Commercial spots aired before or after feature films in cinema — pre-roll trailers or post-feature ads. Core revenue stream for exhibitors.
In cinemas, advertising follows a fixed dramaturgy — usually 15 to 20 minutes before the actual feature film. As a cinematographer or producer, you quickly realize: this is not a secondary matter, but a supporting pillar of the cinema business model. Cinema owners often earn more from advertising blocks than from the film ticket itself. Advertisers pay premium prices for the guarantee that their spot will be shown to an audience consciously sitting in a dark room — without distraction, without skipping, without a second screen.
The spots themselves are produced with high cinematic quality. You will notice: many commercials have higher budgets per second than feature films. A 30-second spot for a luxury brand can quickly cost 500,000 to over a million euros. This means a large crew, high-quality lighting setup, multiple shooting days for minimal footage. The technical standards are clearly defined — DCI projection, Dolby Atmos sound, color space specifications. No room for unprofessionalism. The spot must run perfectly because every frame is paid for.
Practically, there are two models: trailer block (pre-roll) — the 15-20 minutes before the film mixed with cinema trailers and advertising — and after-feature advertising, which is rarer but occurs in some art-house cinemas. Some venues also experiment with sponsorship inserts: a car manufacturer displays its logo when the lights dim. Subtle, but effective.
The editing of cinema advertising follows different rules than TV spots. In the cinema, the audience is captivated — edits can be longer, music can breathe more. An advertisement for a design hotel can take its time with silence and image composition, which would be unthinkable on television. At the same time, the attention curve is steep: the first three seconds decide whether the viewer lowers their mental barrier or drifts into daydreaming.
For location scouting and negotiations with cinema operators, it is crucial: your advertising competes with other spots. Booking agencies place their premium spots in the best time slots (Friday, Saturday, major blockbuster premieres). A regional craft business might only get its spot on Wednesday at 2 PM before a children's film. Placement is everything.