Shindler's Site: At the Crossroads

by Marty Shindler

The LF industry has come a long way. For the most part, we should be proud. But there is a long way to go with many challenges ahead, some perhaps greater than those we have faced so far.

The overall trends in the LF business have been strong and mostly positive: the growth of theaters; the branching out of the commercial sector; the increase in new films; and the broadening of the types of films being produced.

The industry has received recognition from a variety of sources, including the mainstream film community, our peers in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and most importantly, the moviegoing public that helps put food on our tables.

All this has led to an increase in the number of organizations entering the industry and attempting to get a piece of the pie. There is always room for fresh new ideas. New players and concepts are the lifeblood of all industries and are the basis for competition. They are particularly important in an industry striving for maturity.

A number of organizations have left the LF industry, including several that were part of larger and more substantial corporations for which LF seemed a natural fit. Others, as has been reported and/or rumored, are on the brink of extinction. Still others have refocused their energies, deciding that a narrower segment of the industry suits them best.

Much of this is normal in any growing industry. Growing pains can be difficult, but they can also be rewarding.

Today we are at a crossroads. The industry must decide which of several directions to take into the future. Some are viable and will get us to our ultimate destination. And it may not be necessary for everyone to take the same route.

The phenomenal box office success of Everest, T-Rex and Mysteries of Egypt demonstrates that the public will respond to good films, even though each of these examples is distinctly different from the others in story line, production techniques, and release pattern.

Fantasia 2000 has raised the bar even further. A few years ago, the idea of a major Hollywood studio film being released in LF was only a dream. It was also "common wisdom" that LF films were evergreen and could play "forever." So the four-month limited release of F2K has opened lots of eyes.

Many organizations have benefited tremendously from the release of Fantasia 2000. Many people who were skeptical a year or even six months ago have been surprised. Many decision makers are rethinking their positions on future bookings. Many who were concerned that F2K was not directly in line with their mission statements but exhibited the picture anyway have been pleased. Many who did not book it have heard the ringing of the cash registers and believe they missed an opportunity.

Had those venues booked F2K, they might have accomplished one of their theater’s primary goals: bringing people into the building who might not otherwise have come. Fantasia’s professional marketing campaign worked.

Many of these same issues will be discussed at this month’s Large Format Cinema Association conference, in the panel sessions, at the screenings, and in the hallways, wherever industry folk gather.

This crossroads represents an opportunity. It is time to rethink where we are going, what has really worked, and what has not. It is time to stop doing business a certain way just because "that’s how it has always been done." A fresh re-examination of our goals and objectives is in order. It will tell us what path to take at the crossroads.

All that is required is a willingness to act.