Arts Alliance's Thomas Høegh
Anyone who has been following the motion picture exhibition industry for the past few years should know that digital cinema is not for the faint of heart nor light of wallet. Just ask Thomas Høegh, the founder and CEO of London based Arts Alliance, the parent company of Arts Alliance Media, a leading European integrator.
Last week I was forwarded a copy of an article about Mr. Høegh and Arts Alliance Media which ran in DagensNæringslev (or Today’s Business), the biggest business trade paper in Norway. Translated to English, the headline reads “Red Figures On All Screens” and the sub-headline stated:
Thomas Høegh’s film company Arts Alliance Media has lost a total of NOK 258m over recent years. Accounting figures for DVD company Love Film also shows a three-digit one million kroner deficit.
It’s always fascinating to see how mainstream media outlets cover the worldwide exhibition industry’s transition to digital cinema, especially when they turn their attention to the equipment vendors and service companies facilitating the conversion. Despite the superficial and often naive approach most outlets take when writing about the subject, the DagensNæringslev piece was interesting in that it detailed Arts Alliance Media’s finances by boiling down the company’s 2009 annual report.
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Popularity: 13% [?]
Emerging Pictures will be offering non-profit art houses an interesting way to make a few extra dollars this June. The company, which runs the largest digital alternative content theatre network in the United States, is making a special version of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band’s concert film “London Calling: Live in Hyde Park” for special screenings.
Indie film theatres or community culture centers which have official 501-(c)(3) non-profit status will be able to screen the film for audiences up to three times between June 10th and June 21st in advance of the title’s DVD and Blu-Ray release on June 22nd, almost a year to the day that Springsteen performed the concert in London’s Hyde Park.
As a means of offering financial and promotional support for ongoing digital cinema programs, non-profit venues that show the 90 minute film will be allowed to keep 100% of the box office gross. Commercial cinemas are also invited to screen the Springsteen concert film after agreeing to donate box office receipts to The Danny Fund and the Melanoma Research Alliance. The fund was established in 2008 after E Street keyboardist Danny Federici passed away in 2008 due to skin melanoma.
Commenting on the benefit screenings Barry Rebo, co-founder of Emerging Pictures, said:
“With the warm weather just now coming on, it’s especially timely to warn folks about the dangers of the sun. For sheer joyousness, an outdoor Bruce Springstten & The E Street Band experience is perfection.” Read More »
Popularity: 12% [?]
Last night I had the privilege of attending the opening night of the Director’s Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. The film being shown was “Benda Bilili” a fantastic documentary about a Congolese band made up of homeless parapelgics who go on to win international acclaim. Before the lights dimmed however the audience was addressed by the head of the Société des réalisateurs de films, the French Director’s Guild which organizes the Cannes sidebar.
After handing filmmaker Agnès Varda a lifetime achievement award, Malik Chibane (at least I believe it was him) turned to the audience with a serious word of caution. He was speaking in French and between what I understood and what was translated by the person standing next to Chibane I figured it was worth repeating here.
Keeping in mind, I’m paraphrasing, Chibane told the audience that “Benda Bilili” was being shown in 35mm and a film projector, which is how films had been shown for the past 100 years. However, this won’t always be the case. Very soon cinemas throughout France will undergo a digital conversion and films will be delivered on hard drives. He warned that such technology will actually decrease the diversity of films being shown in theatres, especially for French films. He stated that small theatres wouldn’t be able to convert to digital cinema, just those showing big blockbuster films.
Then as the film started a short 20 second promo put together by the SFR was shown. Again it was in French so I’m paraphrasing, but effectively the message of the animated spot was that a lack of diversity undermines the movies and that digital cinema threatened French culture. The trailer is embedded at the head of this post. Read More »
Popularity: 19% [?]
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