Several theaters in Beijing have started to engage in sports viewing, market and party business

Beijing Evening News reporter Yuan Yun'er visited many theaters and saw business attempts outside of movies.On the morning of October 24, fans cheered in Hall 3 of China Cinema.What was live on the screen was the NBA regular season game between the Warriors and the Grizzlies. As soon as the 38-year-old Curry appeared, the audience became excited.The lights were not turned off like they were during a movie screening, and everyone could comment on the game, applaud, and wave the inflatable cheering sticks prepared by the theater.

Zhonghua Cinema used its newly upgraded 4K LED sound-transparent giant screen hall for this football viewing event.Many fans show up in groups, and strangers start chatting about the teams they support.Xiao Liang, a sophomore at North China Electric Power University, traveled half way across Beijing with his classmates. This was his first time watching a game in a theater. What impressed him most was the big screen, sound effects and the warm atmosphere of a group of fans gathering together.He said that if live broadcasts of events become the norm, he would be willing to experience them frequently.

The Chung Hwa Cinema is located in the Tianqiao Performing Arts District. Its predecessor was the Deshengxuan Theater founded in 1933.In recent years, various businesses have revolved around performing arts, and businesses such as movies + performing arts, movies + live broadcasts, movies + parent-child services have gradually formed.During the game between the Warriors and the Grizzlies, there were also parents taking their children to do crafts in the intangible cultural heritage experience area on the other side of the theater lobby.Cinema operations manager Pan Rong said that they started live broadcasting of events earlier.The National Film Administration and the State Sports General Administration recently jointly issued a notice on launching the "Follow the Movies to Sports" action to promote the two-way empowerment of movies and sports, encouraging the establishment of sports-themed theaters, creating "second scenes" for watching games, and using free time to broadcast major events.This makes the theater more certain about the direction of continuing to develop related businesses.

Another cinema connected the market to the movie-watching route.On October 22, China Film International Cinema Tiantian CINITY LED Store and the shopping mall Tiantian China Film City jointly organized a good things market in the old district. More than 20 exhibitors brought local specialties such as Chongren Maji, Jinggangshan bamboo shoots, and Sanwan old wine for nearby citizens to choose from.

The 6 boxes of wine brought by Liu Pingxiang, a merchant in Sanwan, Jiangxi, were sold out.She said that her hometown is more than 1,400 kilometers away from Beijing. This time she brought both products and feelings for the old district. She felt proud to be able to participate in the exhibition in Beijing.

After the market, the series of activities are still going on.The cinema screens the Long March-themed film "Light Chaser" for public welfare every morning, and sets up a message board for watching the movie; the intangible cultural heritage market displays Liugou straw weaving, Jingxi woolly monkeys, and handmade lanterns. You can also experience Long March-themed activities such as straw shoe weaving and paper-cutting five-pointed stars.Mr. Wu, an audience member, and his colleagues participated in the %烽火之 journey窭冱, and felt that these activities not only utilized the theater space, but also provided a place to spend time waiting to watch the movie.

This cinema has hosted many Beijing movie premieres and also attaches great importance to joint operations with shopping malls.Marketing manager Wu Ying introduced that Tiantian Zhongyinghui plans and operates with cinemas as the core, allowing the commercial layout and cinema customer flow to drive each other.During the re-release of "Only This Is Green" in May this year, the mall held a traditional cultural market and also set up a "Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" scene for the audience to check in.A series of attempts brought popularity, and also allowed the theater to see the benefits of event management.

At Sparkle Jackie Chan Cinemas Wukesong Branch, the purpose of the theater itself can also change at any time.On October 25, Mirra Qijing Party Fusion Hall held corporate team building: more than a dozen young people wore VR equipment and competed in a field surrounded by four large screens, while others sat in the auditorium eating snacks and watching the game performance of their teammates.

The hall is the country's first giant-screen immersive video game space with an area of 330 square meters and two floors. It can be used for movies, games, performances and catering, and can also host birthday parties and corporate events.Through time-sharing operation, the theater puts daytime parties and evening movie screenings in the same space.

Cen Junlan, the Beijing-Tianjin-Henan regional marketing manager of Sparkle Jackie Chan Cinemas, said that the retractable seats can be retracted as a whole, and after arranging sofas and a bar, the cinema can be turned into an event venue that can accommodate 80 people.It can be used for games and team building during the day, and screenings will resume during prime time in the evening. Audiences can also order food while watching movies.Mirra Hall has been almost fully booked on weekends since it opened in November last year.

In addition to the cinema, the cinema also operates a food market together with surrounding catering brands, and plans to hold it on a regular basis.Cen Junlan believes that this type of cooperation first drives non-ticketing revenue, and then brings passenger flow and longer stay time, and can also divert traffic to nearby merchants; in the long run, they will also help to shape the audience's perception of the cinema brand.She introduced that in the future, we will continue to extend activities around movie content, make markets and live broadcasts a normalized and serialized business, and strengthen linkages with surrounding businesses.She hopes that when audiences think of the theater, they think of a weekend away, not just a movie.

At the policy level, in June this year, the National Film Administration and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly issued the Notice on Promoting Diversified Operations of Cinemas and Prosperous Development of Cinema Culture, encouraging the integration of different business formats and proposing to build cinemas into comprehensive cultural experience spaces that integrate movie viewing, social interaction, entertainment, and consumption.The theater industry has shifted from scale expansion to optimization of existing resources, and these business attempts have also increased.

Rao Shuguang, president of the China Film Critics Society, believes that live sports broadcasts, derivatives and specialty catering all bring growth paths to “电影+”.Cinemas can adjust the space atmosphere around the content style and extend the consumption experience outwards, so that the audience will identify with it and be willing to visit again, gradually becoming a cultural space that can continue to attract customer flow.

Liu Jianxin, an expert in the theater industry, reminded that separate screenings have not yet been formed in China, and the movies released in each theater are not very different, and diversified operations require more personalization.Which approach to take, you should first analyze the hardware conditions, customer base and local market, instead of following other companies' renovations after seeing them: the cost of upgrading theaters is high, and small theaters may not be able to afford it. You can first try low-cost, simple-to-operate businesses such as live streaming of popular events and selling peripherals, and then observe and review as you go.

Wu Ying's attitude is more direct: No matter what, let's try it first and then talk about it.Now that the country has given good policies, it just depends on how theaters implement it.You must do it, and only if you do it will you have a chance.%