US blockbusters should cost more than British indie films, claims UK movie mogul

Lionsgate's UK boss wants to boost domestic films

On the road: Billy Connolly in ‘What We Did on Our Holiday’ (Lionsgate)

Multi-million pound American blockbusters should cost more to see at the cinema than British-made films with smaller budgets, one of the leading figures in the UK film industry has said.

Zygi Kamasa, head of the UK arm of entertainment company Lionsgate, said the prices of cinema tickets should vary in line with the budgets of the films being shown. Such an approach would boost British movie production and increase cinema admissions, he argued.

“In most other industries, retail price is related to the cost of production, but not in the film business,” he told ScreenDaily. “A blockbuster can cost $250m (£160m) and a UK independent film can cost $4m (£2.5m) but it’s £10 or more to see both. I think we should see UK films priced at £4 and US films at £10. A trip to the cinema isn’t cheap anymore.”

It is expected that cinema admissions in 2014 will be significantly lower than in recent years, and Mr Kamasa said “something drastic” was needed to reverse this decline.

“One way to do this could be to implement more price flexibility,” he said. “Why is Marvel’s Avengers, for example, the same price as a film such as [the British movie] What We Did On Our Holiday? I have spoken to some UK exhibitors and they are open to more flexibility because they realise they have to do something.”

In an interview with The Independent in September, Mr Kamasa called on the broadcasters ITV and BSkyB to take a proactive role in the production of independent UK-based movies, emulating the success of the BBC and Channel 4.