The real experience is worth paying for. That is the punchline of a trailer – featuring the upcoming movie The Sweeney – on UK cinema screens as part of a film theft campaign. A development of the Moments Worth Paying For campaign developed by the Industry Trust for IP Awareness, the trailer – playing across UK cinemas – is intended to remind the audience that their decision to buy a cinema ticket ensures that more quality films will come to the big screen. To watch the 35-second trailer featuring Ray Winstone, visit the Cinema Exhibitors’ Association (CEA) website.
Meanwhile 17 cinema staff from across the UK were in July presented with awards totalling over £7,000 in recognition of their efforts in preventing illegal recordings. In a ceremony at Warner Bros HQ in London, the actions of staff in disrupting or preventing the illegal recording of a film in their cinema were recognised.
Film theft in the UK, the vast majority of which stems from recording in cinemas, costs the wider film industry over half a billion pounds each year. The CEA and the Film Distributors’ Association say that cinema staff are very much in the front-line in tackling this problem.
And the Cinema Exhibitors’ Association has expressed disappointment at the Government’s decision not to exempt cinemas from proposed measures to tackle alcohol-related disorder. The Home Office has announced that cinemas would not be exempt from proposed Early Morning Restriction Orders (EMROs).
EMROs are being proposed to tackle localised problems of alcohol-related disorder. Government consulted on this measure – and the related proposal of a Late Night Levy – in January. It proposed that cinemas, with other premises such as theatres, bingo halls and casinos, would be potentially exempt from these controls. Ministers have also confirmed that cinemas will be amongst those potentially exempted from the Late Night Levy. However, the new announcement only offers exemption from the Late Night Levy and not EMROs.
CEA Chief Executive Phil Clapp said: “This is a hugely disappointing decision. We have been in discussion with Home Office officials for over a year on these proposals. We thought we had convinced them that cinemas are never the source or focus of such activities and should be exempt.
When the exemption proposal was included in the Government’s consultation paper at the start of the year, it appeared that our case had been accepted. The apparent about-turn now seems to show that our arguments for exemption on The Late Night Levy have been accepted, but the same arguments have been overlooked for the EMROs.
The ability of licensed cinemas to offer customers the opportunity to consume alcohol in a comfortable and controlled environment is an increasingly important part of many cinemas’ offer to their customers. At a time when Government should be doing all it can to support those providing jobs and services in local communities, this move seems both illogical and counter-productive. We are strongly urging Ministers to reconsider.”
