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AccessIT Signs VPF Deal With Overture Films

September 10, 2008

When it comes to virtual print fees all the talk lately has been about which studios have signed with Digital Cinema Implementation Partners, however there are other integrators signing distributors to VPF deals. For instance, AccessIT announced on Wednesday that they had reached a ten year VPF agreement with Overture Films to show the indie distributors films in digital cinema equipped theatres that were a part of the the integrator’s Phase 1 rollout.

The two companies are far from strangers, as Overture already uses AccessIT’s distribution software and satellite delivery services. As well, the mini-major had been distributing its films through AccessIT’s digital cinema network on a per film basis, including such titles as “Mad Money”, “Henry Pool Is Here”, “Sunshine Cleaning” and the indie hit “The Visitor”. Overture, which was founded in 2006 by former studio execs Chris McGurk and Danny Rosett, only began releasing films this year.

Releasing films through a digital cinema network outside of a VPF agreement can often be costly because integrators usually charge a premium VPF to distributors without an ongoing deal. Read More »

Popularity: 63% [?]

Posted in Digital Cinema, Integrators

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Manukau City Gets New SkyCity Multiplex

By J. Sperling Reich

September 10, 2008

If you are one of the 330,000 residents of Manukau city in New Zealand then beginning on September 13th you’ll have a brand new movie theatre to see the latest and greatest films in. SkyCity Cinemas is opening a flagship multiplex at the Westfield Manukau City on Saturday featuring ten screens and a combined 1,932 seats.

Eight of the screens will be reserved for traditional theatres complete with digital sound and extra-wide stadium seating that will provide plenty of leg room. The two remaining screens have been transformed into SkyCity’s premium auditoriums, Cinema Deluxe. They will seat 78 and 62 patrons respectively in reclining leather chairs. Despite what may appear to be limited seating capacity, the VIP screens are full sized theatres with the same screen size, throw and digital sound as featured in the multiplex’s other auditoriums. The largest screen in the complex will seat 364.

SkyCity Cinemas Manukau will also host a full bar in hopes of coaxing some extra New Zealand Dollars out of adult moviegoers before and after shows, as well as an interactive gaming arcade. Read More »

Popularity: 60% [?]

Posted in New Theatres

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Universal and Disney Close To VPF Deal With DCIP

By J. Sperling Reich

September 8, 2008

And then there were four. Four studios that is. Or so says the Wall Street Journal which broke a story today reporting that Universal Pictures and Walt Disney Company have reached a virtual print fee deal with Digital Cinema Implementation Partners, the joint venture formed by North American exhibitors Regal Entertainment, Cinemark and AMC Entertainment to finance, install and maintain digital cinema equipment in their theatres. The three chains, which represent a combined screen count of around 15,000, would like to start rolling out digital cinema as soon as the fourth quarter of this year, in time for the flood of 3D movies studios have slated for release next year.

Previously, DCIP had reached a VPF deal with Twentieth Century Fox, though the studio has never confirmed the news. The signing of four studios is a crucial milestone which DCIP must cross in order to secure the USD $1 billion in financing the company has lined up from J.P. Morgan Chase to pay for all the expensive digital cinema equipment required to outfit theatres. The Wall Street Journal had reported that Paramount Pictures had also signed a VPF agreement with DCIP, which had been rumored in the press but never officially announced. Indeed, by the end of the day Variety had taken the air out of the Wall Street Journal’s big scoop by confirming that Paramount Pictures had not yet signed with DCIP. Read More »

Popularity: 77% [?]

Posted in Digital Cinema, Integrators

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National Amusements Shutters Three Theatres

By J. Sperling Reich

September 4, 2008

The marquee outside the now closed Atco Multiplex Cinemas

The Boston Globe is reporting that National Amusements is closing two of its theatres in Massachusetts. The Showcase Cinemas Lawrence 1-6 which opened in 1965 and employed 30 people, was shut down on Monday. The Circle Cinemas in Brookline, which employed a staff of 21, will hold it’s final screenings on September 7th.

Of the two theatres the Circle Cinemas was by far the more historic venue. It originally opened in 1946 as a single screen theatre called the Circle Theater, though was also known as the Cleveland Circle. In 1976, the Cinema was divided in half and given the name Circle Cinemas. The theatre developed into one of the best in Boston and in its heyday played most of the major releases. The theatre booked mostly Paramount films, which is no surprise since National Amusements is owned by Sumner Redstone, the owner of Viacom, the parent organization of both Paramount Pictures and CBS. (Editorial Addendum: Redstone did not purchase Paramount Pictures until 1993). One such film was “Love Story” which played at the Circle Theatre for over a year six months starting in 1970.

Toward the end of its run the two theatres inside Circle Cinemas had been divided into seven awkward spaces. Patrons often faulted the venue for having small theatres with tiny screens. Read More »

Popularity: 51% [?]

Posted in Theatre Closures

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Village Roadshow Brings $35 Movie Ticket To The US

By J. Sperling Reich

September 3, 2008

Village Roadshow chairman, Robert G. Kirby (Lawrence K. Ho/LA Times)

Back in March of this year, Australian exhibitor Village Roadshow Ltd. announced plans to bring their Gold Class luxury cinemas concept to the United States. Already a huge hit in Australia, Village Roadshow teamed up with television producer Norman Lear’s Act III Communications and investment firm Lambert Entertainment in a USD $200 million venture that has plans to open 50 theaters in the U.S. over a five year period. On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times shed some light on what moviegoers can expect from Village Roadshow’s high-end cinemas.

Specifically, they can look forward to the price of admission - up to USD $35 per ticket.

Turns out Village Roadshow’s Gold Class Cinemas, which is based in Burbank, California, will be opening three theaters in the Los Angeles area by December of 2009. It should come as no surprise that these theatres will be built in affluent areas such as One Colorado in Pasadena, Triangle Square in Costa Mesa and at the Guasti Winery in Ontario. Read More »

Popularity: 88% [?]

Posted in New Theatres

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Warner Bros. Looking To Shed Titles

By J. Sperling Reich

August 14, 2008

If you’re looking for a screaming deal on a finished film you should probably give Warner Bros. a call. In his Los Angeles Times column today Patrick Goldstein details an interview he conducted with Alan Horn, the studio’s top dog. Goldstein contacted Horn after he learned producer Joel Silver was pitching Lions Gate Films to pick up “RocknRolla”, the British gangster film from director Guy Ritchie which Warner Bros. was due to release in early October.

Apparently, with the recent shuttering of subsidiaries Warner Independent Pictures and New Line Cinema Warner Bros. finds itself with too many films to release over the next six to twelve months. Besides “RocknRolla” Goldstein reports that Warner would be happy to unload two additional films; Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire”, originally a WIP release, and the New Line cop drama “Pride and Glory” starring Edward Norton and Colin Farrell. Silver became proactive in a finding a new home for his film when he realized Warner Bros. wasn’t about to spend the money to market the movie. Horn confirmed this in his conversation with Goldstein, saying: Read More »

Popularity: 52% [?]

Posted in Distributors

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Warner Bros. Promotes Aylsworth

By J. Sperling Reich

August 5, 2008

Crediting their “aggressive commitment to explore and implement the latest technological advances in production and industry standards” Warner Bros. promoted Wendy Aylsworth to Senior Vice President, Warner Bros. Technical Operations. Aylsworth, who has been with the studio since 1994, previously served as Vice President, Technology, Warner Bros. Technical Operations.

Many in the industry are familiar with Aylsworth through her work as Engineering Vice President of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. Over the past year she was instrumental in reorganizing the Technology Committees to better service emerging technologies such as digital cinema. In fact, before she took over as Engineer Vice President she was Chair of SMPTE’s D-Cinema Technology Committee, a group that created the first 24 standards for D-Cinema. Like many executives who work in standards bodies, Aylsworth participates in other standards activity, including those run by ATSC and CableLabs. Most recently she announced the creation of the 3-D Home Display Formats Task Force within SMPTE, a group that will help set standards for mastering stereoscopic content for home viewing.

Aylsworth’s new position within Warner Bros. is not unlike her old one in that she will be overseeing a group that is responsible for pushing the studio’s (as well as the industry’s) agenda in both national and international standards organizations. In addition, she will continue to head up the group within Warner Bros. responsible for reviewing and implementing emerging technologies in the content production and distribution space. In the press release announcing the promotion Chuck Dages, Executive Vice President, Emerging Technologies, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group was quoted reiterating Aylsworth’s background and rising stature within the industry:

“Wendy has taken a lead position not only for our studio but in the external organizations dedicated to creating new standards for such exciting innovations as digital cinema and 3-D viewing for the home. This promotion recognizes not only her achievements to date but the increasing importance of her efforts to our studio and our industry.”

While Aylsworth has built a strong reputation for herself in the entertainment industry, she began her professional career in technology working in the aerospace industry at companies such as Lockheed. She earned her MS/MBA in Managerial Sciences and Strategic Planning fro the University of Southern California and holds a BS in computer Sciences from the University of Michigan.

Popularity: 42% [?]

Posted in People

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DCIP Reaches VPF Agreement With Fox

By J. Sperling Reich

July 25, 2008

After industrywide speculation and concern over the absence of any news about virtual print fee (VPF) agreements being signed by Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (DCIP) the company finally announced their first deal which rumor has it is with Twentieth Century Fox. The news was reported by Reuters and has not yet been made official by DCIP, however the company’s CEO, Travis Reid was quoted as saying:

“A party has signed a deal and we think it won’t be long until we have multiple studios.”

There are no details yet about the terms of the deal, nor any confirmation that it is with Fox, though during a conference call on Thursday Regal Entertainment’s CEO confirmed that a VPF agreement had been reached with at least one studio:

“We can’t disclose which studio, but we consider it to be a major milestone. It is always difficult in getting someone to be willing to be the first.”

Paramount is also rumored to be close to announcing a deal with DCIP, as is Walt Disney Studios.

DCIP was formed by North America’s three largest exhibitors - AMC Entertainment, Cinemark and Regal Entertainment - to manage and finance the rollout of digital cinema equipment and technology within each circuit. With 14,000 screens between them it is easy to see why the industry eagerly awaited news that the studios had come to some form of agreement with DCIP to subsidize the cost of installing digital cinema equipment. Due to the large size of the rollout, such a deal was viewed as a bellwether for the types of VPF deals other exhibitors would be able to get. Recent VPF deals announced by other integrators such as AccessIT in the United States and XDC in Europe did little quell everyone’s anticipation over news from DCIP.

No doubt even DCIP was getting a little anxious over the lack of progress on their VPF agreements they were able to make public. The company was founded in February of 2007 by the three theater chains and had hoped to wrap up their negotiations with studios over VPFs by the end of last year. As almost anyone working in or following the industry now knows, the studios began playing hardball with integrators such as DCIP on the contractual terms of the VPF agreements, haggling over every last detail including usage fees for alternative content and the length of the deal. XDC’s VPF with Hollywood studios is reportedly only USD $850 per film, per run.

And there’s one main reason that the rollout of digital cinema has stalled at around 5,000 screens in North America (out of 37,000); rolling stock prints range from USD $1,200 to $1,500 so even with VPFs the the distributors save heaps of money, whereas exhibitors are forced to pay for expensive digital cinema equipment they claim won’t save them any money or increase their revenue. That the standards for this equipment are still being determined by SMPTE and DCI hasn’t helped matters either.

However, in 2009 Hollywood studios plan to release upwards of 11 movies in digital 3D which will require the equipment to be installed on a broader scale. Presently the number of screens equipped for digital 3D in North America hovers around 1,300, making it difficult to release two such films into the market at the same time. News of the DCIP deal may be a relief for a few studio executives have otherwise to struggle to find enough digital screens to place their 3D releases on. Studios have actually begun to push some of their 3D releases back into 2010 to make certain they will have enough screens to put them on.

The thinking within the industry is that once DCIP starts announcing VPF agreements the rollout of digital cinema should ramp up soon thereafter. Michael Lewis, chief executive of 3D systems provider RealD, told Reuters:

“When the DCIP deal drops, then digital cinema is really on its way.”

Here’s to hoping Mr. Lewis is also fortune teller.

Popularity: 73% [?]

Posted in Digital Cinema, Integrators

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Adlabs Expands In Mumbai

By J. Sperling Reich

July 17, 2008

As the multiplexing of India continues, Adlabs Cinemas and Phoenix Mills are teaming up to build a 15 screen screen at the Phoenix Market City at Kurla in Mumbai. The 140,000 square foot facility will have more about 4,000 seats. Like many exhibitors these days, Adlabs plans to fortify their offerings of first run movies with a heavy dose of live concerts and sporting events. The company will also build two of the screens as luxury theatres. No word on when the theatre will open.

Speaking about the news on Thursday Adlabs Cinemas chief operating officer Tushar Dhingra was quoted as saying:

“It is our endeavour to offer audiences a wide variety of viewing experiences. The Ebony Lounge will have live band performances round the year. It will add novelty and uniqueness to the cinema experience in India.”

Heck, having a music lounge at a movie theatre would be “unique” no matter what country it was located in. Adlabs recently announced they would be building a chain of luxury lounges geared towards moviegoers and this new complex seems to fit that plan. With an emerging economy like India’s such theatres would seem a natural fit, however lately many of the country’s moviegoers have been complaining, mostly on personal blogs, about the high ticket prices charged by such multiplexes.

While they had everybody’s attention by spreading the news about their plans for the Mumbai multiplex Adlabs also announced Kids 101, a new loyalty program meant to attract children and teenagers to the circuit’s 66 locations throughout India. To start out, the program will provide games and contests to members on Sundays.

Popularity: 58% [?]

Posted in New Theatres

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