Keeping the ticket price fixed and increasing both are detrimental to the cinema

Charso Press: As the last days of the year approaches, the discussion of increasing the price of cinema tickets for the next year is always raised, and this year, naturally, this issue has become a debatable issue, which has become more sensitive due to the sharp decrease in cinema audiences in recent months, and it is not clear that the price What decision will be made about cinema tickets next year?

In between; Some moviegoers are naturally against the increase in ticket prices because the economic conditions and the number of cinema audiences are so critical that the increase in prices will definitely cause the cinema to experience a sharper decrease in audience, and on the other hand, some are of the opinion that the price of cinema tickets has no proportion to the rate of inflation.

Abdullah Alikhani (cinema producer, director of Asr New Age Cinema and director of Poya Asrfilm Institute) One of the supporters of increasing the cinema ticket price is with his documentary numbers, but it is complicated that the price determination must be fully calculated and accompanied by the government’s support for the cinema.

This producer said about the increase in the price of cinema tickets next year: to check how much the price of the cinema ticket should increase or if there is no need to increase the price at all, many issues should be considered, but in general I must say that the price Tickets in Iranian cinema have not increased logically since the beginning.

Alikhani clarified: If we want to have a superficial and cross-sectional view, we should oppose the increase in ticket prices without considering the issues that caused the cinema to be in this state of stagnation, but we should know that the story is more complicated than these words. Cinematographers are the only group that produce their work at the daily price and sell their product much lower than the price that is reasonable compared to inflation. For example, once a movie ticket was 3 Tomans in Lalezar Cinema and 4 Tomans in Azadi Cinema, and in the same area you could have a Chalukbab Berg as lunch for the same price or a little more than a movie ticket. I gave a detailed example and I have the documents of these prices and I can publish them; Now, the price of a cinema ticket in Lalezar and Azadi cinema is 45 thousand tomans, the same restaurant sells the same food for 250 to 400 thousand tomans, so if it were to be based on the inflation that exists in our country from the beginning, the price of a cinema ticket Today, the cinema ticket should have been 300 thousand tomans.

He added: the cinematographer and the cinematographer are not separate from the society, he lives with the same inflation and produces his products at the same prices, and the cinematographer has to purchase the equipment for his cinema, pay the electricity bill and pay his employees with the same prices. Today, the cinema is in a situation where it has to sell its product much less than the rate of inflation. If we had a trend in increasing ticket prices in line with other products, today no one would protest against the increase in ticket prices and accept that this should happen according to the economic conditions. But now that this is not the case, the increase in the ticket price will definitely lead to a drop in the audience, and those who object to the price increase in this situation are also saying something logical, because we all know that Iranian cinema is facing a drop in the audience by itself, and this can happen at least in the short term. cause a sharp drop in audience.

This producer noted: Today, it is difficult for a family to pay 70,000 tomans per person for a cinema ticket and see a movie, because they did not allow the cinema to increase its price according to inflation from the first day. When the price of a cinema ticket is much lower than the rate of inflation that we see in the country, and at the same time, the increase in the price leads to a sharp decrease in the audience, a complex situation arises that only the support of the government can solve. In some situations, the government must step in and take over the management of the crisis itself, just as the government considers a subsidy for bread to control its price, cinema, which is a cultural product and has reached this situation over the years due to mismanagement, must be subsidized. Consider and do not allow the price to increase to a large extent all at once, and as a result, the audience will fall. If they allowed the cinema to have its natural life, there would be no need for government support, but in this situation there is no other choice but to support the government.

Alikhani clarified: Filmmaking in cinema today is associated with high risk, most investors lose their capital in cinema and there are only a few films that can return their investment throughout the year, and the films that succeed in making a profit are the size of the fingers of one hand. are not. Cinema owners are not in a favorable situation due to these conditions, and any decision in this area should be made with care so as not to make this critical situation more critical, which was formed due to the wrong decisions of the past years. The problem of our cinema today cannot be solved by increasing or decreasing the cinema ticket, it is quite clear that the economic situation of the country is not favorable and even if the ticket price is reduced, a large part of the society prefers to deal with its basic problems rather than thinking about entertainment for an hour. go to the cinema When the problem is not solved by making the tickets cheaper or more expensive, the government should come in as a sponsor, support the movies in proportion to the audience that the movies have and save the cinema.

In the end, he stated: In previous years, the cinema organization helped the cinemas in various ways, but for some time, no support has been provided. If the cinema is destroyed, the existence of the Ministry of Guidance and the Cinema Organization has no meaning. The Ministry of Guidance is not the only institution to monitor and deal with the cinema, and it must support the cinema. In this situation, without a doubt, if the Ministry of Guidance does not provide support, both the stability of the ticket price and its increase will be detrimental to the cinema and can lead to its destruction. .