More than a week after the cinema industry returned home from CineEurope, hopefully everyone has recovered from this year’s event in Barcelona and has had a chance to catch up on overdue work and overflowing email inboxes. One of those emails should be telling you about the upcoming CJ Cinema Summit on 11 July, when we will be unveiling this year’s Top Women In Global Exhibition list. You can register here.
Perhaps it is just those of us who attend CineEurope from abroad that spend the following two weeks being asked about our take on the conference by colleagues and contemporaries. For at least the past two years inquiries like “So, how was Barcelona?” or “What did you think of CineEurope this year?” were all ways of asking the same question; “Based on what you saw at CineEurope, what’s the state of the industry and what does it mean for the near-term future of the the market?”
This year, in the weekend leading into CineEurope, Disney and Pixar thankfully released “Inside Out 2” to a whopping USD $295 global opening box office. This helped set a far more upbeat mood than would otherwise have been possible since the cinema operators in attendance had all spent the first half of 2024 with very few studio releases to play. While “Dune 2,” “Kung Fu Panda 4” and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” helped in March, not having any big releases ini January, February or April was devastating to exhibitor’s finances, especially independent operators. With titles such as “The Fall Guy,” “Furiosa,” and “If,” not kickstarting the summer moviegoing season with a bang, cinema owners were either downright depressed or in full panic mode by the time they arrived at the International Barcelona Convention Center.
The whisperings that Cineworld may need to restructure its finances in the United Kingdom this summer so soon after exiting bankruptcy in the United States surely didn’t help. That rumour spun off in all directions, most of which had only a shred of accuracy, if any at all. (The reality of what’s going on at Cineworld is far too nuanced and detailed to get into here, though watch this space over the next month for more info.)
Honestly, I lost count of how many exhibitors told me in confidence that, while they may be able to make payroll in June and maybe July, they weren’t sure how they could remain in business or make payroll by August and September. These were cinema operators of all sizes; small, mid-size and even market leading chains. In the same breath, after seeing slate presentations from nearly a dozen distributors, they were also expressing optimism that the series of uncontrollable negative market forces were coming to an end.
“Bad Boys: Ride or Die” and “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” were holding way better than then exhibitors had expected. “Inside Out 2” was racing its way toward a billion dollar box office in record time. Now with “A Quiet Place: Day One” opening to USD $98 million globally, exhibitors crossed their fingers that “Despicable Me 4” and “Deadpool & Wolverine” would perform even better. That sound you hear is the collective sigh of relief from exhibitors the world over, especially those with local titles to help drive attendance.
Once the anxiety of CineEurope delegates subsided, they began to realize the market has a lot to look forward to when movies and audiences turn up at theatres. For instance, Barco and Christie continued to show off their new HDR offerings. Christie also had a booth highlighting CINITY, which has HD-everything. There were also three different direct view manufacturers set up at CineEurope showing off new and improved LED screens; LG, Samsung and Timewaying. I unfortunately didn’t make it to any of Vista Group’s seminars, which I was really looking forward to, though everyone who did said they were impressed. I actually spent a great deal of time on the trade show floor, either attending the break out sessions, sitting in each and every Ferco chair, visiting the likes of GDC, Harkness Screens and CinemaNext (to name only a few), admiring the new Infinity Seating pods, or watching the POSitive robot avoid everyone as it rolled down each aisle.
I also ate way too much candy and popcorn (because it wouldn’t be right not to try all of them) and I drank my fair share of Coca-Cola. In fact, the Coca-Cola booth had a whole section devoted to Coke & Go. This is Coke’s unattended retail frictionless transaction idea where customers can purchase concession items without any human interaction. The technology is quite slick and the trend is catching on so quickly that Coca-Cola presented an informative panel discussion on the subject during the Tuesday programme.
After the session I wound up speaking with Nick Gault, Senior Director, Away From Home Customers, Coca-Cola Europe, suggesting they name the new concept Coca-Gola. He was quick to tell me that I should keep my day job. I took this as a huge compliment intended to reassure me that my efforts as an accidental journalist would be missed if I were instead to become a genius marketing executive with such pearls of branding wisdom. That’s surely what he meant.
Distributors
Latest A24 Investment Round Values the Indie Darling at $3.5 Billion
If ever there was a month which proved that brand matters, even in the film industry, then it was June 2024. Over the past month, Sony Pictures Entertainment acquired Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, a theatre chain with – arguably – one of the strongest movie brands in the U.S., and Thrive Capital led a funding round of A24, the indie studio with the hippest reputation among moviegoers thanks to hit, boundary pushing, award winners such as “Lady Bird,” “Moonlight” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once.”
The full amount of the round was not disclosed though it is rumored to be in the neighborhood of USD $250 million with Thrive accounting for roughly USD $75 million. That is enough to get Thrive founder, Joshua Kushner, on the board of A24. If some of these names sound familiar that’s because Thrive was the investment firm Bob Iger briefly joined in between his stints as Disney’s CEO and Kushner is the older brother of Jared Kushner, that guy from President Trump’s administration who was put in charge of peace in the Middle East during his presidential term.
As The Information reported, Thrive is one of OpenAI’s top investors so now there is a lot of speculation about any symmetry’s that might bring. The new investment gives A24 a valuation of USD $3.5 billion, up 40% from USD $2.5 billion, its valuation during a 2022 funding round. To put that in perspective, A24 has a library of 150 films and 50 television series, whereas Lionsgate’s 20,000+ title film and television library has a market cap of USD $4.8 billion and Amazon purchased MGM, with its 4,000 film titles and 17,000 TV episodes for USD $8.5 billion in 2022.
While outside investors like Thrive only own 12.5% of the company, with A24 founders, Daniel Katz, David Fenkel and John Hodges owning the majority stake along with employees, at some point these investment firms are going to want a return on the money they are plowing into the company at a significant multiple. Given the indie distributor’s current valuation, the math on that may become increasingly complicated. Who knows, maybe all that merchandise A24 sells to fans of its movies brings in more revenue than everyone assumes.
Source: Fast Company
Exhibitors
South Africa’s Ster-Kinekor Navigates Through Financial Headwinds
After entering business rescue in January of 2021 due to the financial strains of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ster-Kinekor, the largest cinema operator in South Africa, is once again facing financial challenges from market conditions beyond its control (i.e. lack of film releases). Having been resuscitated by investors in November of 2022 with ZAR R250 million (USD $13.6 million) in cash, Ster-Kinekor spent the past few months making public moves to shore up its operating costs in an effort to survive.
Back in April, the company announced that it would be closing up to nine of its cinema complexes across South Africa’s most populous provinces over the next six months and retrenching roughly 226 of its 728 employees across all departments. Ultimately Ster-Kinekor closed only two locations, the Boardwalk in Richard’s Bay and the Greenstone Mall in Johannesburg, leading to 52 workers being laid off. Staffing at the company’s headquarters has been reduced over 20%.
Of the remaining seven cinema sites the company is currently in discussions with landlords and partners to consider different entertainment and education strategies for those locations. Ster-Kinekor operates 41 theatres in South Africa and an additional six complexes in Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Source: MyBroadband
People
Pablo Billard Takes Over as President of Cinépolis Brazil
Pablo Billard, a 14-year-veteran of the global exhibition giant Cinépolis, is returning to his native Brazil to take over as president of the company’s Brazilian operations. He will start 1 July 2024, taking over for the departing Luiz Gonzaga de Luca. This same position at Cinépolis was once held by Eduardo Acuna, before he was promoted to oversee all of the Americas for the company, on his way to being named CEO of Cineworld.
Billard was the operations director of Cinépolis Brasil for 12 years, until he accepted a position as CEO of Cinépolis Indonesia. He hopes to take the experience he gained in the Asian market back to Brazil, especially in regards to local content.
“The biggest difference we have in Indonesia is the strength of local films,” Billard told Portal Exibidor, while in the midst of the transition. “I take from here how local films can help and the importance of local content when it exists, when there are good productions and when they are well received by the public, it can make all the difference.” Local titles can account for upwards of 70% of Indonesia’s box office in some years.
Source: Portal Exibidor
Organizations
President of France’s CNC Resigns After Sexual Assault Conviction
Dominique Boutonnat, the president of France’s Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée (CNC or French National Centre of Cinema), has been sentenced to three years in prison for sexual assault, with one year to be served under house arrest. The verdict, handed down on 28 June 2024 in Paris, comes after Boutonnat was found guilty of sexually assaulting his then 19-year-old godson in August of 2020.
Boutonnat’s case has unfolded against the backdrop of a growing #MeToo movement in France’s film industry. Despite being indicted in February 2021, he was reappointed for a second term in 2022 and continued presence at the helm of the CNC has been controversial. Following the conviction, Boutonnat wrote a letter to the organization resigning from his position as head of the CNC, effective immediately.
The French Culture Minister, Rachida Dati, has appointed Olivier Henrard, the CNC’s deputy managing director, as the interim director of the organization. This swift action was meant to ensure continuity in the leadership of the CNC, which plays a crucial role in supporting and promoting French cinema, as well as legislative policy affecting the country’s film industry.
Source: Screen International
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