A Useful Guide On How Film Scheduling Is Done At The Cinemas

Nollywood Film maker, movie producer and cinema owner, Michael Ndiomu recently shared a thread on how film Scheduling is done at the cinemas. If you’re a budding film maker, we hope you find the guide useful.

Michael Ndiomu via his Twitter handle @mndiomu wrote :

A short thread on how film scheduling is done at the cinemas.
I’ll be using my cinema as an example.
I’ll try not to use any company names.
First, I am a film producer, studied Filmmaking at New York Film Academy and I have a small amount of film equipment myself.

So I have a cinema on the LASU/Isheri Road in Alimosho, and we’ve been on for 3 years plus.
So the process is roughly as follows:
The Producer makes a film, gets a Distributor (Distro) who distributes the film to Exhibitors for monetisation of the content. By the way, cinema is Just one out of numerous monetisation channels for film content. Others include streaming platforms, airlines, hotels, Private Screenings, international TV licensing, etc etc.
So there is a schedule of upcoming films called the CPRS that is done by the distribution coys and this Has a list of all the films, dates, studios, etc. This is updated periodically as the market changes and shared with the exhibitors. The dates are fixed by the distributors (I believe after discussions and hopefully agreements with the producers). This is necessary to avoid over- Crowding where too many new films are released on a specific day and other periods are left empty.
The distributors and the producers also agree on the publicity for the film (but that’s a thread that I can’t do).
So the distributors then market their films to Exhibitors In order to get confirmations early enough for adequate planning and for good showtimes.
One distributor does quarterly showcases for exhibitors where they call us to a room and show us their upcoming films for the quarter, bringing the producers and the main actors to mingle and “Ginger the exhibitors” (interprete that how you want). In addition, the staff in charge of that film would engage you and discuss marketing strategies peculiar to your location. This is in addition to the regular publicity for the movie. Then months before the release, they Send trailers, standees, table tops, and other items for marketing.
With the other marketing channels, there is interest already built and anticipation for the film.
In contrast, another distributor sends you an email with their list of films 2 weeks to release, no buzz, no pent-Up demand, no awareness created. There have been cases where standees are sent on the day of release.
As an exhibitor, my fixed costs are depreciation, power (diesel), staff salaries, rent, regulatory costs etc. Variable costs include film hire, taxes, corn, sugar, drinks, Butter, etc etc.
Whether 1 person watches a movie or 100, my fixed costs don’t reduce. So my job is to make a judgement call on which films I believe would do well in my location based on my local knowledge of my paying audience and the awareness of each film. I choose my films. The distributor lobbies me to take their films. I choose based on the limited number of screens and shows I can do in a day. I check how much buzz there is for a film, estimate how much publicity, I watch the trailer, discuss with my staff etc and we reach an agreement. For the past 1 year, however, I have left this weekly operational decision to my cinema managers, and I’m more of an administrative head.
Now, the performance of a film in the first week is critical to its success. Other factors include competition amongst films. Also, certain Periods are more competitive than others as they are usually more lucrative ie the holidays, so we sometimes see a crowding around those periods. Hence your .arresting has to really stand out.
In conclusion, each producer needs to do all in thei power to do the following:

1. Create truly fantastic content
2. Work with your distributor (preferably from preproduction) to craft the best journey for your film.
3. Truly identify your audience and be true to them in making your film. Also, your audience determines your marketing strategies. 4. Plan for your publicity with the same dedicated focus you used to make your film. Remember, your marketing is a story in itself. You are competing with so many things for that N2k, so sell a compelling story to get people to come to the cinema to give you their money. 5. Learn from success as well as failures. One of my favourite films of 2018 didn’t make up to N20m at the cinemas. I told the producers the week before release that their publicity was weak. Ut they didn’t understand me. Learn, and do better. 6. Take time to understand tbe Box Office cash waterfall so that you can manage your expectations.

Filmmaking is not fine pictures and glitzy premieres. It will rip you apart and lay bare your deepest fears and insecurities. If you’re not ready, pls get a job and build slowly. And yeah, the majority of films do not break even from cinema box office.
You must have an all-encompassing plan for your content monetisation.
Partnerships and collaboration will help you. Don’t go it alone. You may not survive it! Thanks and have a great weekend.

And by the way, we have about 36 cinema companies in about 70 locations and ONLY circa 250 screens nationwide. By contrast, the USA HAS 40,000 screens and China 60,000 +. So pls tell your rich dads, uncles and godfathers to invest in building more cinemas. We need 5000 screens +

Credit: @mndiomu