Москва
Санкт-Петербург
Самара
Нижний Новгород
Казань
Калининград
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About KARO FILM
Today Karo Film is the leading Motion Picture Exhibition Company in Russia
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31 modern movie theatres in Moscow, Moscow region, St-Petersburg, Nizhniy Novgorod, Samara, Kazan' and Kaliningrad
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16 movie theatres in Moscow
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165 movie halls
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over 29 549 seats
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around 1 450 000 movie goers per month
MOSCOW
- KARO FILM Pushkinskiy
- KARO FILM Atrium
- KARO FILM Oktyabr'
- KARO FILM Tepliy Stan
- KARO FILM Kirgiziya
- KARO FILM on Vernadskogo
- KARO FILM Schuka
- KARO FILM on Sheremetjevskaya
- KARO FILM on Kashirka
- KARO FILM Zvezdniy
- KARO FILM Udarnik
- KARO FILM Barrikady
- KARO FILM Electron
- KARO FILM on Sevastopolskiy
- KARO FILM Matritsa
- KARO FILM Iridium
- KARO FILM Podolsk
- KARO FILM Mytishi
ST-PETERSBURG
- KARO FILM in BC Moscow
- KARO FILM Kolizey
- KARO FILM on Kolomyazhskiy
- KARO FILM Varshavskiy Express
- KARO FILM na Dybenko
- KARO FILM in Kontinent
- KARO FILM on Baikonurskiy
- KARO FILM Atmosphera
NIZHNI NOVGOROD
- KARO FILM Rossiya
- KARO FILM Shokolad
- KARO FILM Impul's
SAMARA
KALININGRAD
- KARO FILM Kaliningrad Plaza
KAZAN
HISTORY
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Chairman Ogorodnikov L.V. |
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The Karo Film theatre chain began in 1997 with the grand opening of the Pushkinskiy cinema. In addition to being the "country's main theatre", it also established new standards in movie theatres. Specialists agree that at that time it was the best movie theatre in Eastern Europe. Karo Film completely reconstructed the building, creating a new entertainment centre. In the year 2000 the first ever Russian multiplex Karo Film 1 opened its' doors. This movie house was also the first in a long-lasting cooperative relationship between Karo Film and Ramstor hypermarkets. In 2001 Karo Film moved out to the regions and opened a newly remodeled Kolizey cinema in St-Petersburg and Rossiya movie theatre in Nizhniy Novgorod. In December, 2005 the fifth regional movie theatre (in addition to four in Nizhniy Novgorod and St-Petersburg) opened in Samara.
The positive experience of opening state of the art multiplexes defined Karo Film's strategy for business. In May, 2002 a brand new 9-screen movie theatre was opened in the Atrium shopping mall; then in August, 2003 the company surprised the inhabitants of Novogireevo region - the Kirgiziya multiplex reopened after being completely rebuilt from 1to 5 auditoriums. In December of the same year the Ramstorcenter in Podolsk welcomed, for the first time ever in a Moscow region, an ultramodern cinema complex. In Septenber, 2005 the famous Oktyabr cinema concert hall re-opened after a complete and amazing renovation.
At the moment,the Karo Film development strategy is to open new movie theatres in entertainment
centres and shopping malls. The priority is given to multifunctional centres. In 2006 Karo
Film plans to open additional movie theatres in St-Petersburg and in the new market of Mytischi.
The end of the 1980's saw a sharp decline in the
popularity of cinema. The advent of VCRs in Russia, new
entertainment alternatives, and more varied television programs
all dramatically affected movie attendance. This was compounded
by the poor quality of auditoriums, film presentation
and repertoire.
In less than a decade, average cinema attendance in the
former USSR dropped 30-40 fold (from 12-13 cinema
visits a year at the end of the 1980s to 0.25 in 1996).
An improving situation resulting in growth in the industry over
the last few years has been made possible by rising
incomes, an increased amount of free time as well as
expanding demands for enhanced quality entertainment.
In 1996, Kodak became the first modern cinema to open
in Moscow. Long lines at the box office in spite of
rather high ticket prices proved that Russia had entered
an era of new leisure standards. A cinema theatre
was again the place for romantic meetings and a visit to
the movies became an indispensable feature of modern
life. The Kodak's success story triggered the opening of other
modern cinemas. The centrally located Moscow
cinemas, historically the most popular with Muscovites,
were renovated and refurbished.
An increase in cinema attendance figures and box-office
revenues over the last few years testify to the high potential
of the Russian film distribution and theatre market.
The Karo Film Chain was established
in July 1997. The first Cinema of the
Chain became "The main Cinema of
the Country" - Pushkinsky, the largest
not only in Moscow, but in all of
Eastern Europe in the late nineties.
The Karo Film chain was the first to
introduce multiplex cinemas into Russia.
In 2000, the company inaugurated the
first four-screen cinema Karo Film at the
Ramstor Hypermarket. A diverse range of
films, a perfect location, a cozy atmosphere
and a flexible pricing policy made
Karo Film 1 the favorite entertainment
venue among Muscovites and the capital's
guests. In 2001, the Chain began
work in other Regions of Russia: the
two screen Cinema Coliseum was renovated
in St. Petersburg and the three screens at
Cinema Rossia was re-opened in Nizhniy
Novgorod.
The positive experience resulting from the introduction of the multiplex
determined the further development
strategy of the Karo Film Chain.
In May 2002 in the famous Complex
Atrium the company opened the first modern nine screen
multiplex. In August 2003 in the district
Novogireevo the company remodeled (from a single screen to five)
and reopened the Cinema Kyrgizia. In December same year in
the hypermarket Ramstor-Podolsk the company opened
the first cinema in a Moscow region.
The booming of the modern Cinemas, situated
in the Centre of Moscow, led to an expansion of the
number of high-end Cinemas. The
cost of an admission ticket of $10 or more has
drastically reduced the potential number of cinema-
goers. Not all levels of society could
afford these pleasures.
Taking this factor into consideration, Karo
Film has made an attempt to make Cinema going
more affordable for all citizens. In the year
2000 the company began the development of the suburbs
of the capital. Since 2000
the company has renovated single-screen Cinemas in
the following suburbs of Moscow:
Pervomaisky in the Eastern district and Elektron
in the neighboring City of Zelenograd.
At the present time Karo Film Cinemas offer
to their customers a wide spectrum of additional
services and are fast becoming the leisure
Centers of choice. In all Karo Film Cinemas one can find bars,
cafes and restaurants, and,in some,
Cinema souvenir shops. So the unified concept
of a multifunctional Leisure
Center is being realized in all new and renovated
Cinemas.
When it comes to the construction of new
Cinemas, the primary focus is upon the large
Trade and Leisure Centers. The Karo Film Chain
plans in years 2005-2006 to build new
Cinemas in Moscow (12 screens), Saint-
Petersburg (15 screens) and large regional
Centers (12 screens).
The History of Development
(Quoting Chairman Leonid Ogorodnikov)
"In the early Nineties no one believed that the Cinema industry
could recover: all Cinemas were empty. Some
were Furniture Parlors, in others - Car
shops. We landed in the Cinema Business by
chance. We felt there was growing interest in
society after the period of time when no one
wanted to visit the Cinema. In 1996 the company
Karo started the reconstruction of the ROSSIA
Cinema. We have turned it into a
great Concert and Cinema Hall.
"Additionally, we have equipped it in the most modern
way", says Ogorodnikov. The official opening of ROSSIA took place in
1997 as part of the XX International Moscow
Cinema Festival. From the reopening the new Cinema
was named PUSHKINSKY. "We've organized several concerts in the
Pushkinsky. and we dated the exclusive premiere of
the movie 'Romeo and Juliet' by Baz
Luhrmann,"comments Mr. Ogorodnikov. " We've analyzed the financial
results and came to the conclusion that exhibition
could be more interesting and lucrative.
We've decided to focus only on theatres. It
took less than two years for Pushkinsky to
become the first Cinema of Russia: it
has been visited by over 4 million people."
Another look shows that in 1998-99 the Box-office of the rest of
Russia was equal to the Box Office of Pushkinsky.
"Therefore we've decided to build more Cinemas.
As a result the Karo Film Chain was born. We
didn't study this business: no one in the country
held such knowledge. But in several years
Karo and its partners have remodeled and built 15
Cinemas in Moscow, Nizhniy Novgorod and
Saint-Petersburg. This includes the first multiscreen
Cinema, KARO FILM 1 in supermarket
Ramstor in Sheremetievskaya Street, and the
9-screen Multiplex in the trade and leisure center
Atrium. All these theatres now are integral to
the Karo Film Chain."
Chain's Scheduling Policy
"While choosing the repertoire for our Company-
first we look at the commercial expediency and
commercial potential of the movie. Since 1997
our chain has conducted the exclusive premieres
of such leaders of the American
Cinema as: "Titanic", "Gladiator", "Pearl
Harbor" and many others", continues Ogorodnikov
In September 1999, after signing an agreement
with Hollywood film studio Warner Bros., Karo
opened the distributing company Karo Premiere.
This company handles the rights in Russia of such
Trilogies as "Matrix", "Harry Potter" and "The
Lord of the Rings".
"To our pleasant surprise there are more and more
commercially attractive Russian Movies every
year. During the past year we've shown over 20
Russian Movies", says Leonid Ogorodnikov,
"now the Russian Movies have reached the potential level of
Hollywood films. For example - 'Night Watch';
the Box-office revenue of this movie has out paced all
American blockbusters of the season. It was
shown in Pushkinsky for a two weeks run and in the
multi-screen Cinemas for a month or month and
a half".
"I hope that the increase of the number of
screens in the Country will allow the other half of
the Russian films coming to the market in the
near future to get on the screen.
Under such conditions it should be easier for
Russian movies to get to the public", concludes the Karo Film Chairman.
Forecast
"The Cinema Pushkinsky will also be re-built into a
Multiplex. We have already obtained the
Moscow Government's Permission for this project
and further construction, says Leonid
Ogorodnikov. But it is still undecided how
many screens there will be. Of course, such a large auditorium
as it contains at present time is a wonderful experience, but
Moscow has plenty of theatres and the public appears to
prefer the cozy ones with many auditoriums,
where one can watch movies with the entire
family", Ogorodnikov concludes.
In the near future the Karo Film
Chain plans to open several Multiplexes in
trading Centers in the largest cities of Russia:
in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg.
Technical Infrastructure
The Company has an up-to-date and state of the art telecommunications and information
infrastructure. Its cinemas and offices share a single corporate
information system which is the basis of the corporate computer
network and the IP Telephony-based telephone network.
The automation of our major business - film presentation - is
provided by the Premiera information and ticketing system. Catering and concessions
is automated by the R-Keeper computer system.
Both informational systems represent distributed BackOffice systems
which guarantees their high reliability. The data from these
systems enter the management system created on the basis of the
Axapta ERP. Both of the Company's information systems allow it to provide
additional services to customers.
The theatres feature the latest film projection equipment by leading
producers such as KINOTON (Germany), Cinemeccanica (Italy)
and Meopton (the Czech Republic). Enhanced listening
experiences are provided by Cinema and Theater Sound Dolby
Laboratories processors (USA, Great Britain) combined with
acoustics, amplifiers and crossovers by Electro-Voice and JBL
(USA). The sound format is Dolby Digital Surround EX.
The Company's repertoire policy focus is on bringing maximum satisfaction
of the viewing demands of the general public.
Karo Film aims at creating an optimal repertoire at its cinemas
and works with all film distribution companies operating in the
Russian market. Film scheduling and prices are established in
accordance with each cinema's special features. The cinemas fall
into the following groups: central locations, residential districts, or outside of
town, as well as multiplexes and single-screen cinemas. The
other factors taken into consideration include the population of
each particular district and their preferences, as well as the availability
of competing cinemas in the locality. Our pricing policy
excludes ticket discounts for privileged categories. However, low
ticket prices for morning and afternoon shows make our cinemas
affordable for the general public.
The Concessions Department works hard to offer the cinemagoers' favorite
combination - popcorn and Cola - as it has now become an indispensable
feature of a modern Russian cinema visit.
Our company adheres to two concession concepts. The first one,
based on fast food principles, involves cinema bars offering
quick service for those who would like a light refreshment
before the film or a snack to take into the auditorium to enjoy
while taking in the movie. The other concept involves the cinema
cafes catering for the customers who believe that leisure and
comfort must be accompanied by delicious cuisine, elite alcohol,
a wide range of desserts and a traditional choice of
ground coffee or fine tea.
The Company works with the largest suppliers operating in the
Russian market (Pepsi Cola, Heineken, Master Distribution
and others) and enjoys exclusive food purchase prices due to
large sale volumes.
Maintaining and expanding attendance levels has become one of the
Company's major goals as it faces increasing competition
in the cinema market.
To achieve this goal, the Company is continuously expanding
its range of additional services. In particular, this involves providing
accurate information on the cinema repertoire to potential
customers, as well as ticket reservations, etc. The Company has created
the corporate website www.karofilm.ru, an automated information
telephone service , as well as Internet and SMS ticket
reservation services for mobile phone users.
Receantly the company expanded it's Call Center operations to include
live operators to answer customer questions during key business hours.
Also we have introduced special customer programs
which help to form the audience's loyalty to our cinema chain.
Such a program was developed
and successfully launched in October 2003.
One of the KARO FILM MANAGEMENT Company divisions is
the Kino Media advertising agency which pursues two distinct lines
of work:
- Purchase of advertising space for cinema and film promotion.
The Agency has long-term agreements with all of its
media partners. Due to large volumes, the Agency enjoys
the most beneficial conditions for advertisement placement
in the mass media.
- Sale of cinema advertising space (foyers, ticket offices,
screens,facades, etc.) The Agency's main clients feature
such leading brands as Pepsi Cola, Samsung, Marlboro,
LM, Kenzo, Ballantains, Renault, Peugeot, BeeLine,
Heineken, Tuborg, Nevskoe and others.
On the one hand, KARO FILM cinemas fall within the group
of the largest advertisers (first of all, outdoor advertising and
the radio), on the other hand, they offer wide-ranging
opportunities for advertisement placement.
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