Boxoffice-March.1988

ROUNDTABLE: DISTRIBUTION AND EXHIBITION
THE TIES THAT BIND
By Richard Abramowitz
Senior Vice President/Sales
Cinecom
OUR
INDUSTRY TODAY is Seeing a number
of changes in the ways in which
motion pictures are distributed and
exhibited. How can independent distribution
in general, and Cinecom in particular,
change its vision of the theatrical
market to benefit both ourselves and exhibition?
Using Cinecom as an example,
let's explore some of the ways we can
meet the needs of a changing business.
The sheer volume of product now being
released—more than two thirds of it independently
produced (354 independent
productions versus 161 productions by the
majors/minors in 1986) —means that independent
distributors such as Cinecom
no longer have the luxury of waiting for
good word of mouth to build demand for
the quality product we distribute. The
result is a significant shift in strategy for
Cinecom and other independents noted
for quality product: we now are moving
away from the traditional strategy of exclusive
or limited engagements and toward
mini-multiple and significantly
wider breaks in 1988.
Product Explosion
A number of factors account for this
shift in strategy— not least of them the
tremendous critical and boxoffice success
we and other independents have experienced
over the past few years. The current
surplus of product is such that at
least a dozen new films now open on a
typical three-day weekend, with more
stacked up right behind. Even with the
explosion in the number of available
screens in the plexes, there isn't enough
space in the theatres to accommodate
them all. Consequently, if a film does not
find an audience in the first few weeks of
its release, it's history.
These and related trends have led Cinecom
to modify our approach not only to
distribution, but to production as well.
Our production budgets are still quite
modest by industry standards: A forthcoming
Richard Gere film tentatively titled
"Farm of the Year" came in at its
intended $5 million budget. Nevertheless,
we now are moving beyond "niche" marketing
to produce and distribute films
with broader demographic appeal—a different
kind of "cross-over" film.
Crossing The Demographic Line
The primary audience for most Cinecom
films historically has been the baby
boom generation (including the muchreviled
Yuppies), as opposed to the 12-18
year age group targeted by most major
sutdios over the past ten years. But the
film business is cyclical, and the major
studios have now run through their cycle
of teenage sex comedies and kiddie sci-fi.
They've seen that money can be made
with films like "Room With A View";
they've seen that there's an audience out
there that's older than 16. What's more,
this audience is growing. In 1985, the
median age in the United States was 31;
by 1995, it will be approaching 35. The
members of this older audience will only
see a film once, not two or three times;
but if you reach enough of them, you've
got a hit.
Cinecom's task is to build from this
existing audience base. Creating a "crossover"
hit—even if the crossover is onl^'
between two related demographic
groups—is like cross-breeding roses. You
can create a freak or a beautiful blend.
Richard Gere, for example, does not necessarily
appeal just to 35-year-old male
college graduates. He also appeals to a
younger, blue collar crowd, and to women
of all ages. Similarly, the script for "Farm
Of The Year" is set in a blue collar environment,
but the story is one that has a
sophisticated appeal as well. In other
words, we're looking for that beautiful
blend.
200 to 400 Screens in '88
This is not to say that we intend to compete
head-to-head with the majors—We
don't have 800-1500 prints out there, as
the major studios often do. But we will be
going with broader releases (200-400
screens) in the major metropolitan markets
where Cinecom films have done so
well in the past.
Deeper penetration in the major metropolitan
markets, where our films have
historically performed best, also permits
us to maximize the impact of the advertising
dollars we spend in the big cities—in
effect, to get more bang for our media
bucks.
Finally, in this era of cinematic "supermarkets,"
the increased potential for
cross-plugging films with trailers in the
major chains cannot be ignored; it can be
an extremely important factor in the success
of a broad release. Cross-promotion
of this sort provides a great opportunity to
garner point-of-purchase exposure,
which in our business is a most effective
and cost-efficient kind of marketing.
It's a bigger and more competitive
world out there, and we're ready for it.
Despite the increasing competition, we
believe that quality will out. We believe
that if we continue to produce and market
movies as well as we always have, our
films will always find screens, and of
course, crowds, for those exhibitors who
show our product.
iMi
Goldwyn
(continued from p. SW-28)
special event taking place, and the
grosses reflected these efforts.
On "The Care Bears Movie," our press
kit was supplemented by an exhibitors
manual that not only outlined what promotions
were already in place, which
included tie-ins with Pizza Hut, Kenner
Toys, and American Greetings Corporation,
but also gave exhibitors ideas on the
kinds of things they could do on a local
level. There were suggestions for coloring
contests, point of purchase displays, and
department store tie-ins. With "The Chipmunk
Adventure" we provided an extra
incentive for exhibitors to use the manual
and their imagination— a contest for the
biggest, most imaginative promotional
campaign. The prize was a trip for two to
Paris for the grand prize winner and trips
to Mexico and Bennuda for the first two
rtinncrs-up. Our 22-page manual was read
with avid interest, and the exhibitors
came through with great campaigns to
reach their local audience.
While a trip to Paris isn't always an
incentive, higher grosses are. The work
we did together on films as diverse as "Sid
& Nancy," "Prick Up Your Ears," "Hollywood
Shuffle" and "The Chipmunk Adventure"
increased profits for everyone
involved, and brought us closer to exhibitors
across the country. Once again,
though, it was up to Goldw\'n, as the distributor,
to provide the impetus to put on
a good show It's time to put the distribution/exhibition
relationship bci