Phil Mordecai, director, Curzon Home Cinema, told IBC delegates at Thursday’s ‘Bricks and Clicks’ session that the cinema chain was enjoying a growing success from its OTT ‘day and date’ cinema releases, and where consumers at home could see Curzon’s latest releases. Film fans at home get access to 20 to 30 brand new movies a year, plus access to Curzon’s archive of classic and important content. “Our next step is to take the offering beyond the UK and Ireland,” Mordecai stated.
He said that almost all of the movies available were award-winning, up-to-date releases which mainstream cinemas were tending to ignore. “Last year, 853 movies were officially released in the UK, but even an expert would be hard pressed to name the top 50. We started curating
and screening foreign films back in the 1930s but we also recognise that new market forces are at work.”
Mordecai explained that the Curzon chain was continuing to invest heavily in the ‘bricks’ part of the business. “But even major movies do not have traction much beyond the first week or so of release. We can do better.
We recognise that there’s marketing and advertising cash being spent on a movie, and we can now cross-promote on that activity by making available a portfolio of movies on a ‘day and date’ release, which matches the theatrical release.”
He said that Curzon was finding new friends well beyond its 44 physical theatres: “Our Curzon Home Cinema option is finding new audiences and new revenues. The OTT service expands our audience’s options.”
