Category Archives: Events

Sundance Goes Digital With Assistance From Barco

Posted by J. Sperling Reich | March 20, 2012 11:30 pm

When Barco emailed a press release last Thursday with the subject “Sundance Film Festival expands digital cinema footprint with Barco projectors” I initially figured it must be an error. Sundance is held in Park City, Utah and takes place in January each year. If Barco was looking to get press for this year’s festival they are a little late and if they were trying to get ahead on next year’s event they are way too early.

In fact, the release was about the 2012 festival. Turns out Barco is not only helping theatre owners convert to digital, but they are also giving a hand to film festivals who will ultimately have to adopt the technology. For this past year’s festival Barco provided four additional digital cinema projectors to go with a number of others Sundance was using previously.

You may be wondering why we’re paying any attention to a corporate announcement that comes six weeks after the event in its subject line. Yet the real importance of the release is not necessarily that Barco is supplying film festivals with digital projectors (though it’s great that they are). Rather it is the meaning found between the words and sentences of the press notice that truly matters. It’s not written in black and white, but more of an invisible gray.

For those who may not be familiar with the Sundance Film Festival (i.e. non-film buffs or intelligent life forms from other planets), it is the premiere independent film festival in North America. Along with those in Berlin, Cannes, Telluride, Toronoto and Venice, it is one of the largest such festivals held each year. It has become known as the launching pad for such filmmakers as Darren Aranofsky, the Coen Brothers, Spike Lee, Christopher Nolan, Robert Rodriguez, David O. Russell, Bryan Singer, Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino and countless others. “Precious”, “Blood Simple”, “Little Miss Sunshine”, “sex, lies, and videotape”, “Reservoir Dogs”, “The Blair Witch Project”, “American Splendor” and “Super Size Me” are just a few of the indie-films which were first shown to the public at Sundance.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Posted in Digital Cinema, Events
Tagged as Barco, Boston Light & Sound, Digital Cinema, Film Festivals, Park City, Sundance Film Festival

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IBC Highlights Developments In Digital Cinema

Posted by J. Sperling Reich | September 19, 2010 1:13 pm

Digital Screen Penetration (June 2010).png

Digital Screen Penetration of Total Screen Base

There is no question that the IBC conference, held annually in Amsterdam, is primarily aimed at broadcasters and those that supply or service them. After all, the B in IBC stands for broadcasters. However, the conference has always managed to find room for the motion picture industry in some form. Over the past decade that has mostly meant dedicating a day’s worth of seminars to digital cinema or stereoscopic production.

For IBC2010, the conference turned to David Monk, the the CEO of the European Digital Cinema Forum (EDCF), who put together a three hour panel titled “State Of Play: Developments In Digital Cinema”. (Full disclosure: I was a member of the panel). Monk chose David Hancock to start off the proceedings in an effort to provide some context for the many speakers that were to follow. As a senior analyst for Screen Digest, there are few who know the world of digital cinema as well as Hancock and so I wanted to relay some of the key points of his presentation.

Hancock’s presentation, titled “Digital Cinema: The Tipping Point Is Coming”, was filled with valuable numbers, statistics and informative graphics. He began with the following:

There are 109,000 modern cinema screens worldwide. Of these, 22,000 have been converted to digital. This means the industry is 21% of the way through the digitization of the world’s cinema screens.

According to Hancock’s research, digital cinema growth began in earnest in 2005 after recommendations for standards were released. Initially it was the United States that took the lead in rolling out digital as the rest of the world only tested the waters with the new technology. Digital roll outs in Europe began in earnest during 2008. ” Over the past 18 months the number in the territory has nearly tripled.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Posted in Digital Cinema, Events
Tagged as David Hancock, David Monk, EDCF, IBC, Screen Digest

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Cinema Expo Thoughts: David Hancock of Screen Digest

Posted by J. Sperling Reich | July 20, 2010 2:41 pm

The final entry in our series of posts presenting the comments of industry participants on last month’s Cinema Expo provides us with some valuable information.

David Hancock’s name will sound familiar to anyone having worked in motion picture exhibition or digital cinema over the past decade. He is the head of film and cinema at Screen Digest where he works as a senior analyst publishing numerous research reports on the industry.

Hancock moderated a panel discussion at Cinema Expo which reviewed the progress of digital cinema rollouts in Europe. Here are his impressions on last month’s conference:

David Hancock of Screen Digest

This was a very good Cine Expo. Thanks in great part to the efforts of Phil Clapp, the Chief Executive of UK Cinema Exhibitor Association, and Ad Weststrate, President of UNIC, who brought a strong European flavour to the seminar programming, there was much to be learned in both these formal events, as well as the more informal surroundings of the bars.

For me, there were two things that stood out at this year’s Cine Expo. The first was alternative content, which is now clearly on the map and was on most people’s lips. From almost a pariah subject a few years back, there is now strong interest from exhibitors in tracking down new content. The call for content is matched by the need for a central information point where exhibitors can view what is out there. Some exhibitors and content providers have been working in this area for many years, and it is good to finally see the rest of the market catch up with them. Their skills and experience will be in demand in the next few years. There were two panels on this, one on Monday and one on Thursday.

The second is that digital cinema is finally a mainstream movement. Left and right, people were taking deals, with integrators, projector companies, banks etc. In fact, there appears to be a projector shortage now and people are on waiting lists. It is rather strange, having spent so long talking about the future is coming, to talk about this in the present tense. It is even weirder that we are talking about projector shortages when in the past, the opposite was the case.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Posted in Events, Trade Shows
Tagged as Ad Westrate, Cinema Exhibitors' Association, Cinema Expo, David Hancock, Peter Buckingham, Peter Dawson Pick, Phil Clapp, Screen Digest, UK Film Council, UNIC

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Cinema Expo Thoughts: Frank de Neeve of Cineserver

Posted by J. Sperling Reich | July 14, 2010 6:29 pm

Frank de Neeve of Cineserver

Here is another entry in our series presenting the comments of industry participants on last month’s Cinema Expo.

Frank de Neeve is not only an experienced projectionist working in The Netherlands, but he also runs the digital cinema news website Cineserver.nl. For those whose Dutch might be a little rusty, the site can be translated by clicking on the U.K. flag in the upper right hand side of the navigation bar.

Without further ado, here is de Neeve’s thorough accounting of Cinema Expo:

Naturally this year’s Cinema Expo was the first one that was a joint production between UNIC – the European exhibitors Association and the Sunshines. I think the cooperation can work well; UNIC might not be able to manage on their own as NATO will do next year. Last year there were two conflicting shows: Cinema Expo and the week before that the European Cinema Summit in Brussels.

The European Cinema Summit was by far the worst show I have ever been to: it was badly organized, panels were boring and went on for too long, there were too many people that liked to hear themselves talk etc. No refreshments, hardly any companies on the trade show (Doremi even left after the first afternoon!). However, the topics they wanted to cover in discussions were good.

For years – although people flocked to Cinema Expo – Europeans have also been critical of the show:

It was too American, with only blockbusters, Coca Cola sponsored seminars, etc.

The trade show only being open a few hours a day as otherwise people might miss ‘important’ Hollywood films

There was not enough room for discussion that reflected the cultural diversity of Europe, with traditional discussion points like piracy and windows always popping up.

You could this year already see a shift in the panels:

Many were presented by Phil Clapp of the UK exhibitors association

There were even two instances where headphones were handed out, as one of the panelists was speaking in French. I think this has only happened once before.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Posted in Events, Trade Shows
Tagged as Arqiva, Cinema Expo, Cineserver, David Hancock, Doremi, EDCF, Frank de Neeve, Panavision, Peter Buckingham, SmartJog, USL

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Cinema Expo Thoughts: C.J. Flynn of DCinemaTools.com

Posted by J. Sperling Reich | July 10, 2010 12:53 pm

We continue our series of posts featuring the comments of leading industry members about last month’s Cinema Expo with a robust entry from C.J. Flynn of DCinemaTools.com.

Theatre owners thinking about converting to digital cinema (or even those who already have) should swing by Flynn’s website for detailed information about long-term operation and maintenance of d-cinema equipment.

In the meantime, here’s what Flynn had to say about Cinema Expo:

C.J. Flynn of DCinemaTools.com

As usual, the most interesting parts for me at this year’s Cinema Expo were the the sporadic 15 minutes of hanging out with people of similar ilk, trying to stretch nuance and rumors thin enough to see a bit of truth through them. Reviewing them in my head, they seem to mostly to have centered on big-company finance and politics.

From a helicopter view, projectors and servers continue their momentum into being commodity items. This leaves some breathing room for other portions of the infrastructure. Audio systems have made inroads into the “Enhanced Experience” cinemas, which is a good sign, and hopefully one that will continue.

Unfortunately, it isn’t a “Build It and They Will Come” issue for the new Audio Processor offerings of QSC, Datasat and DMS Cinema. But it is good to see that they are incorporating fresh ideas like the Trinnov (DMS), Dirac (Datasat) and the systemic approach of QSC (plus Meyer, though their system is post AP.) I guess the common theme is getting feedback from the speakers to the processor… good feedback, that is, bringing quality assurance to those who care.

Dolby, to their credit, was casually elegant about the whole matter; they presented their 12.1 system with a work-in-process/got-any-ideas-for-us motif, letting the 7.1 take on the luster of a future standard-in-the-making that only costs $300 if you upgrade now (and politely reminding about the $700 amplifier that might need to be added to the system).

Popularity: 8% [?]

Posted in Events, Trade Shows
Tagged as C.J. Flynn, Cinema Expo, DCinemaTools.com, Dolby, Doremi, Panavision, Real D

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Cinema Expo Thoughts: Manel Carreras of Ymagis and Michael Karagosian of MKPE

Posted by J. Sperling Reich | July 6, 2010 10:21 am

Last week I mentioned that we would be running a series of posts featuring comments about last month’s Cinema Expo conference from leading members of the industry.

Today we’ll continue with Manel Carreras, Sales and Business Development Director at Ymagis, as well as Michael Karagosian of MKPE Consulting. Full disclosure: I used to work with Manel Carreras at DTS Digital Cinema and I presently work with Michael Karagosian on certain consulting projects.

First up is Mr. Carreras:

Manel Carreras of Ymagis

Although the trade show part of Cinema Expo International was much “smaller” with short hours, even shorter “effective” hours and wider corridors and more empty spaces than ever before, the high quality of attendees meant no time wasting, and this was good. We were busy during trade show hours and before and after these.

CEI is always a good opportunity to catch up with colleagues and check the pulse of the industry across Europe. This year the lack of important press releases during the show, was perhaps a reflection of the problems exhibitors experience with financing their systems and poor projector deliveries: one manufacturer didn’t even have a unit at the show!

Technology wise I am not sure there was that much to excite anyone. I was disappointed, as expected, with the new 3D system. I guess its still a prototype. This show was full of promises and declarations of intentions, now we have to see these delivered.

I did not manage to attend any seminars and only half a projection, but I heard very good feedback from some of the exhibitors about the movies coming up.

Finally digitization is really happening (in Europe), going well beyond the first 3D installs and starting to incorporate d-cinema as a 35mm replacement.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Posted in Events, Trade Shows
Tagged as Cinema Expo, Manel Carreras, Michael Karagosian, MKPE Consulting, Ymagis

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Cinema Expo Thoughts: Howard Kiedaisch of Arts Alliance Media

Posted by J. Sperling Reich | July 2, 2010 2:29 pm

Not being able to attend Cinema Expo last week was very disappointing since it is one of my favorite conferences each year. The annual trade show held in Amsterdam is always a great opportunity to catch up with exhibitors and distributors from all over the world, especially Europe.

Rather than try to cover Cinema Expo from a desk in Los Angeles, I turned to some of the leading players working in the space today, all of whom were in attendance at the show in Amsterdam. Over the next week I’ll be posting their thoughts for everyone to read in comment on.

Today, we’ll start with Howard Kiedaisch of Arts Alliance Media:

Howard Kiedasch of Arts Alliance Media

For AAM, this year’s CinemaExpo marked a significant change in our business.

The tide started to change at Showest and was flowing in our direction at Cannes but it was Cinema Expo where we really felt the current, heavily pushing digital cinema. The added benefit of a robust cinema market (in no small part due to digital), helps drive the digital cinema conversion even faster.

It has become clear that every exhibitor of any size (50+ screens) will have found a solution to full digital rollout before the end of the year. Though in the past there were concerns about the technology, the business model or the financing, the latest (and really only remaining) issue on everyone’s lips at Cinema Expo was the availability of machines. With the dramatic increase in demand, manufacturers are unable to deliver all the supply the market wants.

Fortunately, we ordered over 1,000 machines three months ago and have ample product for our customers’ needs. The number of deals in the pipeline also took a huge leap forward at Cinema Expo causing us to order nearly 2,000 projectors for 2011 before the end of the show. After 5 years of hard labor, it’s tremendously exciting to see an industry hit an inflection point and to be part of the transition. Clearly there are some exciting times ahead.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Posted in Events, Trade Shows
Tagged as Arts Alliance Media, Cinema Expo, Howard Kiedaisch

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“The Cove” Wins Top Prize At Golden Trailer Awards

Posted by J. Sperling Reich | June 11, 2010 12:26 pm

The Academy Award winning documentary “The Cove” was a big winner at the 11th Annual Golden Trailer Awards last night. The documentary, which details the dolphin slaughters taking place in Taiji, Japan, picked up the prize for Best Documentary and also won Best In Show, the events top award. It marks the first time a documentary has won the award.

The Golden Trailer Awards were created to honor the art of short movie previews. The event nominates trailers and television spots in categories as wide ranging as Summer 2010 Blockbuster and Best Video Game Trailer. Prizes are given to the companies and craft people who produce the trailers. In the case of “The Cove” that would be AV Squad.

Other winners at this year’s ceremony included “Sherlock Holmes” for Best Action (produced by Mojo), “Shrek Forever After” for Best Animiation & Family (produced by Aspect Ratio), “Brothers” for Best Drama (produced by Seismic Productions), “Antichrist” for Best Horror (produced by Kinetic Trailers), Best Romance went to “The Young Victoria” (produced by Mojo), the Independent Trailer Award went to “A Serious Man” (produced by Mark Woollen & Associates).

Popularity: 12% [?]

Posted in Events, Trailers
Tagged as Andy Samberg, Aspect Ratio, AV Squad, Edgar Wright, Empire Design, Golden Trailer Awards, Kinetic Trailers, Marc Webb, Mark Woollen & Associates, Mob Scene, Mojo, Ruth Vitale, Seismic Productions, The Cove

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Movie Trailers Set To Be Fetted At 11th Golden Trailer Awards

Posted by J. Sperling Reich | June 1, 2010 12:04 pm

When it comes to handing out prizes and trophies to the year’s top movies there is no end to the number of awards shows waiting in line to applaud worthy efforts. But have you ever asked yourself whether the trailers created to promote those movies are ever recognized with any awards? If so, then have no fear. That’s why the Golden Trailer Awards were created.

For the past ten years Evelyn Brady-Watters and Monica Brady have been producing the Golden Trailer Awards which nominates and honors the best movie promo reels from the past year. The year’s event (the 11th annual) will be held in Los Angeles on June 20th at the El Rey Theatre. Winners for 16 of the 61 categories will be announced during the ceremony, which will be hosted by comedian Dean Edwards.

Vying for prizes this year are trailers for huge Hollywood hits such as “Sherlock Holmes” (Best Action) as well as smaller independent films like “Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Best Drama). And while James Cameron’s “Avatar” may have run away with a majority of the box office this past year, it’s unlikely the film’s trailer will walk off with an armload of Golden Trailer Awards since it is only nominated for Best Action.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Posted in Events
Tagged as Evelyn Brady-Watters, Golden Trailer Awards, Monica Brady

2 Comments

MPAA’s Glickman, NATO’s Fithian Deliver Upbeat Industry Prognosis

Posted by J. Sperling Reich | March 17, 2010 8:09 am

Gan Glickman & John Fithian (ShoWest - March 16, 2010).jpg

Dan Glickman and John Fithian at ShoWest

The National Association of Theatre Owners president, John Fithian, and the outgoing chairman of the Motion Picture Assn. of America, Dan Glickman, trumpeted 2009′s record breaking box office grosses as well as advances in piracy protection during their annual “State of the Industry” address at ShoWest on Tuesday. What seemed more important to everyone in attendance however was that the speech marked the last appearance by Glickman as the head of the MPAA.

Not that Glickman plans on disappearing entirely. As he put it moments before walking onstage to deliver his remarks, “It may not be my last time at ShoWest, hopefully it is not. John has promised to invite me every year, but it’s my last time in this job.” Glickman is leaving his post April 1st to take over as head of the non-profit organization Refugees International.

Of course, technically this will be the last time Glickman attends ShoWest since NATO will be taking the show over next year and changing its name to CinemaCon. Glickman may not have to worry about getting an invite though, for Fithian had nothing but kind words to say about him. “He really has contributed an amazing amount of leadership and support to this industry over the last six years, from intellectual property to the ratings system to opening up new markets oversees,” Fithian said of Glickman. He’s been just a terrific partner. . . he will be sorely missed by those of us in the movie business.”

Speaking of the movie business, it’s apparently doing quite well, at least theatrically. Fithian highlighted the USD $30 billion international box office gross earned in 2009 with USD $10.6 billion coming from North American, an increase of more than 10%. The NATO exec credits the ongoing theatrical success to advances in technology which have allowed for better presentations at modern luxury cinemas and the ease of purchasing tickets on mobile devices or online. Studios were also major contributors by spreading out their releases according to Fithian:

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Popularity: 28% [?]

Posted in Events
Tagged as Dan Glickman, John Fithian, MPAA, NATO, Release Windows, ShoWest

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