There’s a funny thing on the internet that lets people in public service jobs know how to deal with those who are disabled – those poor disabled people who have no ability to use Braille or sign language in this case!

What to Do when You Meet a Sighted Person

“Sighted people tend to be very proud and will not ask directly for assistance. Be gentle, yet firm.”

“Calmly alert the sighted person to his or her surroundings by speaking slowly, in a normal tone of voice. There is no need to raise your voice when addressing a sighted person.”

OK;  jokes aside. We are in a service business, and we get a lot of practice dealing with people who can walk strait to the proper line without assistance, but we don’t get a lot of practice dealing with people who need different kinds of assistance.

Does that blind person get a benefit from using Closed Caption equipment? Uhm…probably not. Audio Description equipment? Yes! Probably, yes. Should you ask? Good idea. 

There are a couple good reasons to ask. One, it helps with the first basic communication point: everyone gets to know that they are being paid attention to. Two, people jump to the wrong conclusion sometimes. I may think that you are looking at your ticket to find the auditorium number, but you are looking to see if you have the right date.

When someone needs to use the Accessibility Equipment, they may think that

• you are an expert and that
• the equipment has been tested recently and that
• the batteries are fully charged and that
• the projectionist has made the playlist perfectly, including the captions and narration tracks and that
• the accessibility hardware in the projection booth is turned on and tested

And, of course you are an expert…or want to be…but no matter how hard you study the equipment you don’t seem to get enough practice. And you are never around on SlowTuesday when the practice sessions are.

<Work in Progress – tell us your stories until we get this done…>

Tips for Working with People (clients and workmates) with Specific Needs

Follow the tips below when working with people with specific needs:

• Use common sense. Remember a client or workmate is a person first, the specific need comes second.
• Avoid being patronizing. Show the person the same courtesy and respect you expect to receive from others.
• Be considerate and patient. Try to anticipate what the person’s needs might be,  without being too presumptive or obsequious. Offer assistance if needed without forcing yourself on them.
• Be patient if he or she needs more time to communicate or accomplish a task.
• Communicate with the person. Some people with specific needs may have an assistant or companion with them. Look at and speak directly to the person, rather than the assistant.
• Make certain that your posted signs help the person with specific needs to find the most accessible way to get to the room where they can get the service they require.

Working with People with Limited Mobility

When working with people with mobility issues:

• Do not push or touch a person’s wheelchair without his or her consent. People using adaptive equipment often consider the equipment as part of their personal space.
• Ask before helping. Grabbing a person’s elbow may throw the person off balance. A person with mobility impairments might lean on a door while opening it. Quickly opening the door may cause the person to fall. 
• Secure mats, rugs, and cords to the floor or move them out of the way. This will help prevent tripping.
• Keep floors dry.
• Keep ramps and wheelchair accessible doors unlocked and free of clutter.

Working with People with Speech or Hearing Impairments

When working with people with speech difficulties or who are deaf or hard of hearing:

• Allow a person who cannot speak to write his or her request. Read the statement or request out loud.
• Follow the person’s cues. This will help to determine whether speaking, gestures, or writing is the most effective method of communication.
• If speaking, speak calmly, slowly, and directly to the person. Do not shout. Your facial expressions, gestures, and body movements help in understanding. Face the person at all times.
• Rephrase, rather than repeat, sentences that the person does not understand.

Working with People Who are Blind or Visually Impaired

When working with people with speech difficulties or  who are blind or partially sighted:

• Identify yourself as a cinema employee. Do this as soon as you come in contact with the patron. Offer your arm, rather than taking the person’s arm when assisting.  Help the person avoid obstacles in the path of travel by being specific when giving verbal directions.
• If the person has a service animal, walk on the opposite side of the person, away from the service animal . Do not pet or interact with the service animal without the owner’s permission.
• Describe what you are doing as you are doing it. If walking away from a person who is blind or partially sighted, let him or her know. This prevents the situation where they continue talking to no one.

UNIC – 7 FEBRUARY 2022

RECOVERING EUROPEAN CINEMAS SEE 42 PER CENT BOX OFFICE GROWTH IN 2021

Brussels: 7 February 2022 – The International Union of Cinemas (UNIC), the body representing European cinema trade associations and operators, has today released preliminary 2021 box office and admissions estimates for the territories covered by the organisation.

While the figures below are based on initial estimates, the overview provided by UNIC represents the first wide-ranging assessment of the performance of the European cinema sector in 2021. More detailed final data on the performance of each individual UNIC territory will be released later in Spring 2022. For additional information on specific territories, including periods of closure, please consult the UNIC research on the topic or reach out to [email protected].

Audiences return to the Big Screen across Europe

European cinema admissions increased by an estimated 38 per cent in 2021, with over 590 million visits across the region. Box office reached an estimated €3.7 billion, an increase of 42 per cent on the previous year. These positive results amply illustrate the industry’s resilience and the eagerness of European audiences to return to the Big Screen.

At EU level – including the UK – over 400 million tickets were sold in cinemas, worth an estimated €2.9 billion at the box office, all this when most screens across the region were shut for the first half of the year and operating for the following six months under limited occupancy and additional restrictions. 

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the European cinema industry remains significant. Compared to results for Europe in 2019, a particularly successful year for the sector, 2021 admissions were still lagging 56 per cent behind, while box office was down by an estimated 57 per cent. Comparing results for the second half of 2019 with the same period in 2021, box office revenues for the territories where data is available were on average 35 per cent below pre-pandemic levels. Major territories such as France (-22 per cent for H2 2021 compared to H2 2019), the UK (-26 per cent), Russia (-29.5 per cent) or Poland (-24.3 per cent) nevertheless serve to demonstrate the strength of the sector’s recovery in recent months.

As has been the case in the past, box office was mainly driven by major international titles including Spider-Man: No Way Home, No Time to Die, F9: The Fast Saga, Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Dune. Spider-Man: No Way Home in particular served as further evidence of cinemas’ capacity to attract audiences and create global events even during challenging times, with over $1.77 billion grossed at the global box office as of today – the sixth biggest result of all time.

At the same time, and as was witnessed in 2020, local titles have played a key role in the recovery process. National films’ market shares were higher than normal years across the region, most impressively in France (40.8 per cent), Czech Republic (38.3 per cent) and Denmark (37.0 per cent). The Serbian biopic Toma managed to outperform Spider-Man: No Way Home, dominating at the box office in Serbia and neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It is only with the support of local and international distributors that cinema operators will be able to confidently recover from this incomparable period of challenge. A strong and diverse film slate will be key to attracting audiences to the Big Screen.  

The broad range of support mechanisms that have been made available to the sector in Europe have also been crucial, protecting livelihoods and covering some of the significant losses incurred by industry. But now is not the time for policy makers to ease those efforts aimed at ensuring the survival of local cinemas, whatever their size and location. 

2022 will be a pivotal year for the industry. Leading industry analysts Gower Street Analytics have forecasted a tentative estimate of $7.8 billion (+75 per cent on 2021) and $33.2 billion (+55 per cent) for EMEA and global box office respectively. UNIC members are confident that the cinema industry will come back stronger from this crisis, and that we will continue to enjoy films together, on the Big Screen.

Attachment

Table with tentative market performance indicators for 2021 (where available).

Notes for editors

UNIC is the European trade grouping representing cinema exhibitors and their national trade associations across 39 European territories. More information available on unic-cinemas.org.

Sources

UNIC members. Complementary information from Comscore, CZ (Unie Filmovych Distributoru), BG (Национален филмов център), EE (Eesti Filmi Instituut & Baltic Films Co-operation Platform), FR (Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée), GR (Ελληνικό Κέντρο Κινηματογράφου), HU (Nemzeti Média- és Hírközlési Hatóság), IE (Wide Eye Media), LV (Nacionālais kino centrs & Baltic Films Co-operation Platform), PT (Instituto do Cinema e do Audiovisual), RU (Russian Cinema Fund Analytics, Nevafilm Research), UA (Media Resources Management).

Contact

International Union of Cinemas (UNIC)[email protected]

Union Internationale des Cinémas | International Union of Cinemas | UNIC
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www.unic-cinemas.org
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