February 27th, 2009

One industry to see the positives of the recession is one close to my heart – film.  Figures published from the Cinema Advertising Association indicated that cinema admissions had in fact increased by 1.1% in 2008.  As an industry measure it would appear that those who believed the cinema experience to be dying may have perhaps cried wolf a little too soon.  Whilst people may be increasingly tentative in their attitudes towards parting with large sums of cash on cars and holidays right now; the idea of luxury is one central to our society so questions of what can be judged to be affordable treats arise.  Film in all shapes and forms seems poised to take advantage of this shift in customer behaviour.  The positive impact of this is two-fold for both consumer and industry.

For the consumer, recent research published from psychologists at the University of San Francisco indicates that choosing an experience based purchase over a possession based one is likely to make you happier.  You just have to look at the increasing popularity of experiences like Secret Cinema for exciting new ways to experience film.  The social impact of this may in fact roll over into the film industry itself.  The prevalence of genres such as chick-flicks is likely to remain popular; great for advertisers – you only have to look at the Sex and the City film positioning in 2008 and the tie-in opportunities.  However (and not to overly bog myself down in the mire that is high vs. low cinema) the cultural questions that have been thrown up may have an interesting impact on the subject/format (ad infinitum) of film itself.  And unlike the depression of the last century, British cinema is actually in great shape to take advantage of this.  Beyond national cinema, 2009 is shaping up to be a great film for both blockbuster and arthouse – roll on Watchmen for me.  I await the results of the next few years with interest….