Ukraine`s film distribution in crisis conditions: marketing strategies

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State University of Trade and Economics

UKRAINE'S FILM DISTRIBUTION IN CRISIS CONDITIONS: MARKETING STRATEGIES

FAYVISHENKO Diana, Doctor of Sciences

(Economics), Associate Professor, the Head of the

Department of Journalism and Advertising

Kyiv

Annotation

film distribution market economic

Introduction. Today, in the context of the global crisis situation and the martial law of our country, the issue of considering the functioning of any field, especially the network of cinemas, is becoming quite relevant.

Problem. The pandemic has had a significant impact on the film market around the world, especially given that the share of content comes from abroad and film releases over the past year and a half depend largely on the decisions of global film studios.

The aim of the article is to study the structural changes in the market of film distribution in dynamics and systematize the factors influencing the work of film distributors in late 2021, early 2022, and propose measures to eliminate economic losses, to develop recommendations for further work of film companies based on SWOT analysis.

Methods. General scientific methods such as synthesis, comparison and generalization are used.

Results. Structural changes in the market of distribution companies in Ukraine have been studied, the performance of the box office for the year before the pandemic and during breaks in film distribution has been analyzed. Factors influencing the work of film distributors are considered and measures are taken to eliminate the consequences of economic losses. Recommendations for further work of film com-panies based on SWOT analysis have been developed.

Conclusions. Changes in the planned repertoire plan, low competitiveness compared to foreign products, postponement of premieres, New possibilities and prospects of film distribution development in view of crisis conditions are highlighted.

Keywords: film companies, movie distributors, cinema industry, marketing strategies, pandemic, post-quarantine period, crisis conditions, martial law.

Анотація

КІНОПРОКАТ УКРАЇНИ У КРИЗОВИХ УМОВАХ: МАРКЕТИНГОВІ СТРАТЕГІЇ

ФАИВІШЕНКО Діана, д. е. н., доцент, завідувач кафедри журналістики та реклами Державного торговельно-економічного університету м. Київ

Вступ. В умовах кризи та воєнного стану для нашої країни актуальними є питання функціонування будь-якої сфери, у тому числі кінопрокату.

Проблема. Пандемія суттєво вплинула на ринок кінопрокату у всьому світі, оскільки значна частка контенту надходить з-за кордону і релізи фільмів упродовж останніх півтора роки залежать здебільшого від рішення світових кіностудій.

Мета статті - дослідити структурні зміни ринку кінопрокату у динаміці та систематизувати фактори впливу на роботу кінодистриб 'юторів у кінці 2021 - початку 2022 рр. та запропонувати заходи для усунення наслідків економічних збитків, розробити рекомендації щодо подальшої роботи кінокомпаній на основі SWOT-аналізу.

Методи. Застосовано такі загальнонау- кові методи, як синтез, порівняння та узагальнення.

Результати дослідження. Розглянуто структурні зміни ринку кінопрокату в Україні в умовах пандемії та воєнного стану, проаналізовано показники бокс-офісів за рік до кризових умов та під час перерв у кінопрокаті. Досліджено фактори впливу на роботу кінодистриб 'юторів та запропоновано заходи для усунення наслідків економічних збитків. Розроблено рекомендації щодо подальшої роботи кінокомпаній в кризових умовах на основі SWOT-аналізу.

Висновки. Серед систематизованих факторів впливу на кон'юнктуру ринку та роботу кінодистриб 'юторіву межах нової реальності важливими є зміни у запланованому репертуарному плані, низька конкурентоспроможність порівняно з закордонним продуктом, перенесення прем 'єр, одночасний прокат у кінотеатрах та на стрімінгових платформах, посилення піратської та незаконної діяльності серед мереж кінотеатрів, зменшення можливості продажу квитків, відсутність будь-яких прем 'єр.

Виокремлено нові можливості та перспективи розвитку кінопрокату з урахуванням кризових умов.

Ключові слова: кінокомпанії, кіно- дистриб'ютори, кінопрокат, маркетингові стратегії, пандемія, післякарантинний період, кризові умови, воєнний стан.

Introduction

Today, in the context of the global crisis situation and the martial law of our country, the issue of considering the functioning of any field, especially the network of cinemas, is becoming quite relevant. The pandemic has had a significant impact on the market for film companies around the world, especially given that the share of content comes from abroad and film releases over the past year and a half depend largely on the decisions of global film studios. Martial law became an additional difficult condition for film distribution in Ukraine.

Problem

The study of the behavior of players in the film market in Ukraine, changes in it and prospects for rehabilitation of the current situation is relevant and needs research to develop recommendations for further market development and overcoming the crisis.

Analysis of recent research and publications

Research on the marketing of film distribution is covered in the works of such domestic scientists as A. Mazaraki S. Melnichenko A. Okhrimenko [1], S. Nechitaylo, N. Yudin [2], B. Sheremet [3]. The impact of the pandemic on the economy in trade is analyzed in the work of O. Dyachenko and O. Goncharenko [4], in tourism - G. Mykhailichenko and G. Mezentseva [5]. The work of the insurance market in quarantine was considered by O. Bodnar [6]. The experience of various sectors of the economy in the new conditions provides an opportunity for scientific discourse for a comprehensive approach to the problem of enterprises in the new conditions of today.

The aim of the article is to study the structural changes in the market of film distribution in the dynamics of late 2021, early 2022, to analyze the indexes of the box office for the year before the crisis and during breaks in film distribution, to systematize factors affecting the work of film distributors and propose measures to eliminate consequences of economic losses, to develop recommendations for further work of film companies based on SWOT-analysis.

Methods

The research in the article is based on the analytical method of working with data from the box office reports of films of key players in the Ukrainian film market, statistical data, forecast data and SWOT analysis. General scientific methods such as synthesis, comparison and generalization are used.

Results

Today, the market of film distribution and film distributors of Ukraine, together with the crisis period of the pandemic of the XXI century, is significantly influenced by factors of global problems and the imposition of martial law in the country. Due to the crisis, the distribution company MMD, which had 10 % of the market the day before, ceased operations [3]. Instead, "Svoekino" and "Festival Cinema" actively increased their market share in 2021. As of October 2021, there were the following main film distributors in Ukraine: Kinomania, B&H, UFD, Volga, Arthouse Traffic, MMD, Perekit film, Cascade, Svoekino, Festival Cinema. A study of the terminology offered a definition: a film distributor who acts as an intermediary between film studios, based on making a profit by distributing film copies to royalty-based cinemas.

The distributor's goal is to release the product with the optimal number of copies for the planned number of viewers. The purpose of marketing - based on data from situational analysis, to determine the required number of copies and cinemas [7].

Film distributors in Ukraine cooperate with film studios around the world. Film studios, in turn, are divided into majors and independent film studios. Among the film distributors of Ukraine [8-12], there is the following division by companies: Kinomania- represents Warner Bros and Disney, UFD - 20th Century Fox, Volga, mMd, "Svoekino", Festival Cinema. Arthouse Traffic - independent studios, B&H Film Distribution -represents Paramount, Universal, Sony, clearly presented in the form of a diagram in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Market share by box office as of 2021

Source: developed by the author based on [8-12]

Regarding marketing functions, film distributors are responsible for:

• planning the start date, rental period, approval of pre-premiere screenings;

• dubbing of films, localization of titles and advertising materials (at least posters);

• concluding contracts for the rental of films with cinemas, including the number of screenings per day, the duration of the rental;

• organization of an advertising campaign;

• рromotion through cooperation with cinemas: drawing of branded prizes provided by the studio, organization of gala premieres, meetings with actors, interaction with critics.

The activities of film distributors are schematically shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 Film distributor scheme

Source: developed by the author [8-10]

The dynamics of the main performance indicators is expected to be negative, as in 2019 cinemas were operating normally and the factors influencing market fluctuations were the same from year to year. In 2020, the following changes took place:

• for a certain period of time (for 4 months) cinemas did not work at all;

• after the quarantine was eased, the network of cinemas resumed its work, but with observance of some quarantine restrictions by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. Thus, the following security rules have been developed for all cinemas: mask mode, temperature screening of staff and guests at the entrance, social distance in the queues, occupancy of the halls is not more than 50 %;

• during the autumn exacerbation of the virus in 2020, weekend quarantine was introduced for a month;

• most of the premieres from major studios have been postponed to next year. With the exception of such films as "Tenet", which became the leader in attendance in the first two months after the hard phase of quarantine, "Mulan", "After we collided";

* most of the premier major studios were immediately distributed on the streaming platforms of these studios, such as Disney +, which became an additional financial flow for the Western market for filmmakers, but in Ukraine had a negative impact on cinema fees, because such films are illegal. However, they appeared in free access on the Internet.

Thus, the number of releases changed by 57 films, the total box office decreased by 3 times, the number of tickets sold - by 17 million, in more detail all the indicators in terms of major distributors are presented in Table 1 [8; 9].

Table 1

Box office of distributors in Ukraine for 2019-2020 as of the end of 2021