Source:
https://scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3126351/mainland-key-saving-hong-kongs-film-industry
Comment/ Opinion

Mainland is key to saving Hong Kong’s film industry

  • The coronavirus has had a devastating impact on cinemas, with many being forced to shut down and resulting in a knock-on effect on those who produce movies. The silver lining for Hong Kong, though, is that the market north of the border is still open
UA Cinemas have shut their doors for good after 36 years in Hong Kong. Photo: Felix Wong

The show-business saying in adversity that “the show must go on” is associated with live entertainment. Movies are not as prone to mishap or misfortune once they are made. But in the face of a pandemic all are equal. China somewhat excepted, Covid-19 has taken a terrible toll of the global movie business and the millions who depend on it for their livelihoods, halting production and closing cinemas.

Hong Kong mirrors the devastation, with the local cinema chain UA having recently shut its last six houses after 36 years in the city. The company said its operations had faced “devastating pressure”. This underlines a bleak outlook for the local film industry amid forced closures and scaled down movie production. Box office takings fell 72 per cent to HK$537 million last year, reflecting a global cinema industry loss of US$32 billion due to a 71.5 per cent fall in box office revenue from 2019. The pressures of the pandemic are accelerating the radical transformation of production, distribution and consumption wrought by streaming video on demand.

Three rounds of government support to cinemas have proved a drop in the bucket in terms of the industry’s woes. Crucindo Hung Cho-sing, chairman of the Hong Kong Motion Picture Association, said a collapse like that of UA Cinemas was inevitable.

Thanks to the coronavirus, fewer new films opened last year – 218 compared with 319 in 2019, with only 34 Hong Kong productions. In the 1980s and early 1990s, more than 200 films came out every year.

Hung said the Chinese market was now the only way out for local filmmakers, especially through co-productions that can be distributed as domestic films in Chinese cities.

Cinema attendances on the mainland bounced back through the second half of last year as it brought Covid-19 under control.

Ticket sales have stagnated for decades in major markets such as the United States and Britain. Operators worldwide have also faced a shrinking theatrical window – the time when studios show movies exclusively in cinemas before releasing them for sale, download or streaming. Given that the industry is in the throes of transformation and recovery likely to take time, local players are fortunate to have an edge in being able to target the cross-border market.