The newest installment of the college’s “Teens and Screens” report — which surveyed 1,500 younger folks throughout the U.S. ages 10 to 24 — recognized going to see a movie on opening weekend as adolescents’ No. 1 most popular pastime when price, transportation and different obstacles are faraway from the equation.
Amongst that age group, moviegoing ranked above watching sports activities, enjoying video video games, streaming films or TV exhibits on private gadgets and different types of leisure.
When factoring in price and different obstacles, nonetheless, 39.2% of teenagers chosen enjoying video video games as their favourite exercise over watching TV or films (33.3%) or scrolling on social media (27.5%).
“The lore really is that all they care about is social media and YouTube and streaming and bingeing and that the movie business is dead,” mentioned Yalda Uhls, govt director of the Heart for Students and Storytellers at UCLA.
“I was buying into the narrative that kids don’t care about movies as much. But the reality is, when you ask them, they really do care.”
Film theaters want all of the youthful enthusiasm they’ll get. Field workplace ticket gross sales within the U.S. and Canada are down 11% from final yr and stay considerably decrease than pre-pandemic ranges, in response to Comscore.
Uhls, a former film govt, mentioned that studios are likely to ignore the teenager demographic and that with a view to successfully faucet into that market, they should do a greater job of reaching out to younger folks of varied backgrounds and taking their habits and preferences into consideration.
“Do the research,” Uhls mentioned. “If you’re making content for teens, think about the lived experience of all teens.”
So what do youngsters wish to see onscreen?
In line with the UCLA report, 36.2% of adolescents desire fantasy over different genres; 63.5% worth tales about friendship and platonic relationships over romance; and 62.4% imagine that intercourse scenes will not be essential to advance the plot of TV exhibits and films. (Solely survey members 14 and older have been requested for his or her opinions about on-screen intercourse.)
Every of these totals noticed an enormous soar (of at the very least 39%) in contrast with final yr’s examine.
On the opposite finish of the spectrum, solely 7.2% of younger folks loved films and TV exhibits in regards to the wealthy and well-known; 13.9% mentioned they wished to look at movies and sequence tackling real-life points that have an effect on society.
“It feels like that’s all we give them,” Uhls mentioned. “They want to see a broader array.”
On the exhibition facet, theaters can appeal to extra teenagers by providing occasion screenings — encouraging patrons to put on costumes to the present, for instance — and providing group reductions for younger folks, Uhls mentioned.
“It’s just that typical moviegoing experience,” Uhls added. “They all love it the way I did growing up … and if you give it to them, they will come.”
