Victorian cinema operators divided about re-opening on June 22

Cinema operators are divided over re-opening on June 22, with some spying an opportunity and others fearing the 50-person-per-theatre restriction and limited supply of new movies makes the prospect marginal at best.

Kristian Connelly, chief executive of the independent Cinema Nova, welcomed the announcement, which puts Victoria ahead of other states.

“Once we confirmed it was 50 people per auditorium rather than 50 for the whole place, we realised that’s very workable for us,” he said.

The largest of Nova’s 16 cinemas has 244 seats, but its capacity will be capped at 50. In the smaller cinemas, government restrictions that stipulate “people who are not from the same household should be seated at least 1.5 metres from other people in the venue”, as well as the “four square metre rule” per person will apply.

Industry sources suggest those rulings mean most cinemas will operate about 30 per cent capacity – a figure that would barely improve even if the capacity limit were doubled to 100 because of the four-square-metre rule.

National Association of Cinema Operators executive director Michael Hawkins said the majors remained focused on a return to business only when big releases became available, which was unlikely to happen in June.

“We are confident that new titles will continue to flow from mid-July and that our patrons will be excited to be back," Mr Hawkins said.

“Opening prior to mid-July will of course be a decision for each exhibitor, and a decision no doubt made with consideration for what is financially viable for each. It is likely that smaller locations, or regional cinemas, may open ahead of mid-July, but decisions in those cases will be made by their operators by what makes economic sense and the responsibility some of those cinemas have to their regional communities.”

However, lovers of the big-screen experience will be able to get their fix much sooner than that, with Victoria’s three drive-ins set to reopen next Thursday, with no limit on capacity.

For Paul Whitaker, who operates the three-screen, 480-car Dromana Drive-In on the Mornington Peninsula, the news could hardly be better.

“It’s possible we’ll do better than last year – the Peninsula is going to go crazy with people wanting to get out and do things,” he said.

Like all operators, Mr Whitaker will have to contend with a lack of new product, as the studios and distributors hold off on releasing major titles until the bulk of the world’s cinemas are once again open. But he sees that as an opportunity to try something different.

“We’ll be programming a mix of recent re-runs, classics and new adventure films, like Warren Miller ski movies. It gives us a chance to stretch our wings and run things we wouldn’t normally run. We might even try some Bollywood.”

Customers won’t be allowed into the diner – such facilities are governed by the same restrictions as apply to cafes and restaurants generally – so Mr Whitaker will put on extra staff to deliver food to vehicles (customers will place their orders online, and “runners” will use the freshly numbered speaker posts to find the appropriate vehicle).

Like Mr Whitaker, Mr Connelly is confident his customers are ready to return. To test the waters, he opened Cinema Nova’s concession stand for three hours on the weekend, selling popcorn, ice-creams and tote bags.

“We sold over 500 Choc Tops in that time,” Mr Connelly says. “The message we were getting all day is that people are so excited about the possibility of us returning to trade.

“There’ll inevitably be some trepidation as well, and I think in the first week or two some people might hold back to see that we’ve got it under control. But I think a lot of people feel like they have done their time, and if they’re confident we’re doing what we need to do, they’ll start to come back to the cinema.”

Follow the author on Facebook at karlquinnjournalist and on Twitter @karlkwin