With newer technology such as 3D I look at whether there is a place for old fashioned movie houses amongst chain and modern independent cinemas in Britain.
There’s nothing quite like going to the movies. A night out in front of the big screen can light up an otherwise dull week. But where do you go to see to get your film fix? Is it the shining new multiplex? Or the lovable old independent down the road that has seen better days, and needs your support?
That old cinema has had a lot to live with in the last 30 years. With the British film industry faltering in the 80’s, it had to look to the bright lights of Hollywood to survive. The quaint Ealing comedies of the 40’s and 50’s and peculiar oddities such as the Wicker man that were part of Britain’s cinematic heyday were over, to be painted over by Hollywood’s dominating pattern.
Chain cinemas came along, or perhaps came about, from this rise of Hollywood blockbusters, and had no problems gaining huge mainstream audiences. But the smaller independent cinemas were left shell shocked, many failing to adapt to this sudden shift in the cinema scene.
One such cinema that struggled was the Tivoli Theatre in Wimborne. Having to close in 1980 it looked set to be reduced to rubble for a new road scheme. Yet a dedicated local group, saved it in 1990, and took three years to restore its art deco features of chrome and ancient bakelite back to former glories.
Walking into the Tivoli now is like going through a time warp. The hard marble floors are buffed to a reflective shine. To buy your ticket there is a wooden booth in the corner, alongside a variety of sweets stocked in a cabinet, where you pay into a Tupperware pot. Entering the single screen you find the rigid seats uncomfortable, with a fabric design an upholstery shop has probably not stocked for twenty years. And during the intermission an usher trundles down the aisles selling pots of ice creams that you eat with the supplied wooden spoons.
(Above-The interior of the Wimborne Tivoli. Feel the retro magic…)
It’s an unexplainable mystery that a cinema can operate like this in the 21st century, but it’s a magical mystery. Because for all of multiplexes comfort, choice of junk food and unrivalled technical excellence, they feel a little cold compared to places like the Tivoli.
So how does a place like this survive? Charlie North Lewis, the Director and Programmer at the Tivoli, says that he faces a struggle to divert from a particular formula of success.
“In our case you rely solely on your box office, and what your audience want. If a film is shown here it has to have had a tremendous amount of hype, or nobody will come. Basically, if it is set in Britain, a costume drama, or stars Judi Dench or Colin Firth it will be hugely successful here, at the very least. There are occasions where there is nothing out there for our specific audience, so then I have to take a risk and choose a film that has done well in the chain cinemas and hope it does well here.”
Having been to an evening screening of sweary gangster flick RocknRolla at the Tivoli, I can testify that it has a specific clientele, and younger people it certainly is not. With around 20 people scattered amongst the 500 seats that night it’s clear that places like the Tivoli do not possess as much freedom as other, more modern independents.
One such modern independent is the Quad in Derby. Opening just a year ago, it is as different from the Tivoli as you can possibly get. With a design aesthetic of bright and bold colours, sharp vibrant angles and shining glass it boasts the modernity of a chain, but retains an independent personality all of its own like the Tivoli.
(Above-The Derby Quad. Modern in the extreme.)
And Kathy Frain, the Quads Marketing Officer, says that modern Independents such as hers are in a stronger position than they have ever been before.
“In the past independents were seen to be a bit down at heel compared to the glossy new multiplexes, but due to more commercial success and financial input from organisations like the Film Council, some independents, like the Quad, are now comparable on every level in terms of customer comfort, and projection equipment.”
The key example of an independent gaining huge commercial success is, of course, the Picturehouse cinemas. Also known as City Screen, it formed in 1989 to challenge multiplexes dominance and was hugely successful, and has now 18 buildings across the country, becoming the leading independent cinema operator in Britain.
(Above-The Southampton Picturehouse)
Louise Scutts, the General Manager at the Southampton branch, thinks that even though the Picurehouse has become as widespread as a chain, they still maintain an independent cinema approach, and that cinemas such as them are needed to stop multiplexes dominating Britain.
“We have a very indie mentality, as we started off very small back in the 80’s. It’s been a policy that we are set up in university towns hence them being in Brighton and Southampton, Cambridge, Oxford those types of places. We tend to adapt for the audience because we have 18 screens in Southampton, banging away at mainstream, and it’s not worth taking them on, so we have a much more art house programme than other Picturehouses, while others have a much more mainstream one, but it is tailored. We’re all trying to do the same type of thing.”
“When multiplexes were first rearing their ugly heads in the early 80’s they were going ‘there will be more choice for the cinema goer, you’ll be able to see loads more films it’ll be much better…’ Rubbish. Absolute rubbish. They’ve just put the same film in as many screens as possible. So they actually limit the choice.”
Independents such as the Picturehouse and Quad may be able to roll with the punches alongside multiplexes, but cinemas such as the Tivoli do not have their modern set up and could end up being in trouble if their specific audience leaves them.
Susi Teall, the general manager of Poole’s Empire cinema however, is reluctant to say whether chain cinemas such as hers will ever kill off old fashioned independents, and that multiplexes face their own problems keeping audiences happy.
“Independents will possibly need funding from the arts council or the lottery but as long as that kind of assistance is there for them I see no reason why they can't survive. I know that the arts council is offering big grants toward digital for the independents and I think the only reason that any of them would fail is if they don't keep apace with the technology. I'm sure, for example, that the Tivoli in Wimborne would be a far more appropriate venue to screen live from the Royal Opera House than we would. But that's not to say that we won't give these events a go.”
“At the end of the day we are not a charity. We have massive utility costs, rents, staffing but we will always endeavour to show as wide a range of films as we can. As much as I personally hate most of the blockbuster films, they are what the majority want to see and if the demand if high we need to meet it. For example, over the past few days I have had to deal with so many complaints that the opening weekend shows of Twilight: New Moon are already sold out, meaning that I had to secure a third copy and open up another screen for sale. This will inevitably mean that we will lose something else but why show a film with only 20 people watching when I can keep 250 people happy?”
But talking to Anne Lonsdale, a Supervisor at the Southampton Cineworld, she thinks that chains are starting to exploring ways in which to make sure that audiences stay loyal to them, keeping them away from independents.
“We’ve got our Cineworld unlimited card which is £13.50 a month and it helps customers stay with us. As well as the unlimited cards, where they can watch as many films as they want, they also get concessions on items every now and again. I think it keeps them mainly loyal to the cinema.”
So with chains doing more and more to keep audiences coming to only them, including recent 3d technology, how will can older independent cinemas keep people coming through the door? Much of the audience for these old fashioned movie houses places such as the Tivoli seems to be an older crowd, getting a kick from the old décor, reliving the nostalgic film trips of their youth.
Dougal Dixon, part owner and projectionist at the Rex in Wareham, an older fashioned independent, that like the Tivoli, is run by a group of local volunteers, says that attracting a younger audience is their main problem.
“We accepted a long time that we had lost our teenage audience when tower park opened in Poole. I don’t think we can get them back, it is just the way the cinema is set up. We cannot get films on their release and that is what young people want now, the ‘I want it now generation. We do family films in the school holidays in the hope that young children can come along and experience our cinema and want to come back. Overall, I think we can survive. I have kept us going for 23 years so I must be doing something right!”
(Above-The Rex Cinema in Wareham)
Woody Harding, a member of a committee for the Purbeck Film Festival, the annual southern event which shows films from places such as town halls and cafes, thinks the only way independents survive is to pull off a tough balancing act.
“We do a survey every year as we are very conscious that our constituency is made up of just an older audience. Cinemas like the Tivoli and the Rex may need to show films that a chain cinema would just to try and get young people in. There may have to be a compromise, where they will have to put on a mix of commercial films and ones which are less mainstream.”
Older independents may have to get younger audiences to understand that they are not about technical perfection, but a character you can get nowhere else, and are worthy of their support. Their future may be uncertain but older independents have proved, as in the 80’s, they can survive against the odds.
fin
Go Further-
Tivoli Website
http://www.tivoliwimborne.co.uk/
Quad Website
http://www.derbyquad.co.uk/
Picturehouse Website
http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/
Empire Website
http://www.empirecinemas.co.uk/index.php?page=home
Cineworld Website
http://www.cineworld.co.uk/
Rex Website
http://www.therex.co.uk/
Purbeck Film Festival Website
http://www.purbeckfilm.org.uk/
My sincere thanks to all that spoke to me. I appreciate it and wish your cinemas the best.
