Scarborough cinema worried about not having films to show due to Hollywood writers' strike
They're walking out over pay and concerns about artificial intelligence
A cinema in Scarborough says they are woried about not having films to show as the Hollywood writers' strike enters its 100th day.
They walked out over pay and concerns over artificial intelligence’s impact on the industry and the actors' union then followed them last month.
Andrew Nesbit, manager of Hollywood Plaza in Scarborough, said: "The cinemas are now starting to find a footing again with films being released. Up until August 2022, there was a steady supply of films because they had all been delayed and then the production houses came to a halt beacuse they were still catching up with the pandemic delays, films were coming out but audiences didn't want to watch them and then the Queen died.
"The release pattern for this year and the beginning of next, there's some very good films coming out. However, because you can't do the premieres and press kits, it's now going to have a knock-on effect and distributors are going to get itchy again and move films, which then puts cinemas back in the situation where there aren't films to show and then we're back to square one after the pandemic again.
"We're worried because in essence what will happen is the same films will be played for weeks and weeks and weeks and there's no choice because you have to have the same film on. People's viewing habits have changed but they are changing again. The bigger picture is a cinema with no film is like McDonald's with no hamburgers. You have to have something to show.
"In the past we've shown some classic films like we did the Godfather trilogy, and some were well attended and some weren't. There are things like that we could do but the problem is as we're a cinema, we have to show films. We're not a theatre so we can't put a play or a concert on, so we have to have films to show.
"One of the reasons why we didn't re-open until October 2021 was beacuse there literally wasn't any films to show. Distributors withheld and then we re-opened with films to show, then it all dried up and we went back to square one. Now, we're getting better again but the numbers still aren't what they should be, even though Barbie's out, it's still nowhere near 2019 levels."