Feature STory
Independent Theatres Building B.C. Film One Screen at a Time Story by
Katja De Bock
O
n a warm summer evening in June, the Dunbar Theatre on Vancouver’s West Side was filled to the brim with hundreds of people attending a private screening of Gifted, an independent, B.C.-produced youth adventure movie. When theatre owner Ken Charko announced the film, he emphasized the evening was a possibility to “build BC film”, alluding to the ubiquitous “save BC film” awareness campaign by industry workers. “Dunbar theatre was the most accommodating, and he [Charko] was the only one that would let us play a film at 7 p.m. on a week night,” says producer Russ Rossi, who paid Gifted’s $95,000 budget out of his own pocket. “Ken actually bumped Star Trek for the film,” he adds. “He’s very supportive of independent film.” Rossi, a driven man, who had no time to wait for funding, filmed his “hybrid movie” –professional equipment, amateur actors– with three of his children as the main characters and was happy to find a screening venue near his home. With the Build BC Film-idea, Charko aims at slowly changing film industry rules that are over 20 years old. Similar to the requirement for radio to play a certain amount of Canadian music, he would like to see a percentage of screen time reserved for Canadian film. “This will help build B.C. film to the point where we don’t need [tax] credits,” Charko explains. “And people who have the talent have a place to showcase their art.” Charko shows Canadian films whenever he can, but this is not easy, due to agreements with film distributors. Movie theatres have to keep films in the theatres for at least two weeks and cannot pull them, e.g. for a one-time matinee screening of a kids movie or premiere screening of a Canadian independent. This is epecifically difficult for single screen venues such as the Dunbar Theatre, which would like to offer a more varied program. “What it means is that when I get a film in here, I have to hold it for two to three weeks,” said Charko. “We should be able to change the films more rapidly. And the more rapidly we change our films, the more people will come in here and the more money we’ll make.” Charko, who belongs to Cinema Buying Group, a collective representing 7,303 screens (295 Canadian) across North America, is also unsatisfied with the rebate arrangement between studios and theatres that invest in digital equipment. Movie theatres that invest in digital and 3-D equipment get some money back from the studios. However, it requires a lot of paperwork. Additionally, the rebate is very low, while rental fees are increasing. “They’ve now increased my film rental cost to make up for the rebate money that they have to give to us,” explains Charko. But on the positive side, Charko has invested over $300,000 in new seating and 3-D technology, and its paying off. “We are one of the busiest screens within the Lower Mainland,” he says. Though Dunbar claims to have the best popcorn in town, most profits are derived from ticket sales. Charko doesn’t believe those who say the business mostly depends on concession. “That’s an absolute wives-tale,” he says. “The industry has really misled the pub-
Reel West July / August 2013
lic to think that, whereas the actual fact is there is more revenue from ticket sales.” But the Rio Theatre in East Vancouver views concessions differently. The multimedia venue has benefitted from winning the fight to obtain a liquor licence. “It’s much better, it makes an enormous difference for this theatre in particular. Any movie theatre makes money at concession,” said Rio programmer Rachel Fox. The Rio has shown Canadian films several times this year, including Jen and Syliva Soska’s American Mary and the Farpoint Films documentary The Sheepdogs Have At It. “It’s pretty amazing if you think about it, in a month, we’re showing two Canadian films, one of them from B.C.— American Mary,” says Fox. “We’re giving them four days each.” “We also have some great one-night events showing films that just wouldn’t be shown theatrically otherwise,” Fox said, pointing to Comforting Skin, a female-driven horror film made in B.C., which attracted well over one hundred people on a Sunday night. Jay Daule runs the independent Twilight drive-in in Langley, B.C. “The Canadian films that get general release, I do pick them up,” says Daulet, who had 150 cars coming to the 2 a.m. screening of the Canadian horror movie The Colony in June. “I don’t have the problems that many independents have,” says Daulat. “I have a niche market. My market was abandoned by the major chains.” Outside of BC, another independent theatre chugging along is Jeff Larson’s Napier in Drumheller, a town of 9,000 about 1.5 hours east of Calgary. Larson depends on high attendance to cover his recent investment of $53,000 to go digital. While Napier does not screen a lot of Canadian films, the local public library rents the theatre several nights per year to run art house films including Canadian Oscar nominees such as Barney’s Version and Monsieur Lazhar. Other independent theatres aren’t as enthusiastic about Charko’s idea of a quota for Canadian films in Canadian theatres. “It might not be in a theatre’s best interest, like a single-screen neighbourhood theatre, to say you have to show x per cent of Canadian film,” says Fox. “Anytime we take on a Canadian film, it’s a huge risk.” The reality, she says, is that it can be hard to pack theatres for indigenous films. “If you’re a neighbourhood theatre, why should you be put in a position where you are essentially mandated to lose money,” says Fox. Canadian media industry associations are looking at ways to promote indigenous content. At the Banff World Media Festival in June, Telefilm, The Canadian Media Fund and the Canadian Media Production Association, announced the #eyeonCanada promotion campaign. It aims to raise awareness about Canadian audiovisual content with the general public primarily through social media and special events such as set visits. Fox thinks any help getting the word out is a step forward. “The reality is of course, promotion,” says Fox. “If people don’t know that you’re screening a film, because they haven’t heard of it, it’s that much more difficult to get them to come out.” Theatres like the Dunbar are showing that art and commerce can mix and lower budget indie films can pack houses alongside the blockbusters. When Rossi and his guests left the screening of the B.C. film Gifted, the sidewalk was filled with people lining up for the next show, Man of Steel. n 21