Market Study GREECE by Split Screen Data Ltd. for German Films November 2013
GREECE Language Greek Location Greece (officially the Hellenic republic) is a country in south-eastern europe which has land borders with albania, the republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and turkey to the east. the aegean Sea lies to the east of mainland Greece, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean to the south. Greece has the twelfth longest coastline in the world, featuring a vast number of islands. Population 11,409,395 Capital athens (pop 3,800,000) Major cities thessaloniki (pop 1,006,730), Patras (pop 250,000) Land surface 131,940 square kilometres Time zone eet (eastern european time GMt +2) Internet domain.gr IDD +30 Currency euro GDP 213.8 billion Unemployment 26.9% G E N E R A L C I N E M A S TAT I S T I C S 2010 2011 2012 Cinemas n/a 297 n/a Screens 613 493 470 Digital screens 76 75 81 3D-capable screens 21 54 75 Admissions 11,711,854 10,911,057 10,900,000 Overall capacity n/a 129,681 n/a Per capita attendance 1.09 1.00 1.00 Average ticket price (in euros) 8.50 8.33 9.03 B O X O F F I C E (in euros) Total 99,550,000 92,580,000 98,362,848 100% German or majority co-productions 664,097 1,457,054 801,897 100% German or majority co-productions as a % 0.68 1.57 0.82 German minority co-productions in euros 1,452,475 1,963,813 1,427,784 German minority co-productions as a % 1.45 2.12 1.45 2 GerMaN FIlMS Market Study GREECE
RELEASE DETAILS TITLE 2 0 1 0 T O P 1 0 DISTRIBUTOR RELEASE DATE BOX OFFICE US$ ClaSH OF the titans (us) INCePtION (us/uk) I love karditsa (Gr) Harry POtter and the deathly HallOWS: Part ONe (uk/us) SHutter ISlaNd (us) the twilight SaGa: eclipse (us) alice IN WONderlaNd (us) SHerlOCk HOlMeS (us) SeX and the CIty 2 (us) the king S SPeeCH (uk/aus) uip Greece 04.04.10 24.08.10 14.01.10 18.11.10 25.02.10 30.06.10 04.03.10 14.01.10 27.05.10 24.06.10 4,714,447 4,196,236 4,100,754 3,638,941 3,362,171 3,222,940 2,985,480 2,927,097 2,836,343 2,553,444 2 0 1 0 G E R M A N F I L M S (100% or majority co-productions in red) the GHOSt (uk/ger/us) WÜSteNBluMe (Ger/at) resident evil: afterlife (uk/ger/us) the last StatION (Ger/ruS/uk) lebanon (ISr/Fr/Ger) lourdes (at/fr/ger) WHere the WIld things are (us/aus/ger) WOMeN WItHOut MeN (Ger/at/Fr) tournée (Fr/Ger) le Pere de MeS enfants (Fr/Ger) det enda rationella (SWe/FIN/Ger/It) JaFFa (ISr/Ger/Fr) ajami (ISr/Ger/uk) Filmtrade Filmopolis Hollywood Films Nutopia Nutopia Filmtrade Nutopia amafilms 17.09.10 11.03.10 21.10.10 29.07.10 21.01.10 08.04.10 21.01.10 22.04.10 02.12.10 17.06.10 12.08.10 12.07.10 11.02.10 1,012,881 673,082 643,025 182,986 75,029* 57,382* 46,549 30,103* 23,209 22,753* 13,031 10,503* n/a 2 0 1 1 T O P 1 0 PIrateS OF the CarIBBeaN: ON StraNGer tides (us) Harry POtter and the deathly HallOWS: Part 2 (uk/us) the SMurFS (us) the tourist (us/fr) NISOS 2: to kynigi tou HaMeNOu thisavrou (Gr) 19.05.11 14.07.11 08.09.11 13.01.11 22.12.11 5,218,525 4,186,117 3,614,777 3,202,605 2,868,919 GerMaN FIlMS Market Study GREECE 3
IMMOrtalS (us) the twilight SaGa: BreakING dawn Part 1 (us) tangled (us) PuSS IN BOOtS (us) HaNGOVer 2 (us) uip Greece 10.11.11 17.11.11 06.01.11 22.12.11 02.06.11 2,834,394 2,822,707 2,787,668 2,619,557 2,580,617 2 0 1 1 G E R M A N F I L M S (100% or majority co-productions in red) unknown (us/ger/uk/fr) the three MuSketeerS (Ger/Fr/uk/uS) HaNNa (us/uk/ger) a dangerous MetHOd (Ger/CaN/uk/SWz) PINa (Ger/Fr) anonymous (uk/ger) POulet aux PruNeS (Fr/Ger/Bel) MelaNCHOlIa (den/swe/fr/ger) CarlOS (Fr/Ger) la PrINCeSSe de MONtPeNSIer (Fr/Ger) CHalet GIrl (uk/ger/aut) drei (Ger) 20th Century Fox Greece audio Visual enterprises audia Visual entertainment Seven Films 24.03.11 06.10.11 07.04.11 24.11.11 24.04.11 17.11.11 06.01.11 08.09.11 14.04.11 07.07.11 05.05.11 17.11.11 894,495 691,967 437,680 434,176 330,911 197,542 194,525 162,357 54,129 23,085 n/a n/a 2 0 1 2 T O P 1 0 SkyFall (us/uk) an (Gr) the HOBBIt: an unexpected JOurNey (us/nz) SHerlOCk HOlMeS: a GaMe OF SHadOWS (us) O theos agapaei to HaVIarI (Gr/ruS) ICe age: CONtINeNtal drift (us) the dark knight rises (us/uk) the avengers (us) the twilight SaGa: BreakING dawn Part 2 (us) MadaGaSCar 3: europe's MOSt WaNted (us) uip Greece 01.11.12 29.11.12 13.12.12 05.01.12 11.10.12 05.07.12 21.08.12 26.04.12 15.11.12 30.08.12 5,806,892 4,301,754 4,275,344 2,973,237 2,906,528 2,749,438 2,729,671 2,599,996 2,481,388 2,306,779 4 GerMaN FIlMS Market Study GREECE
2 0 1 2 G E R M A N F I L M S (100% or majority co-productions in red) resident evil: retribution (Ger/CaN) tinker tailor SOldIer SPy (uk/fr/ger) ClOud atlas (Ger/uS) amour (Fr/Ger/at) the VOW (us/brz/fr/aus/uk/ger) StreetdaNCe 2 (uk/ger/it) HOdeJeGerNe (NOr/deN/Ger) le HaVre (FIN/Fr/Ger) CarNaGe (Fr/Ger/POl) HySterIa (uk/fr/ger/lux) * estimate based on admissions rosebud audio Visual enterprises audio Visual enterprises rosebud 20.09.12 16.02.12 22.11.12 04.10.12 14.02.12 12.04.12 12.07.12 05.01.12 02.02.12 26.07.12 572,345 566,515 513,234 381,947 335,363 273,739 141,311 108,508 91,585 36,590 SALES AGENTS FOR GERMAN FILMS DISTRIBUTED THEATRICALLY IN GREECE ClOud atlas a dangerous MetHOd the last StatION PINa resident evil: retribution the three MuSketeerS WOMeN WItHOut MeN WÜSteNBluMe Focus Features International HanWay Films the little Film Company HanWay Films Sony Pictures Global Summit entertainment Coproduction Office the Match Factory T E L E V I S I O N A N D V I D E O First going on air in 1966, television in Greece was a state monopoly run by elliniki radiofona tileorasi (ert) until the mid-1980s, when various pirate stations began to appear carrying foreign channels and movies. Independent broadcasting began with tv1000 in thessaloniki and tv Plus in athens in the late 1980s. there are now eight private networks; a number of foreign networks such as CNN, tv5monde and rai uno; some 20 or so subscription satellite channels (most of them multiplexed into a number of sub-channels); and a vast array of local channels reflecting the country s mountainous topography. the balance was further altered when, in response to the financial crisis, the Greek government shut down ert in June 2013, triggering an occupation and protests which are still ongoing at time of writing. Greece s private channels had, in any case, long ago edged ert into a minority situation and, in 2010, long before the shutdown, the broadcaster had merged its film and sports channels in an attempt to save money. Movies on tv were the driving force of the 1980s pirate channels and Greece was one of the first countries to host the movie channel Filmnet (now Nova Cinema). Nova presently has a total monopoly on movie channels, with five channels (including one in Hd) broadcasting mainly Hollywood movies. detailed analysis of weekly scheduling has not been possible, but there seems to be little room for niche or arthouse movies. Cable is virtually non-existent and pay-tv channels are all satellite-operated by multinational communications company Multichoice Hellas, whose monopoly is currently being threatened by romania-based Ote tv (which carries the Sundance Channel). GerMaN FIlMS Market Study GREECE 5
AVAILABLE CHANNELS Adult 6 Children 9 News 21 Local 139 Lifestyle 4 Music 8 Film 8 Sport 39 Other 71 Total 305 D V D 2009 2010 2011 Number of DVD households (in millions) 2.03 2.09 2.12 Number of Blu-ray households 27,500 236,800 475,100 Retail DVD units sold 400,000 400,000 300,000 Retail Blu-ray units sold 30,000 60,000 100,000 DVD rental transactions (in millions) 4.2 3.8 3.2 Blu-ray rental transactions 28,000 142,000 332,000 Average DVD retail price (in euros) 15.51 14.80 14.12 Average Blu-ray retail price (in euros) 23.57 21.30 19.28 the above figures which cover the run-up to rather than the full horror of the current crisis in Greece suggest a business which is following a similar pattern to elsewhere in europe: few new dvd players being bought, with most of the increase in hardware accounted for by those making the switch to Blu-ray; dvd rentals declining while the retail price drops slightly; and an increased turnover in Blu-ray thanks to an 18% drop in retail prices. But these figures collected by IHS Screen digest and printed in the 2012 Observatoire handbook (the International Video Federation does not collect figures for Greece) are clearly estimates, from which it is impossible to draw detailed conclusions. It would, however, seem that the growth in Blu-ray is towards the bottom end of the european scale and the dvd and Blu-ray business as a whole appears stagnant, which is scarcely surprising given the economic situation in the country. Indeed the crisis is reportedly being felt much more strongly in what is, after all, a non-essential business sector. according to Irini Souganidou, CeO of (which handles Sony and disney titles in Greece), quoted in Screen International (23 January 2012), film distribution in Greece is now a one-platform market, mainly theatrical, while ancillary sources of recoupment such as dvd, acquisitions by tv channels and newspaper covermounts [the distribution of dvds by newspapers as a promotional tool] are drying up dramatically due to the financial crisis. 6 GerMaN FIlMS Market Study GREECE
G E N E R A L N O T E S up-to-date figures on the Greek cinema scene are hard to come by. as a result, the figures in the first part of this report are taken from a number of different sources, not all of which are entirely compatible, and any conclusions drawn must of necessity be provisional. the portrait that seems to emerge, however, is of a business as much in recession as the rest of the Greek economy, with box office and attendances peaking in 2009 and declining thereafter by 5% in 2010 and a further 11% in 2011 before more or less stabilising in 2012. While attendances overall are unstable, those for arthouse films seem to be dropping faster. attendances at the open-air cinemas which are a feature of the Greek cinema scene are reported to have been hit especially hard. although nine new German films were released in 2008 (and the returns for German minority co-productions was given a big boost by astérix aux JeuX OlyMPIQueS making No. 2 in the annual top 10 in the year of the athens Olympics), that number was down to six in 2009, three in both 2010 and 2011 and two in 2012. even in the latter year, with two major english-language movies ClOud atlas and resident evil: retribution to fly the flag, German films market share remained below 1%. It is, however, possible that a handful of other titles were released that we have not been able to track. Perhaps the most disturbing thing from the point of view of european producers and sales agents doing regular business with Greece is that ancillary revenues are reported (again, no actual figures are available) to be dropping away especially fast, leaving little in the way of a safety net. this is not helped by the quasi-monopolistic situation in pay-tv, where one company controls the satellite sector. None of this is entirely surprising, given the overall economic and financial turmoil in Greece. But it should be pointed out that the trend appears to have been well under way before the situation reached crisis point in 2011. It may be some time before normal business is resumed. Sources: Media desk Hellas, International Monetary Fund, xe.com, european audiovisual Observatory, Hellenic Statistical authority, CIa Factbook, IPtV News, Greek Film Centre, Split Screen data ltd. With special thanks to Marilisa totomi of uip Greece. Picture credits page 1 and 2: tubs europe on the globe/wikimedia GerMaN FIlMS Market Study GREECE 7