Spotlight on independent cinema: The Lewes Depot post pandemic

Lewes Depot, an independent cinema formerly an orchard and post office garage, have found many ways to tackle the ever-changing economic challenges.

Susan Dadak, Depot’s Front of House manager said: “Like all organisations, we first had to close on March 16 (2020), and we didn’t open till the August, and we lost a lot of finance.

"We were at 50 per cent capacity when we did re-open, introduced mask-wearing, which some people didn’t even like that, and then we did keep those on for a bit longer. Since our demographic is wildly different to an Odeon or a Picturehouse, tends to be a little bit older, people that are a bit more vulnerable, people that are very nervous about coming back.”

A report published by the Independent Cinema Office last year revealed that 47 per cent of responding independent cinemas were operating at a loss and unsure when they would return to profit.

Despite this, the Depot managed to sell out the reduced capacity of the three screens they had, backed by their café and restaurant, which remained open even during the lockdowns. Major cinema chains thrive off mainstream films, hence why the lack of big releases during the pandemic was detrimental to them. On the contrary, independent cinemas like the Depot succeed by prioritising small-scale films.

Susan said: “We kind of need the mainstream films, because we know we’re going to get more bums on seats for those ones, therefore you’re making a bit more money.”

But despite mainstream films selling out screens across all cinemas, it is truthful to say that the smaller films that are not necessarily going to fill up screenings end up doing the best.

Susan said: “We’ve done very well with The Banshees of Inisherin at the moment, things like Emily have done really well, so for us, it might not be the bigger films that do the best, but rather the smaller films that have done well for us due to our audience.”

Unfortunately, the COVID pandemic has not been the only thing the Depot has had to adapt to in recent memory.

The recent cost-of-living crisis could have been detrimental to the cinema's recovery, with the number of cinemagoers declining due to concerns over their finance.

But the Depot have initiatives to adapt to the current climate. Susan states how the cinema decided to freeze the ticket and restaurant prices until next April, whilst introducing an initiative where on Tuesdays, all tickets are half-priced. Effectively, this is all part of “trying to help people in the community so hopefully these measures will help a little bit.”

Finally, regaining confidence has allowed the Depot to return to pre-pandemic levels, a feat Susan hopes to maintain in the future. With regards to confidence, Susan said “It was the main thing we’ve been battling because of our demographic here, confidence of returning to the cinema and being in a space with other people would’ve been the biggest problem.”

It is ultimately how, despite the setbacks, the Depot has managed to stand out as a thriving independent cinema with its heart focused on the customers and the community.