Canada's indie movie theatres say industry is in crisis

Canada's independent cin‐ ema industry is in crisis, its owners say, as they face mounting challenges from streaming services and re‐ strictive Hollywood studio rules.

Sixty per cent of indepen‐ dent movie theatre operators were at a loss at the end of their most recent fiscal year, according to a report re‐ leased Tuesday by the Net‐ work of Independent Canadi‐ an Exhibitors (NICE). They were surveyed between De‐ cember and February.

About two-thirds of the 67 respondents said they need increased public funding in order to stay open, with many saying they would need about $50,000 annually for the next three years to close immediate gaps.

Sonya William, director and founder of NICE, called the numbers "stark."

"A lot of these venues are really at risk of closing."

While theatre owners are asking for government help in the form of funds and ad‐ vocacy, they place much of the blame on rules imposed by major studios like Disney that determine when and for how long they are able to screen certain big-ticket films.

Disney did not respond to an email requesting com‐ ment by press time.

'Clean runs' frustrate small theatre owners

The organization is pushing for an end to "clean runs," when studios require an in‐ dependent theatre to dedi‐ cate a screen to just one film for up to four weeks, even if the film stops drawing crowds after the first week.

This can be especially frustrating for small-town theatres that only have one screen, says Shaun Aquiline, who runs the Gem Theatre in Grand Forks, B.C., with his wife Kirstin.

"I've just shut the doors and locked it up and told the staff we will open back up when the contract is done, because right now we're just losing money and there's no point staying open."

He said he is just breaking even, and restrictions from big studios make it hard to run a theatre in a town of 4,000 people.

Aquiline said he even had to cancel a live comedy event last month because a major studio threatened to pull his licence from future films if he held any event outside of the clean run.

"They said if your door's open, you're showing our product.

"What else could you do? We had no choice but to can‐ cel, so that's what we did."

Over 80 per cent of survey respondents said they have been impacted by the en‐ forcement of clean runs, and more than 60 per cent said ending the practice would be "paradigm-shifting" or "very much" impactful for their business.

Cineplex gets 'first dibs'

NICE is also calling for the elimination of zone provi‐ sions, which keep exhibitors from playing films that are screening at bigger nearby theatres.

For Wendy Huot, that means waiting on Cineplex locations in the suburbs to finish with a movie before she can screen it at her downtown Kingston, Ont., theatre, The Screening Room.

"We have to wait until the multiplexes have really made all the money they possibly can with them and then de‐ cide to stop playing the film, and then we're finally able to bring the movie downtown," Huot said.

A Cineplex spokesperson said in an email that the company has to license its movies from distributors, and it "is up to the distribu‐ tors to decide where they play their films."

The Screening Room was thriving before the pandem‐ ic, even doing renovations in 2018 that doubled its size, and Huot said the first two months of 2020 were her busiest on record.

But after scraping by through the COVID-19 pan‐ demic, which temporarily closed theatres in many re‐ gions, Huot said business on‐ ly started to return to normal last summer.

Now, however, theatres are also competing with the encroachment of streaming services.

Sometimes, a popular film will run for eight weeks at Cineplex, and will already be on Amazon Prime or another platform by the time it gets to Huot's theatre.

"Of course a lot of people will choose to just stay and watch it at home," she said.

'It's not just a theatre'

NICE's research comes as arts organizations across Canada are lamenting a lack of funding and a struggle to survive.

Last week, the president of Hot Docs said this year's event could be its last with‐ out more financial support. The non-profit runs Canada's largest documentary film fes‐ tival, as well as a year-round cinema in Toronto.

Canadian Heritage has en‐ gaged with NICE and is con‐ sidering its report, said Ari‐ ane Joazard-Bélizaire, a spokesperson for Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, in an email.

''We are aware of the chal‐ lenges facing independent cinemas.

"We are committed to en‐ suring that Canadian stories continue to be both heard and seen, including collabo‐ rating with independent cine‐ mas and recognizing their vi‐ tal role in our cultural ecosys‐ tem in large and small com‐ munities across the country."

Aquiline said the issue goes far beyond the silver screen. Theatres like the Gem also serve as multi-use com‐ munity spaces where people hold events ranging from live music to birthday parties.

Indeed, the NICE report found more than one-third of the theatres in need of public funds are the only arts or cul‐ ture option in their commu‐ nity.

Aquiline said all he wants is a chance to survive.

"When a small town loses its theatre, I think it loses a little piece of its soul to some degree, because it's not just a theatre.

"It's more than just about the movies. It's about your community."