Round table : The Economy of heritage cinema

Between statistics and concrete experiences, Thursday's conference on the economics of heritage cinema demonstrated a timid but welcome growth of the sector.

As every year, the conference on the economics of cinema opened with the valuable statistics of Benoit Danard, Director of Statistical Studies for the CNC. A perfect introduction to the round table on the economics of heritage cinema, moderated by Emmanuelle Spadacenta (Cinemateaser), which demonstrates the relative strength of this sector in France. It should be noted that classic films represent 38% of the theatrical offer and that, contrary to popular belief, the offer has been enriched by classics over 40 years old. According to the CNC's math, the percentage change in the number of seats sold in heritage cinema is much higher than that of recent films (100% increase compared to 28% in 20 years). This can be explained in particular by the renovation of the film park, leading to a 56% increase in the number of heritage screenings in 20 years.

Despite an average number of admissions per screening that is significantly higher than for current films (35 admissions per screening compared to 23), classic films still suffer from much lower revenues linked to the types of cinemas that screen them (film libraries, art cinemas, arthouse theatres, screenings for schoolchildren, etc.). The situation remains rather positive for the television broadcasting of heritage works, mainly thanks to TNT channels. According to Benoit Danard, the biggest challenge for historical cinema remains its visibility on streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. You can find the complete study on the CNC website by clicking here.

According to the professionals, represented by Marc Orly of Lost Films for distributors and Stéphane Bouyer of Le Chat qui fume for publishing, reality remains more problematic. While, as Benoit Danard explains, the share of heritage in the DVD/Blu-Ray sector is more stable (due to a very collectible French population), the situation remains more mixed for independent publishers. The publisher's small team of specialists in the erotic-horrific classics Le Chat qui fume quickly turned to "Do it Yourself" in order to make the slightest margin. This involves taking charge of the catering (sometimes in collaboration with other freelancers) but also the marketing, directly on their website. The elimination of intermediaries also requires a virtual absence of advertising communication and promotion exclusively on social networks. "We only communicate on Facebook and we try to involve our audience in the publishing process in an educational way," explains Stéphane Bouyer.

A way of doing things that is no stranger to Marc Orly. After the creation of Lost Film, to introduce To Kill a Mockingbird and Robert Mulligan's little-known filmography, the little thumb of the distribution decided to release only one film a year. Despite the difficulty of finding an economic balance, the survival of heritage distributors depends on the support (distribution, restoration) of the CNC, which is concerned about the invaluable need to rejuvenate the classics of cinema.