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I have to say goodbye to some employees.
Gintaras Plytnikas, director of Forum Cinemas, says the situation in cinemas under his direction is improving. It is true that the consequences of the quarantine are felt: “During the quarantine, the restrictions bothered us more than the fear of the spectators. I’d say they were really over the top at the time. Now the range of films is widening, the repertoire becomes more diverse and the weekends are more lively. I think everything is moving for the better, ”says G. Plytnikas.
The summer has been difficult for all cinemas, so some have been forced to lay off workers. “Compared to last year, our revenue streams and audience have decreased significantly. We maintained the number of employees in the hope that there would be a quick recovery. Still, we see that this is not the case. Some employees left voluntarily because not all of them were canceled due to downtime. Although the number of viewers has increased, it has not fully recovered. The number of employees will probably have to be reduced even more, “says the director of Forum Cinemas.
Photo of Forum Cinemas / “Forum Cinemas” inside Kaunas
Forum Cinemas received state support for leases in August, as it was included in the list of companies most affected by COVID-19. According to G. Plytnik, it took a long time due to a lot of bureaucracy. Still, the support made breathing easier and reduced debts incurred over the summer.
Amount of support – symbolic
Vilma Levickaitė, director of Skalvija, said she had high hopes for the support of the Lithuanian Film Center, which was discussed during the quarantine period: Aid for cinemas has stagnated, and it later turned out that the amount they will receive the cinemas will be very symbolic and we no longer have much hope. “
V. Levickaitė points out the decrease in the number of spectators as the main problem of the cinema.
“When we opened after quarantine, it was a lot of fun. We had new movies, we tried to live like nothing. Then we saw the first trends that the number of viewers is 3 times less than at the same time last year. We realized that it is not the safety distance restrictions that have the greatest impact, but rather people’s own attitudes towards events. Probably the tension, the stress, the constant flow of negative information about the fact that the visitors to the events are less responsible, affected people “, considers the person in charge of” Skalvija “.
Josvydas Elinskas / 15min photo / Opening of the season of the Skalvija Film Center
V. Levickaitė describes the current situation as uncertain and constantly changing: “We feel as if we are going into a smoke screen.”
Currently a virtual cinema Skalvija is being developed. The movie director looks like a Plan B if there were no more viewers in real cinemas.
People prefer to watch movies at home
Genė Pučinskienė, director of the Panevėžys “Garsas” Film Center, also says that she does not feel safe: “We are gradually bringing viewers back. Now we have good releases and the audience is back with the movies. However, it will take time, the process of returning to normal life is not easy. Now is the time when we have just started to recover and can fall back into the pit. After all, psychologically anxiety still affects us. The quarantine is not published now, but we all see that the statistics are very similar to the quarantine. “
G.Pučinskienė says that state support is not as effective when there are increasing restrictions on events. That is why, in her opinion, people prefer to watch movies.
Photo by K. Mikoliūnaitė / Panevėžys “Garsas” Cinema Center
It is true that we try to look at the future in a positive way: “We believe that such a situation will not be permanent, because people will not isolate themselves indefinitely. Everything will go on, because the Iron Curtain will not descend. We are not confused. Everything will continue fine ”, expects the person in charge of“ Audio ”.
Anxiety about the future
Raimundas Bilinskas, Multikino’s chief marketing officer, says he was somewhat optimistic following the launch of Tenet (led by Christopher Nolan), but is looking forward to what will happen next.
Cinema is currently facing considerable problems. “It is not yet clear how the disease will develop, what the restrictions will be for the events, when we will receive various subsidies from the Lithuanian Film Center, which would help make up for the shortage of viewers in summer and the damage caused by the quarantine. “. There is also a lack of films: both Lithuanian and commercial Hollywood film releases are postponed to next year. Piracy also puts pressure on our feet, which reduces our flows, because people are a little afraid of going to the cinema, so they watch illegal movies at home, ”says R. Bilinskas.
Photo of the cinema / Cinema “Multikino”
Multikino had to reduce the number of employees. “The total drop for the whole summer compared to last summer is 5-6 times. With such a drop in turnover and, so to speak, an empty cinema, there are no conditions to retain all employees. Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to 7 employees who worked part time. We hope that with the increase in billing and the return of viewers, those 7 employees will return very soon, “says the marketing manager.
“The immediate plans of the cinema are to wait for big premieres in November and try to survive these two months”, hopes R. Bilskas.
Support from the Lithuanian Film Center is expected
Dovilė Butnoriūtė, Head of the Department of Film Distribution, Information and Heritage at the Lithuanian Film Center, says support must wait due to an extraordinary situation. We had to create a new model, evaluate foreign experience, coordinate with the responsible institutions.
“The documents prepared have been submitted to the necessary approvals for some time, we are informed that they are in the final stage of negotiations and soon we will invite applications and distribute support to those who are waiting. We hope to announce the invitation next week, “said D. Butnoriūtė.
Photo by Irmantas Gelūnas / 15min / Lithuanian Film Center
This support will be calculated in proportion to the number of cinema screens in operation. The budget for subsidies to cinemas is at least 500 thousand. euros. Following final Ministry decisions, it can be increased to assess potential fall trends, which is currently expected, along with grant documents approved by the Ministry of Culture.
The grant budget for film distributors is not less than 100,000. the amount can also be increased further.
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