An increasing number of young film fans are watching movies at private cinemas, which offer privacy, a cozy atmosphere and customized service.
Industry insiders consider the emerging trend a new attempt at subdividing China's film market and believe the private screens could be complementary to mainstream commercial movie theaters by meeting customers' demands for diversity, Taiyuan Daily reported.
However, lack of operating authorization and film copyright issues are the two largest problems for nearly all private cinema owners.
"We cannot afford the copyright fees and also it's almost impossible to acquire the official qualification related to the broadcast of films. I just registered a self-employed business license," a Chengdu private cinema owner surnamed Li told Huaxi Metropolis Daily.
A spokesman at the Wuhan film publishing company told Bandao Morning Post that private cinemas were not required to have the qualification if they did not screen films that are being shown in commercial cinemas simultaneously. Therefore, he said questions over law violations lay in the ownership of film copyrights.
Movies shown by private cinemas mostly come from Internet downloads, set-top boxes video-on-demand services, DVDs and online viewing services, Huaxi Metropolis Daily reported.
In the past, some private cinema owners have defended themselves by claiming their movies were not for commercial use because they did not charge for watching them so did not violate copyright laws.
IP expert Zhao Zhanling said that copyright infringement depended on whether private cinemas were run for a commercial purpose rather than a film-watching service.
Most private cinemas are small businesses and occupy sites divided into about 10 to 15 screening sections.
Li said his cinema was about 150 square meters and he invested between 300,000 yuan ($48,766) and 400,000 yuan in the operation.
In addition to rent and decoration expenses, Li said most of his expenditure went towards facilities such as projectors, screens, sound equipments, air conditioners and sofas.
He said the cinema receives 30 to 40 customers every day and the monthly sales revenue can reach 50,000 yuan.
The number and diversity of the films shown are crucial to the survival of a private cinema, he added.
A sophomore student in Xi'an, who often goes to the private cinema with classmates, said the advantage of the emerging sector was that "you have more choices", Sanqin Daily reported.
"Although commercial cinemas provide better visual and sound effects you can only watch the movies on show," the student said. "But in the private cinemas I can choose to watch either an old classic movie or the one that has not been introduced to the Chinese mainland, and the viewing effect is better than that at home."
"We can laugh loudly in the private room without worrying about bothering other customers," she added.
Yang Tao, deputy head of the Sichuan-based Pacific Cineplex, told Huaxi Metropolis Daily that the film industry was a "very inclusive and tolerant" market and they would be positive about the development of private cinemas.
However, he said copyright issues must be solved properly.
Liu Cuiping, deputy director of EntGroup, an entertainment industry research company, said private cinemas would not develop large-scale operations in the coming three to five years.
Last year, China's box office pulled in nearly 22 billion yuan, an increase of 27 percent from 2012, which ranked it the world's second-largest film market, Taiyuan Daily reported.
haonan@chinadaily.com.cn
