Russian film distribution is experiencing a shortage of equipment
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The film distribution industry is experiencing equipment difficulties. Market players told Kommersant FM about this. Now Western components are supplied to Russia only through parallel imports, so they have become much more expensive. More affordable alternatives are still inferior in quality, and there is no domestic production at all. At the same time, the need to purchase equipment has not disappeared; on average, a cinema hall needs to be updated every 12 years.
However, distributors can focus on other screening technologies, which are much better developed in friendly countries, says Alexey Vasyasin, head of the joint cinema chain Cinema Park and Formula Kino: “Russian manufacturers do not make xenon lamps, the Americans make them, and now the Chinese have started. American lamps have become much more expensive due to the fact that they are not supplied directly, only through parallel imports, which takes longer and is more expensive.
The Chinese still have room for improvement; they are not perfect. But they are a stubborn nation, so I do not rule out that in the future they will achieve excellence in quality. But at the moment, the lamps are exploding, which can damage the reflector, which costs several thousand dollars. And these are completely different costs, besides, the necessary reflector still needs to be found somewhere. The hall will remain idle for several days, or even weeks.
Lamps are only one of the problems; there are many more of them in terms of maintaining equipment, servers, sound racks, and boards that burn out. But these problems can be solved with the help of the state, and from different departments. If we are talking about the development of display formats, there are subsidies and grants for producers, and they must be allocated accordingly. The question is, which path do we want to take? Along the path of projectors? We can do it, but I think it’s wrong. The future of cinema, film exhibition and the hall is panels. If we want something good, then we need to develop there.”
Another serious problem, according to film distributors, was the lack of domestic films in the more expensive 3D and IMAX formats. Previously, a ticket for such a show could be sold for 700 rubles, now cinemas only show films in a regular format and because of this they lose profit. But modern audiences are no longer very interested in 3D and IMAX, says film producer and distributor Vladislav Pasternak:
“Various Western companies began to leave us about two years ago. In particular, the IMAX corporation, which licensed equipment for cinemas. We had such films about ten years ago, the halls and equipment remained, but it is no longer supported, that is, we do not have the service from IMAX. We invented some kind of domestic replacement, we call it Screen Max. That is, the halls are the same, the equipment is the same, but the technologists are without the participation of the IMAX corporation.
We show some paintings in this format, but not many. At the moment, regular content is shown in IMAX halls; of course, the screens are larger and the quality is higher, but this is still not quite a full-fledged IMAX. In fact, shooting in 3D and IMAX is expensive, and it is not fully justified. I believe that the fashion for this has passed, but individual projects in the format could exist. Although for the viewer now 3D or 2D does not play a big role.
There is an opinion that the future of film exhibition in Russia lies in LED equipment. Now we have projection in cinema, this is an image that is projected from the control room onto the screen, and the viewer receives reflected light, and in the case of LED screens, the viewer will receive emitted light. In principle, this will be no different from a large plasma TV. It is difficult to predict how much this will be needed, because one small matrix is easier to replace than dead pixels on an LED screen. But, of course, the advantage of LED screens is their brightness.”
Against the backdrop of massive cancellations of Hollywood premieres, 2022 was a disastrous year for the Russian film industry; the revenue of cinema chains then decreased by almost half. But already in 2023, the industry managed to recover, box office receipts increased by 1.5% and reached 40 billion rubles. However, a significant share of the income came from illegal screenings of foreign films without a distribution certificate.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.
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