May 12, 2010

-By Sarah Sluis

Imagine being able to draw an audience that rarely ventures out to the cinema. It goes something like this: A fan checks his favorite band’s website and learns of a concert film broadcast in theatres. He buys premium-price tickets online and shows up for the sold-out event on a Tuesday night. The band is thrilled because the fan already went to their concert, or couldn’t because it was too far away. The theatre owner is pleased to bring in a new audience at an off-peak time, and the fan has a great time hanging out with other fans and experiencing the concert in surround sound.

As alternative content expands, events like this have proliferated, encompassing a full range of performing arts such as opera, theatre, ballet and rock concerts, documentaries with live Q&As and special one-night only discussions, comedy shows, political commentary, and independent films. Fans are connecting to their core interests through the relatively new medium of digital projection, which allows content to be downloaded or picked up from a satellite feed and projected onto theatre screens.

While alternative content is usually shown in limited, “one night only” runs to create can’t-miss experiences for consumers, it generally is supplied through non-exclusive distribution agreements. These events are almost always being shown somewhere else in some form. If you’re watching a live broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera, other people are watching the same thing in person, or perhaps some time later on public television or DVD. So adding value to the content-for example, by bringing a live component to the event-is key to attracting audiences.

For the environmental documentary The Age of Stupid, Arts Alliance Media (AAM) stepped in for specific territories where the filmmakers couldn’t sell rights. “Even though they had an international sales agent, they had some TV and DVD sales but not a lot of theatrical sales around the world,” Elizabeth Draper, VP of alternative content distribution for AAM, explains. The filmmakers created a one-night-only event in September 2009 that replicated their U.K. “green carpet” premiere in New York City, and included such green touches as people riding bicycles to work the popcorn machine. The event also had a live debate after the film, giving it a “top and tail,” as Draper puts it-an approach in which live introductions, Q&As or concerts sandwich a pre-recorded film, adding value and making the experience more worthy of a night out. The event was distributed in the U.S. by NCM Fathom, and was shown in 500 theatres in 40 countries.

Alternative content’s non-exclusive distribution agreements usually work in its favor. It’s easier to attract content owners, and early concerns that alternative content would poach sales at traditional venues have dissipated. Julie Borchard-Young, a co-founder of production and distribution company BY Experience, explains the shift in perception. “At first, there was certainly some resistance. But now, there’s so much evidence that this is incremental and not substitutional. Because of the ongoing exposure in movie theatres and editorial, it elevates the brand and keeps people interested. It doesn’t really cancel, it adds.”

Pat Marshall, VP of communications and investor relations at top Canadian circuit Cineplex Entertainment, notes that more events have enabled content providers to calculate risk more effectively. “Ten years ago, this was an evolving and new area of the business and there was uncertainty as to whether or not there would be success. When a particular promoter of content provider made an investment in it, they wanted to find some assurance that it would be a success.”

Now, most distributors and producers attract more interested parties than shows they can put on. “I do think we’re approaching a bit of a tipping point in alternative content where the consumer is more aware and getting used to the idea, and our network’s gotten to the point where content owners now see the value in the size and scale of our network,” Kurt Hall, CEO of Fathom Events, observes. Eventually, Hall hopes Fathom will program events every week.

Because of its ability to provide a distinct event experience, the alternative content model is also being adapted for independent or niche films in addition to live events. As the indie world becomes more receptive to non-traditional distribution, more films will find the alternative pipeline an attractive choice. Within the format, filmmakers can create a festival or “premiere”-like setting by including live elements and a “one-night-only” release, increasing viewership and revenue.

Montreal-based Digiscreen will be breaking new ground by distributing independent movies to its theatre clients. Just launched in May, the Screening Room Series will offer a mix of specialty films from distributors like Magnolia, First Run and Strand, and movies in that in-between phase, “coming right off of major festivals, getting critical buzz and audience buzz but not really in traditional distribution,” explains Bob Golibersuch, director of movie programming. May titles include The Girl on the Train, The Eclipse, and documentaries Prodigal Sons and The Most Dangerous Man in America, all of which have recently played in major markets like New York and Los Angeles. Theatres will screen the movies according to the demands of their market, either one night only or with multiple screenings.

“What we’re encouraging theatres to do is basically dedicate a screen to independent and art-house and alternative, in which case they would make more of a deal or promotion out of it,” Golibersuch explains, “whereas more traditional art-house theatres might just be adding that as part of their content.” The distribution agreements are all non-exclusive, allowing filmmakers to pursue other avenues of distribution.

What can be alternative content’s toughest sell-showing material that can be found elsewhere-is also one of its biggest strengths. Existing content equals existing audiences. Marketing these one-off events can be as easy as tapping into an existing fan base pre-sold on the experience. Before moving forward with a “This American Life” event with BY Experience, host Ira Glass polled his radio audience, asking them if they would be interested in seeing the show in theatres. Over 22,000 responded “yes” and the event was planned. For Flight 666, a documentary about the band Iron Maiden, AAM had easy access to the fan base. “There’s still a very active, touring band, so we were able to communicate with fans through the official website. Fans were visiting the website anyway, and that’s how they found out about the film and where it was playing, what time, etc.” Draper adds a caveat. “That kind of direct communication is invaluable, but you don’t always have that. As you can imagine, if you don’t have such a clear communication to your audience, it can be more challenging.”

Even with a fan base, techniques like serialization can help build audiences over time and ensure steady attendance over the course of several months. This technique has yielded the Metropolitan Opera series the tremendous audience it has acquired over its past four seasons live in HD. Cineplex Entertainment, which dubs its alternative content “Front Row Centre Events,” prefers serialized events. “We started to learn very quickly is that it is much easier for guests to recognize events that are part of a series,” Marshall explains. “Our focus is trying to find events that can be multiples or a series, as opposed to doing specific one-offs.”

Cineplex will frequently test an idea as a one-off and expand it if the event is successful. The findings come from Cineplex’s early experiences in alternative content, which started ten years ago. The company exhibited World Wrestling Entertainment events that were only available elsewhere on pay-per-view. The character-driven fighting drew repeat viewers every month as they caught up with their storylines.

Fathom’s Hall emphasizes the importance of a limited run. “The focus is to create an event out of it. It’s usually one night. We think that model works best, and we try to focus all of the excitement and attention on that one night. It truly becomes an event and doesn’t get lost in the clutter of the marketing of motion pictures.”

Producer-distributor BY Experience focuses on finding “high-end, high-art, high-quality” events, according to co-owner Julie Borchard-Young. “Before we started working with the BBC, we said we wanted to be the BBC of this space. That’s really what turns us on, what we think is missing from the dialogue, and what people are responding to.” She and partner Robert Borchard-Young have worked on events with public radio shows, the BBC Proms series, and London’s National Theatre. They also produce the Metropolitan Opera series, an event so successful Fathom Events dramatically expanded its distribution network to accommodate it.

Arts Alliance Media, which distributes all of its events on 2K projectors with satellite feeds, often turns to the “top and tail” to add value. Draper finds that for international distribution, adding live elements to the beginning and end of a pre-recorded event enhances value while avoiding the problems with live subtitling. For the rockumentary Oil City Confidential, for example, the company had the featured band, Dr. Feelgood, perform a live concert after the documentary that was beamed directly into cinemas.

“It was an example of something that was absolutely worthwhile to see in the cinemas [the movie has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating], but in a competitive environment it’s challenging, unless you can find some wonderful added value to add to the evening. Not only is it a unique alternative-content event, you’re giving a documentary a chance to have a life in cinemas,” Draper explains.

A similar idea applies when using the alternative-content infrastructure for repertory programming. Re-releases allow audiences to see classic movies worthy of a big-screen experience. Cineplex drew in audiences by branding its repertory program “The Great Digital Film Festival.” The one-week program at a Toronto theatre showed digital prints of movies such as The Godfather, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Wizard of Oz, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Dr. No. Marshall describes the content as “classics people would love to see on the big screen in a crisp format.” The program was enough of a success that Cineplex is expanding it into more theatres in 2011.

Besides festival-themed events, digitally remastered prints, anniversary screenings and extras like live Q&As after the show can add value to a title available on DVD. In September 2009, Fathom presented The Wizard of Oz in a one-night, 70th-anniversary, high-definition event that included a special pre-feature and exclusive clip. In additional to its independent offerings, Digiscreen will also offer repertory titles. This May, they will show a 50th-anniversary screening of Psycho remastered in high-definition. These familiar titles have built-in interest, and the high awareness level helps bring in audiences.

By covering important political or national events, alternative content can reposition theatres as community gathering places. Cineplex broadcast all 17 days of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics live in its theatres, which generated extraordinary “positive word of mouth and kudos for the company,” according to Marshall. “There was so much patriotism involved.” The well-priced event cost $9.95 for a day or $29.95 for a 17-day “passport” with in-and-out privileges, and attracted friends and family of athletes and its fair share of hockey fans.

For now, most U.S.-based distribution of alternative content uses LCD projectors, often the same kind that are used for pre-screen advertising. Targeted at smaller venues, Canada’s Digiscreen offers an extremely cost-effective arrangement for projector rental. For around $65 a month-”less than my cable bill,” quips Golibersuch-theatres can rent a projector that will show Digiscreen content. For boutique theatres or non-traditional venues, this kind of arrangement can offer benefit with a negligible economic investment.

As costs for digital projection below 2K have dropped enough to include theatres at every level, the standard has been raised. Arts Alliance Media in Europe distributes every event in 2K digital, the same standard used for digital feature films. Right now, this high standard still poses a problem outside of Europe, where only one or two screens per theatre have 2K digital. Even though alternative content is designed to be shown during off-peak times, it still “can be very difficult to get those screens simply because they’re the screens where all the blockbusters and 3D content are showing,” Draper reveals. “It’s crucial to pick your date very, very carefully, and to understand the competitive environment. We have to be very aware of the pressures on exhibitors, and the pressure that’s on digital screens currently.”

The next step for alternative content will be 3D. Leading U.S. digital-cinema integrator Cinedigm has already seen great success with 3D broadcasts of the FedEx Bowl college football championship game and the National Basketball Association’s “All-Star Saturday Night,” and has plans for more 3D events.

“Sports is clearly an emerging category, and hopefully part of that will be live 3D as well,” says Fathom’s Hall. “We’ve been working with RealD on technology that will allow for live distribution of 3D. Soon, we’ll be distributing that more broadly across the network. Up until now, most of the stuff that’s been done in the market has been reasonably experimental.” Hall feels that while the technology is still evolving, “it’s pretty much there,” but just hasn’t been rolled out in the marketplace yet. The DCIP financing that Fathom’s three biggest circuits received this year has also helped expand the network, according to Hall.

Alternative content is routinely touted as bringing in new audiences. Hall points out that many non-regular cinemagoers may be seeing renovated, stadium seating-equipped theatres for the first time. “I think we brought a lot of people back to the theatre who hadn’t been there in a long, long time. So that has to be good.” Marshall believes that audiences coming for the Met will see posters and advertising for movies that interest them, and moviegoing audiences will see what else is available and come back for alternative events. “It’s a domino effect,” she states. “I think given the very broad variety of alternative content that we have presented in our theatres, we have really expanded our audience quite substantially. Someone who is in the traditional demographic for the Metropolitan Opera is obviously quite different from someone that wants to see a UFC [Ultimate Fighting Championship] or WWE event. So it’s really tremendous for us to turn our theatre into an entertainment destination.”

Alternative content is not only bringing audiences with diverse interests to the cinema, it’s connecting them. “It’s almost like social media in a weird way, but real,” Julie Borchard-Young postulates. “You show up. You’re no longer part of this isolated niche, you’re part of tens of thousands of people together at the same time, enjoying something that’s maybe not part of the everyday cultural mainsteam, but certainly is important to you.” By bringing together a “global niche audience in real time,” as Robert Borchard-Young puts it, alternative content is providing a compelling form of entertainment, and consumers have noticed.