Izvestia: "Russian cinema in hot water"
Cinema is the most important form of art, filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov tried to convince Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and, moreover, electronic ticketing must be introduced and a lot of new movie theatres constructed for the Russian film industry to satisfy its viewers.
The problem of attracting viewers hinges on an underdeveloped infrastructure: the number of theatres is too small, especially in small provincial towns, and the queues are too long, especially on opening nights. This is the agenda Nikita Mikhalkov came to discuss with Vladimir Putin at his office.
"The film market must work," he tried to persuade the prime minister. "And it will make sense when the country has 10,000 cinemas instead of the current 2,000. Seventy percent of the population has no access to cinemas. None whatsoever. And it is not profitable for investors to finance the construction of a movie theatre in a small town because they'll break even quicker with a multiplex in a major city."
"And what about electronic ticketing? After all, it is a solution that could create an economic basis for development," the prime minister inquired.
"The expression 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions' must come up a lot in your work. We all want this, but there is something of a fight over what kind of programme there will be and who will implement it – and without political consensus on how to do it, electronic ticketing will never get off the ground," the maestro said in despair.
Let us remind you that Vladimir Putin proposed to introduce electronic ticketing while still serving as president. Film distributors were offered the chance to combine databases in a single information server. On the one hand, spectators would be able to buy tickets for a show at any time and enter the theatre simply by flashing a bar code on the screen of their mobile phone. On the other, calculating box office receipts would become completely transparent.
However, no progress has been achieved. The deadline for implementing the system has been put off a number of times already. Official information claims that the Ministry of Culture cannot draw up a law that would satisfy the finance and economics ministers. However, unofficial sources say that it is the cinema's owners who should be blamed for the delays: it is much more profitable for them to conceal their profits than share them with producers and the government.
Anastasia Savinykh
