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COVID-19: Cinema industry has lost N6bn — Association

The Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN) on Friday said it had lost over N6billion in the course of the lockdown caused by the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic.
The Chairman of the Assocation, Mr Patrick Lee, disclosed this during an interview with newsmen in Lagos.
He said that since the lockdown in March, the industry kept losing N1billion on a monthly basis rendering most of the staff jobless.
“We are appealing to the state and Federal Government to work together and allow us open our businesses, we have lost over N1billion every month that we have been locked down and it is over N6billion now in six months.
The CEAN Chairman expressed displeasure over cinemas classification under the creative industry, insisting that the industry was a media-based platform.
He said cinemas were channels through which creative industry’s content were showcased to the public and should be classified as media platform.
Lee explained that if five shows were to be exhibited in a cinema hall in a day, only about 20 to 30 people were usually accommodated in a 100-seater hall for each show, so this had already paved way for social distancing.
He said that there were 58 cinemas and 200 screens across the country, with Lagos recording the highest number of cinemas.
Lee, however, called for more investment into the industry for a more robust industry.

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