With many of North America’s newspapers presently threatening to cease publication as they try and stave off bankruptcy, retailers of all types and sizes have had to look for alternative advertising methods to market themselves. This can be incredibly difficult when due to the numerous mediums that fight for consumers attention and time, including television, magazines, radio, billboards, direct mail, video games and the Internet. Exhibition circuits are not immune from this problem and in fact are particularly vulnerable since most of their advertising is placed in newspapers on a week-by-week basis. Malco Theatres, a medium-size exhibition chain based in Memphis, TN, hopes that turning to online social networking sites such as Facebook will help them overcome this marketing challenge.
Malco, which runs 320 screens in 30 locations across five states (Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee), set up a Facebook group to help them stay in touch with customers about upcoming events, new releases and promotions. The group, which is moderated by Malco’s marketing director, Karen Scott, allows the chain to update it’s members on a moment’s notice with news, photos and links. What’s really nice about Facebook groups, and what makes them perfect marketing tools, is their ability to broadcast information out to a wide audience. While it is not possible to send message through Facebook to more than twenty users at a time, a group administrator can send out messages to everyone that’s a member of their group. Presently, the Malco Theatres’ Facebook group has 460 members. Read More »
Ever wonder what digital 3D would look like at 14 foot-lamberts (ftL) rather than the dim 4 ftL at which it is usually projected? If so then you’ll want to sign up for a 3D demo being held by the Inter-Society Digital Cinema Forum (ISDCF). On March 24th at the AMC Burbank 16 in Burbank, CA, the ISDCF will be screening a clip reel of 3D material at multiple luminance levels including 4.5, 6, 10, and 14 ftL luminance. The same material will be screened at two separate demos, one at 10:00 am and one at 12:00 pm. If these screenings times fill up there is talk that an 8:00 am session will be added.
ISDCF is being careful to let attendees know their demo is for educational purposes only. It is not a test and no recommendations will be made upon its completion. The purpose of the demonstration is to show industry professionals how different luminance levels impact the projection of digital 3D images and to help initiate discussion.
Clips being shown represent the usual round up of 3D titles including “Polar Express”, “Beowulf”, “Journey to the Center of the Earth” and “U2:3D” among others. The content will be projected across a 62’ throw onto a 35’ silver screen using a Christie projector outfitted with RealD’s 3D system. The address of the demo is as follows:
AMC Burbank 16
125 E. Palm Avenue
Burbank, CA 91502
More information about the demo and a link to RSVP can be found here.
UPDATE: March 13, 2009 - Because both demonstrations filled up with over 100 people so quickly, it looks like the ISDCF will add a third demo time. They are trying to add a show at 1:30 pm, but have not confirmed the time with AMC. If they can’t get that time, they will add a 9:00 am show, move the 10 am show to 10:30 am. Stay tuned for confirmation of the third time, as it may require those who have RSVP’d already to do so again.
Since January 22nd, when Paramount Pictures announced their plan to offer virtual print fees directly to exhibitors, the news has been a frequent topic of conversation throughout the exhibition community. It didn’t take long before a copy of the agreement began circulating through the industry, in large part thanks to the National Association of Theatre Owners. With this year’s ShoWest less than a month away there is no better time to review the agreement in detail.
For those who have not seen a copy of the agreement, which is in draft form, it can be viewed on this post and downloaded here. The first thing to take note of is that the document isn’t the size of a phonebook. While many integrators VPF agreements can be upwards of 100 pages long, Paramount’s direct-to-exhibitor VPF is only 21 pages. And just because the document is a draft of the agreement an exhibitor will ultimately sign doesn’t mean it’s going to expand. After all, it’s not as if Paramount will be entering a brand new relationship with a highly leveraged third party. The studio is entering an agreement with the same exhibitors they’ve been doing business with for decades.
The agreement has 24 sections, one schedule and two exhibits. Keeping in mind that I am not a lawyer, nor do I pretend to be, I’ll review each section pointing out some of the more pertinent bits and what they might mean for an exhibitor. Some of the sections are standard boilerplate and will not be covered in as much detail.
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