09/10/2012 - "Europe needs its cinemas!" accentuate the European exhibitors in an Open Letter to the European Commission

Ad J. Weststrate, President of the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC), Detlef Roßmann, Président, of the Confédération Internationale des Cinémas d’Art et d’Essai (CICAE) and Ian Christie, President of Europa Cinemas, fear that the current EU audiovisual policy developments may have the potential to harm the film and cinema industry. "These include the establishment of a new support scheme for day-and-date releases as well as a certain level of criticism concerning current industry release practices, as mentioned in the Cinema Communication and in the Green Paper on the online distribution of audiovisual works in the EU", outline the exhibitors in their Open Letter.

Cinemas are spaces for creative exchange that promote cultural diversity. "At a time when online business models still have to prove that they can sustainably contribute to the well-being of the entire film industry, total cinema revenues in the EU remained at a stable € 6.4 billion in 2011." The cinema admissions even grew in most European countries. In 2011, the cinema attendance for European films rose to 274 million and total box office for EU films was € 1.8 billion.

"The cinema exhibition sector is going through a period of tremendous change", stress the European cinema organizations. "We urge the European Commission to not put at risk the business practices on which creation, cultural diversity and innovation are built, but to support the industry in its endeavours to offer film lovers an unparalleled choice of films on the big screen. If we endanger cinema attendance with unbalanced new initiatives, many cinemas will be in danger of closing their doors forever."

With this wake-up call the exhibitors are adressing the whole film industry because the cinemas are at the top of the whole film distribution chain. The marketing power of the theatrical release has a tremendous impact on the success of the subsequent links in the distribution chain as DVD, Video on Demand or television. The theatrical distribution of a film also raises the attention of the viewers if a film is available at online platforms. Without this advertising effect the films may remain unseen with the sustainable result that the producers can not get their films refinanced anymore.

"The theatrical market for film is 10 – 15 times larger than the VOD market", emphasize the exhibitors. They recommend that the European institutions should trust the market as well as their colleagues at national level to do what is best for each European territory. The Open Letter is adressed to following members of the European Commission: Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner Education, Culture, Multilingualism, Sport, Media and Youth; Neelie Kroes, Vice-President and Commissioner Digital Agenda; Joaquín Almunia, Vice-President and Commissioner Competition and Michel Barnier, Commissioner Internal Market and Services.

(Translated from French)