The Impact of COVID-19 and the Film Industry

So many people have nothing to look forward to, they feel trapped in this never ending pandemic. Movies provide people with an outlet to escape reality and imagine living life like it used to be. Across the nation movie theatres are being shut down due to COVID, Regal Cinemas has recently closed down all of their theaters. With Regal Cinemas closing down, it leaves more than 40,000 people out of a job.

The movie theatre industry is essential to the economy in the United States. As a whole, this industry employs more than 2.5 million people across the country. The movie industry also helps towns and cities when movies are being shot on location. The Motion Picture Association said that the industry “pays out $49 billion per year to more than 280,000 businesses in cities and small towns across the country—and the industry itself consists of more than 93,000 businesses”.

If the movie industry stops production for an extended amount of time, it will cause a negative impact to so many economies in different cities across the nation. Atlanta is becoming a hotspot for film production, which caused more than 3,000 locals to become employed. Films shot in New York contributed more than $100 million to New York's local economy. The big blockbusters filmed in Atlanta, like Spideman: Homecoming, bring in nearly $9 billion to their economy.

It is reasonable to think that the movie industry should not be a top priority right now. There are bigger and worse things to worry about than movies, and movie theatres. Unfortunately small, family run theatres are dying off in America, even before the pandemic hit these theatres were closing down. If no new movies are being released to theatres soon, a lot of them are going to close down.

For years these theatres have had a hard time staying afloat, ever since the rise of the streaming industry. People are less willing to go to a theatre now to watch a movie because they can watch it at home for a cheaper price. Luckily movies have resumed production again as cases are going down in some parts of the world, and the vaccine may be ready for use. While some movies had to already pause production due to outbreaks on set, others have been more lucky. If people want theatres to stay alive, these movies have to be released in theatres, and people need to feel safe going to a theatre to watch it. This can all be accomplished if COVID cases go down, and people follow the proper health and safety guidelines.