The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 154

22 SPECTRUM ARTS THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 1996 Price wars are usually fought when times are tough but, as GARRY MADDOX reports, it is a box-office boom that's paying dividends for movie-goers. miMWjjpmhmiB uuBium jiMiMMMiMMMMiM i.u.,y. j-xa wiii milium mil fl 11. i i Lr-v. JB' i IvbS.

0 rd-fllV V' jrjj -51 qu S- Greater Union managing director Paul Oneile inside the State Theatre. He says studios are now making films with a wider appeal. Photograph by sahlan hayes dsa ti Australia and they are generating strong media coverage. So how long can all this growth in cinema-going continue? Australia now has about one screen for every 16,000 people. The head of the MPDAA, Rob Girard, says the exhibitors are pushing towards a screen for every 10,000 people closer to the ratio in mature markets such as the US.

The national publicity and promotions manager for Hoyts, Bronwyn Delaney, says the location of cinemas in shopping centres has let people fit film-going into their domestic calendars. Seeing a film has become a simple matter of "zipping into Eastgardens, popping into Chatswood or zooming into Warringah But a leading figure in the operation of art-house cinemas, Lyn McCarthy, cautions against believing the silver screen will always have such lustre. She says business is "not necessarily great right across the board" and is concerned about "when the balloon is going to burst" for the industry. McCarthy, a co-director of Dendy Films, says the growth in box office has been fuelled by a strong supply of films that is never guaranteed to continue. "Things are very buoyant," she says.

"There are some very good-quality films around. But if the supply dries up, then things might change. People want to see good movies. If they're not getting them, they'll stop going." Small exhibitors are also finding it tougher because distributors have started issuing extra prints of art-house films to feed additional screens in the past year. Instead of an exclusive Sydney seasons, art-house cinemas are facing competition from five to 10 more screens.

This might be good for cinema-goers, but it is cutting into the revenue of smaller operators. The suburban multiplex attracting more cinema-goers has been good business for shopping centres. The executive director of Westfield Ltd, Steven Lowy, says the group has 10 screens in 16 centres around Australia and plans many more because of the benefits they have brought to retailing. Lowy cites the Tuggerah Shoppingtown, on the Central Coast, hich opened in October. It is packed with people on Friday and Saturday nights who are attracted by the Greater Union cinemas, Intencity, family restaurants, food court and lifestyle retailers such as record and book shops that stay open until late.

The cinema complex has been so successful that only six months after opening there are plans before the local council to add four more screens. At Liverpool, there are plans to expand the 12-screen cinema complex under construction to 20 screens. Lowy describes the relationship betw een cinemas and retailers as a "win-win The more successful the cinemas, the better for the retailer and vice-versa. The result is that incorporating cinemas into shopping centres has become an important part of Westfield's corporate strategy, Lowy says. Then there are all the high-tech games centres opening close to cinemas.

The attractions of the cinema have helped their rise. John Bell believes the chains' push into these centres, while somewhat experimental, is to try to control the whole evening or afternoon by giving cinema patrons extra entertainment choices. With patrons often feeling let down after seeing a good film, activities such as playing video games, eating and shopping are a way of "keeping the buzz going" for a few more minutes. Yea Nunberof screens 1980 829 H- 1985 742 lU 1990 851 f'jf 1991 885 I 1992 906 111 m1993 940 1994 1,028 i-; 1995 1,137 One screen Cinema Average annual Gross box per head admissions admissions office population (per person) 17,700 38.6m 2.6 21,300 29.7m 1.9 20,000 43m 2.5 19,500 46.9m 2.7 19,300 47.2m 2.7 18.800 55.5m 3.1 17,400 68.1m 3.8 $476m 16,000 69.9m 3.9 OSCARS week, it is no surprise that the cinema is making news. But it was the ticket price war that broke out in Victoria on Thursday that has taken some of the industry interest away from Mel Gibson's triumph with Braveheart.

There has been much speculation about whether Village Roadshow's move, immediately matched by Hoyts, to cut the top ticket price from Sll to $6.50 ($4.50 for seniors) would increase ticket sales and spread to other States. And whether the strategy means Village is playing Terminator to the ambitions of the new US-based rival Reading Australia, which has announced its first cinema complex in Melbourne. The price war is the latest development in an industry where there has been much aggressive jockeying for position in recent months. Spurred on by Reading's ambitions to take 10 to 15 per cent of the national market, the major chains have all launched expansion plans. They seek to capitalise on eight consecutive years of box office growth since exhibitors were hit hard by the rise of home video.

In the past decade, the national box office has almost tripled and Australians are making 34 million extra visits to the cinema each year. Despite some threat from pay TV movie channels, these figures make the industry's growth seem like a NexerEnding Story First came the single-house cinema; then the twin and the quad; a decade ago, we saw the first multiplexes. Now, coming soon, is the megaplex. How mega is the megaplex? Hoyts has announced that the country's first multiplex, at the Chadstone shopping centre in Melbourne, is about to be redeveloped to include no fewer than 27 screens. That's an increase of 19 screens, plus a restaurant and a Cinemotion entertainment centre featuring indoor rides and amusements.

The company's chief executive, Peter lvany, says the additional screens will allow "a tremendous diversity" of films, including more seats for the hits and so-called encore seasons. The centre is to open at the end of next year and will seat more than 4,500 people. Encouraged by the success of megaplexes in the US and no doubt by their new rival Hoyts is adding 250 screens around the country. And the joint venture between Village Roadshow, Greater Union and Warner Bros is planning at least 18 new megaplexes, each with 20 to 25 screens. Most will be in shopping centres and will feature interactive games centres and restaurants.

Five will be in Sydney. Reading is planning a 25-screen megaplex for Burwood in Melbourne and other cinema developments in the eastern States. The smaller cinema operators have also been busily expanding. New cinemas a "ilAV "h' The novel of Art work On with the show have opened, such as the Verona in Paddington, the Dendy in Newtown and two giant-screen cinemas one in Katoomba, the other under construction at Darling Harbour. Existing cinemas, such as the Valhalla in Glebe, have added screens.

Largely through expansion into suburban shopping centres, the cinema industry has almost doubled the number of screens around the country in the past decade. The Motion Picture Distributors' Association of Australia (MPDAA) says there were 1,137 screens at the end of last year. With the burst of building and rebuilding, there is now talk of there being 1,600 to 1,800 screens by 2000. All this flurry of industry activity increased when Village Roadshow announced its price-cutting strategy. Village's managing director, Graham Burke, expects the move to increase admissions in Victoria by 35 to 40 per cent.

While Hoyts sees the strategy as challenging its dominance in the Victorian "suburbans" and others see it as aimed at blocking Reading, Burke confidently predicted increased admissions in Victoria would lead to price cuts in other States. One market analyst, John Bell from stockbrokers ABN Amro Hoare Govett, says the discounting strategy in Victoria may not significantly dent the chains' profitability, because the average ticket price might not be much more than S6.50, given all the discounts and free tickets that are available. The strategy might be a ay of getting more "'nt t3 Roadshow Film Distributors, Alan Finney, says multiplexes have brought cinemas closer to many people. They have offered more choice of films and screening times. Because multiplexes are often part of a retail centre, cinema-goers can also shop, eat and park for nix.

Finney says the wide range of films being made is proving "for whatever reason" to appeal to cinema-goers. If he was in the supermarket business he would say there has been a broad range of stock on the shelves. Specialist films that once would have been confined to festivals and art-house cinemas such people through the door getting them into the habit of cinema-going for when screen numbers increase. More people through the door means, of course, more chance of capturing the spending money of your patrons. Bell says food and drink concessions in cinemas are major contributors to the exhibitors' bottom lines.

The most recent figures show patrons at one chain were spending $1.50 to $2 on food and drink on each cinema visit 70 to 80 per cent of which was profit. The key question is, why have we developed such a taste for the cinema? A taste that has prompted all this activity in the industry? We keep heading off to the local movie house (one estimate is that the core audience of 12- to 39-year-olds is averaging 10 to 12 paying visits a year) despite a rash of new activities vying for our attention. The high-tech games centres, the casinos and the Internet, for example. Why did we shell out more than $500 million nationally to buy close to 70 million cinema tickets last year? Sure, seeing a film is a relatively cheap night out. But only if you don't pay for a baby-sitter, petrol, parking (if you head into the city), a bite to eat, popcorn, two soft drinks and a coffee and cake' on the way home.

Sure, a darkened cinema is a traditional escape during hard times. And sure, we're probably exposed to more films and stars through video and magazines than ever before. But 34 million extra visits a year is a significant social change. The managing director of that young males are regarded as the chief ticket buyers, as they were a decade ago. Another factor cited by Rochester is the popularity of the VCR, which has meant "the highest renters of video movies are the most frequent And innovations such as half-price days, cheaper entry before 6 pm and discount books of tickets have also helped.

Increased interest in the big screen has not happened by accident. The managing director of Greater Union, Paul Oneile, says the US studios that produce most of the films we see are now deliberately going after family and general audiences. It's less a case of "here's the film I want to make" and more a case of "here's a film people will want to He believes the audience appeal of Hollywood films has increased dramatically as a result. "The films that have been produced over the last couple of years really have had much wider appeal than in the late '80s." Greater Union and other players have also made a deliberate effort to increase film awareness in general. Oneile says this has been done by "feeding stories constantly into the media, generating interest in the industry, not just in a specific film, actor or cinema The aim has been to increase the average number of cinema visits each year.

A successful part of this push for more media coverage has been through publicity tours by stars such as Christian Slater for Broken Anow or Kevin Costner for Waterworld. Oneile says more stars are coming to ijf apt von TraPP Sponsored By RADIOACTIVE mm T) Sydney Putting Shakespeare Sydney Masterclass Shakespeare Creating Out There Baby Discovery One on a Character Who Do Cathedral The Journey Acting Bookings iflMigO (MUM For ages 8 25 years survive pay TV just as successfully. While the industry seems to regard the main film-goers as the "under Rochester says the highest growth among cinema audiences has been those aged over 40. While access to cinemas is important, he believes "product is really the The industry generally also seems to believe that, as one distributor says, "Hollywood is getting better at making movies people want to Films of all types, from Pocahontas to PiisciUa and Tlie Piano, have attracted a wider range of cinema-goers. It is no longer true i i-- as The Madness Of King George, Pulp Fiction and My Left Foot are appealing to mainstream audiences.

Finney also believes cinema-going has become a fashionable activity. "You'd need a sociologist to explain it, but going to the movies is cool again. It's fashionable. It's the thing to do." The head of Reading Australia, John Rochester, sees the cinema as having sufficient appeal to survive the successive threats to its existence notably TV, colour TV and home video. His company is investing in the belief that it will Featuring SPECIAL EVENTS Arone Raymond meeks AT THE NEW ADRIAN NEWSTEAD GALLERY 202 Oxford Street, Paddington.

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