We were like a hackathon that generated several startup projects during lockdown – Romanchuk Roman, CEO of Multiplex

The last year was quite difficult for cinemas. How has Multiplex survived the peak of the pandemic and how does it feel now?

For the film industry, this is the most difficult period in the history of its existence, as cinemas were completely closed for many months and revenue was zero. These events required a set of ordinary and extraordinary decisions. They were difficult and fast. In general, we managed to outlast this due to three main factors:

1. coordinated teamwork during the crisis;
2. our partners (shopping centers, equipment, and service suppliers) who were ready for flexible negotiations with us and making extraordinary decisions that we requested;
3. and the third determining factor is the coordinated work at the level of the board and the main stakeholders of this business.

Certain solutions, that are atypical for our business model, allowed us to generate a small but yet significant revenue stream in this period. We were like a hackathon that generated several startup projects during the lockdown. Some of them worked out. For example, selling cinema vouchers to be used in the future, selling popcorn through online platforms, collaborating with several restaurant chains to create a unique product by Multiplex special order, which we sold among our base of loyal customers.

Now we are in a state of mild optimism, we are gradually restoring, as cinemas are open and every month there is more and more interesting world content, blockbusters, attracting audiences to visit the cinema. At the same time, there remains a high degree of risk and uncertainty regarding the nearest period.

Simultaneously, the company implements a range of pilot projects with new services and products being tested that we plan to launch and develop as concomitant to the consumption of the main product in the cinema.

What new safety standards did Multiplex implement? What does a visit to the cinema look like? in Covid reality?

At each stage of the customer flow, we provide visitors with hand sanitizer, create a distance of 1.5 meters between customers. Cinema staff use all the necessary hygiene and protection products, they are also all vaccinated.

In case one or another territory acquires a special category and passes from green to orange or another zone, restrictions on seating in the halls will be added.

At the same time, I would like to note that according to a number of global studies, there is an unambiguous conclusion that cinemas are one of the safest places for the public visit due to the high ceilings, the configuration of rooms, and intensive air exchange provided by the ventilation and air conditioning system.

Recently, the Multiplex team was joined by a new specialist - Chief Digital Officer. Why do you need your own digital specialist? And what are the company′s digital transformation plans?

A specialist is needed for successful and effective leadership in this area. Our portfolio includes a pool of projects related to strengthening the digitalization strategy for the implementation of customer flow (additional services in the Multiplex application, the website, food, and beverage delivery before and after sessions and anywhere outside the cinema, as well as several pilot projects that we would not like to announce yet). There is a pool of projects related to the next round of e-document management within the company using artificial intelligence to work with our clients’ databases and improve the loyalty program.

How did your approach to planning - both personal and business - change?

We started planning with a different horizon. The key planning takes place with the team on a 6-week basis. The budgeting approach has also changed, now we make it with a horizon of 12 months, but with an update every three months within the horizon of the next 12 months. As for personal planning, it has also undergone many changes. Due to the team’s understaffing at the top management level, the number of direct subordinates has increased to 20, and therefore it was necessary to adapt schedules for planning goals and tasks for each functional unit, as well as a system of regular updates and communication statuses with middle and top management.

During the quarantine period, you conducted an active campaign to attract the attention of the authorities to business problems and addressed the initiative to support the remuneration fund. Tell us if it was successful? What do you think can be done to improve the interaction of the business and the state?

The experience was controversial. In terms of evaluating the result, it (evaluation) is low for several reasons: a complex organizational structure and the lack of a decision-making model in a number of ministries and departments; unwillingness of some officials to make decisions.

What can be improved is the creation of functional working groups that unite around priority issues relating to business and the state, with a qualitative process of selecting participants to these groups, as well as a regular declaration of results and processes in the public domain.

Multiplex has launched several new projects during this time - working with restaurants, holding events in cinemas, popcorn delivering, selling toys, etc. Will you continue to develop these areas and what collaborations to look forward to in the near future?

We will continue to develop only those directions that have a perspective. When it comes to collaboration, we work in three vectors:

1. Support and development of Ukrainian cinema (collaboration at the level of producers, studios, distributors)
2. Creation of new models of partnership and development of the existing category “food and beverages”
3. A wide range of co-products (co-brands) that are relevant to our audience outside the cinema

Your wide range of acquaintances can be envied. Where do you find new people? How does networking help you in your professional life?

Those regular business communities in which I participate, periodically involve expanding the membership, so new acquaintances in existing business circles are a systemic and regular process. Besides, I serve as a mentor for young entrepreneurs, which is a very valuable source of new contacts. I would say that, on the one hand, networking is the main source of inspiration, and on the other hand, it is a resource for creating mutual projects, an environment for brainstorms, and the birth of startups that we include in the pool of our activities.

We know that you are a prize-winning car racer and an avid athlete. What do you think unites sport, motorsport, and business?

Teamwork, unconditional belief in success, risk, and excitement from the process, planning with a short and medium-term horizon.

What is the best advice you have ever received?

What I implement in life is the summary experience of people close to me or people from whom I receive inspiration. One of the phrases that I would engrave on the board of my airliner is that “the best thing you can do right now is to keep moving forward.

How do you assess the cinema market in Ukraine? What are the prospects for its development?

You can draw several parallels. Compared with the Soviet period, during which there were about 12 thousand halls in the territory of today’s Ukraine, and now they are 600 throughout the country, from this point of view, the potential of the market looks great, but this is not quite the case, since, over the past 20 years, the content, the behavior of the guest, the situation with the consumption of the cinema as a product have changed drastically. Now is one of the active periods of change for the cinema industry, we live it right now. At the same time, there is a potential for the development of the Ukrainian cinema market, and the number of halls in the next five years should increase by 3-4 times.

How often do you watch movies? Recommend us three good films on business topics.

I watch movies on average twice a month. My recommendations are The Gentlemen, The Wolf of Wall Street, Moneyball.