To get eyes on Canadian films, indie cinemas group calls for big studios to relax their grip

To get eyes on Canadian films, indie cinemas group calls for big studios to relax their grip

Independent cinemas bring in lion's share of Canadian film box office revenue: group

An industry group that represents independent cinemas across the country says its members already bring in the majority of box office revenue for Canadian films but need help to get even more eyeballs on homegrown content.

The Network of Independent Canadian Exhibitors (NICE) recently published survey data collected from 16 of the independent cinemas on its roster over a seven-week period in spring 2026.

The first takeaway, according to NICE director Sonya Yokota William, is how much heavy lifting independent cinemas do when it comes to screening Canadian films.

“Independent cinemas, despite making up only 16 per cent of the total box office in Canada, actually made up 60 percent of the total box office for Canadian films [over the survey period,]” she said.

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By comparing which Canadian films were released over those seven weeks with which titles were ultimately played in the 16 theatres, NICE was also able to take a snapshot of the barriers keeping domestic movies from being more widely seen.

‘Clean run’ requirements and low awareness

Yokota William says the information they gathered highlighted two big problems.

The “starkest structural problem” they found, she said, is an industry practice in which big international studios require cinemas to agree to what’s called a “full show” or “clean run” to screen one of their movies.

“Cinemas will be required to show only that one film in absolutely every single showtime, sometimes for three, four, even five weeks at a time,” said Yokota William. For single-screen theatres, that means it's impossible to book Canadian releases for long stretches of time, she said.

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The second issue, Yokota William said, has to do with whether cinema operators even know about which Canadian films are coming out.

NICE asked the 16 cinemas which of the Canadian releases during the study window they were aware of, and found that in over half of cases, the cinemas never heard about the movie, and therefore didn’t consider booking it.

“It's pretty clear that there's an awareness gap,” she said, explaining there is no centralized directory for upcoming releases, with personal relationships between distributors and cinemas often determining whether something gets screened.

Peter Henderson, the longtime programmer at the Bookshelf Cinema in Guelph, Ont., says he scours release schedules on his own to figure out what to bring to his theatre.

“Some distributors are better at getting the word out than others,” he said.

Henderson says NICE’s Canadian Movie Marketplace — a website meant to make it easier for cinemas to know what’s available or coming out soon — is a “great start” towards making it easier to identify and promote Canadian films.

Another issue NICE identified was cinemas in their survey deciding that there wasn't enough of an audience for a Canadian release.

More promotion would help with the "perception of the general public" that Canadian films aren't as appealing, Henderson said.

Hilary Hart, co-president of Canadian distributor Game Theory Films, says her company also uses the Canadian Movie Marketplace to get the word out about its new titles.

Hart said she's grateful for NICE's work on the system and hopes it will become a “centralized hub for exhibitors over time.”

Looking outside Canada’s borders

NICE’s report lays out a number of possible solutions, including looking to movie markets outside of Canada that have more stringent rules to level the playing field for independent cinemas.

The group argues that a “clean run” demand from a studio should never interfere with showing Canadian movies, and that larger cinemas located near indie theatres shouldn’t be able to block Canadian movies from being shown either (an unwritten business practice in Canada that’s known as the “zone system.”)

CBC News reached out to the Department of Canadian Heritage, responsible for the Canadian Feature Film Policy, to ask if any updates were planned that would further regulate the industry, but did not hear back.

The Motion Picture Association — Canada, which represents major film studios and distributors, also did not respond to a request for comment.

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There are some signs of government action, however.

Speaking for Telefilm Canada, a Crown corporation that finances and promotes the Canadian screen industry, Joyce Richards described several initiatives underway to better connect Canadian audiences with movies made here, including paying for engagement events to build buzz around new titles and a national audience survey in the next few weeks.

Richards also says there are new initiatives to support independent cinemas in the works, with more details set to come this fall.

Kate McGillivray is a writer and newsreader in Toronto. She's worked for the CBC in Montreal, Sherbrooke, Whitehorse, St. John's and Saskatoon, and she always wants to hear your feedback and story ideas. Get in touch here: kate.mcgillivray@cbc.ca.