Agreement “historic” for periods shorter to the small screen

AMC, number one of the cinemas in the United States, and Universal studios, have announced on Tuesday an agreement “historic” on on-time transition to the small screen, which will be substantially shortened.

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July 29, 2020 9h26

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Agreement “historic” for periods shorter to the small screen

Agence France-Presse

LOS ANGELES — They were at war since the end of April on the time frame between the release of a film in theaters and its streaming webcast: AMC, number one of the cinemas in the United States, and Universal studios, have announced on Tuesday an agreement “historic” in the matter.

Until now, the use wanted in the United States that a period of 90 days elapses between the first projection of a film and its release on any digital format (DVD, video on demand, etc).

The agreement “pluri-annual” concluded between Universal and AMC brings back this minimum period is 17 days, according to a press release of the two groups passed to the AFP.

“The experience in the rooms continues to be the heart of our business. The partnership forged with the AMC is facilitated by our mutual desire to ensure a prosperous future for the ecosystem of film distribution and to meet the demand of consumers”, said in the press release Donna Langley, chairwoman of Universal Pictures.

“AMC welcomes with enthusiasm the new industrial model,” says his side the ceo of the largest chain of cinemas in North America, with 8,000 screens.

“Video-on-demand premium adds the potential for profitability of movie studios, which should in turn result in the release of films in greater numbers,” said Adam Aron.

At the end of April, Mr. Aron was, however, strongly criticized Universal, which had expressed its intention to exit its films both in cinemas and on VOD platforms, even after the pandemic of the COVID-19 in the past. AMC had even written to the studios to warn that it would project “no more film Universal in its cinemas” by retaliation.

The terms of the agreement announced Tuesday, which comes at a time when the global film industry is challenged by the health crisis and containment, remain “confidential,” stresses the press release.

But the two groups will begin in the coming weeks “discussions around the agreements of distribution in european countries and the Middle East,” where AMC is implemented, they say.

Last year, the cinemas have earned record profits, in the amount of 42.5 billion dollars, thanks in particular to a series of big productions Disney. But the bulk of their growth is outside of North America and the cinema operators see it as a long-standing dim view of the enthusiasm of the spectators for the services of netcasting.

Le Soleil