The bulk of Brazilian exhibitors are currently in the process of replacing projectors acquired about 10 years ago in the transition to digital. The moment for new investments could not be worse, as they are still recovering from the losses during the pandemic and B.O. has been impacted by the lack of U.S. content, say participants at next week’s Expocine in São Paulo, Latin America’s biggest theatre owners convention.
According to Luiz Fernando Morau, CEO of consulting firm Integradora Digital, in most cases, the lifespan of digital projectors in operation in Brazil is over after 10 years of use. Humidity has also contributed to the deterioration of the projectors here, not only because of local weather conditions, but also due to long closure periods during the pandemic, when air conditioners were turned off.
Another reason to replace projectors, Morau said, is to upgrade to laser projectors, which offer a superior quality of image, in relation to the Xenon projectors in operation in Brazil.
With the shortage of cash and skyrocketing local interest rates, some exhibitors are resorting to renting new laser projectors, instead of buying new ones.
There are two local rental companies in operation: Santa Clara offers Barco’s projectors and OrionPC offers Christie’s.
“I was reluctant in the beginning, but my assessment now is that rental can be a good option for exhibitors without the resources to buy projectors. They pay rent for 96 months and then pay a symbolic price to buy the equipment,” Morau told Variety.
According to Morau, the two rental companies are able to offer favorable conditions to exhibitors, because they funded their projectors’ purchases through a credit line from Brazil’s FSA fund. This special credit line had interest rates well below the ones available in banks in Brazil.
In spite of all these hardships, there is a consensus that digitization was positive for both the industry and moviegoers. Luciano Taffetani, director Latam Dolby, stressed the fact that the digitalization allowed cinemas in small and medium-sized towns to open top films simultaneously to the multiplex chains in big cities.
Digital has also allowed moviegoers in smaller towns to have the same high-quality experiences as in theaters in top cities, said Taffetani.
“In the pre-digital period, copies received by cinemas in small towns frequently had technical problems, because they had been used extensively in large centers,” Taffetani told Variety.
Digitalization has also reduced the costs of film production and distribution, as it is no longer necessary to print copies and transport them to the cinemas, added Taffetani.
“Digitalization renovated and strengthened the theatrical sector in Brazil. I believe there is a lot room for growth, particularly in towns with populations amounting to 50,000 or 100,000 that do not have a single screen,” he said.