Independent cinemas aren't known for talking about themselves, and that's because they're often family-run businesses and they're too busy getting on with the business of sourcing movies, selling tickets and delighting their customers with the special touches that, in the case of the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury, their historic or character-filled properties offer. So you have to realise that things are pretty desperate when independent cinemas reach out and ask for help.
The visits I've had with the operators of the Glenbrook Cinema and Richmond Twin tell me clearly that they need help to survive COVID. Put yourself in their shoes. These cinemas rely on the steady attendance that they've built up over years of loyal followers who regularly come to the movies. They know that some movies will attract bigger crowds than others and some nights will be bigger than others, but that older people especially will enjoy a weekday outing to the movies on a quieter day—except of course that for the last year they haven't. People haven't been willing to. Understandably, they've had a reluctance to sit in an enclosed environment for long periods of time. As Ben Curran from Glenbrook Cinema told me, in school holidays—normally another really busy time for movies—grandparents have been much less likely to take their grandkids to the movies. My local independent cinema is the first place that I took my kids to see a movie. I want to make sure it stays around so that they can take their kids to the movies.
Other things have made it difficult for independent cinemas. The different rules on masks and social distancing have been confusing, leading to some stressful conversations, I'm told, about why you need to wear a mask in the foyer but not in the cinema itself, or why there are not 1.5 metres space around your seat, because the different circumstances mean there are different guidelines that kick in, and that QR-code signing-in hasn't won the favour of every patron—again, creating a stressful and staff-intensive environment. But I saw three movies at my local cinema over the summer, and, each time, my husband and my mum could see the effort that went into making this venue COVID-safe.
The other issue these independent cinemas are facing is that the big blockbuster movies—the ones that John Levy at Richmond knows will pull a crowd because they come with big national advertising campaigns that make people want to race to the cinema as soon as they hit the Hawkesbury—have all been delayed by months if not years. So, while there are beautiful and engaging movies about, you have to go looking to find out about them.
The same constraints apply to the historic Mount Vic Flicks in my electorate and the larger but still independent Edge cinema in Katoomba. These independent cinemas know that it's only a matter of time before people will head back to them in numbers, and they want to be there when it happens.
JobKeeper has helped them keep their heads above water, as we knew it would. So losing JobKeeper next month will be a really cruel blow. I urge the government: please, don't bring down the curtain on independent cinemas in March. Help them keep the screens going in our local towns.
