Exhibitors Gather in Las Vegas, Pan Film Quotas

With Hollywood under threat of increased quotas and levies in Europe, some exhibitors on Monday came out in favor of maintaining open access to those film markets.

John Wilkinson, chief executive of Great Britain’s Cinema Exhibitor’s Assn., said theaters everywhere will need open markets if they are to meet the growing public demand for entertainment. In England, he said, moviegoing rose 8.8% last year alone, a trend that “requires feeding with more and more product.”

Wilkinson’s comments came during afternoon sessions at the NATO/Showest meeting of movie theater owners. The annual convention brings together exhibitors and Hollywood executives, who provide a preview of upcoming releases.

The troublesome specter of quotas and fees has grown since last December, when U.S. negotiators were unable to overcome stonewalling by their European counterparts on including entertainment in the GATT agreement.

Without the protection of GATT, Hollywood is vulnerable to protectionist measures from countries trying to boost their own film industries.

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Much of that protectionist sentiment stems from the dominance of U.S. films in Europe, even though many Hollywood films are financed with foreign money or released by foreign-owned studios. Wilkinson in his talk intentionally called American films “international” movies, noting that many of them “just happened to be produced in Hollywood by international production companies.”

Paul Oneile, managing director of the Greater Union Organization, made the case that Australia’s film industry has flourished with the lifting of quotas.

During the 1980s, he said, the number of Australian films tripled as quotas were lifted. “Quotas do not make a bad film good,” he said.

Joost Bart, president of Decatron Kinepolis in Belgium, also strongly endorsed open film markets, saying the prospect of quotas and levies is scary.

He also said exhibitors should have made their point of view more widely known on the GATT controversy.

Peter Ivany, chief executive of Hoyta Corp. in Australia, said he agrees with anti-quota arguments, but he added that local film industries must be supported. He said Hollywood should endeavor to produce its films around the world, in the same way that a company such as Toyota produces its cars around the world.