With
all the movie theaters closed in the wake of the ever-developing COVID-19
outbreak, the film industry has faced some of the most arduous challenges in
the history of the medium. Just last
week, Universal Studios announced it would be moving a number of its theatrical
films to the home viewing digital streaming platforms, followed not long after
by Disney’s announcement Onward would
be going digital and Paramount’s announcement Sonic the Hedgehog would go digital almost two months ahead of the
disc release.
The
latest company to get on board with the industry push towards digital is Kino
Lorber which is designed to not only help bring critically acclaimed upcoming
films to home viewers unable to see them theatrically, but to help the flailing
shuttered movie houses as well. Named Kino Marquee, the proposition is to
offer through the Kino Now app
acclaimed art house and foreign language films set to play at shuttered movie
houses with the proceeds from ticket sales going back into the shuttered movie
theaters. Effectively, Kino Marquee will provide home viewers
with films while still benefitting the struggling theaters forced to close
their doors.
Unlike
typical video-on-demand platforms, ticket sales for the films will still be
sold through the participating theaters but in exchange for a code which will
take viewers into a virtual screening room.
Wendy Lidell, the Senior Vice President of Theatrical Distribution at
Kino Lorber, remarked “We want to help ensure that these theaters will be able
to reopen their doors after this crisis passes. The Kino Marquee program offers
an opportunity for theaters to generate revenue while their doors are closed.” Though still in the early stages of
development, among the participating theaters for this program are:
- Film at Lincoln
Center (New York, NY)
- BAM (Brooklyn,
NY)
- Jacob Burns Film
Center (Pleasantville, NY)
- The Little
Theatre (Rochester, NY)
- Santa Barbara
International Film Festival Riviera Theatre (Santa Barbara, CA)
- The Frida Cinema
(Santa Ana, CA)
- Denver Film /
Sie FilmCenter (Denver, CO)
- Belcourt Theater
(Nashville, TN)
- Loft Cinema
(Tucson, AZ)
- Austin Film
Society (Austin, TX)
- Aperture Cinema
(Winston Salem, NC)
Stay tuned for further details as this story develops.
--Andrew Kotwicki