The cost of operating a cinema in Honiara is too expensive, according to John Van Den Heever who owns the popular White River residential cinema.
In an email sent to this paper yesterday Van Den Heever said it is enormously expensive to find and pay rent on a proper hall to run a cinema.
“The attendance figures would almost certainly not cover the cost with all the pirate movies in the streets at this time,” he said.
“I know from personal conversation with the owners of that 3D cinema in the shopping complex at Town ground that they are having financial problems and might not be in business for too much longer,” Van Den Heever said.
He said the only ideal area to start a theater these days is in an outlying village area with a relatively large village population to sustain attendance and where there is absolutely no other form of entertainment.
“Then the villagers will flock to your door,”Van Den Heever added.
He then shared the business dynamics on its operation.
“It’s a fantastic business in the right place but it does take someone disciplined to run it with an iron fist that will listen to instructions and follow them promptly.
“This kind of person is very hard to find in Solomon Islands,” Van Den Heever said.
The Hollywood former painter said to make it work in Honiara’s Central Business District; one must have to find a very high foot traffic area on the main street.
“So if you’re operating on a busy street, you could trade off the sheer numbers of bodies going by.
“Off the street in a shopping mall is not ideal since only few people will go by the corridors.
“The entrance would have to be off the main pavement crowded with human beings. Then you can count on 1 customer for every 50 bodies going by,” Van Den Heever said.
The American who marries to a Bellonese woman is currently with his family in California.
The latest boost to his entertainment movie viewing business is the introduction of 3D films at his cinema.
By TEDDY KAFO
