CINEMA OPERATORS HAVE MIXED EXPECTATIONS

       The film-exhibition industry as a whole is expected to see solid growth this year, but individual firms are predicting mixed results, executives said.
       Cinema multiplex operator Major Cineplex Group expects consolidated income from ticket sales and cinema advertising will be flat this year, said Anavach Ongvasith, chief cinema and bowling officer.
       "We expect to sell about 30 million movie tickets this year, which is similar to last year. The local political unrest, economic difficulties and the outbreak of H1N1 influenza have affected our performance this year," he said.
       Anavach said that digital cinema was the future of the industry, as operators look to reduce costs.
       Digital cinema has some big economic advantages over film, Anavach said, explaining that the final movie can be distributed electronically and projected using a digital projector, instead of a conventional film projector. Digital cinema also has lower shooting and editing costs.
       "We [Major Cineplex] operate 372 cinema screens in 46 different locations throughout the country. We have about 18 digital screens and our plan is to increase the number of digital cinemas significantly," Anavach said.
       James R Dhiraputra, managing director of film distributor Columbia Tristar Buena Vista Films (Thailand), said the local film industry is expected to grow by 5 per cent this year from 2008 to see more than Bt3.4 billion in sales.
       "It is the first time in the past four to five years that the local industry has experienced [this] level of growth," said Dhiraputra.
       He said the growth had been encouraged by a strong line-up of both imported blockbusters and Thai films.
       "We have seen growth in Thai films, which have increased their share of the local film market from between 10 per cent and 20 per cent six to seven years ago to about 45 per cent today," said Dhiraputra.
       He added that between 40 and 50 Thai films were released to local theatres annually, and were earning higher ticket sales on average than were imported films. There are between 140 and 150 imported films screened in Thailand every year.
       Suvit Thongrompo, managing director of SF Cinema City, was upbeat on the industry's performance.
       "We are quite optimistic that the cinema business will record strong growth this year, thanks mainly to the blockbusters that hit local screens from the second quarter," he said.
       SF Cinema City expected to achieve its sales-growth target of between 15 and 20 percent this year, he said.
       "We do not expect issues such as the political turmoil or the influenza outbreak to have any significant impact on our performance," Suvit said.