The Impact of Creative Content on the Modification of the Film Exhibition Structure in Russia

The essay analyses the main aspects of the creative content that can be distributed and exhibited in cinemas, discussing the opportunities and need for such content for film exhibition in Russia.

Creative content is becoming a new element of Russian film business. Although cinemas are generally loosing their status as major leisure venues, creative content provides an opportunity to preserve and increase the interest towards public spectacle, including film screenings.

The essay structures the main genres of creative content presented via today’s Russian cinema distribution: concerts of classical music and contemporary music, educational projects, documentaries, and live broadcasts. It defines the main thematic and expressive means attracting the audience to non-cinematic content, giving a brief historical and geographical overview and highlighting the most relevant trends in this sphere of Russian film distribution. The author of the essay concludes that creative content is becoming a major source of film theaters’ permanent income, creating a ‘‘pillow of safety’’ during the less profitable summer months, as well as in the weeks lacking film premieres with a wide audience appeal; analyses in detail the structure of educational projects as the most promising type of creative content for film theaters; and explores the importance of the main elements of this type of high-tech audiovisual content for the innovative distribution and exhibition of popular cinema.