-By Andreas Fuchs

“While there are undoubtedly challenges, the general state of the European market is sound,” attests Ad Weststrate, president of UNIC, the International Union of Cinemas (www.unic-cinemas.org). Despite last year marking “a time of unprecedented economic turmoil across the entire continent,” he says, “European box office broke all records, proving once again the general rule that during times of recession, people seek the escapism of the movies.” Escaping to the tune of 900 million visits, to be more specific, in a territory that is home to some 375 million people.

As the head association for 18 national cinema owners groups, and those individual exhibitors that cover at least two countries or have a 5% share of their home market, UNIC represents some 28,000 screens. The theatrical exhibition federations of Germany, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Italy and Weststrate’s homeland of The Netherlands founded the trade organization in 1964. Nederlandse Vereiniging van Bioscoopexploitanten (NVB, www.nvbinfocentrum.nl) has, in fact, held the presidency since 2005. Greece, Ireland, Turkey, Hungary and Sweden came on board between 2006 and 2010. Israel, Denmark, Finland, Austria, Spain, Portugal and Switzerland complete the membership picture.

“Cinemas in all European markets are ‘children’ of UNIC,” Weststrate says, demonstrating his presidential diplomacy when asked about the key markets under his organizational wings. “It is hard to single out… UNIC sees each European market as equally important. But to take just one or two examples: In 2009, Germany saw a year-on-year increase of 16.4%, Greece 12.5% and—perhaps most remarkable of all—Austria saw an incredible 21.7% rise on the previous year. But whether that makes them more important than Spain, for example, which saw an increase in admissions after several years of real difficulty in the hands of film pirates, is a matter of opinion.”

When it comes to growth and innovation, it seems to him “the emerging territories, such as Hungary, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and Romania, will be interesting to follow—with new state-of-the-art cinemas currently seeming to pop up in those territories at an incredible pace.”

The transition to European d-cinema has not been all that fast. “While it is true that [our] rollout has taken longer than many commentators expected,” Weststrate cautions that “the transition needs to be seen as perhaps the most important technological change experienced by the sector in the last 50 years or more. Exhibitors are being asked to support a change away from the technology which has served them well for even longer.” And until fairly recently, “they were being asked to do so without any certainty in terms of durability and interoperability of equipment and—until the growth of digital 3D—without any clear financial benefit.” Combined with “the lack of availability of capital during an economic downturn,” he argues, turning our initial notion on its head, “the speed of conversion might actually be faster than would be expected.”

For most, he has observed, digital technology is “a gateway to digital 3D and additional programming—what some call ‘alternative content.’ Much has been written and said about the way that digital technology can help improve the cinema ‘offer.’” More tangibly, “2009 saw digital 3D truly arrive,” thanks to “the phenomenal success of Avatar.” While James Cameron showed Weststrate and the world “what can be achieved when 3D is done well,” for the entire filmmaking community the challenge remains “to ensure that we do not lose that audience interest by producing a series of rushed 3D conversions or by trying too many obvious 3D gimmicks.”

Not to lose any cinemas is equally important, Weststrate advises. “UNIC is absolutely aware that, for all the opportunities, digital conversion could also represent a significant threat to a large number of smaller operators. The fact that the studios and distributors have recognized the financial benefits they stand to realize from digitization and have been willing to help fund the change is, of course, very welcome. But we need to ensure that as many exhibitors as possible are supported—not just the largest or those operating in the most populous areas. The loss of any cinema deprives its local community of a valued community and cultural resource.”

Does Weststrate foresee any broader initiatives that could help assure this across multiple countries? “Europe is unique in its difference,” he replies, “and the greatest challenge may be to find common ground of a successful rollout.” That said, “UNIC would like to explore the role that the European Commission might play in supporting rollout of d-cinema,” he suggests. “Maybe not in terms of funding for deals—that would be a significant burden—but rather in underwriting deals or simply by acting as a focal point for the exchange of information and experience.”

As big as d-cinema is, Weststrate does not want to lose track of the other challenges that, he confides, “have required the full attention of UNIC.”
On film theft, he reports, “progress continues to be made in many territories on tackling the illegal recording of films in cinemas and the online sharing of stolen movies.” From discussions at every single UNIC meeting, he knows that “cinema operators are already playing their full part in tackling this issue. But, sadly, there are no ‘quick fixes’ here. Of course we need to punish the real criminals, but we also need to make the many more ‘casual’ infringers understand the damage they are doing to the industry.”

Shortening release windows to counter theft and piracy, however, will not solve those problems, Weststrate contends. “Release windows are probably the most problematic area, not least because it involves commercial relationships and because attitudes vary so much from territory to territory. The truth is that, while times are generally good for most in the cinema industry, we know that other parts of the film industry are faring less well. The difficulties experienced by the home-entertainment and other related markets are not good for anyone. It means that there is less money going back to the studios to make the kind of movies the public comes to see at the cinema.” But, he emphasizes, “those problems will not be solved by major changes to windows. My UNIC colleagues and I strongly believe that a robust, exclusive theatrical window remains vital for the health not just of cinema exhibition but of the movie industry as a whole… The key to maintaining and increasing attendance is a robust release window.”

Returning to the current theatrical success, Weststrate gives two more reasons for its proven strength. “All European territories have undoubtedly been helped by a strong and varied slate of both international and domestic product, one which appeals to the widest possible audience. And one which is now increasingly spread over the year” when released. In his opinion, the industry is also “seeing the true benefits of the strong and continued investment in the audience experience made by exhibitors over the last 30 years. Investment in sound and vision, in improved audience comfort and in a more personal customer experience have all kept cinemas ‘ahead of the pack’ of other competing attractions.” Most importantly, “exhibitors have never forgotten that they are there to put on a show.”

Equally important to remember then, if not more so, is the “constant” need to innovate. “Many of the things which we now take for granted in home entertainment—stereo sound, color, high-definition pictures—began life in the cinema,” Weststrate reminds us. “So while we are experiencing success across Europe and much of the globe, we are only seeing that because of our ability to innovate. It is something we must never grow out of,” he insists. “Cinemas need to find new ways of reaching out to an increasingly varied and sophisticated audience and [learn] how to compete with an ever-increasing range of other leisure opportunities available to the public.”

In closing, does his outlook remain positive? “UNIC remains absolutely optimistic about the future of cinema across the globe,” Weststrate resolutely assures. “The basis for that belief is our expectation that certain conditions will be in place.” Among those are “a successful digital rollout to the widest possible range of cinemas; a robust and significant release window; and the support of the politicians in tackling film theft.”
So, going forward, will things be getting any easier? “Well,” he muses, “at a time when the business is doing well, it would be difficult to argue that things have gotten significantly tougher, but on the other hand few would say that they have gotten at all easier.”

UNIC joins forces with CEI
In June of 2009, the International Union of Cinemas organized its own exhibition event in Brussels, Belgium. “We felt that we wanted a convention where there was genuine discussion and debate of some of the key issues facing European cinema,” explains UNIC’s president Ad Weststrate. “Following the success of that event and the lessons we learned, we were happy to discuss the possibility of a partnership with Cinema Expo International to establish one high-quality event.” From this year forward, CEI has become the official convention of UNIC. In addition to “recognizing that CEI brought a number of valuable things to the table, not least its longstanding relationships with the U.S. studios,” Weststrate also lauds the convention organizers. “I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Bob Sunshine for his vision in seeing the value of working with us on CEI and for all the hard work he and his team have put into this event.”