(interview)

Will 2020 mark the beginning of the end of the era of cinematography in movie-theaters? This question would start our today’s interview. It’s no secret that the current coronavirus pandemic has hit the film industry hard. I managed to talk with one of our domestic directors, Mikhail Dashko, and just in several remarks he explained the current situation with films and cinemas.

“How irreparable is the damage for movie-theaters owners in your opinion?”

“I think that there is nothing irreparable, especially for business. The problem has become acute mainly for small movie-theaters, which have frozen their screenings. If we talk about Ukraine, it was not easy for them anyway, and I’m afraid that for some of them the beginning of the epidemic marked the decline of their business.”

“What about big movie theater chains? How quickly do they recover and do they recover completely at all?”

“I was waiting for you to ask this question. Of course, big chains will still get their share of the profits when the epidemic subsides. I want to say that even now large screens are gradually coming back to life. Take the same examples of the foreign films that you can watch here in Ukraine now. Of course, the owners of movie-theaters are worried about the audience, setting restrictions on the seats in the halls.”

“It’s very good to hear that. Personally, I’m a big-screen fan. But we have to admit that streaming services, like Netflix and others, have become very popular lately. What can you say about their success?”

“Well, you are right. People cannot sit without a movie, especially in self-isolation. But what if old films were watched to the holes? That’s right – to release a movie on Netflix. Likewise, viewers and filmmakers, directors like me, remain in the black. Of course, I don’t think that streaming services are the future, but at least they can compete gradually with large chains.”

“Thank you very much for the interview. I think our readers could imagine the current conditions for the release of films in distribution.”

“Thank you for inviting me.”