Eclair Theatrical Services, a European leader in KDM management and digital & physical content delivery for cinemas (Ymagis Group – FR0011471291, MAGIS, PEA-PME), is proud to have partnered with France’s Superior Commission for Image and Sound (CST) and the Federation of French Cinemas (FNCF) by overseeing the DCP mastering of their “Test” film, produced specially to allow French cinemas to ensure their projection equipment remains fully functional prior to reopening.

Marking a first for mainland France and its overseas territories, the encrypted test content was made available to every cinema nationwide this week – large chains, small circuits, independents, traveling cinemas – with over 7,000 KDMs generated by Eclair and sent from its Paris-Vanves and Liège-Barchon facilities.

“Meeting the needs of our customers, distributors and cinema exhibitors is at the core of our organization’s mission, but we want to go further, by anticipating the future and being proactive,” says Yves Gringuillard, Managing Director, Eclair Theatrical Services. “That is why we’ve partnered with the CST and the FNCF on this innovative project which allows each cinema to have confidence in the technical quality of its screenings upon reopening.”

Eclair also made available to the campaign its digital content delivery network, to which more than 800 EclairBoxes are connected nationally, and its serverless solution, EclairExpress, which can be accessed by all cinema operators in SaaS mode.

“The ‘Test’ DCP is also available free of charge on our EclairPlay platform, which provides a natural connection between content distributors, who highlight their catalogues, and exhibitors, who can request and receive content via secure download,” adds Marie-Laure Barrau, Cluster Manager for Northern Europe, Eclair Theatrical Services.

While COVID-19 has paralyzed much of the world, Eclair Theatrical Services has remained attentive to its customers and mobilized to guarantee a continuity of services and thus allow each industry player to best prepare for their reopening. Eclair is also now taking part in a new initiative for a European-wide test package.

About EclairPlay
Specifically designed for cinema exhibitors, distributors, sales agents and film festivals, the EclairPlay content download platform provides cinemas access to a growing range of DCP content available for download via broadband network, as well as all the tools and content marketing materials necessary for successful programming and audience building in just a few clicks. It is currently available in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, UK, Ireland, Denmark, Norway and Turkey. EclairPlay is also designed to support content owners in building awareness of their overall brand, beyond any given single title, through dedicated collections, highlighted placements and strategic exposure for content as well as marketing assets and kits.

About Eclair Theatrical Services
Eclair Theatrical Services provides content delivery services for cinema exhibitors in 19 countries from its offices in Barcelona, Liège-Barchon, Berlin, London, London-Uxbridge, New York, ParisVanves, and Vicenza. At the request of distributors, sales agents and content owners, Eclair Theatrical Services delivers all types of content to cinema exhibitors in Europe, North America and Australasia thanks to its global, fully integrated solutions and a network of 3,400+ connected cinemas.

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. The company’s core business is structured around four main units: CinemaNext (exhibitor services: sales and field services, software solutions, customer service/NOC and consulting), Eclair (content services: theatrical services, digital services, versioning and accessibility, preservation), VPF (finance solutions), and Illucity (Virtual Reality). A publicly traded company listed on Euronext, Ymagis Group is headquartered in Paris (France) and counts 750 employees. For more information, please connect to https://www.eclair.digital