Having changed its name from Cinema Expo to CineEurope this year upon teaming up with the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC), now another change is in store for Europe’s largest motion picture exhibitor trade show; its location.

After being held at the Rai in Amsterdam for the past 15 years, the conference is being packed up and moved to Barcelona for the 2012 event. This was a move that had been rumored as far back as 2009, when UNIC decided to hold their own trade show in Brussels a week before Cinema Expo. Rather than compete head-to-head with a larger trade show, UNIC decided to fold the European Cinema Summit into Cinema Expo in 2011 and rebrand it as CineEurope. A change-of-venue could help in reposition the show in attendees’ minds.

In a press release statement announcing the move, Robert Sunshine, the Managing Director of CineEurope (not to mention ShowEast and CineAsia), said:

“The move to Barcelona represents CineEurope’s dedication to better serving the European cinema exhibition and distribution communities. CineEurope management and UNIC consulted with constituents and the overwhelming feedback received was that a move to Spain would be a beneficial change”.

Underscoring the new venture as a combined effort, Ad Westrate, the President of UNIC, also provided a press release quote

‘’I am sure I speak for all UNIC colleagues in welcoming CineEurope’s move to Barcelona and our continuing partnership with Bob Sunshine and his team. Our members will now have even more reasons to support the convention in its new host city.”

In my opinion Cinema Expo (and now CineEurope) has always been one of the more enjoyable trade shows to attend each year. Unlike the mad crush of CinemaCon (formerly ShoWest), the industry’s largest conference, Cinema Expo is often more relaxed and less hectic. It certainly doesn’t hurt to have the real Europe right outside the convention hall rather than the fake Las Vegas version represented by the Paris and Venetian hotels.

I’ll miss visiting The Netherlands and wandering the streets of Amsterdam each June for CineEurope. But industry-folk can always head to Amsterdam for IBC each September to get their fix of stroopwafels. Barcelona is a beautiful city filled with great architecture and cultural attractions. I’m sure those attending CineEurope in 2012 will find the city as enjoyable as Amsterdam. Never having been inside, I can’t say the same for El Centro de Convenciones Internacional de Barcelona, the facility where the conference will be held. My hope is that it’s as good a fit as the Rai was for Cinema Expo.

If there is a downside for west coasters such as myself, it’s that there are few, if any, direct flights from Los Angeles to Barcelona. The city is not a transportation hub for destinations far and beyond the way Schiphol airport is in Amsterdam. This makes it a little less convenient and a bit more expensive to get to for all those studio execs headed to the show. The benefits of Barcelona may outweigh this downside. Besides, let’s not forget that CineEurope is more for Europeans than for those of us on the other side of the planet.

CineEurope will be produced by Prometheus Global Media from June 18 – 21, 2012.

At the outset of CinemaCon this past Monday Steve Perrin gave an interesting presentation titled “Harnessing The Power of the VPF”. As the Chief Executive of Digital Funding Partnership (DFP) Perrin is in a position to know a thing or two about virtual print fees. He’ll have some help in this department now that DFP has entered into an agreement with XDC for the deployment of digital cinema in theatres throughout the United Kingdom.

The Cinema Exhibitors’ Association created DFP in 2009 to help small and mid-sized theatre owners in the UK secure funding for digital cinema conversions. The group is a legal entity consisting of approximately 400 screens at 130 mainstream and specialized cinemas operated by more than 100 theatre owners.

Perrin spent more than a year studying the country’s booking patterns, box office receipts and endless market data in an attempt to determine whether VPF deals would work for independent cinemas in the UK. In doing so he confirmed that VPFs work best for large theatre circuits which play mostly mainstream content. Smaller cinemas showing less mainstream content at varying turn rates are not as attractive to local or international distributors, making it difficult, if not impossible, for theatre owners to gain access to VPF deals.

DFP’s solution combines independent and smaller cinemas into a strategic group whose average turn rate (digital releases per year) is high enough to garner VPF deals comparable to those offered to larger circuits. It also helps interest third-party integrators.

The organization’s model is based on sharing the turn rate across all of DFP’s participating theatres. Integrators will finance upwards of 75% of the rollout, with exhibitors contributing the remaining 25% of the bill. Based on average turn rates, the cost of digital cinema equipment should be recouped in about 8 years. DFP will not be receiving any government subsidies for their rollout, which allows for theatre owners in the group to maintain their autonomy in regards to content programming. While this model will work in the UK, Perrin is uncertain whether it can be exported to other territories or countries.

When speaking to CinemaCon attendees, Perrin reported that DFP’s financing is in place and that the group’s 12 to 18 month rollout should begin in the second quarter of this year. By the end of the conference it was revealed XDC had been selected as the third-party integrator tasked with implementing the rollout. In the press release announcing the agreement, Perrin stated:

“XDC offered us an extremely competitive VPF financing solution and were very receptive to the individual needs of our members, offering them the widest possible choice of systems and complete freedom of choice of local integrator. Now the priority is to start the deployment as soon as possible, and we have agreed an aggressive schedule of 100 systems in the first 6 months.”

Besides providing d-cinema expertise and the VPF, XDC will deploy a content delivery network enabling distributors to deliver films and live content to each cinema. The company will support and monitor DFP’s digital cinema installations through their network operations centre.

John Fithian At CinemaCon 2011

John Fithian, President of the National Association of Theatre Owners, gave his annual State of the Industry address yesterday at the trade group’s inaugural CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas. His speech covered all the necessary points while reiterating some of the comments about the digital cinema transition which Fithian has made to smaller groups over the past several months.

He began with a handful of statistics that highlighted some economic figures, including a global box office which climbed 30% over the past five years to reach USD $31.8 billion in 2010. North American box office receipts rose 15% to USD $10.6 billion in that same period, while inflation only rose 8%. In what was perhaps a jab at the studios rumored plans to begin offering new films via premium video-on-demand, Fithian compared these numbers to home video sales, which have declined 13% during the past five years.

Fithian also provided an update on North America’s digital cinema roll out, telling the audience of over 2,000 delegates that almost 16,000 screens, out of a total of 39,000 had been converted to digital. Nearly 9,000 of those screens are equipped for 3D projection. After running through more industry numbers than most could ever remember, Fithian paused as he came to the most important point in his speech:

“For any exhibitor who can hear my voice who hasn’t begun your digital transition, I urge you to get moving. The distribution and exhibition industries achieved history when we agreed to technical standards and a virtual print fee model to enable this transition. But the VPFs won’t last forever. Domestically, you must be installed by the end of 2012 if you want to qualify. Equally significantly, based on our assessment of the roll-out schedule and our conversations with our distribution partners, I believe that film prints could be unavailable as early as the end of 2013. Simply put, if you don’t make the decision to get on the digital train soon, you will be making the decision to get out of the business.”

Fithian went on to remark that admissions had climbed in each of the last four decades and that 3D grosses in 2010 made up 21% of total receipts, doubling the amount such films earned in 2009. However, his earlier comments about the ongoing digital cinema transition is what most of the show’s attendees focused on after Fithian’s speech concluded. Was it true that all cinema owners had to convert their screens to digital before 2012 to qualify for a VPF? Are studios really going to stop distributing 35mm film prints after 2013?

I lost count of how many exhibitors have stopped me in the hallways at Caesars Palace over the last two days to ask me these questions. The simple answers to both questions are sort of, and yet, not exactly. Which, in itself, underscores the uncertainty the industry has faced, and continues to grapple with, during the digital cinema roll out.

Keep in mind the position from which Fithian speaks. He is the head of NATO, many of whose members are part of the Cinema Buying Group. In April of 2008, after an extensive RFP process, CBG chose Cinedigm as its digital cinema deployment entity. Such installations would fall under Cinedigm’s Phase 2 VPF contracts which end around September of 2012. So, this is what Fithian is referring to when he says exhibitors need to have digital equipment installed by the end of 2012 (whether as part of the CBG or not).

What Fithian’s may not be taking into account is that Cinedigm is not the only deployment entity with VPF agreements in North America. I believe Sony’s VPF agreements extend beyond Cinedigm’s (though not by much) into 2013. Server manufacturer GDC has signed VPF agreements and it is rumored that projector manufacturer Christie is close to announcing their own VPF deals. However, Fithian is tasked with getting the best VPF agreement for as many of his members as is possible. Until the end of 2012, if a CBG exhibitor requires financing to convert to digital, the best deal may very well be with Cinedigm. That’s not to say the studios won’t enter into another VPF agreement with Cinedigm after the Phase 2 deals end, but they won’t be at the same level monetarily, and thus not nearly as beneficial as for exhibitors.

As to whether studios will continue to distribute 35mm film prints beyond 2013 nobody can provide an accurate answer to this question. Not even the studios themselves. As more theatre owners rollout digital equipment the studios will be making fewer film prints at a much higher cost, so sure they’d love to end 35mm distribution quickly. Distributing product in a world where half of all theatres require film prints and the other half need digital is costly since it destroys all economies of scale, not to mention increases operating costs.

Even after a majority of all cinema screens in the world have been converted to digital projection studios will probably still be willing to send a 35mm print to a theatre if they can make money off it. However, that doesn’t mean the exhibitor won’t be charged a premium for the creation of a film print. In short, film prints might still be around for many years to come, but possibly at a much higher price to exhibitors.

To be sure, you may want to fault Fithian for being an alarmist in regards to digital cinema, though he is trying to warn indecisive members that digital projection is no longer just for early adopters, that the VPF deals on the table today aren’t going to get any better over the next two years and that at some point the cost of distributing film prints will likely fall on the theatre owner.

On a lighter note, some of the other noteworthy facts Fithian provided were that moviegoers over 60-years-old purchased 11% of all movie tickets in 2010, up from 3% in 1975. Box office grosses outside North America accounted for 67% of global receipts and suprassed USD $20 billion for the first time ever. This was helped by grosses in Asia and Latin America which grew my more than 20%.

Chris Dodd At CinemaCon 2011

Nine days into his new position as Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, Senator Christopher Dodd showed up at CinemaCon yesterday to address more than 2,000 delegates from the exhibition and distribution industries in what he called “the first performance of this new chapter in my life”. As expected, Dodd’s speech focused on piracy and the increased expansion of Hollywood films in the global marketplace.

Before getting into the meat of his speech, Dodd tried to defuse the tension developing between exhibitors and distributors over the studio’s premium video-on-demand offerings. “Our films are still made to be shown on big screens in dark theatres filled with people,” said Dodd, speaking directly to exhibitors. “As the new CEO and Chairman of the MPAA, I passionately believe there remains no better way to see a movie than in theatre, and no more important relationship for our studios to maintain than the the one we have with you.”

Dodd went on to discuss a subject matter that continuously came during his initial conversations with studio heads; piracy. Calling it the single biggest threat the industry faces, Dodd avoided using the label for what he believes too many people see as a victimless crime. Instead he replaced the word piracy with the phrase “movie theft”.

The politician in Dodd came out as he stood before the crowd proclaiming, “It is critical that we aggressively educate people to understand that movie theft is not just a Hollywood problem. It is an American problem.” He went on to talk about the 2.5 million, mostly middle class, people who work in the film industry earning USD $140 billion in annual wages, all of whom are hurt by movie piracy.

Next on Dodd’s agenda was how to build a larger international market for Hollywood movies. He claimed that the film business is the only large American industry maintaining a positive balance of trade with every country they do business with. But modern times call for modern business practices. “The economics of our industry depends on the success of our films in all markets, not just our own,” Dodd explained. “A larger audience overseas means more resources available for producing films here in America.”

Specifically, Dodd was referring to China, where the exhibition industry is undergoing rapid growth. Thanks to a law that allows only 20 non-Chinese films to be imported each year, the Senator believes his member studios are “excluded from a market that presents huge untapped potential.”

At a press conference after his speech, Dodd revealed that he will be visiting China soon and has asked to see some of the country’s production facilities. His purpose is to find common issues that can help spur conversations with the Chinese government. “They’re getting into the business,” said Dodd of China’s increased film production. “They’re going to have intellectual property they’re going to want to protect. All of a sudden when you’ve got property you want to protect you’re willingness to engage in these kinds of things increases. If you’re not protecting your property, you don’t care.”

To tackle these two issues Dodd said he will rely on the power of education. He implored exhibitors to reach out to members of government to show them how important their businesses are to the larger community. “If you become the educator, you will leave a lasting and indelible impression on those who will make decisions about your future,” he said.

When speaking to reporters, Dodd said he would be leading the charge to educate the world about the film industry. “This business does a remarkable job on marketing its product. I say respectively, it hasn’t done a great job of marketing itself, in terms of what the public thinks of it as a creative, innovative, cutting edge industry that makes a difference,” Dodd stated. “I think we have a responsibility to inform decision makers about what’s at stake in all of this. It isn’t about the marquee actors and actresses or the executives, with all due respect. It’s about literally millions of people in this country whose livelihood depends every day on the stability and success of this industry and the job of this association [MPAA] is to advance that and to educate people about it.”

First, Dodd plans on educating himself. One of the main criticism over Dodd’s selection to the MPAA post was his lack of industry experience. However, he seems to have wasted no time in reading up on the subject, starting with the industry’s early years. The senator began his speech by recounting the premiere of “The Squaw Man”, the first screening of a feature film, which took place inside a horse barn in 1914. He ended his remarks by returning to the story, hoping future generations will look back on this time to see that distributors and exhibitors, “stood together, attacking our challenges with the creativity and courage that have defined the larger-than-life story of American film from its humbe beginnings at Stern’s stable a century ago.”

After taking over Cinema India Expo last year, Diversified Business Communications will be putting their own mark on the annual event in 2011 when it takes place June 24th and 25th in Mumbai.

A convention along the lines of Show East or Cinema Expo, Cinema India was first held in 2000 as a trade show for theatre owners and motion picture distributors. Held in conjunction with the music industry’s PALM Expo, Cinema India grew into India’s largest conference for exhibitors despite a program faulted for being “hit-or-miss”. That reputation changed for the better last year when Createasphere, a Diversified company, picked up the show.

This year Createasphere is continuing to modify the convention keeping all the changes from 2010′s show which received such positive feedback. Fist off, Cinema India 2011 won’t be held alongside PALM. Instead, the event has been moved back to late June and will take place at the upscale Renaissance Convent Centre. Secondly, the two day program is being crammed with keynotes and educational programs that go beyond exhibition and distribution, to include visual effects and cinematography. Organizers are currently lining-up world renown cinematographers and filmmakers for the event.

Another noticeable difference at this year’s Cinema India will be the increased presence of Hollywood studios. In a bit of a Bollywood meets Hollywood twist a number of U.S. based studios will be premiering their latest releases at red carpet galas. This move makes perfect sense, for while Indian cinemas are known for showing predominantly local titles, the country has been experiencing the rapid growth of multiplex cinemas over the past several years. This has led to the programming of Hollywood content alongside an endless supply of popular Bollywood offerings.

With the help of presenting sponsor Scrabble Entertainment, an Indian digital cinema deployment entity, Cinema India will continue to highlight the transition from traditional 35mm film to digital cinema. Speaking about the conference, Anil Chopra, Managing Director of Diversified Communications India, emphasized how technology and growth are transforming the exhibition industry in India:

“Cinema India Expo unfolds against the backdrop of an industry in transition to digital in a highly competitive environment. In order to suceed in this dynamic time, multiplex companies and their leaders must have the latest industry trends and experience personally the future at Cinema India 2011″.

Createasphere President Kristin Petrovich Kennedy, who is a veteran trade show producer in her own right, is helping put this year’s Cinema India together. Besides handling international sales for the show, according to Petrovich Kennedy Createasphere is using their programming experience to raise the bar on the this year’s schedule of events:

“There is an unprecedented opportunity to put the most engaging speakers and information in front of an audience hungry for cutting edge knowledge. Today, India is the most exciting marketplace for digital cinema in the world and Cinema India is growing to meet the industry’s needs.”

We’ll be sure to update you on the program for this year’s Cinema India Expo as we get more information.

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.

By June 2010, there will be close to 6,000 d-screens around Europe, close to 16 per cent of the continent’s screens and 19,500 d-screens worldwide. However, following a 3D-driven installation phase, we have seen a group of major circuits unveil their wider 2D digital conversion plans, creating a momentum for the mainstream market that is hard to resist. However, what the mainstream momentum does highlight again is the lack of solutions for non-mainstream screens. There are solutions and it requires creativity and I wanted my panel to highlight this fact.

One other thing happened at Cine Expo that may have gone unnoticed. At the EDCF meeting on Monday (I am a Board member), Peter Buckingham (Head of Distribution and Exhibition at UK Film Council) presented the results of a project he has been working on with David Dawson Pick (DDP) and more peripherally myself, sorting data presenting all film screenings in all UK cinemas and other venues over a three year period, with a variety of categories. The data has been sliced in such a way that we can analyze the suitability of a VPF mechanism on a particular cinema. The data can also be looked at in other ways and is being made freely available to all academics, researchers, companies and cinemas in Europe and elsewhere so that more detailed study can be done. One interesting finding is that there are over 2,000 venues showing films in that time period, even though there only 760 cinema sites in the UK.

I will also mention in passing that there was not enough provision for watching the football, although Barco did have the foresight to put on a drinks and footie evening on the Monday.

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.

On Monday there was a session about alternative content. I thought that that session was okay, but vendors like Arqiva and in particular Smartjog, cannot really do ‘non commercial’ presentations as required. Also, the Smartjog presentation only presented their system about delivering DCP’s and did not focus on alternative content.

Like last year there was then a quiz about trends and opinions in the market. There were two panels of industry experts on stage, opinions were presented on screen and the audience then had to pick their view with a personal remote control. That was quite good.

What was really good was a meeting of the European Digital Cinema Forum where Peter Buckingham presented something that they’re doing at the UK Film Council. Basically they have gathered film data from 2007-2010 of all screenings in the UK – not only in cinema but also festivals etc. They will make that available on-line from early July onwards. What they say that you can then do is test out VPF deals with real data – although nobody can guarantee that in digital programming will be similar to 35mm. The URL is http://ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/audiencedev

The panel about piracy was quite good. Paramount gave a presentation that showed how the piracy world has evolved since peer to peer. The presentation discussed Cyber Lockers and showed how pirate sites mimic commercial sites so consumers have no idea that they’re actually accessing illegal content. The presenter also had one really eye popping demo where in just six clicks you could access illegal streaming films – current releases, starting with a simple Google query.

The seminar on the digital cinema roll out in Europe on Tuesday started with David Hancock doing a great overview – as always. The panel afterwards focused on different ways of how European countries and regions are financing the digital roll out and how the European Union can step in to help. It was a good example of how with the input of European exhibitors in the program of Cinema Expo, the show can be better tailored towards the questions that face Europeans in the industry.

At the same time there were also disappointing panels, like the totally unnecessary 3D panel on Thursday; I walked out like most other people halfway as there hadn’t been a single original thought.

The trade show was smaller than before, even though Bob Sunshine had said on Monday that figures were up. I hear that one European integrator paid over EUR €10,000 for a small booth, which is almost EUR €1000 for every hour that the trade show is open. I think this is terrible.

I like the media block that USL is developing, although it’s not ready yet. And Christie had a striking booth: no projector visible, only an entrance to a small auditorium where they were screening content. The message seemed to be: you have seen our projectors, but it’s all about the content.

Another product that I like is Doremi‘s new but long announced StreamIt. With this product you can distribute 2D or 3D satellite signals via fiber within the cinema to up to 4 screens and play out via the Doremi server. These kind of products can ease the introduction of ‘alternative content’ in cinemas, make screenings more reliable and ensure that the quality of presentation remains high.

The one real new product that was on the show was the Panavision 3D system.

I thought their presentation was very poor. John Galt and Eric Rodli from Panavision just let the product speak for itself. They did of course mention that it can also work with white screens, but they never tried to convince us why it was, for instance, better than Dolby. It was not a commercial presentation. Reactions were mixed. I heard one exhibitor who was really enthusiastic and said that the quality was good and the product cheap. But I overheard one other major exhibitor from Europe who thought that the quality was lousy.

Panavision never talked about light efficiency in relation to other systems, but did mention in the end that they used two Barco projectors, which on the big screen in the RAI is also quite logical.

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).

Personally, I didn’t get any emphasis from the pitch that their new 7.1 will play with all APs, or really that it gives special advantage to the larger rooms which don’t get the fill from the 5.1 array. But it did sound very good in the small room.

Doremi showed the Qalif, a traveling case filled with a complete package of tools — a great step forward for set-up personnel who have to do all the projector setup steps after laying the projector on the pedestal. But Doremi must market this smartly or else they will get killed before getting out of the box. The standards are very clear that a qualified system is set up using a spectroradiometer. If one looks at their offering, it appears to be an anodized box barely larger than the prominent Canon lens. One immediately (and mistakenly) thinks that they have stripped the consumer stuff from an EOS and put in measurement specific, hot-rod firmware like the Magic Lantern group does.

In fact, it is a completely different set of kit, an astrological-science based chip, a great lens, and firmware that has nothing to do with moving pictures, or pictures of any kind, really. Very clever. They have had some other feedback from the show that they say will be translated into other time-saving steps for a projector set-up. If they are really, really clever, they will figure out how to use multiple positions to divine a method for calibrating auditoriums with silver screens, and especially for 3D setups.

The price was a little surprising at 15K, but I suppose they realize that most of their sales will be to distributors who will be getting the discount anyway.

The Panavision demo, at least from where I sat, was horrid. They set up in the big auditorium, at 3:30PM on Thursday. They blocked off the under-the balcony seats with white cloth strips that, if anything, did a poor job of blocking any exit door lights from the rear, and reflected any light from the front. I was sitting 5 rows from the rear, and the reflection in the glasses was painful, especially because the interior of the glass lens is highly reflective, and not only ambient light reflecting to a viewer’s eyes, but that extraneous light then bounces back from skin surfaces into the lens. A complete mess that makes all sorts of odd spots looking through the glasses. By holding a magazine behind my head, I was able to block some of this problem light out.

I wasted a lot of time before the show smoothing out the mold line of the glasses plastic that cut into the ear. If I had kept them on my ear I would have appreciated my work, but I found that lifting the earpieces gave me a much better picture, even better than the magazine technique. But not good enough to actually use ‘good’ in the same sentence. It was miserable. Four bits of black, whites that were a greenish-yellow, and everything was dark. Even the bright cartoon characters were muted.

Both film and digital suffered. During the film and digital changeover, John Galt gave a presentation that was markedly like a poorly done version of the professionally done Dolby presentation that Dave Schnuelle gave a few years ago at NAB/SMPTE Digital Days. How they can continue to give such a bad presentation and say that the system is unique I don’t know. Maybe it was better from the center seats, but the reaction after was very muted.

Did I mention that RealD had little presence at the show. As usual, they didn’t have a booth, but they only had one mention of being used at the first day’s screening. After that, it was all MasterImage and Dolby. It doesn’t look like they sponsored anything. This might be because they have to be careful during the quiet period before their pending IPO.

All in all, it was great talking to actual design engineers, who were there in force. I even enjoyed learning how the LED sign makers channel the light so smoothly. So, from a geek perspective it was great.

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.

The second half of this year will be very important to establish how long the process will take, and 2011 will (should) be a clear turning point where the weight of d-cinema will spread across EU markets.

There were rumors the exhibition will move (to Milan, this time) in 2011, this is not a new thing and it seems it may finally be time to move on and reinvent CEI, keeping on concentrating activities and even shorten the show. Apart from glorious sunshine, I am not sure the RAI in Amsterdam offers the best possible deal anymore.

Michael Karagosian

Next up is Mr. Karagosian:

I’d say the show was getting back to it’s mid-90′s size. Overall, the most notable discussion at the show was how to creatively construct a rollout plan involving government financial support that might receive approval from the EU.

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.