Adelaide’s Mercury Cinema faces closure if it fails to secure $700,000 in annual funding

The operators of Adelaide’s Mercury Cinema advise it will be forced to close in December unless $700,000 in annual funding.can be secured.

Mercury CX, a training organisation for emerging filmmakers and screen talent which hosts 15 film industry development programs a year, held an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) at the Mercury Cinema this week to provide an update on its financial situation and the prospect of imminent closure.

Established in 1974 as the Media Resource Centre, today Mercury CX operates the 186-seat Mercury Cinema and 36-seat Iris Cinema on Morphett Street, adjacent to the Lion Arts Factory in Adelaide’s West End.

It is also dedicated to championing the growth and success of screen talent and stories in partnership with industry and the marketplace. Mercury CX is home to the national Screenmakers Conference, Mercury LABs and Development programs, Springboard, MCX Production Fund, South Australian Screen Awards, Cinémathèque and SilverScreen.

As reported by Adelaide website InDaily, the not-for-profit, Mercury CX had a submission for $700,000 to $1.2 million in annual funding rejected by the South Australian Government in May.

Mercury CX chair Gena Ashwell told around 150 people in attendance at this week’s EGM that the organisation and its cinema cannot survive beyond December if it does not find $700,000 to support ongoing operational costs.

Attendees were informed that the Mercury CX now had limited funds left and “they have to be quarantined as a matter of good governance in order to wind up in a professional manner. If we don’t find a solution by December, we will close the doors.”

According to InDaily, Mercury CX estimates that it has cumulatively lost $695,000 in annual funding since 2015 due to program cuts from Screen Australia, Arts SA, the South Australian Film Corporation, and sponsor losses due to COVID-19.

Mercury CX has advised that it requires between $1.2 million and $1.4 million a year to deliver everything they do across industry development, exhibition and events.

Mercury CX says it currently receives $320,000 in direct government funding to deliver film industry programs, while the cinema generates around $400,000 in revenue through ticket sales, venue hire and sponsorships.

According to Mercury CX and as reported by InDaily, the combination of government grants and cinema revenue still leaves the organisation $700,000 short of what it needs for daily operations, staff costs, administration and maintenance.

In a statement to InDaily, Arts Minister Andrea Michaels highlighted the $240,000 in funding the South Australian Film Corporation provides to Mercury CX along with the state government’s annual $50,000 grant for the organisation to run the Screenmakers Conference.

She also flagged that support for emerging filmmakers could be provided through other means if Mercury CX closes.

Minister Michaels advised in a statement “as an independent organisation, it is up to Mercury CX’s board to run its business in a sustainable way.”

Opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1992, the cinema hosts a select range of local and international films year-round and has a prominent role in Adelaide’s festival season, particularly during the Adelaide Film Festival.

According to InDaily, the decision from the South Australian Government to reject Mercury CX’s $700,000 request was based on a confidential report on Mercury CX’s operations commissioned by the previous state government last year.

The former government gave Mercury CX $300,000 in emergency funding last September to support its ongoing operations while an independent review took place.

The report, which has not been publicly released, found the organisation’s current business model was “unsustainable”, although Mercury CX says the report also concluded the organisation remains an “important part of the eco-system of South Australia’s screen industry”.

Image: Credit: Mercury CX