MOTION PICTURES

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 63, 14 March 1940, Page 7

MOTION PICTURES

DOMINION THEATRES

IMPRESSIVE FIGURES

The important part that the motionpicture industry plays in the recreational life of the community is illustrated by figures given'in the Abstract of Statistics for February.

"Almost 30,000,000 paid admissions were recorded for the year 1938-39, or, in other words, the average attendance per head of population during the year was 18," states the "Abstract." An analysis of the total revenue (£1,978,----322) shows that admission receipts amounted to £1,893,617, or 95.8 per cent, of the total. Screen advertising amounted to 1.5 per cent., and other revenue to 2.7 per cent.

The chief items on the expenditure side were as follows: —Film hire, £567,536, or 33.7 per cent, of the total; salaries and wages, £329,233, or 19.5 per cent.; theatre rent, £256,626, or 15.2 per cent; advertising £162,309, or 9.6 per cent. Amusement tax payments totalled £46,838, or 2.8 per cent.

"Disregarding differences in admission px-ices for adults and children and for evening and matinee performances, the average price of admission has been calculated by dividing the total admission receipts by the total number of admissions. The average admission charge works out at 15.3d, ranging from 12.8 d for Marlborough to 16.6 d for Hawke's Bay. Adults' admission charges for evening sessions reveal 72,852 seats available at under Is 6d, 147,039 seats at Is 6d, 35,562 seats at 2s, and 9319 seats at over 2s. "In the total of 29,775,254 paid admissions during the year 1938-39, the Auckland district leads with 11,264,748, Wellington being second with 7,005,116, Canterbury third with 3,787,956, and Otago fourth with 2,269,999. Then follow Hawke's Bay with 1,502,445, Taranaki with 1,204,155, Southland with 961,353, Nelson with 814,153, Westland with 645,467, and Marlborough with 319,862. "Of the total of 2819 persons engaged in cinema theatres, 1548 were part-time employees, whose' salaries and wages amounted to £88,024."