CNC calms exhibitors’ fears
At the 62nd Congress of the French National Cinema Federation, Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) Director General Véronique Cayla yesterday attempted to calm the stormy climate that has stirred up French exhibitors in recent months.
After announcing admissions predictions for 2008 in line with those of 2007, Cayla lamented the poor offering of French films this summer, pointing out that since 2001 the market share for local titles had never dropped below 35%. She also addressed the two subjects that have been causing anger: unlimited film passes (see article) and the debate surrounding publicly owned theatres (see news) .
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Reminding once again that unlimited film passes "have a favourable impact on attendance, in particular for more vulnerable films", she announced the launch by the CNC of a series of studies. These will include a general evaluation of pricing policies, an economic analysis of unlimited membership passes, the impact of pass sales on admissions growth, attendance, theatrical runs, equal distribution between areas and operators, profiles of pass holders, as well as the results and recommendations of the Features Commission on unlimited passes.
With regard to publicly owned theatres, the CNC director insisted on their legitimacy when it is founded on a difference related to purely commercial exhibition in order to avoid unfair competition. In particular, she highlighted that " there is no problem on a global level since although almost 20% of exhibitors are publicly owned, they represent less than 2% of income from the exhibition sector."
Lastly, Cayla discussed the arrival of digital projection, on which an agreement was recently reached with Germany’s FFA (see news).
A more concrete phase has now begun with working groups having to decide on technical criteria (certification and control of material, manufacture and transport of prints, keys), and an economic model, the US system "of third-party investors having clearly showed its dangers and limits."
(Translated from French)
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