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UK Music launches 2020 survey while Lionsgate Live! kicks off A Night at the Movies

UK Music has launched its 2020 survey, Lionsgate unveils its Friday night film watch party live streams and virtual blockchain event BlockDown 2020 kicks off tomorrow. Here are some positive responses to the Covid-19 pandemic from across the industry…

UK Music

UK Music has launched its 2020 survey for artists, composers, writers and producers to fill in to provide information on trends and to document day-to-day conditions in the UK music business.

The umbrella body for the UK music industry said the analysis of the data will enable it to be “more effective in speaking to government on issues.”

The survey contributes to UK Music’s flagship annual economic study Music By Numbers. Last year’s report revealed that the UK music industry contributed £5.2bn to the UK economy in 2018.

The majority of questions in the survey will refer to individuals’ 2019 income, as well as including questions about the first half of 2020, which will “help us better understand the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on our industry.”

This year’s report will be released in Autumn 2020.

Lionsgate Live! A Night at the Movies

Lionsgate has teamed up with cinema ticketing firm Fandango, YouTube and the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) to launch Lionsgate Live! A Night at the Movies, which is a four-consecutive Friday night live-stream of films.

The series, which kicks off on April 17 with The Hunger Games, will be available on the distributor’s YouTube page and Fandango’s Movieclips YouTube page.

Donations from Lionsgate, partners and audience members will go towards supporting Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation, which helps workers in the industry and is currently focused on providing financial assistance to theatre employees furloughed by the Covid-19 crisis.

Lionsgate Live! A Night at the Movies will be hosted by Jamie Lee Curtis, and each week’s stream will feature special programming and interactive opportunities for fans, like real-time fan chats via YouTube Live, live tweeting, and shared fan engagement opportunities in-show, including trivia, movie-themed challenges, and more.

John Fithian, president and chief executive, NATO, said, according to Deadline: “Throughout the 125-year history of the cinema, this is the first time that movie theatres have been shut down across the country. Whether it was the Depression, wars, disasters, or local calamities, movie theatres have always been a gathering place where audiences can come together to laugh and be moved, reacting as one, to put their troubles behind them or forget about their hard week at work, and just get lost in the amazing stories on the big screen.

“Until we can gather again in our nation’s theatres, we’re grateful to Lionsgate for honouring the theatrical moviegoing experience and we are thrilled to join together with them over these next four Fridays, not only to see four classic movies for free, but also to allow fans and celebrities to share their own moviegoing memories. We love that so many people will be talking about what makes going to the movies so unique and memorable.”

BlockDown 2020

Blockchain-focused virtual event BlockDown 2020 has unveiled its digital 3D world and has invited attendees to create their own bespoke avatars ready for the event kicking off tomorrow (Thursday).

The conference-style event is a global, digital-first, multi-day experience featuring interactive 3D networking opportunities, live illustrations and roundtable discussions. It has been created as a way to keep the cryptocurrency community connected during social isolation and government-imposed lockdowns due to Covid-19.

BlockDown also recently unveiled names from the industry who will be attending, including Stellar’s Jed McCaleb, Carolyne Chen from CoinMarketCap and World Health Organisation partner MiPasa.

Erhan Korhaliller, chief executive of Blockchain PR agency EAK Digital, said: “BlockDown is going to shake up the blockchain events industry. It is like nothing I have come across before in its creativity and invention.

“Attendees are going to be pleasantly surprised at the quality of the 3D World we have built in a relatively short time frame. We really believe that the virtual event space will continue to gain traction long after the lockdown period is over.”

Eventtus

Eventtus, which is based across two offices in Dubai and Cairo, Egypt, has secured an investment round to launch a new digital events platform in response to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The startup, which develops mobile event apps, ticketing and registration systems and business intelligence reports for the live events industry, has secured an undisclosed investment from Hala Ventures, Algebra Ventures and DAAL VC.

The company’s new event platform will look to meet the market demand as virtual events continue to replace on-ground ones across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region following the Covid-19 outbreak.

The app will enable audiences to check into the event, attend sessions, network together and interact with speakers. It is planned to offer diverse features that fit different types of events, including workshops, corporate events, large summits and hackathons.

“Virtual events are here to stay. The current pandemic is changing human behaviour and how we use technology and do business, and the current video conferencing offering doesn’t fit the future of events,” said Mai Medhat, co-founder and chief executive at Eventtus, according to Wamda.

Chinese cinema

A new report by Chinese online ticketing service Maoyan Entertainment found that 72 per cent of moviegoers were eager to return to cinemas following closures that began in January.

The survey, which was conducted by the China Film Association and Maoyan, saw the percentage of people keen to return to cinemas once they reopen jump from 54 per cent in February to 72 per cent at the end of March.

More than 60 per cent of respondents said they were paying to news on the reopening of cinemas in China.

Ticket discounts were among some of the factors that would encourage cinema goers to return following the Covid-19 shutdown, as well as strict health precautions, and the quality of films released.

Image: Lionsgate Live