KSeraSera in piracy trouble (again), Cinepedia launched, Saudi cleric blasts cinema, Punjab cinemas get tax holiday extension, Kerala cinema stop striking, Hamburg dual-audio language cinema world first, vegans hijack Event Cinemas choctop poll, Warmth Week outdoor cinema in Manchester, time-lapse cinema construction.
India – Viacom18 has accused cinema service provider KSeraSera of leaking a pre-release copy of Bollywood thriller “Force 2” online. The film appeared on filesharing/streaming sites on the same day as it did in cinemas. An invisible watermark enabled Viacom18 to trace the source to a DCP sent to KSeraSera for digital integration. KSeraSera’s Vice President of Technology Rajesh Chowdry was previously implicated in pirating a major Bollywood film in his past job at UFO. KSeraSera is blaming the piracy leak on Prakash Cinema in Dabra, Madhya Pradesh. Televisionpost – 12 January 2017
USA (CA) – Cinema technology veteran Michael Karagosian has launched an online education resource for (digital) cinema. Cinepedia.com hosts overviews and more in-depth explainers of issues relating to cinema packaging, security, captioning, audio and more. With 140,000 cinema screens around the world now digital but projectionists largely gone, this fills an important knowledge void for people entering this business. And it is free! Help spread the word. Cinepedia.com
Saudi Arabia – Still no cinemas in the Islamic Kingdom and now the country’s religious chief says that opening multiplexes could lead to the “mixing of sexes” and bringing “atheistic or rotten” influences to the conservative Islamic kingdom. Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh made his in response to the government’s cultural and economic reforms known as Vision 2030. “Motion pictures may broadcast shameless, immoral, atheistic or rotten films,” he said. The Independent – 15 January 2017
Pakistan – The province of Punjab is considering extending the tax-free holiday for cinemas for another five years. The move by the Punjab Excise and Taxation department would be aimed at encouraging the investment in and building of modern cinemas. Entertainment tax has also been reduced from 65% to 20% for existing cinemas. The Express Tribune – 14 January 2017
India – The Kerala cinema owners strike has been called off. The government mandated that the cinemas sit down in contended talks with distributors on 25 January. The Hindu – 14 January 2017
Technology
Germany – The world’s first dual-audio language cinema has launched in Hamburg. Patrons of the new SchanzenKino73 are issued headphones when they buy their ticket and can chose between whether to hear the film dubbed into German or its original language – with the ability to switch at any point. Two servers are required to play out two different audio tracks at the same time. The cinema is located in a culture centre and has two screen of 15 square meters, each with 50 seats. Blu.fm (DE) – 13 January 2017
Concessions/F&B
Australia – Vegans have attempted to hijack a competition for a new topping of choctops ice creams, Australia’s favourite cold cinema snack. All top ten suggestions in an online poll by Event Cinemas were vegan suggestions after a Facebook-led campaign. Event Cinema has since changed the terms and conditions of the competition, much to the online fury of vegans. Peta – 12 January 2017
Outdoor cinema
UK – Manchester is getting a huge outdoor cinema. Doing such a thing in the middle of the winter, even in the UK, may seem foolhardy, but the screen in Piccadilly Gardens is sponsored by Vaillant boiler systems sponsors the Warmth Week initiative. Films to be shown include “Cool Runnings” and “Frozen”. Manchester Evening News – 14 January 2017
Finally
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-nmJPOXEWU
Time-lapse of a cinema being built – in Minecraft. Impressive attention to details.
