COVID-19 Pandemic and Crisis in the Cinema Industry

The main purpose of the project is to examine the crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic in the cinema industry and to identify possible ways out. In this context, in-depth interviews were conducted with fifty-two industry employees to investigate the devastating economic and social effects of the pandemic on the cinema industry and to identify support mechanisms. The boxoffice revenue of the movie theaters, which remained open for 32 weeks in 2020, was 299,444,667 TL. This indicates a major crisis for the sector. The estimated 2020 employment size of the sector is around 30,000. It is calculated that the total economic size of the cinema sector together with the TV series sector is around 2,054,942,970 TL. Movie theaters are experiencing a serious contraction in the COVID-19 process. Cinema workers constituted the segment most affected by the crisis, and the project-based, flexible and precarious working order of the sector has deepened the impact with the different practices in the social security law (4A/4B, annex 6). The production group has been deeply injured by postponed or unfinished projects and canceled screenings. Festivals have faced cancellation, postponement, online and mixed options. In the context of support for the crisis, the Economic Stability Development Package was determined as state support, and COVID-19 Cinema and Television Industry Support (Netflix, Cinema-Television Union, İKSV) as non-governmental sector cooperation. The continuation of the Cinema Fund 2020 support was found to be important during the crisis period. "Cinema-Television Crisis Support Fund" should be established in accordance with the project-based and flexible working conditions of the sector. A new Cinema Job Law should be prepared for industry workers, based on the example of the "intermittent du spectacle" (intermittent entertainment worker/cultural worker) in France. With the legal and legislative arrangements to be made regarding digital platforms, 2% of the annual revenues of these platforms should be transferred to the cinema fund to be distributed to movie theaters. Funds such as Creative Europe should be re-subscribed to ensure the pluralization of not only national but also international funding mechanisms to strengthen the production group. Film festival support should be increased. The draft Copyright Law should be enacted in order to legally guarantee the gains of the authors and related rights holders in the sector. Cinema should be supported because it is an important representative of national culture and has the potential to create high added value within the cultural creative economy.