just as important as the film offering. We rely on people saying 'let's go there early and get a coffee or a pinot grigio'."
Salty Popcorn would go as far as to mention that this is why candy bar pricing is so expensive - it is to keep the cinemas open for patrons to attend
I know it sux that it costs about $50 to go to a movie now for two people including basic candy bar food but when you pick a good movie it is all worth it. Someone has to cover the ridiculous $20MIL for some actors.| 179 |
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Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
I remember going to see The Breakfast Club in NYC when it came out, and the tickets were $4.50, which back then was around $NZ10. I thought that was very dear to go to the movies.
Comment by bloggingamerican
Comment by Mr Nice Guy
Pop Culturist
Pop Rock Factory
You guys should check out the New Beverly cinema. OK, so it's in LA - but if you ever get the chance it's worth the $7 (yes $7) to catch some great films. This week is Vampire-Con Film Fest!
Check it out.
Really Long Link
Comment by Wilson Pon
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Comment by Spring-Heeled Jack
Over.Exposure
The fact still remains that $15 for a cinema admission is ridiculous in the face of plummeting DVD prices and rampant movie piracy. When you weigh up the options, going to the cinema is a luxury that fewer and fewer people can justify.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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As it stands I rarely view movies at the cinema. Between Foxtel movie channels and $8 dvds, a cinema experience is a completely unnecessary expense.
Comment by Janet Collins
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I would never complain about the ads either because as you say, something has to keep them open and I do hope that there will be a time when I will be able to get to the cinema a lot more regularly.
A good point you make with this post, Jason, particularly as the Academy Twin in Paddington is closing its doors on Sunday.
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
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Total Randomness
Blogginamerican - all that money comes from the public. When they talk the amount of money the film makes it is purely from ticket sales. Then about 50-60% of ticket sales goes straight to the distribution company and so on. Advertising is money for the cinema - not for the film. All that is people's hard earned cash paying for their tickets only. But the Potter 1-5's would include probably worldwide DVD and Blu Ray sales - which is a massive market, especially for such multi viewable films.
MNG - I would love to check out that cinema - if I ever get back to the US I will for sure.
Wilson - yeah - we have "cheap ass Tuesday" in Australia and a great way to save on spending money on your tickets.
SHJ - agreed, but without the studios there will be no movies. Catch 22. Making a Hollywood movie is like US politics - a hammer on paper is worth about $2000-. And it is a culture they have had since the commencement of films. Why an actor has to ear $20MIL for a few months work is beyond me when a brain surgeon earns about $100K. And ticket prices won't go down with "rampant movie piracy" - they will go up to make up for the shortfall lost to pirates. But yay to not blaming cinema operators!!!!
Morgan - I see your point but DVDs, Cinema outings and Foxtel are all unnecessary expenses - we do them to enjoy them and have a time out to enter a fantasy land. But I agree and could not afford to see as many movies as I do without working in the industry and enjoying some benefits. If I did I would end up bashing my head against a wall at a lot of the crap I would watch. Hoyts has commenced a pretty decent thing - called Hoyts Rewards - it is a loyalty program that is pretty decent - whenever you spend money at Hoyts you earn reward points you can spend on food and free tickets. It is better than most loyalty things I have seen.
Janet - OH NO - you have made me very sad - I am writing an article on Academy this morning - I had no idea and am very sad at this, I have had so many good times at The Academy. IN regards to your other comments - the DVD release being moved sooner is a studio move that has been causing cinema shockwaves around the world. A very large cinema chain in the UK refused to screen the latest Alice in Wonderland at all because studios shortened the gap to only 12 weeks before DVD came out, as some of the regionals screen films for up to 16 weeks they would be losing money but studios want them out sooner so they can still cash out on the hype of the film. IIT is very annoying. I remember having to wait over a year for the DVD to come out in the past - now it's literally a few months or even weeks after its cinema release.
Comment by Spring-Heeled Jack
Over.Exposure
By raising prices all you do is punish the people who are consuming your product legitimately, so they end up paying for all those who don't. The same situation is plaguing the videogame industry, where those who buy legitimate copies of a game are forced to put up with anti-piracy software that the cracked versions don't feature (and they are always cracked eventually).
Perhaps the most ridiculous product of the approach so far are those annoying anti-piracy ads they've put at the front of movies and DVDs in the past few years, because you're only ever going to see them if you've paid to enter the cinema or bought a DVD. There are two ways to move people. You can give them an incentive to do it, or you can punish them when they don't. More often than not, the latter consumes almost as much time and resources as it reclaims.
In closing, I should reaffirm the fact that this has nothing to do with individual cinema chains. They have about as much control over the price of admission as your local petrol station has over the market value for oil.
Comment by Wilson Pon
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Lol What a funny slogan
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