Shindler's Site: Rites of Passage

Rites of passage take many forms. They can be a transition from one life stage to another, or a generational change. We have all experienced them: completing a formal education; religious milestones such as confirmation, first communion or bar mitzvah; puberty; reaching driving and voting age; marrying; having children; and so on. In some cases the passage occurs on a single day, as when one gets a driver’s license. In other cases, the rites occur over a period of time.

Organizations have analogous rites of passage: founding; induction of new members; mergers; the departure of members.

The Giant Screen Theater Association will celebrate an important rite of passage, its 25^th anniversary, at the conference in Toronto this month. Founded as the Space Theater Consortium in 1977, it later became the International Space Theater Consortium, and in 1999 was renamed GSTA.

The GSTA and the LF industry have experienced many rites of passage in the past 25 years. In 1977 there were four LF theaters in the world, all of them IMAX. Today there are nearly 100 times as many, in a wide variety of formats, brands, sizes, locations, and business models. No doubt the next 25 years will see even more remarkable developments as the generations change, bringing their values and philosophies to bear. This changing of generations relates not only to GSTA leaders and members, but to our audiences as well.

As with the population as a whole, the GSTA is comprised of several different generations. There are perhaps more generations represented in the Association today than at any other time. Some of the people who helped found the organization are still active in its affairs while others are not. Some member companies did not exist when the association started and some leaders in the LF industry today were children when the association was begun.

The leaders of yesterday and today have guided the organization through its childhood, adolescence, teens, and early twenties. The leaders of tomorrow will guide the organization into the next age, most likely swept along by rapid technologic, philosophic, and economic changes.

However, generation gaps often develop, based on different life experiences, behavior patterns, and traditions. The GSTA is not immune to this.

Some of the traditions that the GSTA’s founders believed in have changed. Among these is the "preferred" film format. Founded as a 15/70 organization when there were no alternatives, GSTA has since opened its membership to other formats. While the 15/70 format continues to dominate, 8/70 has made significant strides in the marketplace. When digital projection becomes more of a factor, these theaters, too, should be welcomed. Content, not format, is king.

Similarly, the LF pioneers probably did not envision the commercialization of the industry, but that has happened and will continue, assuming there is a sufficient supply of viable film product.

Obviously, ours is not a "one size fits all" world. Yet the LF film industry caters to a number of generations, with families often attending institutional theaters together. I recently came across a non-scientific poll on FamilyEducation.com whose findings apply to our industry.

The poll asked what it took for a book to be a hit with kids and adults. The choices were: timeless story line, good writing, interesting characters, great illustrations, and all of the above. Not surprisingly, "all of the above" garnered 72% of the votes.

Twenty five years ago the LF industry was selling an "experience," something unique and different that included learning. While today the experience can be had in many ways, the learning aspect has endured. Will learning be the same for future generations? Certainly our parents’ methods of learning were different from ours yesterday, or those of our children today.

Also in 1977, Twentieth Century Fox purchased a small Michigan company called Magnetic Video. That company would become Fox Video and propel the film business into a whole new era. At the time, many feared that home video would be the death of movie theaters. Today, the "home entertainment industry" (the new moniker for the video business) has become the largest revenue source for the film business. And the number of movie theaters worldwide has increased significantly and global box office has reached new peaks.

While the revenue stream from video has not been as important to the LF industry, LF producers are paying more attention than ever to their bottom lines and this important component.

Each generation hands its traditions down to the next. But each new generation chooses which of them to accept or reject. Time will tell which LF traditions future generations accept and which they cast aside.

Finally, please join me in congratulating James Hyder and LF Examiner for completing five years of publication. Since this newsletter began in 1997, the amount of important information available to the LF industry has grown considerably. It is information of all kinds, after all, that allows us to make decisions affecting our businesses.