Tag Archives: China

Daily Cinema Roundup - Fri 24 April

April 24, 2009

- Imax’s presence in China is expanding through a new deal, according to THR.com’s Asia edition. “Imax on Thursday signed a deal with China Film Group to open a super-size screen in a new multiplex in Tianjin, China, this October. The deal brings to 41 the number of screens Imax expects to have by 2012 in China, its second-largest market after the U.S.” We also note and congratulate our friends and colleague Patrick Frater, who has joined THR Asia, thus completing the hat trick of working for Screen, Variety and now THR, having done stellar work at them all;

- Projector makes Christie has given details about its digital cinema NOC (network operation centre). The press release gives some impressive stats, “Christie Managed Services currently provides round-the-clock monitoring of 32,431 devices, including 3,780 digital cinema screens and 4,700 pre-show advertising screens in over 830 sites across North America. It is staffed with over 180 remote and customer service personnel and field technicians.” Make sure you visit it if you ever pass through Cyprus, CA. Any time. We hear its open 24/7;

- The first European live 3D broadcast over satellite went out to multi locations across Italy on April 19th, showing a of a complete basketball game. This was part of an announcement at NAB about the coming together of several stereoscopic distribution pioneers, “International Datacasting Corp and Sensio Technologies announced today the beginning of their first operational roll-out of live 3D in high definition for digital cinema in Europe” and “OpenSky has formed the 3D Stereoscopic group (3DSG), a partnership with dBW Communication and Eutelsat for the end-to-end production and distribution of 3D live events across Europe.” Expect to see more in the coming year;

- On an adjacent frequency, Dolby has formed a partnership with Arqiva to deliver alternative content across Europe, according to today’s press release. “Dolby Laboratories today launched Dolby Direct Distribution Services—a pan-European satellite content delivery network for digital cinemas. The service is provided in association with leading digital network solutions provider Arqiva and uses their international satellite infrastructure to distribute feature movies, trailers, and advertising content direct to their participating exhibitors and cinemas throughout Europe.” The interesting question is whether they will open up this network wider and be a service provider, rather than equipment vendor;

- Sony does deal with Sony for digital cinema in Asia, is the essence of this press release. “Sony Pictures Releasing International Corporation (SPRI) has entered into an agreement with Sony Electronics’ Digital Cinema Solutions and Services (DCSS) group for 4K DCI-compliant digital cinema deployments in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.” But trust us, even a seemingly semi-internal agreement like this is much more difficult to orchestrate than you might think. Now the challenge will be to get more Hollywood studios to sign up. And why no India?;

- UK’s Cinema Exhibitor’s Association (CEA) is kicking off a digital road-show this coming Monday in Manchester. “The events, which the CEA is running jointly with the UK Film Council and with the support of Screen Digest, are intended to give all of those attending an opportunity to hear a comprehensive and objective summary of the challenges and opportunities presented by digital cinema projection, with discussion of funding, operational and technical matters.” It is 8 1/2 years since the last major road show in UK (‘Celluloid or Silicon?‘) that discussed the implications of all things digital cinema. [insert joke about digital cinema's long time in the coming HERE];

- Want to sell liquor for consumption with screenings of operas and sporting events in your cinema? It’s not as easy as you might think, according to this article from Grand Rapids News. “Celebration Cinema owner John Loeks Jr. must spell out the type of “special events” at which he wants to serve alcohol before city planners will allow him to uncork any bottles or tap any kegs.” Asked to define ’special events, Loeks told the commission, “I’m not sure there is a precise definition.” So much for grouping it together under the moniker of ODS (other digital stuff);

- And yet more proof if needed that box office is doing well across the globe, this time from China, courtesy of AFP. “China may be a paradise for addicts of pirated DVDs, but the box office is also booming thanks to a growing audience of well-off young urbanites and more big-ticket Chinese films… “The crisis is actually a godsend because as everyone talks about the economic crisis, people want to go to the cinema to relax,” said Zhao Jing, a Beijing marketing executive with cinema operators Wanda Group.” Wanda (pictured above) is expanding from 40 cinemas to 100 by 2010. As noted in the article, a pirate DVD may cost one tenth of a cinema ticket, but it just does not give the same EXPERIENCE;

- Only India appears to be suffering badly, with the non-release of new Hindi films entering its fourth week. A journalist from Indian Express took a tour of the deserted cinema halls and chats to employees. It’s grim. ““We’ve closed down one screen for renovation and are on a cost-cutting spree. We’ve switched to low voltage bulbs and keep half the lobby lights switched off. The air-conditioning too is not switched on till before the show.”” Not even any major Hollywood films are opening this weekend (unless you count “My Mom’s New Boyfriend“). Soon weevils will start blowing through the corridors;

- But it’s even worse for one Indian exhibitor. “Sebi on Thursday barred Pyramid Saimira Theatre promoters Nirmal N Kotecha and CMD PS Saminathan from trading in the equities market, accusing the latter of allegedly forging a letter from the markets regulator, the revelation of whose contents last December sent the company’s stock price soaring. The Sebi letter had purportedly asked the promoters to make an open offer to buy out minority shareholders.” Ouch, but the Securities & Exchanges Board of India (SEBI) can come down hard at times;

- Ending on a semi-positive note, at least if you are living in Detroit. ‘Unemployed? Movie theaters offer free tickets.‘ The headline says it all.

Popularity: 53% [?]

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Daily Cinema Roundup - Tue 21 April

By Patrick von Sychowski

April 21, 2009

- Despite a proliferation of new multiplexes in the major cities, China still faces a massive cinema shortage reports Xinhuanet. ““Many cities in the western regions still don’t have modern cinemas with multiple screening rooms,” Mao Yu, vice president of the SARFT told Xinhua. Mao said, a total of 2,860 counties across the country have no cinema at all, which “severely” limited the development of the country’s film market. Statistics from the SARFT show that, the country’s box office for the first quarter of 2009 totaled 1.25 billion yuan (about 183 million U.S. dollars), a year-on-year increase of 50 percent.” Chinese cinema growth could thus leapfrog western in terms of going digital by installing digital but no analogue from day one.;

- Heather (Rollergirl) Graham’s latest film “Baby On Board” will release in D-Cinema and E-Cinemas in the US. Distributed by Angry Monkey Entertainment (AME), note the angry language when it comes to the technology issues. “AME implements encoding and digital compression technology to conform film releases to a high standard approaching the quality of D-Cinema - without costly licensing fees and exclusive equipment contracts that penalize exhibitors through bad profit-participation agreements. E-Cinema theaters, which today greatly outnumber D-Cinema installations, circumvent D-Cinema’s corporate licensing restrictions and subsequent revenue loss to theater owners. As reasonably-priced HD projectors and servers allow smaller regional theaters to embrace E-Cinema, affordable content can extend the use of these installations beyond pre-shows and corporate presentations.” No word on which E-Cinema network will be targeted (NCM Fathom? Emerging Pictures?);

- Carmike and Screenvision (NOT Bigger Picture, interestingly enough) will be bringing stand up comedy to the big screen. “STAND-UP 360 will be delivering a series of feature-length stand-up comedy performances recorded live at the Broadway Comedy Club in NYC.” This is perhaps not such a big deal, given the past 35mm releases of “Eddie Murphy Raw” and “The Original Kings of Comedy“;

- India’s Adlabs has been piping Bollywood films to the US over Relaince Globalcom’s fibre optic network. From Variety. “Adlabs also plans to bring movies and alternative content from India and other foreign-language territories to niche auds in Reliance’s American theaters. Adlabs’ Big chain owns 21 theaters with 166 screens in the U.S., targeted at areas with large immigrant communities. The entire chain should be converted to digital production within 18 months. Adlabs has already used the Reliance Globalcom network to send recent Indian pics “Ghajini,” “Luck by Chance” and “Delhi 6″ to screens in New Jersey and California.” Press release here. [Full disclosure: I was involved in setting this up and running it];

- Hollywood distributors appear to be supporting their Indian colleagues in postponing releases of new titles to Indian multiplexes according to Businessofcinema.com. “A source informs that Fox Star Studios has also postponed the release of its upcoming flick X-Men 4: Wolverine, which was to release in India on 1 May. Warner Bros India was looking at releasing two Hollywood films in Bombay and Delhi on 17 April. However, these movies are not playing at any multiplexes as of 20 April.” US anti-trust laws means that the Hollywood distributors cannot formally join in the strike/boycott/non-release;

- In a sign of the time,s Hollywood studios are cutting back on adverts for new releases in printed newspapers, according to the LA Times (which must be worried). “While studios, many of which have remained fairly loyal to print advertising, have been running smaller movie ads in recent years, Fox has made a bolder break with tradition, releasing four movies this year alone where the studio has run minimal newspaper ads or, in the case of ”Dragonball” and “Street Fighter,” released in late February, no ads at all.” More fodder for the name-says-it-all NewspaperDeathWatch blog?;

- UK’s Cinema Advertising Association has published research that people still intend to spend money going to the cinema. “The research, which was carried out at the end of last year, found that 62% of those surveyed said they planned to spend the same amount on cinema tickets as they did before the credit crunch.” A quarter of the 3,000 people surveyed said that they had made repeat visits to a cinema to see the same film.;

- French cinema circuit CGR has signed a deal with RealD to roll out 3D widely. From the press release, “This is another example of CGR Cinemas seizing opportunities first, which make it one of the pillars of French film exhibition today. This collaboration will allow us to take advantage of upcoming 3D films beginning with Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” said Jocelyn Bouyssy, chief executive officer of CGR Cinemas.” No word on how many systems will deployed and no mention or aknowledgment of integrator Arts Alliance Media;

Popularity: 41% [?]

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China claims cinema-laser first, but details sketchy

By Patrick von Sychowski

July 22, 2008

Paul Simon sang about ‘the are the days of lasers in the jungle’, but these days it is cinemas in China where lasers are putting an appearance. Or so an article in THR.com would have us believe:

”Beijing Phoebus Vision Co. provided us with the world’s first set of laser-screening instruments” Han Jie, spokeswoman with Beijing UME said Monday.

The projector was installed in an existing 120-seat hall in the Chinese capital at a cost of about 1.2 million yuan ($176,000).

“It is the first laser-screening set in the world,” a Beijing Phoebus Vision spokesman said. Han said that UME’s normal cinema projectors cost about 700,000 yuan ($102,000).

Several companies, including Mitsubishi, have demonstrated laser projection systems, said industry analyst Matt Brennensholtz of Norwalk, Conn.-based research firm Insight Media. These systems are usually very costly, he added.

“I’m not aware of anybody that’s used a laser projector in a movie theater before,” Brennensholtz said. “There were a number of tests, but I’ve never head of a public theater where you pay your ticket and go in and see one of these.”

A Google search for Phoebus Vision does not yield any results other than the THR.com article itself. That an unknown company should have come out of nowhere and perfected laser technology is not impossible, but it is highly unlikely.

The only time lasers have been used for a paying audience was at the 2005 Expo in Japan where Sony demonstrated the GLV projector (based on techonlogy developed by Silicon Light Machine) in the ‘Sony Dream Theatre’ (PDF link here) that it has since kept under wraps while it promoted its SXRD 4K projector.

There is no mention of the brightness, resolution or even of the laser are direct projection CRT-style or whether they are just used as a light source. So for now this one is to be taken with a big pinch of salt.

Popularity: 40% [?]

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No Fun For E-City As IMAX Gets $11m Damages

By Patrick von Sychowski

February 12, 2008

Large format (LF) company Imax has been awarded $11m in damages by an arbitration court, ruling in the case of an alleged breach of contract for the development of Imax screens in India by local exhibitor E-City Entertainment, affiliated with the Essel Group and operating under the brand name ‘Funcinemas’ and ‘Fun Republic’. From the press release:

The case involved an agreement where Imax awarded E-City rights to develop a minimum of six Imax theatres in India.

Imax said E-City claimed the agreement was “a non-binding term sheet, that the amount of damages that IMAX was seeking for lost profits was excessive and that IMAX had failed to mitigate its damages.”

Imax said the panel found the agreement was enforceable, and that E-City had breached its obligations.

Imax was awarded all of the lost profits that it sought under the agreement.

To Imax this was about more than just a standard breach of contract. We only need to look at what Imax is doing in China to understand what ought to have been happening in India. From the Economic Time of India (no link):

“IMAX has potentially lost five years of development as a result of this deal. In fact, when we struck a similar deal in China, which was at the same level of development in 2000, today, we have four IMAX theatres in India and 13 in China - and if you look at the planned openings, it is 11 for India by 2012 against 40 for China, said [IMAX co-chairman and CEO] Mr Gelfond.

Meanwhile the flagship Imax screen in Mumbai is set for a re-vamp later this year, so while Imax might have fallen out with E-City, they still have a friend in Adlabs.

Popularity: 35% [?]

Posted in Large Format

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7/10 of IMAX’s China screens to be digital

By Patrick von Sychowski

January 11, 2008

Large format (LF) film company Imax has recycled an old press release about a ten-screen deal with China’s Wanda Cinemas first reported here back in September 2007. The only major thing different about the new press release appears to be that seven of the ten deployments will be the as-yet untested Imax digital cinema system, while the first three use the MPX(R) film technology. The article says that “The price of the deal was not announced.” So maybe Wanda are getting the projectors for free, just as AMC did last year. Cinema goers in Changsha in Changchun in north-east China will get to see the first two (analogue) systems, followed by Beijing and Shanghai.

Popularity: 22% [?]

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China to get 5 Star cinema

By Patrick von Sychowski

December 5, 2007

Anybody who has traveled to a developing country, be it Brazil, Russia, Turkey or India, and visited a new cinema can attest that the emerging middle classes demand no less luxury than their Western counterparts (even Ethiopians, as you can see from the item below). Yet the self-styled ‘Five Star’ multiplex by UA Cinema opening in Guangzhou in 2009 looks particularly impressive, if the artist’s impression sketches are to be believed. Bob Vallone, director and general manager at Lark International Multimedia, is quoted in The Hollywood Reporter talking about the landmark property:

“The cinema will have every five-star requirement that’s been inactive in China and all of the creature comforts built in. The proof is when you sit down, the picture is bright, sound is perfect, and you become engrossed in the move and it’s an event,” Vallone said.

The cinema, which also will house a Thai Orchids restaurant, will be located in the new Metropolitan Plaza mall and seat about 950 patrons. The cost is projected at about HK$20 million ($2.6 million).

It helps that people in the area have amongst the highest disposable income in China. The cinema and its owner have their eyes on the technological future as well:

“Our long-term plans in China are to continue to provide new technologies. I’m intrigued by holographic breakthroughs that are being made at the moment, but I think that’s still 10 years away. Digital technologies will help to create the gateway for day-and-date release, which for me would be wonderful,” Vallone said.

Not sure holographic cinema is even a distant reality (H-Cinema? Wouldn’t we need a new Hollywood specification/standards body all over again??) But Vallone must know a thing or two about cinemas, or he would not be honored as CineAsia’s 2007 Exhibitor of the Year “for his development of the multiplex market in Hong Kong.”

Popularity: 13% [?]

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Barco/GDC China Network To Grow Significantly

By Patrick von Sychowski

December 4, 2007

Mentioned in passing in the Hollywood Reporter’s round-up of Day 1 of CineAsia, the big news appears to have been the Chinese digital cinema network powered by Barco (projectors) and GDC (servers) from 7,00 to 2,000. In a questionably headlined article (’CineAsia hosts digital revolution‘ - what, no ‘CineAsia - Digital Great Leap Forward’ or ‘Death to Counter-revolutionary 35mm prints!’??) the most interesting piece of news is buried down in the sixth paragraph:

Later, China Film Digital Cinema Circuit Co. said it has extended a deal with Barco and Singapore-based GDC Technology to bring more digital screens to China. Beijing-based China Film Digital has already installed 400 of a planned 700-screen rollout, but it said it will raise the total number of digital screens to about 2,000, CineAsia founder Bob Sunshine said.

Earlier in the article the focus was that having shot themselves in the foot by moving the trade show from Bangkok to Beijing, CineAsia has re-discovered its mojo since the Sunshines moved it to Asian gambling capital Macau. GDC had been trumpeting 1,000 DSR servers installed world-wide, though the inclusion of territories like India, Germany and the Netherlands means that they must be counting e-cinema servers as well for the likes of Mukta-Adlabs (currently disused) and CinemaNet Europe (definitely not DCI compliant). Also that day Dolby showed of their digital 3D solution and 20th Century Fox no doubt beat the digital cinema drum loud and clear.

On Wednesday the talk will be about real estate, concessions, and more digital 3D with a no-surprise appearance of Jeffrey Katzenberg of Dreamworks Animation. Mr Katzenberg is a big believer in the potential of digital 3D and will leave no corner of the Earth un-traveled to in order for that gospel to be spread.

Popularity: 26% [?]

Posted in Countries, Digital Cinema, Equipment Vendors, Trade Shows

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IMAX goes even bigger in China

By Patrick von Sychowski

September 19, 2007

IMAX china panda Large format (LF) cinema operator IMAX has signed its largest deal yet in China with a ten-screen agreement with Wanda Cinema Line Corporation for the People’s Republic. The first couple of installations will take place before the year is out, according to this article from Reuters:

The agreement marks IMAX’s largest ever multiple-theatre deal in Asia. Under the terms of the sales agreement, all of the theatres are to be installed either with IMAX’s MPX(R) theatre system or the Company’s new digital projection technology, which is currently in the advanced stages of development. Wanda Cinema Line Corporation is the top performing and fastest growing exhibitor in The People’s Republic of China with 121 screens in 15 locations. All ten IMAX theatres are expected to be installed by the end of 2010 and bring the total number of IMAX theatres scheduled to be open in The People’s Republic of China to 39.

Don’t hold your breath about the digital technology that is in ‘advanced stages of development’, as people in the know tell me that it is little more than three Sony SXRD 4K panels wired together. But it goes to prove that China and India is where it’s at in terms of new cinemas, be they multiplexes or LF ones.

UPDATE: There is an article in the Hollywood reporter that emphasisez the retail-real estate angle of the deal:

Imax co-CEO Rich Gelfond said he was drawn to Wanda Cinema because its parent, the Dalian-based Wanda Group, is a major property developer in China. As a result, Wanda can control the pace of its aggressive building plans.

“They are one of the few multiplex operators that controls their own fate,” Gelfond said. “Most multiplex operators need to go to a mall (developer) and cut a deal.”

Gelfond added the Wanda Group sees value in Imax screens bringing additional traffic to its core cinema and shopping mall businesses.

So while showing films in cinemas is a way to build marketing momentum for films on DVD/BD/HD-DVD for the studios, so too is building cinemas a way to grow foot traffic in shopping malls catering to the growing middle classes in emerging markets.

Popularity: 12% [?]

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