(Newswire.net — October 13, 2021) –According to Alexander Payne, the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic “has left a stamp on the film industry because we have been living through a historical epoch.” He could never have fathomed what the pandemic would do to the entire moviemaking process. The industry is struggling, and it needs cinephiles and traditional moviegoers alike to make an effort to see movies in theaters.
According to the Motion Picture Association’s annual THEME report, only 338 films were released in theaters in 2020, a dramatic drop of 66% compared to the 987 movies released in theaters in 2019. That translates into a major bust for domestic box office sales, which hit a 40-year low in 2020, raking in only $2.2 billion. In contrast, box office revenue in 2019 was $11.4 billion. “In the short term, the last year and a half or two years have been a fight for an audience,” says Payne.
However, the Nebraska-born filmmaker points out that movies have fought to get fans into seats for three-quarters of a century. “This struggle of the small screen and the big began in the early 1950s. That’s when people started questioning if television meant the decline of the theater and asking which was going to win: theater or TV? Thus, the drop in ticket sales, studio profits, and box office receipts between 1947 and 1957 in Hollywood is attributed to the rise in TV’s popularity. “That’s when the movie industry introduced widescreen and 3D, for example, as methods to keep audiences coming to the movies. A struggle between the big screen and the small has remained ever since, but going to the movies has never, until now, gone out of style.”
Streaming Is Changing the Film Industry
History repeated itself during the coronavirus pandemic, according to Payne, but with one major difference. “During the pandemic, TV was finally winning because of streaming — whether it’s on a computer or TV.” The way that people consume films and series has had a dramatic impact on the entire industry since streaming flourished during lockdowns. “That mark will remain,” Payne predicts. “And the newfound clout of Netflix and Amazon and Apple and all the other new streaming services will remain.”
But that doesn’t mean that the movie-going experience will ever go extinct. “Now we just have to root for the cinema to come back,” Payne says. “And not just for the big expensive movies, but also for smaller, more human films. My hope is that they can find screen space as well. It was already increasingly difficult, at least in the United States, for smaller films to find funding and an audience. For a couple of decades now, we’ve seen the hegemony of tentpole movies, science fiction movies, superhero movies, and car-crash pictures. What used to be B-movies are now A-movies. And what used to be A-movies are now shrink-wrapped, low-budget B-movies. It used to be that adult, human-interest films got the prestige treatment. Now the studios are all basically making Roger Corman films.”
Facing the Future of Film
So don’t count the movies out just yet. “Everybody thought, ‘Oh, people are going to just sit at home and watch TV instead of going to the movie theater.’ Well, that never happened,” says Payne. Instead, he points out that film has always been the first to explore new technologies and offer viewers a whole new experience. “The movies made widescreen, 3D, and spectacle movies to keep people coming to the theater. TV never won. After all, you always need somewhere to go on a Friday or Saturday night. So it’ll be interesting to see what happens as we begin to emerge from this pandemic, from our fear,” says Payne.
The two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker is known for “The Descendants,” “Election,” “About Schmidt,” and “Nebraska” and has been making movies most of his life. “I got a super-8 camera at age 12 and was hooked,” he shares.
Although the theatrical film industry is struggling in the face of streaming, he’s not going to stop what he started. “Making movies is the best job in the world, and I am lucky to be able to do it.” Payne’s next film project is “The Holdovers,” which stars “Sideways” actor Paul Giamatti. “Working with Paul Giamatti is a standout experience. He is one of those actors who can do anything. We had an outstanding time making ‘Sideways.’ He’s always at the top of my list of actors to work with again.”