Aleksey Ryazantsev, head of the Karoprokat company, which supports the trends of last month (until 2020, the sister company Karo Premier, Warner Bros. showed their projects in Russia), announced a possible screening of foreign films without the consent of the departing majors. market.
“I’m not talking outright piracy and theft. Parallel distribution of major films can continue: relatively speaking, we open a bank account and the money for distribution from the main films accumulates there. If you want, we will give you everything in rubles, because the lease is legally available even without your consent,” he said. nail “Bulletin of the film distributor” with reference to the release of the Ryazantsev podcast “Gavorilin Podcast”.
According to the head of Karoprokat, in this way it will be possible to prevent the emergence of “gray cinemas” and piracy.
“This is the direct and easiest way to avoid gray theaters and piracy. Parallel imports are not prohibited but due to some circumstances cannot be done at the moment. It works, it works: it works: taxes are lowered for it, royalties for display – all this officially exists. Why? This will support the globe.” , ”Ryazantsev concluded.
Commenting on Ryazantsev’s statements on the telegram channel “Film Criticism of an Ex-Smoker”, film critic and former director of the Moskino Zvezda cinema, Ivan Afanasiev noted that there were “many questions” for the head of the distribution company. And it is not only from the field of legislation and professional ethics, but also of a purely technical nature. Therefore, it is not entirely clear which copies will be shown within the framework of such a “parallel distribution”.
“Let’s say you find a DCP briefcase somewhere. (a package of files required to play a movie through a digital projector; DCP is the only format for displaying digital movies, approved by the American Digital Cinema Initiatives consortium. – approx. “socialbites.ca”). So who will give you the keys so you can “open” the files and release them in theaters? Do you understand that the keys are generated separately for each cinema (if not for each cinema and session)? Or do you not understand? Afanasyev says.
According to the former director of Moskino Zvezda, it is impossible to get a copy of the conditional Batman in good quality, since he bypassed the studio. (Now, illegal sessions show files downloaded from pirated sources, but they are “copies” of digital publications, which in any case are lower than DCP. – approx. “socialbites.ca”), you will need to show a poor quality copy. This would violate the viewer’s right to high-quality viewing and the current regulations for theatrical screening in general.
Meanwhile, the Cinema Owners Association (AVK) created a division called AVK’PRO, which would deal with the distribution and promotion of films. According to the organization’s letter, AVK’PRO will help producers and copyright holders “transfer their content quickly, efficiently and directly to AVK movie screens.”
Roman Isaev, General Manager of Comscore and member of AVK, will be responsible for the overall management of AVK’PRO activities. According to him, the new division will mainly “help cinemas cope with the “hunger” repertoire. At the same time, the distribution of income will be most profitable for AVK cinemas (now it is divided, as a rule, between cinemas and distribution companies).
Association last week statedHe said that without government support and foreign screenings, at least half of Russian cinemas could close by the summer, and the industry is at risk of total extinction. By the end of 2022, the total loss, according to the organization’s forecasts, will be at least 11.1 billion rubles. Soon Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin reportedDuring the May holidays, the city authorities will, among other things, develop a package of measures to support the film industry and ensure that “constant monitoring of the situation in the economy of Moscow is carried out.” Finally happened decided To give grants to “leading cinema chains” that “provide 80% of the distribution” for the promotion and advertisement of domestic cinema. In addition, the Moscow government plans to support film companies and “talented film students”.
AVK also condemned the illegal screening of films in theaters. As emphasized in the organization, “such cases are primarily caused by panic in the industry”, provoked by the lack of effective support of the state and the inability of Russian cinema to fill the emerging gap. However, representatives of the association insist that “the illegal showing of pirated or rather stolen films in theaters has taken the Russian film business outside the legal sphere and returns us to the dark times of the illegal business of the 90s. last century.” AVK, “We condemn the practice of showing illegal films in Russian cinemas and call on the entire professional film community to prevent such practices.”
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In addition to “parallel distribution”, there is also “alternative dubbing” in Russia. Thus, in mid-March, a studio emerged that brought together voice actors and other industry representatives who are currently unemployed in the country: directors, sound engineers and translators.
“We realized that the future of movie universes for the Russian audience is now entirely up to us, and we don’t want you to lose the voices of your favorite characters! <…> Now we will continue to do our job with home delivery. After all, it is a matter of honor and work for us, and we are justifiably proud!” – indicated in the announcement posted on social networks.
The studio has already released its own dub of the Marvel series Moon Knight (it’s already aired on the Disney+ stream that doesn’t work in Russia), and also announced a fundraiser for the voice acting of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. It will air on the HBO Max stream on May 30. The project is planned to include artists who participated in the official dubbing of previous episodes of the franchise: Ilya Bledny (New Scamander), Vasily Dakhnenko (Albus Dumbledore), Konstantin Karasik (Jakob Kowalski) and others.
The studio said in a statement that despite the crowdfunding, “the ad will be available in future releases, otherwise the studio won’t be able to cover all the costs.” But the authors of the project noted that “sponsors will be worthy.”
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The Russian video services market could shrink by almost half by the end of 2022. This estimate was given by consulting firm J’son & Partners Consulting. According to the Film Distributor Bulletin, the service revenue for the current year will be 53.2 billion rubles, which is 46.3% less than in 2021 (98.9 billion excluding VAT).
J’son & Partners Consulting also noted that online advertising revenue could drop by more than 60%. This will have a detrimental effect on services running on the AvoD model (Video On Demand – free viewing, but with advertising).
According to analysts, the decline will be less large in the case of a relatively positive scenario with the “rapid end of the active phase of the crisis” and the resumption of cooperation with foreign companies. Then income will be reduced by only 18% and by 2024 will return to the level of about 100 billion rubles.