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The global crisis in the film industry, caused by covid-19, exposed the fragility of the exhibition in Portugal and the dependence on North American production, forcing exhibitors and distributors to rethink their programming daily to avoid the closing of theaters.
At a time when North American studios postpone the debut of high-budget productions for 2021 and 2022, such as “No Time To Die,” “Dune” and “The Batman,” or move premieres from theaters to platforms. Of ‘streaming’, as happened with “Mulan”, the Portuguese exhibitors and distributors contacted by Lusa speak of creative engineering to program in the hall and try to survive a year of great ruptures.
Américo Santos, who explores Cinema Trindade, in Porto, speaks in this spirit of creativity to be programmed, between premieres, replacements and thematic cycles.
“We don’t depend on big productions. We are dedicated to independent cinema, which has the ability to overcome these difficulties. We have broader proposals, to reach a more demanding cinephile audience, “he said.
Trindade reopened its doors in June, with a limited capacity of 80 spectators and with a “stable operation, dialoguing with its own audience”, but the programming is done with prudence and with a short horizon, due to the evolution of the pandemic.
“We have a program of premieres and cycles until December. By 2021 we still don’t know. […] If there are no quality premieres, that will have consequences for the exhibition ”, he warned.
The level of apprehension is different for NOS, a leader in Portugal in both the exhibition and theatrical distribution markets, with losses of more than 70% in revenue from tickets and spectators in both segments.
According to data from the Instituto do Cinema e Audiovisual, between January and September of this year, movie theaters registered 3.2 million viewers and 2.2 million euros in ticket revenue, that is, a 71% drop compared to the same period of 2019, caused by the closing of the rooms between mid-March and June.
Speaking to Lusa, the NOS administrator responsible for these two areas, Luís Nascimento, speaks of an attempt to optimize costs, especially in the negotiation of rentals with shopping centers -where the more than 200 rooms of the company are located- and in stimulating the market to bring the Portuguese “as soon as possible to the rooms.”
“We follow a logic of accounts to life and to save in everything we can, except for security,” he said.
If the situation of “temporary unsustainability becomes structural, then we may have to decide that there are certain cinemas that may not make sense to continue, or cinemas that do not have as many screens. But this is a last resort that we will think about in the future, “he added.
Despite the increase in contagion cases in recent weeks, Luís Nascimento reinforces the idea that it is safe to go to the movies, even with the consumption of popcorn and soft drinks: “Going to the movies is an entertainment experience. For many Portuguese, one is not dissociated from the other. […] It is essential to return to culture, to alleviate the damage caused by the pandemic ”.
One of the problems in the response of the exhibition in Portugal to the global crisis of the film industry is, according to Luís Nascimento, the dependence on the premieres of foreign films, in particular on American production, because Portuguese cinema “has an impact reduced in the number of spectators, unlike Spain or Italy ”.
“If we don’t have big production movies to debut, we already have a serious problem that we haven’t mastered. We are dependent. What we are doing is trying to diversify the contents of the rooms, trying to reach another audience, but the fact that there is no product is a problem ”, he admitted.
NOS only reopened theaters in July and announced the premiere and distribution of more than a dozen Portuguese films by the end of the year, but the truth is that the values of the spectators are not enough to compensate for the losses of 2020.
Of the 167 films released this year in the theater, 17 were Portuguese, which represents a 10% share.
NOS is also studying two solutions, two “temporary ideas” to attract more public, sell more tickets and keep the rooms open: Have two days a week with special prices and rent rooms for groups, for the “segment of people who are uncomfortable in being with other “strangers in a movie theater.
Nuno Gonçalves, one of the managers of the Cinemundo distributor, is convinced that the pandemic will require reflection on the activity in the future.
“It is a deep thought, it is not with individual measures, it is not saying ‘we are going to support ten Portuguese films’ that it will work. […] There are no more theaters, the exhibition market will be poorly structured in terms of film options. It would make sense for some cinemas to specialize, ”he told the Lusa agency.
Cinemundo, which in 2019 was the fourth distributor by ticket sales and viewers, with 3.7 million euros and 724 thousand tickets, respectively, now “strives to release” one movie a week in a market driven by independent films.
If the cinemas do not close again, he points out, Cinemundo highlights three productions that will debut in theaters until the end of the year: the animations “Trolls” and “Croods” and the Portuguese film “Bem Bom”.
“Covid-19 in the coming weeks will not evolve positively. We have to make sure that the cinemas are open until the beginning of next year, that is why we have to put products on the market ”, stressed Nuno Gonçalves.
On the side of UCI Cinemas, the second largest Portuguese exhibitor, the reopening of the three complexes it explores took place gradually between July and August and only 60% of the 45 theaters are in operation, with workers still on ‘lay off’.
What the exhibitor is also doing is replacing films, thematic programs and alternative content, such as showing film-concerts. “Although this is not a panacea for the problem,” said Paulo Aguiar, head of UCI Cinemas.
This exhibitor belongs to Odeon Cinemas, which in turn belongs to the American company AMC Theaters, based in the United States, where it is the market leader. Paulo Aguiar says that the closing of rooms is not contemplated, “but it can happen.”
“We, who were used to programming at least quarterly, went weekly and now it is almost every day to understand what can be done,” he said.
The expectation is to arrive in December, to have a “minimally acceptable” offer, especially with families in mind, but the exposure will also depend on the evolution of the economy and the impact on the lives of the Portuguese.
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