The National Association of Theater Owners (NATO)’s Cinema Buying Group (CBG) today announced a global partnership with Eclair USA, the US branch of Eclair, a leader in content services for the motion picture and television industries in Europe. The program has been designed to provide participating CBG movie theaters with easy and cost-effective access to EclairPlay, a fast-growing DCP content broadband delivery platform currently in use at over 180 North American cinemas. Through EclairPlay, CBG’s members will have access to expanded programming options and an ever-increasing portfolio of first-run independent films and event cinema fare.
“With today’s announcement, the CBG has taken a step forward in providing our members, over 400 independent movie exhibition companies, with one of our industry’s most innovative DCP delivery platforms, EclairPlay,” remarked Bill Campbell, CBG Purchasing Director. “Qualified CBG members will now be able to access EclairPlay’s rapidly expanding content portal, www.EclairPlay.com. With it, our participating members will be able to easily source, negotiate bookings, and organize the subsequent delivery of both independent film and event cinema programming from dozens of domestic and international distributors. DCI-compliant DCP files are then downloaded directly to CBG member’s projection booth without the need to deliver traditional hard drive physical media, saving both time and money while expanding programming options for our membership.”
“We applaud the CBG’s forward-thinking approach in assisting their membership in creating the most dynamic programming mix for their communities,” comments Barry Rebo, Managing Partner of Eclair USA. “Our collaboration with the CBG comes at an especially exciting time for EclairPlay, and should facilitate its adoption among the 1,100 CBG venues, as we begin international deployment of EclairExpress, our software only ‘server-less solution’. EclairExpress allows for total access to all the features of our highly-successful EclairPlay platform without the need for additional hardware in the projection booth. From any MacOS, Windows, laptop or desktop unit, CBG members will be able to download their own innovative programming strands with a minimum of expense while dramatically increasing day-to-day operational ease. In addition to our serverless option, CBG members can also elect to deploy a highly-advanced receiver/cache server hardware set.”
EclairPlay is a content platform specifically designed for cinema exhibitors, distributors, content owners, sales agents and film festivals. EclairPlay is a simple-to-use service, which allows cinema exhibitors to access feature and trailer DCPs, marketing and promotional materials, all within one secure platform. It is now available in the following countries: USA, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland and United Kingdom. EclairPlay is available at https://www.eclairplay.com
ABOUT Cinema Buying Group-NATO
Cinema Buying Group-NATO, a semi-autonomous buying program of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), is a group of over 400 independent movie theater companies formed to combine the buying capacity of the membership for purposes of: securing volume discounts and competitive pricing and/or terms across a broad spectrum of relevant and vital products and services; offering enhanced promotion and merchandising of movies and concessions; developing strategic relationships with manufacturers and suppliers by offering cost-saving products or services that can be passed on to members that elect to buy; and ultimately providing greater access to available opportunities for the member companies. CBG-NATO also serves as a vehicle for industry manufacturers and suppliers to partner with this important and vital membership in ways that can offer meaningful upside to both the supportive vendor partners and participating CBG-NATO members.
ABOUT ECLAIR – YMAGIS GROUP
Founded in 1907 in the early days of cinema, Eclair is a historic, innovative and respected company in the motion picture and television industries. Eclair is the Ymagis Group’s business unit dedicated to content services, a leader in advanced digital technology services for the cinema industry. Through CinemaNext and Eclair, the Group provides smart and comprehensive solutions to movie exhibitors, distributors (feature films & event cinema), producers, rights holders, cinema/TV advertising networks, broadcasters, OTT channels and video publishers. Over the years, Ymagis Group has significantly grown its portfolio of solutions & services and further developed its geographic footprint with permanent offices in 26 countries. The company’s core business is structured around three main units: CinemaNext (exhibitor services: sales and field services, software solutions, customer service/NOC and consulting), Eclair (content services: post-production, theatrical delivery, digital distribution, versioning and accessibility, restoration and preservation) and VPF (financial services). A publicly-traded company listed on Euronext, Ymagis Group is headquartered in Paris (France) and counts close to 770 employees. For more information, please connect to http://www.ymagis.com http://www.cinemanext.digital or http://www.eclair.digital