Canada’s independent cinemas in crisis and calling for more support

A new report paints a potentially dark picture for Canada’s independent cinemas as industry leaders call for more support.

The Network of Independent Canadian Exhibitors (NICE) recently published results of an industry-wide survey on The State of Independent Film Exhibition in Canada. It found that post-pandemic, the business model for most independent cinemas is unsustainable with 60 per cent of respondents saying they operated at a loss at the end of the most recent fiscal year.

“The pandemic from a medical perspective is over but the pandemic from an economic perspective, especially for the service sectors, is not over,” said Jeff Knoll the the CEO of Film.ca Cinemas.

“Revenues are down, people aren’t coming as much to the movies, the quality of the films is questionable and there wasn’t as much support coming out of the pandemic from the federal government – they were all keen about helping us during the pandemic and we thank them for that but when it was over there was no ongoing support and its really left us floundering.”

The NICE survey found an overwhelming majority of respondents pointing to the impact of clean runs – when a studio requires a single film playing in absolutely every showtime on a screen for up to four weeks – and the requirement that they must wait for Cineplex in their ‘zone’ to finish playing a new release before they are allowed to show it as having a negative impact on their business.

“What we didn’t expect is kind of this conflagration of issues that made it very hard for independent cinemas to survive in Canada,” says Sonya Williams, the director of NICE.

“A lot of independent cinemas couldn’t take part in the big lift that was ‘Barbenheimer’ last year. People kept saying the blockbuster is back but a lot of independent cinemas didn’t have access to ‘Barbie’ or ‘Oppenheimer’ for months and month and months.”

Knoll adds these policies along with an industry push towards streaming have left a lasting impact.

“One, we don’t keep the film as long which means we don’t get to generate enough revenue but also the film comes out only weeks, sometimes a month or two after theatrical release that a lot of folks are just basically waiting for it to show up on the platforms they’re paying for,” he explains. “If Hollywood wants to stick with this distribution mode, then the least they can do is help us in our industry by lightening up on some of these anti-competitive and very difficult business practices.”

The report also found that 34 per cent of independent cinemas are the only cultural or entertainment option in their community.

Telefilm is one of the biggest sources of funding for independent film exhibitors, providing a maximum of $5,000 a year. The survey found a majority of exhibitors calling for further public and/or government support to remain operational, adding that the risk of closure is “imminent and real.”