Behind the limited release of "Manchester by the Sea": The Water Line Release of the Art Federation Trial

because of the uniqueness of its dedicated line, Manchester by the Sea has become an opportunity for the Arts Federation to strengthen its relationship with the cinema alliance, and the mailbox for applying to join the Arts Federation has been full.

Manchester by the Sea was released in the mainland on August 25, which is the first part of the film released since the establishment of the National Art Film projection Alliance (hereinafter referred to as "the Arts Federation"). It means it will only be shown on 270 screens in 190 cinemas in 66 cities across the country.

in the three days since its release, the film has maintained a steady 0.3% production volume, but the average daily attendance rate has reached 30%, with a peak of 35.7%. At the same time, during the visit to the cinema, the reporter also received recognition from the cinema and the audience, which is undoubtedly a steady start for the in-depth distribution of the Arts Alliance.

< strong > Why did I choose separate distribution? < / strong >

< strong > there are no box office fantasies, limited publicity resources, and diverse audience < / strong >

Manchester by the Seaside was released in North America in November last year. In the introduction work, the superior unit expressed the opinion on the separate projection of the Arts Union, so under the guidance of the Film Bureau, the China Film Group Import and Export Corporation introduced the film from the film side Universal Pictures, and the Huaxia Film Distribution Company was responsible for the distribution. The Arts Alliance is responsible for coordinating with cinemas and promoting.

the so-called split-line projection means that the distribution of a film covers only one cinema line, or only in certain areas.

and the cinema chain responsible for the separate distribution of Manchester by the Sea is the National Art Film projection Alliance, which was established in October last year. This cinema line is guided by the Film Bureau and led by the China Film Archive. Huaxia Film Distribution Co., Ltd., Shanghai warm current Culture Communication Co., Ltd., Wanda Cinema Co., Ltd., Anle Film Co., Ltd., Beijing Weiying Times Technology Co., Ltd.

Cinemas from various cinemas across the country provide screens for the alliance in the form of membership, ensuring that three shows a day and 10 golden shows a week will be arranged, while the China Film Archive is responsible for providing high-quality film sources.

in less than a year of operation, the Arts Federation has not only held a number of theme film festivals, but also shown new domestic films such as the Golden Horse Award for Best Picture, August. However, at that time, when "August" was shown in the Arts Federation, it also took into account ordinary commercial cinemas. But this time, Manchester by the Sea can only be shown in 190 theaters that have been announced to be qualified. Why did you make such a choice?

" We are not giving up the commercial cinema line. We are making good use of the existing publicity resources when the publicity resources and target audience are not clear. " Wang Yilan, head of the Art Federation project and a staff member of the China Film Archive, explained.

in addition, the film has been released in North America for eight months, and resources are already available on the Internet. The Arts Federation believes that the focus should be on improving the viewing experience, so as to distinguish audiences who tend to watch movies on the big screen from ordinary audiences.

as a worker at the China Film Archive, Wang Yilan has deep experience: "in the past, there were many lessons from the experience of art films in commercial cinemas. For example, it was not easy to arrange films, but some people saw them, but they encountered the 'big god' in picking their feet. Taking the library as an example, the audience had a good etiquette for watching movies and had the habit of applauding collectively at the end for many years. Even if some people played with mobile phones, there would be 'town aunts' to drink. We also hope that this ritualized respect for art films can be developed into the entire art federation, and the sense of commitment will be different. "

A very important point is, "whether it is Global or Huaxia, they have no illusions about the overall box office of this film, so it belongs to experimenting with this film." Wang Yilan confessed. For the Arts Federation, the film's share of the box office will not be in their hands, "We just want to do a good job in the construction of the Arts Alliance, the alliance is done, there will be more good quality films come in."

< strong > how to do split-line projection? < / strong >

< strong > the key is exclusive, corresponding to long-term projection, and the ticket price is given to the market < / strong >

"Manchester by the Seaside" is the first film released by the IPA branch line, which is a limited release, so the communication with Universal Pictures and cinemas is not the same as usual.

the screening feature of the art cinema line is that in addition to the new cinema films that will be available in the commercial cinema chain, there will also be theme screenings and single-film distribution. In the work of the "Italian Splendid Art theme Film Festival", which ended not long ago, the Arts Federation directly docked with the cinema and sent a copy, while this "Manchester by the Sea" needs to send a notice to the cinema line first, and then the cinemas will see the notice and then arrange the film.

this inadvertently caused some cinemas to misarrange the film before its release. As there was no special line for the introduction of the film before, some cinemas did not notice the words" the National Digital Cinema Art Alliance joined the cinema hall "on the distribution notice.

for the staff of the Arts Federation, although these misarranged cinemas could have absorbed new franchisees, Wang Yilan said that because of the particularity of the film as an imported film, the temporary absorption of their arrangement is too idealized. "A film needs to make a key in advance. The key for Manchester by the Sea is made in the United States. The Arts Association wants to communicate with cinemas from 185 to 190. We all decided on this before we made the key, and then told Huaxia, the publisher, and then told Fang Zhongying, who introduced it, that China Film would communicate with Universal Pictures, and Universal said to the company that made the key with the United States. Taking into account a variety of reasons, or no accident-based, smooth to do a good job of the first issue. "

this time, the key of "Manchester by the Sea" is valid for as long as three months, because when the screen is relatively small, the time must be long, that is, the split-line show must correspond to the long-term show. "even if it takes less than three months, you have to apply for three months, and what if there is not enough validity period for a low-probability event, for example, if the whole people go to see it?"

in the film layout guidance, the cinema line has a minimum number of screenings for qualified cinemas. According to the agreement at the time of joining, cinemas need to ensure that 3 shows are scheduled every day. Wang Yilan said that although there is a consensus, this is also a good communication between the Arts Federation and the cinema one by one.

according to the public data, Wanda Cinema averages 4 shows a day at its CBD store in downtown Beijing, 5 shows a day at Broadway Film Center, and 9 shows at its peak at Fangcaodi in Lumiere Cinema.

before, there was a small debate within the Arts Federation. Some people thought that they should occupy as many venues as possible on the first day, while others thought that since it was already a limited release, it was necessary to make the best use of things when the resources were not abundant. If there were too many films on the first day and the attendance rate was not good, it would affect the subsequent production. Although the golden scene on the first day or two was sold, it was better than many shows with a sparse audience. At present, the film has maintained a stable production volume of 0.3% in the three days of its release.

it can be seen from the release notice that the minimum price limit for the Arts Alliance to join the cinema is 20 yuan, which did not set the highest range, but handed it to the market.

at the Italian theme exhibition not long ago, a cinema in Beijing had three prices a day. At first, they thought that no one was watching, and the price was very low. Then it rose to 40, and finally the ticket price was fixed at more than 100. This time, the price of the studio's "Manchester by the Sea" is more than 70, which is relatively high.

however, the person in charge of the cinema said that the location of the cinema is superior, the location is high-end, and this price also makes reference to other cinemas, which is in fact reasonable.

< strong > what are the results of the first battle? < / strong >

< strong > members take shape, experts and scholars exchange, cinema operations benefit < / strong >

as of 09:30 on August 27th, the total box office of "Manchester by the Sea" closed at 2.631 million yuan, the volume of production was stable at 0.3%, and the attendance rate was maintained at about 30%.

data show that the film's box office output in third-and fourth-tier cities is only a fraction of the total box office. Take the opening day on August 25 as an example, it grossed 759000 at the box office that day. The proportion of filming in first -, second-and third-tier cities was 0.5%, 0.5% and 0.4% respectively, but the box office output was 300000, 403000 and 36000 respectively, and the average number of people in third-tier cities was 17. There is still a certain distance with 41 people in first-tier cities. At present, the layout of third-and fourth-tier cities is still declining, and the gap between third-and fourth-tier cities and first-and second-tier cities is still widening.

therefore, how to strengthen the connection with the young people of literature and art in a small town will be the focus of the offline work of art academies. In Wang Yilan's view, "large cities are all migrant people, and watching art films can achieve a shallow level of social interaction, while young people in small towns can realize another kind of self in their daily secular life through watching art films." discover a kind of other people's self. " As a matter of fact, the Arts Federation has already started the relevant work.

A month before the announcement, the Arts Federation began to publish the QR codes of local movie groups on the official account, which are the rudiments of its members.

many of these members are fans of the library. After the establishment of the Arts Association, they have been looking forward to having an interactive group of the Arts Association. As for the library behind the Association, they do not have enough manpower to deal with provincial and municipal sites. "according to the needs of localization, fan groups can mobilize cinema managers and marketing managers to organize local fans and provide differentiated services."

in addition, the research team of the China Art Film Research Center has also joined the cinema group to interact with movie fans. in the future, the Arts Federation intends to push these low-key scholars out for popular publicity, and these costs are borne by the Archive itself.

Manchester by the Sea has become an opportunity for the Arts Federation to strengthen its relationship with the Cinema Alliance because of its unique online release. It is understood that the mailbox for applying to join the Arts Federation has been full.

the person in charge of the marketing department of Changxian Street Store of Lumiere Cinema in Beijing told us that cinemas have always participated in the screening of art films and have formed a brand among art film fans. the previous Italian theme film festival and this "Hyman" special line screening, they have made a lot of materials at their own expense and achieved good responses.

the reporter noticed that on the weekday mornings of the studio, the number of people in a single show of "Manchester by the Sea" exceeded 10 people. Many cinemas, including Lumiere and Wanda Cinema, have attended more than 80% of the golden shows. In Nanjing, where art shows developed earlier, some of the golden theaters are full.

in the future, the Arts Federation hopes that the total number of screens in the alliance can reach 500, with more than 100 films, mainly from imported films, theme film festivals, domestic new films and restoration films.

on the day of the release of Manchester by the Sea, struggle, restored by the China Film Archive, was shortlisted for the special screening unit of the Toronto Film Festival. The Arts Federation will also be released on the same day as Beijing time. Wang Yilan said: "the imported films are mainly guided by their superiors, and the small and medium-sized costs of domestic films will also be done one after another." It is understood that domestic films "No problem" and "passing the Future" are in contact.

Wang Yilan said that Yi Lian is also thinking about whether it will have good results if it is busy with expansion and pursuing data and magnitude. "We still want to take it step by step."

Edit: xiongwei