Movie industry professionals are furious… File complaint to Fair Trade Commission against three major multiplex chains

Allegations of violating the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act
“Failure to disclose details from promotions”
“Deepening polarization of blockbusters and screen monopolies”, The Film Industry Solidarity, composed of the Korean Producers Guild (PGK), the Directors Guild of Korea (DGK), and the National Film Industry Labor Union, reported the three multiplex theaters (CJ CGV, Lotte Cinema, Megabox) to the Fair Trade Commission, alleging violations of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act.
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, The Film Industry Solidarity held a press conference at the Chamyeo Yeondae in Jongno, Seoul on the 4th, stating, “The three multiplex theaters repeatedly engage in unfair practices, such as not disclosing the details generated from various discounts, free tickets, etc., provided in promotions to distribution and production companies.” They emphasized, “The Fair Trade Commission’s judgment will be a starting point for the restoration of the film industry ecosystem,” and pledged, “We will actively respond to the exacerbation of polarization by the three multiplex theaters, screen monopolies, and the collapse of holdbacks.”
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, Multiplex theaters distribute a portion of the revenue generated from ticket sales to investment and distribution companies (including production companies and creators) at a certain ratio. However, there are hardly any instances where the actual prices sold through various discounts are transparently disclosed. This results in no way of knowing whether the investment and distribution companies are being properly settled.
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, The Film Industry Solidarity explained, “All three multiplex theaters maintain a secrecy agreement regarding discounts with telecommunication companies such as SK Telecom, KT, LG Uplus and refuse to disclose detailed settlement details,” stating that this violates the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act. They criticized, “During the pandemic period, ticket prices increased three times, but due to the ‘opaque’ settlement, the average revenue per audience (average ticket price issued for movies) has actually decreased,” highlighting the absurd phenomenon of diminishing returns for numerous stakeholders in the film industry.
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[Image Source=Yonhap News],
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, They argued that the three multiplex theaters are also responsible for the recent downturn in the film industry. They added, “As a result of income deterioration due to social distancing measures during the pandemic, they significantly increased ticket prices,” explaining, “This burdened consumers, narrowed the range of film choices, led to a decrease in audiences, and deepened the negative impact of blockbuster-centric polarization and screen monopolies.”
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, In an attempt to prevent revenue decline, multiplex theaters introduced various discount systems. However, as less accessible audiences were unable to benefit from these discounts, price fairness was compromised, trust from audiences diminished further, and the Film Industry Solidarity pointed out that this leads to a vicious cycle of audience decline. They criticized, stating, “The current pricing policies and discount sales methods ignore the audience,” and warned that, “Ultimately, this seriously undermines the film ecosystem.”
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, The Film Industry Solidarity plans to urge the National Assembly to address the related issues and make efforts for legislation. An official stated, “Through parliamentary debates, consultations with policy authorities, we will seek solutions for unfair theater practices through legal amendments.”