Film Type

When originally produced, a film is often shown to the audience in a theater or cinema. The first theater designed exclusively for cinema opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1905. Thousands of such theaters were built or converted from existing facilities within a few years. In the United States, these theaters came to be known as five cents, because admission typically cost a nickel (five cents).

Typically, one film is the featured presentation (or feature). Before the 1970s, had “double session”, usually a high quality “A picture” rented by an independent theater for a lump sum, and a table “B” of lower quality rented for a percentage of gross income. Today, most of the material shown before the feature film consists of previews for upcoming movies and paid advertisements (also known as trailers or “The Twenty”).

Historically, all mass marketed feature films were made to be shown in cinemas. The development of television has allowed films to be broadcast to a wider audience, usually after the film is not shown in theaters. recording technology has also enabled consumers to rent or buy copies of films on VHS or DVD (and the older formats of laserdisc, VCD and SelectaVision - see also record video), and Internet downloads may be available and have started to become revenue sources for the film business. Some films are made specifically for these other venues, being released as films made for television or direct to video films. The production values of these films are often regarded as inferior compared to theatrical releases in similar genres, and indeed, some films that are rejected by their own studios upon completion are distributed through these markets.

The film pays an average of about 50-55% of ticket sales for the movie studio, as film rental fees. The actual percentage starts with a higher number than that, and decreases as the length of a film showing continues, as an incentive to theaters to keep movies in the theater longer. However, today’s barrage of highly marketed movies ensures that most movies shown in cinemas for the first run for less than 8 weeks. There are a few movies every year that defy this rule, often limited-release movies that start in only a few theaters and actually grow their theater count through good word of mouth and reviews. According to a 2000 study by ABN AMRO, about 26% of the revenues of Hollywood movie studios’ worldwide came from ticket sales office, 46% came from VHS and DVD sales to consumers, and 28% came from television (broadcast, cable and pay-per-view).