help with a cinema?

jamiecoins

hi in the town im in theres no cinema but iver 13.000 people living here nearest cinema is waterford city or further dungarvan .what would u need to open one > licence? equiptment any idea on cost how much u pay per new movie ? any help is good

blue4ever

you may run into distribution issues. You know who you should try and contact - the guys that ran the cinema in Cork up to a few months back Kino Cinema - as they are out of the business - they might give you a digout.

PCPhoto

there might be 13,000 people living there but is there a need for a cinema ?

you would need a fair amount of them wanting to goto the cinema and enough screens to show at least 3 new movies .... best would be to talk to local council for requirements.

check if there is a need (are the current cinemas always full ? or even making a sustainable profit)

there would be a lot of costs involved - from what I understand you rent films from the film company and rental is fairly expensive..... you'd need projectors, staff, insurance, deals with softdrinks/concessions people (assuming you are selling popcorn/sweets) ... promotions...advertising posters etc.

you need to provide a service which will take customers from your competitors, and will make them choose you over the other place - you also have to take security into consideration....the security of your staff and your customers.... cinemas also deal with a lot of cash.

an online presence is also a good thing.

Good call on contacting the "kino" people .... great idea and potentially a great source of information....even though the kino didnt do mainstream cinema.

jamiecoins

yeh thats a good idea thanks .id be going smaller .maybe 1 screen and show 3 movies per day so that to try fill per day . and show older fims some days for discount prices .i think id be looking at a lot of cash tho would the enterprise board help?

stepbar

Unless you happen to have upwards on 2 million to setup a proper cinema then I would forget about it. Nobody in their right mind would invest money in a person with zero experience.

Dazzler88

jamiecoins wrote: »

yeh thats a good idea thanks .id be going smaller .maybe 1 screen and show 3 movies per day so that to try fill per day . and show older fims some days for discount prices .i think id be looking at a lot of cash tho would the enterprise board help?

i would contact these guys,they run a mobile cinema in Leitrim.I know it might sound a bit mad but it would be a great trial run for you,see if there is a market there and it would be a great way to get the banks onside,if you could show it was a proven business that would suceed.

RATM

LMAO at the cinema on the back of the truck Clever idea, could even be used for large summer parties.

Are there any companies out there doing a service (in the summer only) projecting films onto people's gable walls? I'd pay for that

rainbowdash

RATM wrote: »

LMAO at the cinema on the back of the truck Clever idea, could even be used for large summer parties.

Are there any companies out there doing a service (in the summer only) projecting films onto people's gable walls? I'd pay for that

Not sure what you are laughing at. There is a quango backed one which tours the country every summer. I wasn't in it myself but a friend went and said it was way better than the normal cinema due to

1/ novelty factor
2/ it started on time with no previews etc.
3/ there was no overpriced popcorn etc. for sale
4/ It was a lot cheaper than ordinary cinemas

91011

13000 is a small population - cinema's are expensive buildings to operate. Large footprint, with mayeb just 2 nights of the week playing to decent audiences.

You are also dependent on quality of screenings available. Your audience will demand similar quality of seating to the multiplexes and similar releasing of blockbusters.

Also, if a demand is seen in the area, a multiplex will open up and crush you.

And lastly with super high speed internet coming down the line, it won't be too long before film on demand is available on TV.

bigneacy

I would imagine with cinema ticket prices so static, rental so high, staff costs, insurance, light and heat, and all the other bills- the cost of the ticket would barely cover the price of half the bills. I would only think that food & drink sales would be your lifeline.

I can't imagine those trucks would make much money at all.... they have pretty much the same costs without the food sales to prop business up... Possibly why they seem to be owned/endorsed by a county council

stepbar

Dazzler88 wrote: »

i would contact these guys,they run a mobile cinema in Leitrim.I know it might sound a bit mad but it would be a great trial run for you,see if there is a market there and it would be a great way to get the banks onside,if you could show it was a proven business that would suceed.

It doesn't just sound mad..... it is mad.

1. The project cost over well over 500k at the time and a small fortune to run. I dread to think what it would cost to lease.
2. This project failed even when times were booming.
3. The cinema is now "supposed" to be touring the North West because there is SFA interest in Leitrim - http://www.cinemanorthwest.com/venue/. I'm not even sure what's happening with the cinema now or what events are using the cinema.
4. The mobile cinema in question had non existant facilities i.e no food / drink on sale (which is where the profit is). I'm not even sure if it had toilets!
5. Carrick on Shannon now has a cinema which is no more than 30 - 40 minutes away from most parts of the county. In fact most people in Leitrim are no more than half an hour away from a cinema; Carrick on Shannon, Sligo, Enniskillen, Cavan, Bundoran, Longford.
6. In fact, I'd stuggle to name one place in Ireland which is no more than 30 minutes - hour away from a cinema. Regardless of where the cinema is, one still has to get to it and given the choice, the cinema with the best facilities will always win out.

In conclusion the suggestion that the OP should just contact the chaps who own the mobile cinema above is just a little half haired and poorly thought out.

iMax

The way the cinema industry works is the "nut" is split between the distributor & the exhibitor on a sliding scale with (depending on the exact title) over 90% going to the distributor in week 1. Over 80% in week 2 etc for the first 5/6 weeks, then it starts to slide in your favour, however nowadays a movie will rarely play more than four weeks due to (a) piracy, (be) availability & (c) the simple fact that most people who want to see a title do so within the first four days.

Avatar this year was a total blip on the cinema radar. The first three weeks 98% went to distributor, then it slid to 80% & stayed static for the following two weeks, then it went to 50% but avatar played for a full twelve weeks & they eventually pulled it even though it was still playing to full houses. (it's being re-released in an extended format).

Most finances come from the (overpriced) concessions. but the bills are fairly Hefty. I know someone who runs one & last year he paid over €450k in getting carpet/seats cleaned. I've also seen his electricity bill, over €9 k for the month. Admittedly it's a multiplex, but they're still incredible numbers.

If you have a place identified, you may make some money from running a Retro type place (it's very popular right now), but it wouldn't be a full time operation with a population of 13,000. Even a small screen would struggle badly with that population.

Best of luck with it & if you want to ask anything PM me (I know a little about it)

Proxy

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but people might know here. If I already had a venue and wanted to screen the "retro" films mentioned already, what kind of fees are paid to distributors to play the movies?

All digital projectors these days play blu-ray, so getting the content isn't an issue but i'd obviously be paying distro for the right to show to the public, much the same as paying IMRO for playing music.