Source:
https://scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/3080153/are-hong-kong-filmmakers-out-touch-their
Post Magazine/ Arts & Music

Are Hong Kong filmmakers out of touch with their audiences?

  • A survey of when, or if, US film-goers will head back to cinemas highlights the lack of innovation and engagement in the Hong Kong film industry
  • Where filmmakers elsewhere are meeting cinephiles online, Hong Kong celebrities are merely posting home videos
Hong Kong’s film industry seems to lack innovation when it comes to engaging with its audience. Photo: Shutterstock

As I write, the Hong Kong government has extended the closure of cinemas in the city for another two weeks as part of its efforts to combat the pandemic. While this is bad news for local operators, business was hardly booming before the initial two-week ban announced on March 27.

Prior to the suspension of public enter­tain­ment last month, when the notion of social distancing became mainstream, Hong Kong cinemas were already seating customers on alternate rows, people being wary of spending two hours in an enclosed space with strangers. Now, industry exec­utives are wondering whether – or, at least, when – film-goers will venture into cinemas again.

There has been heartening news from afar, however. In a survey conducted by data analytics firm EDO among regular United States film-goers from March 24 to 28, more than 70 per cent of 6,800 respondents said they were likely to return to cinemas once they reopen. Twenty per cent said they would go out to see a movie “immediately” after cinemas resume business, and another 25 per cent said they would go “a few days later”. About 45 per cent said they would wait a few weeks before going to a cinema.

Of course, circumstances in the US are not the same as those in Hong Kong (although US cinemas have also been ordered to close temporarily). Consumer behaviour, home entertainment options and geographical spread are markedly different there and at best, the survey serves as a yardstick of customer sentiment in another media-saturated market.

The empty cobby of a cinema in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Photo: SCMP / Xiaomei Chen
The empty cobby of a cinema in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Photo: SCMP / Xiaomei Chen

What matters is that the survey took place at all. Rather than speculate based on experience or, worse, guesswork, isn’t it better to ask audiences what they think, especially in an age when companies are mining the customer mind with scarily secretive and intrusive algorithms?

EDO made headlines two years ago for having participants at Hollywood test screenings fill in questionnaires on elec­tronic devices, to yield more accurate findings. This time round, the outfit – which is backed by actor Edward Norton – was again first off the blocks, sweeping in with a snapshot of audience sentiment as people confront a seemingly endless quarantine.

While the poll reveals a yearning for human connection at sold-out screenings in real cinemas, it also outlines the impor­tance of understanding exactly what people want. Of course, social media also provides glimpses of that, but it’s well known how easy it is to manipulate those click numbers, likes and dislikes, and below-the-line comments, making them a less balanced overview of public sentiment.

While Hong Kong can still claim to be one of the world’s major film hubs, surveys such as EDO’s have been few and far between. It’s a disconnect that speaks volumes about the local industry’s lack of innovation in engaging with its audience. This became particularly evident when the cinemas went quiet: aside from the odd Zoom-driven online talk – such as the one featuring documentary maker Cheuk Cheung (Bamboo Theatre, 2019) two weeks ago – we’ve been mostly seeing celebrities uploading home videos about their domestic routines.

Meanwhile, others abroad have been coming up with initiatives to cultivate a new mode of interaction and nurture cinephilia among housebound viewers, with filmmakers from Sarah Polley to Jean-Luc Godard going online to converse with curators and cinephiles alike.

Maybe this is something the Hong Kong film industry could chew on as everybody waits for the cinemas to reopen.