Tuesday, July 14, 2020

A theater owner reveals the scenario if the curtains are up before Corona goes away


My friend, an owner of a standalone theater in the suburbs of Chennai conducted a mock drill to see what problems he would face when public are allowed to come in after going through all procedures spelt out by IMCR and WHO. The following lessons that he learnt are – It takes 30 minutes for 300 persons (50% of the total capacity is only allowed)  to be screened and sanitized  to enable them to see the show. If more than 50 % of them came in just 15 minutes before the show?.  Giving out pre-ordered snacks to ticket holders in the short time before the show started and that too without a mix-up is another hassle. All this with security guys ensuring that the patrons maintained a safe distance to get the parcels.
Should the patrons come with masks or should it be given by the theater? If so who pays for it as one cannot give away some masks that are available off the handcarts. Who pays for the sanitizers? Those taking temp readings should be wearing PPE kits that have to be changed every day. More expenses.
Inside the auditorium, the ushers have to ensure that there was a seat gap between two. Doors should be kept open or shut and AC kept on? If it were kept open, then huge pedestal fans and wall mounted fans are  needed and the whirring sound cannot be silenced. The next best option is for the theater to leave the AC on for some time before the crowd came in. Once again the staff has to see that the pre-ordered snacks through apps are delivered to the patrons at the seat during interval.
Extra personnel with PPE kits and machines to spray the rest rooms and inside the auditorium after the show are needed. A continuous vigil is needed inside the theater to see that social distancing is kept. If the middle seat is removed for now and later the Govt says it is ok (as in case of airlines) it will have to be refitted and the seats are not any local make for an ordinary carpenter to do it.
The theater made money out of its own popcorn brand and beverages sold without MRP. Now the food app guys have to agree to deliver the stuff at theater rates. Next option is allow parcels from counters. The question is will public obey the idea to come early for a show, like a check in time for flights? If they come late, can they be denied entry?
Coming to business point. With 50% occupancy, a theater- distributor will need at least 50 days to make profits. By this 50 days. Online pirated movies will come and so also HD quality DVD.  The results of theater  owner talk with public is that except for a small 10% , no one will come to see a re-run or of a non star film when the curtains lift up gain as they feel that they have go through lot of inconvenience and risks ( they say seeing films in theater is a risk). Only a star studded film can bring life back to theaters is the consensus. Most of the patrons   have taken to viewing films on OTT from the comfort of their homes and though they are not pleased with the OTT releases like Ponmagal Vandhal and Penguin, other language films, especially the Malayalam and Hindi films have caught their fancy. Many of them have even been hooked to web series.
As my friend says that it is better to wait till the epidemic is over. He points out that Suriya’s SP is the only film as of now that is ready and can bring public to take a look or take a risk. But after that? Even Hollywood films are coming out only in November and many theaters in USA are still shut , even after getting a green signal, as they can’t find people to come in to see re-runs or those that were yanked off due to lockdown. They are giving the summer a miss.
P S : The pix used is only for illustrative purpose. Nazar, Giri (artist manager), director Rasi Alagappan were in Trivandrum and wanted to see Jallikattu film ( Malayalam). Anand ( Thiruda Thiruda) who shifted base to Trivandrum took them to New Theater. They were told that as only a handful had come, the show was cancelled. Anand paid for 26 seats (cutoff limit) and saw the film.

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