An influential panel of buyers from Asia and Europe identified multiple problems in the current post-pandemic box office scene for home movies and tried to find solutions at the Busan platformer on Monday.
The panel included Laure Parleani of Totem Films (France), Kim Heaok of Hark & Company (Japan), Beril Heral of Filmarti (Turkey), and June Lee of Korean series Watcha. The team was running diverse Asia Editor Patrick Frater.
Barliani reported that France had its worst September box office hit in 42 years, with Rebecca Zlotowski’s Venice nickname “Other People’s Children” and Alice Winocour’s Cannes nickname “Revoir Paris,” both starring Virginie Evira, bringing some delight among local fare.
“We have good news, but there are still exceptions, that’s the problem,” Barliani said.
“There is absolutely no good news,” Kim declared of Japan, adding that the art film market was declining even before the pandemic. Kim said that after the pandemic, some young people have returned to movie theaters but that older residents are still afraid to return. Kim said she faces a dilemma trying to find films that fit both groups of audiences.
Hiral said acceptance was low in Turkey, which also has an issue of censorship. Additionally, weaning younger audiences away from the streaming platforms they are accustomed to during the pandemic has also been a challenge, Hiral said. The change in currency exchange rates has also become a major negative for international freight importers to Turkey because the local currency has weakened against the US dollar between the time the rights deal was agreed and the time it is time to pay for the titles.
Hiral added that Turkey also suffered a decline in September due to the lack of enough new films to watch in cinemas.
Lee said that in Korea, while most commercial titles – domestic and international – are doing well, especially the sequel, arthouse films are struggling. “The public is making the safest choices, not betting on completely new movies. This kind of behavior affects the art department because [audiences] They wouldn’t choose arthouse movies, but would rather just wait for them to be shown on OTT [streaming] He said to me.
Turning to solutions, Barliani said, “We need to find a way to make the cinema experience desirable, because it is less than it was, it is less comfortable,” adding that in many cases the home screen and sofa were more comfortable than the current experience in the cinema. Barliani added that festivals should intensify and take responsibility for finding new talents through their competition sections.
All panelists agreed that the urgency is to reach younger audiences via marketers who have a good understanding of social media, because traditional methods such as press communications and TV advertising no longer work.
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