"Remove the Ticket Price Bubble and Transparently Disclose the Detailed Settlement Reports" (Filmmakers' Coalition for Overcoming the Korean Film Industry Crisis)

The Filmmakers' Coalition for Overcoming the Korean Film Industry Crisis (hereinafter referred to as the 'Filmmakers' Coalition') reported the three major multiplex companies to the Fair Trade Commission on the 4th, requesting an investigation into their alleged violations of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act.

The Filmmakers' Coalition held a press conference at the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy in Jongno on the same day. They stated, "The theaters are not disclosing the detailed breakdowns of promotions, including various discounts and free tickets, to the movie distributors and production companies."

CGV, Lotte Cinema, and Megabox (hereinafter referred to as the 'Big Three Theaters') account for over 98% of the screens in multiplex chains nationwide. However, during the pandemic, these theaters raised ticket prices sharply three times, citing deteriorating revenues.

The Filmmakers' Coalition criticized this point, stating, "Such ticket price hikes have increased the burden on viewers, narrowing the range of movie choices," and lamented that "the number of viewers has decreased, leading to adverse effects such as intensified polarization around blockbuster movies and screen monopolization."

They also pointed out the lack of price fairness. Due to the discount policies of the Big Three Theaters, viewers with less access had to buy tickets at the full, higher prices. This price bubble phenomenon has increased viewer distrust, leading to a vicious cycle of declining audiences.

The Filmmakers' Coalition strongly criticized the current pricing policies and promotions of the theaters, stating that they "disregard the viewers" and "only unjustly affect those who do not use discount schemes, ultimately causing severe harm to the movie ecosystem."

They also raised concerns about the revenue settlement process. The coalition accused the Big Three Theaters of maintaining opacity and engaging in unfair settlements when distributing revenues among investors, distributors (including producers and creators).

Furthermore, they argued that "the Big Three Theaters are hiding behind confidentiality agreements concerning telecommunications discounts and refusing to disclose detailed sales settlement reports," claiming that "the actual per capita spending has decreased despite the higher ticket prices, resulting in a reduced share for the movie ecosystem."

On the other hand, the Korean Theater Industry Association expressed regret over the Filmmakers' Coalition's press conference, calling their claims "one-sided." They countered, stating, "The movie market is more transparent than any other industry. The price of the ticket is transferred to the Korean Film Council's database as soon as the customer issues it, and the theaters settle based on this issued price."

They also denied the allegations of settlement opacity, asserting, "We provide the necessary detailed records for settlement to distributors, and discount marketing is conducted through discussions with distributors. The compensation amounts are fairly settled with the distributors."

Addressing the claim that ticket prices have risen but per capita spending has dropped, they pointed out, "Theaters operate a pricing table that encompasses various price ranges based on time, age, occupation, day of the week, and seat location. Judging the entire movie viewing cost based solely on adult ticket prices is an error."

Regarding the allegations of excessive profiteering by theaters, they added, "The theaters recorded losses exceeding one trillion KRW due to a severe decline in audience numbers during the COVID-19 period. We regret that baseless suspicions are causing unnecessary disputes."

Photo Credit: Filmmakers' Coalition for Overcoming the Korean Film Industry Crisis