The Projector | Are Hong Kong filmmakers out of touch with their audiences?

As I write, the Hong Kong government has extended the closure of cinemas in the city for another two weeks as part of its efforts to combat the pandemic. While this is bad news for local operators, business was hardly booming before the initial two-week ban announced on March 27.

Prior to the suspension of public enter­tain­ment last month, when the notion of social distancing became mainstream, Hong Kong cinemas were already seating customers on alternate rows, people being wary of spending two hours in an enclosed space with strangers. Now, industry exec­utives are wondering whether – or, at least, when – film-goers will venture into cinemas again.

There has been heartening news from afar, however. In a survey conducted by data analytics firm EDO among regular United States film-goers from March 24 to 28, more than 70 per cent of 6,800 respondents said they were likely to return to cinemas once they reopen. Twenty per cent said they would go out to see a movie “immediately” after cinemas resume business, and another 25 per cent said they would go “a few days later”. About 45 per cent said they would wait a few weeks before going to a cinema.

Of course, circumstances in the US are not the same as those in Hong Kong (although US cinemas have also been ordered to close temporarily). Consumer behaviour, home entertainment options and geographical spread are markedly different there and at best, the survey serves as a yardstick of customer sentiment in another media-saturated market.

What matters is that the survey took place at all. Rather than speculate based on experience or, worse, guesswork, isn’t it better to ask audiences what they think, especially in an age when companies are mining the customer mind with scarily secretive and intrusive algorithms?