For the fifteenth time, Christies is the projection technology partner for the Cannes Film Festival, which began today and runs through July 17. It will be the first in-person edition of the Cannes Film Festival since 2019, and Christie will provide installation and show support for the occasion.
While it has been widely understood that, because of the pandemic, 2020 was a terrible year for the cinema business, a new report from the European Audiovisual Observatory documents just how bad it really was. The theatrical market collapsed in 2020 with cinema attendance in the EU and the UK plummeting by 70.2 percent to an estimated 300 million tickets, down from more than one billion admissions in 2019 (the highest level since 2004). Gross box office earnings dropped correspondingly from Euro 7.20 billion to Euro 2.13 billion (US 2.4 billion), down by 70.4 percent from 2019, as the average ticket price in the EU remained stable at Euro 7.1 (USD 8.1).
The International Union of Cinemas, the European cinema trade grouping, has launched the fifth edition of its Women’s Cinema Leadership Program, a 12-month mentoring program for women in cinema exhibition.
A new digital platform with the working title Cinnovate has secured € 380.000 funding through the European Union programme Cinemas as Innovation Hubs for Local Communities. The effort’s partners include four of Europe’s leading arthouse cinema networks – Folkets Hus och Parker, Folkets Bio (both from Sweden), Access Cinema (Ireland) and Art kino mreža Slovenije (Slowenia) – that together count 308 screens in three territories and will be coordinated by Cologne-based video-on-demand and digital distribution experts Rushlake Media and independent consultant Jan Runge. Additional content and network partners are the Event Cinema Association (United Kingdom), Spielfabrique (Germany) and IMZ International Music + Media Centre (Austria).
Film technology company Numero today announced the launch of its theatrical box office service into major European markets. The company currently has successful box office collection, aggregation and analytical services in 22 international territories across six continents and has now launched its service in Spain, France and the United Kingdom, with Germany to follow in the coming months.
Spaces & Between, makers of Atom Seating, and Skeie Seating have announced a partnership to exclusively distribute cinema recliners in 13 European countries. The companies say that the direct connection between Atom Seating’s VIP recliners and Skeie Seating’s years of association in Europe, will allow cinemas in Europe to quickly optimize their seating requirements through comfort, design and cost-effectiveness.
The European Audiovisual Observatory and the UK, which holds the Observatory Presidency for 2021, have announced an international conference to be held June 9, focused on how to accelerate environmental sustainability across the film, TV, and streaming platforms sector.
As the largest private cinema chain in Belarus, Silver Screen Cinemas is making strategic investments in new multiplex sites across the country and opened the first new site in Grodno last month.
THX, Cinionic and Nordisk Film Cinema, today announced their collaboration to launch the first THX Ultimate Cinema in Europe, to be deployed at the Nordisk Film crown jewel, the historic Imperial Theatre in Copenhagen. THX Ultimate Cinema powered by Cinionic Giant Screen provides movie exhibitors with a branded and differentiated premium large format offering which includes laser projection from Cinionic, an immersive audio system, as well as acoustic and performance specifications and an auditorium experience that has been calibrated by THX.
The European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, has just released an updated edition of the report: The Circulation of European Films in non-national markets – Key figures 2019. The study, authored by Patrizia Simone, film analyst in the Observatory’s department for market information, looks at the volume and theatrical performance of European films in non-national markets, that is, theatrical film exports.
