Credit Crunch Good For Film Business

The credit crunch, global financial turmoil, rising unemployment and rocketing household bills is good news for the home entertainment industry and cinemas across Britain.

At least at the moment, if research from the British Video Association here is to be believed.

Figures for the third quarter this year flag record DVD sales, hitting 51.7 million unit sales, up 6.5% on the same period last year.

September alone was a bumper month with total video sales up a whopping 7.4% on the same month last year, the BVA said Thursday. The rise took sales to the end of September this year to 161.8 million DVDs and 164.2 million units if all other formats are included.

The U.K. cinema industry has also seen its best performance in 40 years, with the Cinema Exhibitors’ Association announcing total admissions for the months of June to August this year at 53.6 million, up 6% from last year.

And the BVA is confident things can only get better with the months running up to Christmas usually playing out as bumper buying time for DVDs and movie going.

And Blu-ray is coming. The research indicates Blu-ray disc sales up 396% to just short of 1.5 million units in the year to date.

BVA director general Lavinia Carey said: "Everyone enjoys a well told story and at times of economic hardship, history has shown that U.K. consumers turn to the home entertainment and film industries for comfort. As a popular and value-for-money choice for leisure spend, we expect to see continued volume growth in our market, as consumers tighten their belts in response to increasing economic uncertainty."

Story source: hollywoodreporter.com.