Fox Business
Expand
Browse All Video
Watch Live

You're watching...

IMAX CEO on Online Piracy, Sales

Details

  • Description

    IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond explains why he isn't concerned about piracy impacting sales.

  • Duration 4:15
  • Date

Clips

Also in this playlist...

Latest Video

Auto-advance: ON

Auto-advance
View All

Transcript

This transcript is automatically generated

Trees with their view of -- biggest names in business in Davos this year's World Economic Forum list claimant is there's speaking what does that was -- shakers all -- long.

Now earlier today she sat out the IMAX CEO rich -- on capitol.

China so big and and I believe if more than 200 screens there right now.

We will including our backlog.

Towards the end of last year we were opening about three a week in China on the streets in China sometimes for hot movies don't IMAX tickets.

-- get on the black market.

As a matter of fact for.

Avatar -- are on -- they were selling them for about a hundred dollars apiece.

And they don't really have advanced sales so businessmen were sending their assistance to wait for six hours on line to buy a ticket.

In one instance I was told that some members of the party closed down at -- that they could -- -- rich but out of China.

Is a huge issue right now that's in our news in America and that is online practice.

And stealing the piracy and all of that.

I'm sure you're affected negatively apply online piracy are -- not where do you stand on the on the issue I don't really think so because I think.

A pirated movie is you know the type of person first of all who watches a pirated movie and the way they watch it will be on a computer on a small screen.

And I think what makes I'm -- specialist it's really experiential.

And the kind of person you know the extra three dollars really doesn't matter so I would think that the consumer piracy.

Doesn't want to spend the money and also isn't terribly concerned.

By the quality of the image -- our audience is very different set places like Russia other places where there's.

-- we don't seem to be that affected by it but Mission Impossible gross pro ghost protocol was unleashed an IMAX theaters first.

Wouldn't it hurt you or at least annoy you or upset you that that was out on line.

Affecting your sales may be even in a small way but nonetheless -- -- that would upset -- more because of the industry and -- Because our relationship.

With Paramount -- you know I care about them but in terms of our.

Our business model.

Yet as you know we film Tom Cruise.

Scaling the bruised the biggest building in the world and -- -- -- when you see you know at seventy feet wide and it's incredible.

I don't think a pirated version really gives people the same.

Experience I think it's it's apples and -- I think.

If you wanna go see it and I'm -- -- -- thing is gonna satisfy.

Talk about your sales at US Canada your box office sales up about 15% but -- internationally.

Much bigger numbers here up about 31%.

What's preventing you from growing more quickly in the US.

I'm in the US I think it's because we're so penetrated.

And -- in the rest -- the world were up less than 20% penetrated so you can grow your market so rapidly and in the US and Canada.

We're about you know roughly 50% penetrated -- maybe more in fact -- in Canada we had eight theaters maybe.

Three or four years ago an hour up to 33.

So that's growing quickly system problem.

You know it's it's a finite marketplace fortunately for us.

The world is a big place and international.

Is doing way better than domestic in the in the exhibition business.

And in the studio business or benefiting from the.

You've done everything right you've expanded this company have expanded the screen numbers you're growing into countries like Russia get the stock is down 23%.

That's gotta be so frustrating for CEO like Q could you change the perception on Wall Street what do you do.

Well I mean if you look at our stock is up hundreds of percent over the last four or five years -- -- the short run it's down a little bit the way I manage the company has.

We've had a 30% compound that screen growth for the last several years -- -- going forward.

For several years.

During any given year movies could do better than you expect to worse than you expect.

And that affects short term stock price.

But I look at us almost like HBO if you grow you subscriber base over time he's gonna grow the value of your business -- China not to get sidetracked by the weekend's box office results.

And I -- say over time we're gonna take a bigger part of the market and create value.

There is plenty more to come from -- claimant in top us all week long including an interview with Coca-Cola chairman CEO will chart can't.

Look for that at 3 o'clock eastern today.

Load More