The FECE affirms that the reduction in exhibition windows since the pandemic “has weighed down the exploitation of films in theaters, creating great damage to movie theaters”
The Spanish Federation of Cinemas (FECE) transferred to the ICAA the need to establish a 100 day display window for all films that are released in cinemas, before jumping to platforms, as an urgent and essential measure to guarantee the recovery of cinemas. The Hall Entrepreneurs Associationwhich brings together more than 80% of the viewer market, notes that, since the pandemic, “and after the closure of theaters, the window suffered a drastic reduction, from simultaneous releases to releases in 45 days after their release in theaters “.
In his opinion, this circumstance “has hampered the exploitation of movies in theaters, creating a great detriment to movie theaterse, messing up the communication of its releases and delaying the recovery of the sector”, especially when the attendance of the public at theaters “is the cornerstone on which the film industry as a whole is sustained”.
In a statement, it is explained that another of the negative effects associated with the reduction of the window is “the misinformation that is poured on the viewer, who is confused with contradictory messages about when and where to watch movies, and this is one of the main obstacles that the industry is encountering when it comes to getting the return from spectators to theaters”.
Delicate situation
“Already before the pandemic, the window was always shown as a successful model, beneficial to the film industry as a whole. Its organized exploitation in windows generates an initial impact and an expansive wave that grows thanks to this system. In this way -adds the note- the highest grossing films are those that become sales and audience successes in subsequent channels”. For all these reasons, the Spanish Federation of Cinemas considers “urgent and necessary” the reorganization of the sector, through the implementation of “an exclusive window of 100 days for all the premieres that go through the billboard”.
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“This measure – they consider – should contribute to a faster recovery in a still delicate situation, with a 42% drop in collection compared to the average of the last years before the pandemic (2017-2019).”
Exhibitors remember that the Film Law included a three-month window for films that had received public aid, until it was repealed in 2015. And that “France, country of reference in the cinematographic fieldestablishes a 15-month window between theatrical release and streaming release,” whiles in Italy a 90-day window has just been approved for films that are released in cinemas, “regardless of their nationality as a measure to help cinemas get out of the crisis”.