Revolutionising cinema culture

10 Jul, 2016 - 02:07 0 Views

The Sunday Mail

Andrew Moyo
Several players have succumbed to the pressure piled on their businesses by the piracy scourge and have since quit. Of late it had become pointless to go and watch movies at the cinema, with pirates getting their hands on the latest movies before they were screened at movie houses, which led to a decline in moviegoers. Besides the unavailability of new movies at cinemas, Zimbabwe was still lagging behind in terms of equipment, which made the viewing experience worse than watching the movies at home.

While other cinemas called it a day, Ster-Kinekor decided to up their game in providing services that would attract film lovers back to the cinema. Besides renovating their theatres and introducing technologically advanced equipment that enables viewers to watch movies in the highest quality possible, their biggest draw card has been the provision of the latest movies at the same time that they debut internationally.

Although some of these new movies will be available on the streets, their quality will be poor and in the past some movie fanatics had to wait for weeks before DVDs with better quality became available.

Since Ster-Kinekor adjusted their screenings to be concurrent with other cinemas across the globe, they have managed to lure back movie lovers.

They have even managed to screen other movies before they are shown in North America, like “Captain America: Civil War”, which premiered in Zimbabwe several days before the North American launch.

Last week they held a successful premier of “Central Intelligence”, which stars Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart.

The premier, which fell on their newly introduced slot “The Comedy Nights”, was graced by top comedian Carl Joshua Ncube, who put on a rib cracking performance before the movie screening.

Besides “Comedy Nights”, they have other exciting slots that add value to the cinema experience and these include “Girlfriends Getaway”, “Date Nights”, “Movie Marathon” and “Fun Mornings for Kids” among others.

The company is also planning on bringing the IMAX Cinema experience to Zimbabwe, with their Sam Levy branch set to be the first beneficiary. Speaking to The Sunday Mail Leisure Ster-Kinekor Eastgate Complex manager Dexter Nyikayaramba shed more light on local cinema trends and what they have done to adjust to current demands.

“If you look a few years back, cinemas in Zimbabwe were lagging behind not only in technology but also in terms of availability of new movies. Back then I think most cinemas were avoiding what we call the franchise fee because if you pay for a movie during the first week of release you pay a higher amount but after about three or four weeks, you will be paying a lesser amount so back then that is what people were running away from,” said Nyikayaramba.

He added: “Right now we are just paying the full amount of the fee so as to offer our customers the best value for their money. The numbers of people who were going to the movies had declined but since we started showing new movies in 2013, we have had more and more people coming to watch movies.”

Zimbabwe is among some of the markets being targeted by movie companies.

“Sometimes we even release movies before people in the USA get to see them, for example, we released ‘X-Men’ and ‘Captain America Civil War’ a week before they were released in the US.

“Film companies have selected certain markets where they want to see the response of movies and one of those markets is Zimbabwe so we have been benefiting by getting movies either at the same time or a week before other markets.”

Nyikayaramba went on to explain more on the adjustments they have made in order to adapt to the current cinema trends.

“Our tagline is ‘Greatest Moments at their Greatest’ because with the changing nature of the cinema industry considering internet downloading, DStv offering Box Office and other things like that, what we have had to do is to try and give experiences rather than just a movie.

“We want to try and give our customers an experience they cannot get at home, which is why we bought modern equipment that is able to show the highest quality that you can find whether you are in South Africa or in Egypt.

“We now have the 3D experience and we have even added the Prestige Cinema where you can get added benefits after paying more of course.”

The special slots they have introduced are also proving to be popular, attracting large turnouts at every event.

“The movie marathon has proven to be the most popular event because if you buy one ticket, you get to watch as many movies as you like on that day. The next popular event which always sells out is girlfriend’s getaway where we invite a performing artiste, women get their makeup done for free, they get massages on site as well and get free goodie bags.

“We also have fun mornings for kids where we bring jumping castles, games and we even have sponsors who offer chips, mascots and stuff like that.”

He also mentioned that it was important to also measure the preferences of people who came to watch movies, and interestingly these differ from place to place.

“You will notice that most people who come to our Eastgate branch prefer watching action movies and romantic comedies, especially those that feature black American actors.

“At Sam Levy’s, the crowd are mostly kids and people who go there read reviews more than people who come to Eastgate, which means movies that do well at their cinema are kids movies and international blockbusters.”

Ster-Kinekor has also introduced “Bollywood Nights”, which are also attracting large numbers especially from the Indian Community. They have also been supporting local filmmakers, with several local movies being screened at their cinemas.

“Every now and then we also screen local movies, like the recent release “The Purse”, which features Jah Prayzah. Munyaradzi Chidzonga will also be releasing his movie in a few weeks, which we are also going to be show.

“We do support local movies but only when we know it will have a following because we will obviously be looking to the numbers that come through to watch.”

However, most movie-goers have complained that the culture of going to the cinema remains threatened by costs involved.

“It costs upwards of US$40 for a family of five to enjoy an outing at the movies, which makes it a bit elitist as it is unaffordable to the ordinary Zimbabwean,” said Charles Chikuni, whose says his kids have become addicted to the cinema since he introduced them to it.

Nyikayaramba, however, argues that their pricing is fair.

“I think the prices we charge are fair enough considering the costs for screening new movies and paying rentals because if we are to go lower than that, it would mean we will not be able to afford new movies and even rent. When we were showing old movies, our charges were a bit lower but we were getting a low attendance but now that we are showing new films, attendance has risen despite the hike in pricing, which means people know they are getting value for money.

“If it is a scenario whereby people come as a whole family, small kids pay half the price or if you come as a group of about 20, there is a group discount. The US$5 we are charging is the lowest we can go but on Tuesdays we still have that half price promotion,” said Nyikayaramba.

Ster-Kinekor has three cinemas in Zimbabwe; Eastgate, Westgate and Sam Levy’s Village in Borrowdale. They are planning on opening two more cinemas before the end of the year – one at Joiner City and another one in Bulawayo.

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