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Cinema on the go
Students of Taibah International School react to a scene during a movie session recently. Photo by by Sarah Aanyu
What you need to know:
- The main equipment while starts, according to Isingoma, include 3D glasses, projectors and TV screens.
- For any one to claim that they have an innovative mind there must be something tangible to their name. And as such Wills Isingoma can lay that claim because he has built a company that earns some good money, writes Sarah Aanyu.
Ever worked for a powerful company that almost everyone dreams to work for? Well, do not give up yet. You just need to have some focus and determination and with the two you will achieve more than the simple targets.
For Wills Isingoma, it was a whole three months before he could fully understand and decide on what he wanted to do.
Until then it had all been about thoughts and ideas until he formed 3D Pursuit, where he is currently the managing director.
According to Isingoma, 3D Pursuit operates like a hawker that brings you a cinema setting and all its trappings where you want to have it.
It can be at the beach, in the middle of a forest or at your sitting room.
“We just want people to have fun in a refreshing environment,” he says, as well settle into the interview.
About two years ago, Isingoma, teamed up with Ian Parker as they sought to establish a company that would bring them closer to the people.
“I had quit my job. Perhaps that is why I was thinking so much. So when I shared the idea with Parker, he liked it and that is how we started,” he says.
Wills Isingoma
His main job was to think through innovations while Parker sunk in the money to purchase different equipment.
“We started with about Shs7m which we used to buy 500 3D glasses and a projector,” he says.
However, the challenge was finding the market that would make their dream a reality.
“I had to speak to different people with focus on corporate companies, churches and schools,” he says.
According to Isingoma, 3D Pursuit currently has a setting of two units that can deliver one movie but to two different audiences. The cinema, he says, can have different presentations ranging from movies and motivational speeches, among others.
The company has built capacity and has expanded over the three years with a substantial income of more than Shs121m over the time.
3D Pursuit, Isingoma says, has worked on a focused end game that ensures that the workers understand the client’s needs before staging a presentation.
They have also created social functions and packages such edutainment that goes beyond entertainment to uplift society.
This has helped in regard to diversity where they are able to build different revenue streams.
However, this has not been without challenges as there have been attendant costs, which sometimes dampen the company’s profitability.
“We pay for two licenses instituted by Uganda Communications Commission. They are a large cost given our income that is most times irregular,” Isingoma says.
However, the company also pays for more licenses which include outdoor mobile cinema license, exhibition cinema license, compression or public liability and operational taxes.
Other expenses include workers’ salaries regardless of income.
Holiday time, he syas, is a torturous period for the company because the biggest clientele of the company are the schools.
However, breaking or even stealing some of the company’s equipment present the company with a serious challenge that as Isingoma say has come with its troubles.
Ensure quality
According to Isingoma, it is important that you buy quality equipment to avoid embarrassment.
For instance, he says, many people buy online equipment and never care understand if they will deliver what their audience wants.
The main equipment while starts, according to Isingoma, include 3D glasses, projectors and TV screens.
These, he says, can be supplemented with a power source such as a generator because “your audience will demand even when power from the national grid goes off”.
The cinema business, he says, highly depends on quality and you must always ensure that you have the best HD glasses with the best capacity.
