Enjoy!
A Sneak Peak at the Cinema Industry
Contributed by Melissa
Monday, 04 April 2005
Lights, camera and action! HOOKED gives you the lowdown on some of the inside tidbits of the cinema industry. And whilst it is not the glimmer and glamour that people would expect, it really is a whole new world.
In our little island of Singapore, there really is not much to do. It is thus not surprising that going to the movies is one of our favourite past times.
How often we have caught ourselves chit-chatting about how hot Brad Pitt was in Troy, how cool Keanu Reeves was in the Matrix and oh, how a must-watch the Lord of the Rings was.
Really, who can deny that friendships were formed, bonds were reinforced and even love was found in that 2 hours spent in a cinema hall.
Yes, cinemas have always been and probably will always be a great part of our lives.
The question is, as people grow busier, and the televisions grow bigger, and err, the fare to Johor Bahru grows cheaper, how many of us find ourselves forgetting the simple joys of spending time in the cinemas?
Really, my dear friends, it’s time indulge in a box of popcorn, prop up your legs and join us here at HOOKED for a little trip down memory lane as we rekindle that passion for the big screen and perhaps in the process pick up a tip or two as to our options when watching movies.
DID YOU KNOW?
1) That there is a difference between an exhibitor and a distributor?
An exhibitor is one who shows movies at their cinemas
A distributor is the company who goes to the film festivals to scout for new movies for their companies following which he buys the franchise to the movie and sells the right to show the movies to the exhibitors.
2) That piracy and parallel imports are the biggest threats to the cinema industry in Singapore?
Thankfully the government has stepped up and controlled the problem so our friendly cinema companies can keep their rice bowl and movie goers still have a place to watch movies.
3) That the real money is not in the selling of movie tickets?
According to industry sources, the real money comes from the sale of popcorns and other food and beverages. This is because exhibitors (i.e. the cinemas) only get to keep about half of the income from the ticket sales, the other half goes to the distributors. This is as opposed to the sale of food, where the cinemas get to keep all the money.
4) That the industry is going digital?
For many years, all cinema exhibitors make use of the standard 35mm film reels (see feature below on projection room). However, as technology has improved, the world of make-belief. The use of digital technology to replace the usual film reel technology will be the next big thing to hit the market.
5) That for the exhibitors, its not just as simple as screening the movies?
A lot of work goes into deciding when and where to screen the movies. A programmer is hired just to decide what is the best time to screen a particular movie, which cinema hall to screen the movie and how often to screen the movie. Really, you have to milk a good movie for what its worth, but there is also an art as to how to do that.
6) Who the major players are?
THE MAJOR PLAYERS
SHAW BROTHERS
Status: Both distributor and exhibitor
Locations: Jurong, Century Square (Tampines), Chua Chu Kang, Balestier, Bugis, Prince/Jade (Beach Road) and Lido.
Famous for: Bringing to Singapore Lido, one of the greatest hangout places for us students. Thank you very much.
Busiest Days: Weekends
Booking Options: Box-office ticketing and online booking via credit card at http://www.shaw.com.sg
Look Out For: A leaner, faster and meaner online booking system coming your way. It will not only cater to credit card users, but also accommodate students who do not have credit cards by coming up with newer booking options.
HOOKED’s verdict: The cinema company which gave us greatest the feeling of being at home. The Shaw cinemas are the best places to bond. Lido, is as always, a great student hang-out place, nobody can doubt that.
GOLDEN VILLAGE
Status: Both distributor and exhibitor.
Locations: GV Plaza (Plaza Singapura), Tampines Mall, Grand (Great World City), Marina Leisureplex, Bishan, Jurong Point, Yishun and Tiong Bahru
Famous for: Being a collaboration between Golden Harvest (Hong Kong) and Village Roadshows (Australia). Hence the name Golden Village.
Busiest Days: From Thursday to Sunday
Least Busy Day: Monday
Booking Options: Box-office ticketing, ticketing machines at the cinemas, online booking via credit card at http://www.gv.com.sg
Look Out For: Their new, flagship outlet coming your way at the end of next year at Harbour front.
HOOKED’s verdict: This was the most professional of all the cinema companies we visited. They have assured us of consistently premium quality of cinema at all locations. Since they presently have the biggest market share of about 45%, we belive them.
CATHAY
Status: Both distributor and exhibitor
Locations: Orchard (Cathay Cineleisure) and Causeway Point
Famous for: Bringing to us arthouse films. All the movies brought in by their distribution branch called Cathay-Keris can only be watched at the Cathay cinemas. They do not allow their movies to be played at any other cinema houses.
Busiest Day: Saturday
Least Busy Day: Tuesday
Booking Options: Box office ticketing, sale of tickets at Coca-Cola Red Lounge Café, A ticketing kiosk at Orchard MRT, use of PDA ticketing when the queues are too long and online booking at http://tickets.cathay.com.sg/ via credit or debit card.
Look Out For: A new cinema near Dohby Ghaut MRT which will bring back the old Picturehouse. This one’s for the yuppies, you will see.
HOOKED’s verdict: This was the most youth-friendly cinema operator of all. Their outlet at Cineleisure is catered primarily to the youth, with a funky Coca-Cola red lounge, midnight movies all weekdays and 24 hour movies on weekends; you know where to go when you cannot sleep.
BOMBAY TALKIES
Status: Both distributor and exhibitor
Locations: Bedok
Famous for: Being the only exhibitor to show Bollywood movies
Busiest Day: Saturday
Least Busy Day: Thursday
Booking Options: Box-office ticketing, Phone booking (one you book tickets with them, it will be credited immediately. In the event you cannot make it, you can reschedule the tickets for another show)
Look Out For: A different pricing scheme from other cinema companies: $6, $7 on weekends and $8 on weekends. Sometimes it can even go up to $10 for a Sharul Khan movie.
HOOKED’s verdict: What more can we say, for the Bollywood fans, this is your place to go.
HOOKED’s sneak peak into a projection room, courtesy of Golden Village.
A typical projection room.
This is what is called a platter system. One movie usually comes in multiple film reels. A platter system can hold an entire movie at one go which prevents jumps in the movie as the film reels do not have to be changed when fed into the projector when using the platter system.
This is what a typical projector looks like
A look at the control panel for the projector.
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