A prestigious international film festival and two cinemas have shut down after charity trustees called in administrators.
The trustees of Centre for the Moving Image, which runs Edinburgh International Film Festival, Belmont Filmhouse in Aberdeen and Filmhouse Cinema in Edinburgh, blamed a “perfect storm” of rising energy costs and low post-lockdown audiences.
They have appointed Tom MacLennan and Chad Griffin of FRP Advisory as joint administrators.
Announcing the news, trustees said: “The charity is facing the perfect storm of sharply rising costs, in particular energy costs, alongside reduced trade due to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.
“The combination and scale of these challenges is unprecedented and means that there was no option but to take immediate action.”
They said the cinemas and the film festival would “cease trading immediately”, with the administrators set to work with Creative Scotland, City of Edinburgh Council and Aberdeen City Council to assess “what options there are for the future of the individual elements of the charity’s work and supporting staff through the process”.
CMI’s board released a joint statement, saying: “We have been proud to have led the CMI through incredibly challenging times, and in particular during the worst days of the pandemic.
“We would like to put on record our immense gratitude to the entire staff team whose passion for film as an artform and for the audiences and communities we work with and serve has remained undented by the challenges of recent years. We’re fully aware that this will be an exceptionally stressful time for them.”
CMI said, despite the recent cap, its energy costs were rising by £200,000 in the coming 12 months.
It said its payroll costs were rising by 10.1 per cent, while its public funding had been “at a standstill” for eight years and reducing in real terms.
CMI said inflation was running at between 10 per cent and 30 per cent for goods and services – costs that would inevitably be passed on to customers. But it said such a move would make “coming to the cinema less affordable for more people”.
The most recent admissions figures for the two cinemas show they are running at 50 per cent below pre-pandemic levels – “not sustainable in the medium term”, said CMI.
In terms of customer behaviour, CMI said: “Surveys show that only 57 per cent of cinema audiences have come back to the cinema since the pandemic, with older audiences less likely to have returned.
“The rise of streaming platforms has led to people having greater choice of what to watch at home, and has led to people getting out of the habit of coming to the cinema.
“The cost-of-living crisis is affecting people’s spending decisions. And audiences, when they do come out, show preferences for special experiential events and escapism.”