IN FOCUS: Are COVID-19 and streaming services ending Singapore's love of going to the cinema?
SINGAPORE: More a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, a filled cinema hall is what Mark Shaw misses the most.
For the third-generation dominate of film distribution and cinema chain Shaw Theatres, in that location is something special nigh watching a movie in a total business firm.
"I miss the crowd," he said. "Because for me, movie theatre is people cheering when Rocky gets up from the ground or hearing the gasps when Jaws is approaching and the music starts."
"Information technology is quite a personal experience even so that personal experience is amplified by all the people around you and I recall that's what makes cinemas special."
But the coronavirus pandemic has put the brakes on people's ability to enjoy that experience.
Movie theater halls now have seats marked out to leave gaps in between motion picture-goers, while oversupply-attracting celebrity tours and gala premieres seem like a distant memory. At one point last year, the screens here turned night for almost four months.
That has never happened earlier, recalled Mr Shaw, not fifty-fifty during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003.
"The screens have never been downwardly … Nosotros live and breathe movie house so it'south a terrible feeling to not be able to show films but at the same fourth dimension, we know it was a necessary thing to do," he said.
As the fight confronting the pandemic continues, cinema halls must remain sparsely filled, with the latest rule saying no more than fifty people can attend without pre-event testing. Food and drinks - an integral part of the pic experience for many - were banned until recently then given the green light, merely masks are otherwise required at all times.
The ever-irresolute prophylactic protocols are weighing down on the financials of an industry that thrives on ticket sales and fifty-fifty more on food and beverage (F&B) acquirement.
There are too other challenges: A lack of major releases and consumers turning to streaming platforms to fill the need for amusement while staying at dwelling.
The latter, in particular, has heightened anxiety over the hereafter of cinemas: Will the crowds return when the pandemic abates?
SINGAPORE'Southward LOVE FOR THE MOVIES
Singaporeans dearest going to the movies.
Official information available from 1998 showed a steady increase in cinema attendance, which hit an all-fourth dimension high of 22.1 million in 2011. While that fell dorsum to around 19 million towards the end of the last decade, the country continued to have i of the world's highest per capita attendance rates.
Affordable ticket prices and an ample supply of accessible cinemas are among the contributing factors, said PwC Singapore's entertainment and media leader Oliver Wilkinson.
Information showed there were 274 cinema screens operated by a mix of big and minor exhibitors last yr, merely a notch below the all-time loftier of 281 screens in 2019.
"For big parts of the population around Asia, people just don't have such ready and easy access to cinemas but about everyone in Singapore would have access within half an 60 minutes (to a cinema) that is expert quality and pretty depression-toll," said Mr Wilkinson.
The availability of a variety of movie content across languages and genres, given the country'south status as a cultural melting pot, is besides some other pull factor for audiences, he added.
But COVID-nineteen changed that.
Last twelvemonth, the disruptions to cinema operations and releases saw audience numbers plunge to 4.7 million – the everyman ever based on information compiled by the Singapore Motion picture Commission and fabricated bachelor on the website of the Singapore Section of Statistics.
Box function takings fell from S$175.4 million in 2022 to S$49.half-dozen million last year.
Eternality Tan, 33, said he waited "for a fortnight or so" after cinemas reopened last year before returning to his usual movie haunts like The Projector and the Oldham Theatre.
"To be honest, even for a huge film enthusiast like me, it did accept me a while to go back to the cinemas," said the vice-chairman and programming managing director at the Singapore Film Club. "Simply to see what's happening in the get-go few weeks, assess whether it'south safe and all."
However, he has dialled back on the frequency. The 33-year-old used to sentinel at least ane or two movies in the cinemas a week, merely now catches ii or three a month.
"It's also the content bachelor … but from what I see, consumers in general have been slow to return."
"WAY Below" BREAKEVEN
Coping with the pandemic's relentless hits over the by year has been "quite a journey" for Karen Tan who runs The Projector. When early signs of COVID-19 emerged in January last yr, the independent arthouse picture palace forth Beach Route was seeing its best month since opening in 2014, she recalled.
The movie theatre's films, known to be more unusual and niche than the mainstream releases offered elsewhere, were gaining traction and alluring more audiences. Its spaces were also used for events such as pic festivals, stand-upwards comedies and other live performances, and its agenda was fast filling upwardly, Ms Tan said.
"We were really taking off then we thought 2022 is going to exist a great year - famous last words – and afterward, we kind of stepped off the edge of the cliff."
Like others in the industry, having to have a hiatus at stop-March as the Government shut all entertainment venues was a worrying plow of events.
READ: COVID-nineteen shutdown: How Singapore'due south cinemas, bars and theatre groups are coping
"I practice remember the day nosotros had to shut. Most of the team was there and everyone felt a flake sentimental because you know when the lights go out, especially for picture palace, it's quite visual," said Ms Tan.
Cinemas here reopened in July last year just since and then, mandatory cuts in capacities – at varying levels every bit Singapore moved through the different phases of reopening – accept been painful despite operators launching online merchandise sales or offering their spaces for other uses such as matrimony proposals.
More than recently when safety protocols were tightened in May, The Projector took another hiatus – this time voluntarily to cope with "the worst set of restrictions without equivalent support", said general manager Prashant Somosundram.
Under what authorities called the "heightened alert" of Phase 2, no F&B consumption was allowed at cinemas and up to l people were allowed in each hall without pre-upshot testing. The latter means that a typical movie theatre hall, which seats between 100 and 200 people, will operate at just a quarter to half its usual chapters.
"This is a render to Phase 1 simply without F&B and even bottom back up," said Mr Somosundram, adding that nutrient sales are critical not just because they make up about half of a cinema's revenue only they also complement the movie-going experience.
The Projector has since reopened but equally of mid-June, visitor levels are down nearly 80 per cent.
It's not simply the smaller players that are hurting.
Gilded Hamlet, Singapore's largest picture palace chain with 14 outlets, described the past year as a "start-cease year" and that it is "an understatement" to say COVID-19 has adversely affected global cinemas.
"It is estimated that motion picture halls beyond the world lost Us$32 billion in 2020, or a 71.v per cent reduction in revenue. In Singapore, the situation is pretty much the same," said chief executive Clara Cheo.
Shaw Theatres, the 2nd largest player here with ix cinemas, said it is operating "manner beneath" its breakeven chapters number.
For Mr Shaw, a huge reason was a lack of major releases as movie studios opted to postpone their nearly expensive action flicks amongst lockdowns in the bigger markets such equally United States and Europe.
These include major Hollywood tentpole movies like the new James Bond film No Time To Die and Curiosity's Black Widow.
Those that did stay on last year's release schedule, such as superhero pic Wonder Woman 1984, flow fantasy drama Mulan and thriller Tenet, were few and far in between, industry players said.
"Nosotros don't have the capacities to make cinemas financially viable right now and I think that is mayhap sixty to 70 per cent caused by the lack of movies," said Mr Shaw.
STREAMING THREAT
At the same fourth dimension, audiences have picked upward new viewing habits with on-demand streaming services making farther headway.
"We were always anticipating this kind of growth simply COVID-xix has made information technology a picayune faster and sooner by nigh a year or so," said Mr Wilkinson.
Current estimates by PwC put the compound annual growth rate of revenue from over-the-top (OTT) video here to be at 15.3 per cent betwixt 2022 and 2024. Of which, subscription video-on-demand platforms that include Netflix and Disney+ make up the bulk of growth.
Even movie theater operators have ventured into the streaming space – Shaw Organisation's Kinolounge and The Projector's Projector Plus were launched last twelvemonth.
Both said their new pay-per-view streaming platforms complement their physical cinemas by featuring niche content, such as older titles, festival films and even local curt films.
READ: Commentary: Cinemas are on life back up – and could look vastly different soon
Ms Angelia Lim said the last movie she watched in the cinemas was Avengers: Endgame in 2019.
These days, she relies on Netflix for most of her entertainment needs. Her family's preference to avoid crowded indoor spaces amid the ongoing pandemic is 1 reason, said the mother of i, noting that streaming platforms provide a "expert enough reason" to stay dwelling house. Lately, she has also been thinking about signing upwards for Disney+ for its kid-friendly content.
Convenience as well plays a office.
"To be honest, we haven't run out of options," said the 37-year-one-time. "And I can watch annihilation whenever I desire, or intermission the video, go off and not miss annihilation."
THE Example FOR CINEMAS
Merely this does not mean that people are set up to abdicate the large screen and the unique experience information technology offers, said Mr Wilkinson.
Noting at that place are parallels to be drawn from the retail industry which is battling the rise of e-commerce, he explained: "People don't go to a retail shop only to get the physical production – if y'all just want the production, you can't get that more conveniently via eastward commerce.
"They go because they want to scan, endeavor something on, encounter people. Overall, information technology's a day out and I think that holds well with cinemas – it'due south a day out with friends or family that isn't fully replicable at home."
Coupled with the affluence of cinema screens here and a likely recovery in consumers' discretionary spending when the economic system picks up, the manufacture observer said existing cinema-going habits are unlikely to alter dramatically someday shortly.
"For all these reasons, I think it would be definitely an exaggeration to talk about cinemas going away after the pandemic."
READ: Commentary: Is this the end of movie theatres in Singapore every bit we know it?
Industry players echoed that.
While streaming services will bear on the movie theater manufacture, it remains unclear if it will be a positive or negative one, said Ms Cheo of Gold Village, adding that some data "actually suggest that people who stream more than as well go to movies more".
Even as some studios plan to release their latest movies online and in cinemas simultaneously, it is also unclear if this volition be the norm going forward, the master executive added.
"Almost movies are made with the large screen in listen. When watched on a home TV, some of the essence of the film may be lost," she said.
"Imagine watching Avatar on TV when it was first released – it only wouldn't practise the pic and special effects justice and have the same wow cistron."
New releases online also come with boosted fees for streaming subscribers, who will "definitely be weighing their options", said Mr Ivan Lau, operations and marketing manager of EagleWings Group which owns boutique cinema EagleWings Cinematics located in KAP Mall.
Mr Shaw pointed out that this is not the first time that the possible demise of cinemas has been debated. Over the years, there have been several apocalyptic threats including the emergence of television, videotape, DVDs and the Internet.
"Those didn't happen and now people are saying Netflix will kill cinemas, I don't think it'southward going to exist true either," he said.
Meanwhile there are other reasons why cinemas could remain an integral function of daily life in Singapore.
For one, they play a key part in attracting footfall to retail malls throughout the day, including with late-dark screenings, said Mr Wilkinson. Also, their locations on the superlative floors of malls usually entice people to check out other outlets as they make their manner up to the theatres.
"It's been very attractive for retail malls to have cinemas … and so in that context I think cinemas can always go good deals from landlords," he said.
Every bit part of his role at the Singapore Pic Society, Mr Tan, the moving-picture show enthusiast, said he has organised several online Netflix parties – a feature on Netflix that allows multiple users to watch a film together – over the past year. Users can too tap on the chat function to go out comments.
Each online session attracted an average of thirty to 50 participants from all walks of life.
While an interesting feel, Mr Tan believes that there will still be those who prefer to head back to the cinemas, especially for films that lend themselves better to the large screen or are not readily accessible online.
For instance on a recent trip to the Oldham Theatre, he caught an old Sri Lankan film which was given a 4K restoration. It was not simply a "rare opportunity" to grab a film from the South Asian country, but the 4K restoration of an former motion picture can only be truly enjoyed in a cinema with a big screen and other technical capabilities, he said.
People are also cracking to get dorsum to a life with some degree of normality, he said, and returning to the cinemas like how it used to be before the pandemic is one thing that would help.
"It's similar exorcising the ghosts of the pandemic."
"LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL"
With that, manufacture players seem reasonably confident that crowds will render to the cinemas – it's but a case of when.
Progress in the state's vaccination program, every bit well as around key markets such as the United States, is one cause for optimism, they said.
Cinemas are besides hoping the line-up of pandemic-postponed blockbusters will lure audiences back. Among the outset out of the gate is the 9th instalment of the popular Fast & Furious franchise, which officially opened in Singapore this week.
The latest in the racing film franchise already shattered pandemic box office records during its beginning weekend in the United States, with one media report calling it "the strongest sign withal that life is left in movie theatres".
READ: Fast & Furious 9 puts charge back into US picture show theatres with US$70m opening
Others coming up include Curiosity'due south superhero pic Black Widow, DC comics movie The Suicide Squad and action movie Top Gun Maverick.
"In that location is light at the end of the tunnel as the situation in the The states has improved and studios are starting to schedule new releases," said Mr Lau.
Mr Shaw reckoned that a box office recovery could "come up pretty apace with the huge pent-up stream of films" simply he apace added that operators will only be "doing likewise as (they) are allowed to".
"It'southward going to be entirely up to the rules and regulations as to how many people will and can come to the cinemas," he said.
Gilded Village's Ms Cheo noted that if reduced cinema capacities are to be extended into the last quarter of 2022 and beyond, more than back up may be needed.
That is why some operators are hoping for the electric current 50-person cap on attendance to be lifted.
While cinema halls tin admit up to 250 people every bit long as they conduct pre-upshot testing, information technology "wouldn't stack economically" for operators to do so, said Ms Tan from The Projector.
First, cinemas find it hard to blot the cost of these tests and the hiring of additional manpower to administer them. DIY test kits are as well out of the question as they cost effectually the same price every bit a motion picture ticket.
READ: Cinemas, religious organisations to cut capacity to 100 people to avert pre-event testing requirement
Ms Tan is likewise unsure if movie house-goers will want to put upwardly with the extra cost and inconvenience of pre-result testing for a movie.
"We hope to go back to at to the lowest degree Phase three measures of 50 per cent capacity with social distancing. Given that there were no COVID-19 clusters in cinemas nether those measures, it possibly represents a balance between viability for the movie house operators and safety for customers," she said.
NEW EXPERIENCES FOR THE FUTURE?
That said, Ms Cheo noted there are "many opportunities" ahead for the industry here to not just recover, but also potentially grow.
"As compared to other adult markets, Singapore has room to grow in terms of average box role spending and per capita picture palace attendance," she said.
The fashion forward, according to Golden Hamlet, is to have "quality offerings in quality settings" such as its "new-generation cinemas".
One of them will be the upcoming outlet in Katong, which volition be the starting time Gilt Hamlet cinema with "a new integrated concept" for people to sentinel a picture and relish other lifestyle activities. More than details will be announced when ready, said Ms Cheo.
Last year, the company likewise entered into a proposed merger with China Cineplexes, the third biggest movie theater chain in Singapore. Both chains stated in the filing that they promise a merger volition bring in more investors and create economies of scale.
READ: Golden Village-Mainland china merger proposed; volition become Singapore'due south largest cinema operator if canonical
Asked for an update on this possibly market place-changing move, Ms Cheo would only say that both parties are currently at the due diligence phase and are also in talks with the Competition and Consumer Committee of Singapore. A joint statement will be made when in that location is a material update.
Smaller operators are as well banking on unique experiences to set them apart.
EagleWings Cinematics, for instance, has already converted one of its standard halls into one that is more premium with fewer seats, side tables for meals and admission to its lounge.
It has three other premium halls of different grades – each fitted with different sofa types and capacities – but they all allow customers to gild dishes such as a lobster risotto from its eating house and be served by a butler while watching a movie.
"We know that going the normal cinema route and competing based on content alone may non be viable, that is why why four out of five of our halls are premium halls," said its spokesman Mr Lau. "The niche we desire to carve out is the luxurious experience that is not also expensive."
Its premium halls that seat between 12 to 18 people are as well more than pocket-friendly for those who desire to rent the infinite for matrimony proposals, altogether parties and other events, he added.
Meanwhile, The Projector is about 2 months into its pop-upwardly initiative – a 48-seat cinema, cafe-bar and creative space located in Clarke Quay that was transformed out of an abandoned Chinese nightclub.
Projector X, every bit it is called, will exist on until the terminate of side by side yr.
Apart from socially-distanced seats, Ms Tan, who started The Projector from two disused movie theater halls on the fifth floor of Gold Mile Tower, said the team preserved many original details of the club such as the changing rooms formerly used past hostesses and upcycled chairs and TV screens that were left behind.
More importantly, the pop-upwards project allows experimentation with new cinema experiences such as nutrient pairings with film.
"When nosotros opened Projector X, I recollect a lot of eyebrows were raised but for u.s.a., it was also a good opportunity to practice something positive in a whole negative landscape," said the founder.
Ms Tan and her squad are besides working on a new 150-seat, unmarried-screen cinema at Grange Road. The permanent outlet is set to open late next year or early 2023.
"Our unique selling point has ever been the fact that we are not your boilerplate cinema – not just our moving-picture show, but our effect programming and the vibe and energy y'all get when you come into our space.
"I think that's something that you tin't replicate easily, and what will continue to attract people," she said.
For Mr Shaw, while it remains too early to speculate how the pandemic will alter the cinema experience, he said operators will need to be nimble and prepared for another COVID-19-like crunch.
Shaw Theatres has already been experimenting with unlike concepts, such equally its kid-friendly hall in Precious stone Changi Airport which features child-safe edges, soft lighting and lower-than-usual sound volume during screenings.
Asked if the cinema concern will remain a profitable i in future, the amiable Shaw family scion nodded with a laugh: "Yes – otherwise why exist in a business that you know is going to neglect? Merely considering this is a legacy business?"
"I remember the day final year when nosotros announced to the staff that we were closing, and I told them that we'll be back. We did and while the situation remains difficult, this as well will pass."
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/focus-are-covid-19-and-streaming-services-ending-singapores-love-going-cinema-297216
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