It was fascinating to see the range of reactions following the news that Seville Films was ending its theatrical film distribution business on Tuesday. For people in the film industry, this is downright tragic. For spectators who have abandoned the cinema in theaters for a long time, this is a trifle.
Posted yesterday at 7:00 p.m.
However, ordinary mortals like us would benefit from better understanding what is happening at the moment. Because after the upheaval experienced by the world of music, with the devastating effects that we know on the industry and the creators, the same scenario is being repeated in the world of cinema.
So, as the screenwriters say: flashback! Hasbro, the American giant in the world of games, acquired in 2019 Entertainment One, a film distribution company which has subsidiaries in the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium and Canada. Cost of the transaction: 4 billion.
Hasbro is extending its tentacles into the world of cinema with a very clear objective: to further exploit its products and ideas. Now that it has a foothold in this industry, the empire prefers, for example, to produce and distribute a film inspired by the Dungeons and Dragons game (which is scheduled for release in March 2023) than to take over the latest production from Monia Chokri.
Hence the end of the distribution activities of Seville Films, the Quebec subsidiary of Entertainment One.
Arrived here, you are probably wondering: but what is the role of a distributor in the chain of a film? Excellent question! You should know that the distributor injects money into a film project in order to obtain the distribution rights. This is called a “guaranteed minimum”. In Quebec, it varies from $50,000 to $800,000, depending on the film’s box office potential.
The distributor, who follows each stage of the film’s development, can then recover this money when selling tickets, but also when the film is broadcast on “on demand” platforms, pay TV channels and traditional TV. This is called “other windows”. The problem is that it is increasingly difficult for distributors to pocket profits or even to recover the sum initially invested. The share of risk is sometimes great.
The distributor is also responsible for the advertising campaign. The stronger the distributor, the more successful the film, the bigger the campaign. This is a major concern for producers: Seville Films (Entertainment One) did not hesitate to inject large sums into launches. Evidenced by the hype that there is currently around the (very good) film Vanishing lines.
You will tell me: yes, but Quebec distributors, there are others, why cry over the death of Seville? Another excellent question.
Opale Films, Entract Films, Sphère Films (MK2 Mile End) and Maison 4:3 are very well established. There is also a constellation of small distributors who do their job very well.
But the message that this important airdrop sends is that it is now difficult for a distributor to be a link in the theatrical cinema industry. In interview with The Press, in January 2020, the boss of Seville Films, Patrick Roy, said: “Some years, we distributed 100 films in Canada. Now, our objective is to distribute between 20 and 30 films per year. »
This is where you say to yourself: why invest in the theatrical release of a film when it’s so easy to sign agreements with digital platforms? The question is relevant, but the answer will be simple. Just as for music, the profits linked to the exploitation of a film in a digital universe are much smaller than those linked to a theatrical release. There is less money to be made.
Do the math: you can rent a movie at home, when there are four of you, for $6.99. Or you go to see the same movie in theaters, always with four people, when tickets cost $14 each.
Attracting theatrical audience, especially since the start of the pandemic, has become a huge challenge for exhibitors, distributors and producers. The digital world pulls the cover from its edge.
In France, attendance fell by 55% between 2019, the year before the pandemic, and 2021.
This will of course have an impact on the creation. Will the writers and directors have to bow to the expectations of viewers who are stuffed every week with series, each more captivating than the next? Will their scripts be more and more analyzed according to their attractive power in theaters?
The answer to these questions is yes. You don’t have to be an ostrich. This is what makes some people say that the closure of Seville Films is a “drama” and that it is only the tip of the iceberg. It is the first dragon in this story to spit fire.
For Quebec cinema, which has always enjoyed great and necessary freedom, the years to come will be decisive. In this storm, he will have to learn to navigate and find the harbor lighthouses.
This revolution does not announce the death of the cinema, but solidly shakes that which is offered in the rooms. When the online music platforms arrived, we hung around like geek at the opening of an Apple store. Let’s try to make more thoughtful gestures for the cinema.
Beyond the upheaval we are witnessing, there is one thing that worries me the most. It is because the digitization of our habits and our needs requires an ever-increasing “domicialization” of our daily lives.
We work from home, we shop from home, we choose our books and our music from home, we order our meals from home, we consume movies from home.
Hasbro has understood one thing: it only has to offer us dragons to entertain us. We already have the dungeon.