While reading through the Guardian newspapers discussion of the new tax laws effect on the film industry, I noticed a story interviewing a Cinema owner. That, combined with the recent posting from Ned (a Theatre owner), made me think of how hard it must be to operate a cinema and keep it as a going concern.
In Edinburgh, my local cinema is a family run business and has been for a long time, the Dominion is an excellent theatre offering plush leather sofas and foot rests and even electric leather recliners. Its a wonderful place to watch a movie, but how attractive is it all really?
Mark Cunningham bought and restored the Palace Theatre in Cinderford, Glouctershire in the UK, and talks about how hard it really is. For me, some of this was quite a revelation.
Film distribution companies charge anything from 25 to 50% of the box office takings depending on the film. For the most popular movies it can be higher. Mr Cunningham recently paid 58.5% to show one of this year’s top childrens hits.
No prizes for guessing that one. 58.5%? That’s one hell of a lot of money, however, you would expect the box office takings to be quite high for good movies. So how much can he make?
Box office sales last year were √Ǭ£58,000. Add to that the kiosk sales and advertising which took his turnover to √Ǭ£76,000. Running costs, including the distribution company payments and staff wages left gross profits at…√Ǭ£13,000. That was then eaten away by improvements on the Theatre.
It is a single screen theatre, and when he opens the second screen shortly he does hope that this will bring more revenue with less outgoing costs. Still, with that little profit and an eighty hour week, it’s certainly not a job for those who don’t really love the medium of film showing on the big screen.
Anyone out there work in a theatre or cinema, own one, or does Ned want to come and give us some actual inside knowledge of what it is like to run a cinema? Would you want to enter this business? Despite all that, I would still love to.
