Reg. Trib. Milano n. 418 del 02.07.2007
Direttore responsabile: Elisabetta Brunella

International Edition No. 68 - year 6 - 19 May 2011

Special issue on the occasion of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival  

*** 

Dear readers,

this year again our appointment at Cannes has been particularly important: as is customary, we have published the latest statistics on digitalization in Europe, which crossed the 10,000-screen mark at the beginning of 2011. At the same time we have launched a new initiative to be put into practice with the European Audiovisual Observatory: an in-depth analysis of the digital transition in Europe, which will take stock of the crucial aspects in a transformation that has regarded about a third of Europe’s screens up to now and which will provide useful knowledge for all those, both in the public and in the private sectors, who are involved in the conversion of the remaining screens. Cannes Film Festival is not over yet, but we are already looking at our next initiative:
the eighth edition of the course “DigiTraining Plus: European Cinemas Experiencing New Technologies” that will start in Helsinki on 29 June 2011. I’m sure it will be another good opportunity for participants to acquire knowledge of use in their work !

Jens Rykaer
President of MEDIA Salles

 

JOIN
the
“DigiTraining Plus:
European Cinemas
Experiencing
New Technologies”

Helsinki and Tallinn

29 June - 3 July 2011

Early birds fee available until 23 May 2011

Click here to download the application form and get further information:
http://www.mediasalles.it/training/training.htm

 

MEDIA Salles and the European Audiovisual Observatory announced during the Cannes Film Festival their new initiative: a joint report on digitisation in Europe.

From left: Mike Vickers, MEDIA Salles Treasurer, Elisabetta Brunella, MEDIA Salles Secretary general, Wolfgang Closs, EAO Executive Director, Martin Kanzler, EAO Analyst.

For the most updated statistics on digitisation in Europe as at 1st January 2011, see the European Cinema Journal 1/2011.
Click here
!

THE EIGHTH EDITION OF THE “DIGITRAINING PLUS” COURSE IS APPROACHING!

First held in 2004, when there were thirty digital screens in Europe, “DigiTraining Plus: European Cinemas Experiencing New Technologies” is the course offered by MEDIA Salles to cinema professionals who wish to have reliable information and share experience at an international level on issues crucial in the transition to the new projection technologies. Economic models, including intervention by the European Commission, standards, the availability of digital content, the prospects for 3D and live events in movie theatres: these are some of the contents which will be dealt with by internationally renowned experts and by the exhibitors and distributors who were the first to take up the digital challenge.

Supported by the European Union’s MEDIA Programme and by the Italian Government, the main partners of the 2011 course are the Finnish Film Foundation and the Finnish Chamber of Films with the collaboration of the Estonian Film Foundation.

This year the eighth edition, to be held from 29 June to 3 July, introduces an important innovation: the course will be held in Helsinki but will also include a visit to Tallinn, to give participants the chance to make first-hand acquaintance with two particularly significant situations. Finland is, in fact, a country where the conversion to digital theatres has been and continues to be supported by public institutions as part of a programme that aims at innovation in all sectors in the country, including the cultural industry. Estonia, instead, can be considered an example of the many small-medium markets in which the digital transition has to find models that will allow the new technology to be adopted by cinemas whose function is prevalently social and cultural rather than strictly commercial.
The course moderator this year will once again be Tony Williams, a veteran of the British cinema industry, whilst the speakers will include European professionals such as Ron Sterk and Steve Perrin, who will be presenting joint initiatives launched by exhibitors in the Netherlands and in Great Britain, but also experts from the other side of the ocean, such as John Fithian, President of NATO, the US exhibitors’ association. A comparison between the situation in America and that in Europe will be made in the talks by Michael Karagosian and the session held by EDCF, a course partner. The visits to different types of digital cinemas – an urban multiplex such as the Coca Plaza in Tallinn and the versatile Kino Tapiola in Espoo, also the venue of a dynamic festival – will be another component of this course which for some years now has been considered by participants to be a valid landmark for those who wish to understand opportunities and risks in the digital transition and gain proactive experience of what has been defined the most important change in the cinema since the advent of sound.

Practical information

5-day intensive course

Start of course: 29 June 2011, in Helsinki, at 3 pm.

End of course: 3 July 2011, in Helsinki, at noon.

Transfer to Tallinn by ship (30 June – 1 July)

Fees, including accommodation for 3 nights in Helsinki and 1 night in Tallinn: 800 euros for those who enrol by 23 May.

Scholarships available on request.

Language used on course: English.

Per leggere il testo in italiano cliccare qui)

 
THE DIGITRAINING PLUS PROGRAMME (provisional)

DigiTraining Plus: European Cinemas Experiencing New Technologies
29 June to 3 July 2011
Helsinki and Tallinn
Wednesday, June 29 Thursday, June 30 Friday, July 1 Saturday, July 2 Sunday, July 3

Arrival in Helsinki

Morning – Finnish Film Foundation
 
Digitisation in Europe: key figures, by Elisabetta Brunella, MEDIA Salles Secretary General

Migration to digital or digital at the service of 3D? Situation and prospects in Europe with John Graham and Dave Monk (EDCF)
 
Technical session: delivery of digital materials to movie theatres by Mélodie Hoppenot, SmartJog

Demo presented by Seppo Nieminen, Digita



Morning - Cinema Artis, arthouse cinema in the centre of Tallinn.
In collaboration with the Estonian Film Foundation: an information session open to players and exhibitors from the Baltic Republics, chaired by Marge Liiske, Estonian Film Foundation.

Digital roll-out: key issues, by Michael Karagosian (MKPE)


 
Digitalization: an opportunity or a threat for independent and arthouse exhibitors, small and medium theatres, exhibition in rural areas? Intervention by the MEDIA Programme

Economic models – an overview, part 2. Experiences in Europe: Emmanuel Joly (European Commission) and
Till Cussmann (FTT)


 

Morning – Cinema Tapiola, Espoo.
Integration between national and local policies on behalf of the cinema with Georg Dolivo – Head of Cultural Affairs for the city of Espoo and Jenni Ukkonen, former Executive Director of Espoo Ciné Film Festival

Session on content.

Digitalization as an opportunity for giving cinema audiences a wider choice: films and material from film libraries, alternative 3D and live 3D content: Tilman Scheel (Europe’s Finest)


Morning

Course evaluation

Lunch in Helsinki Lunch in Helsinki Lunch in Tallinn Lunch in Helsinki Lunch in Helsinki

 
Afternoon – Finnish Film Foundation
 
Opening session
 
Mike Vickers – Treasurer of MEDIA Salles
Irina Krohn – Director FFF

Harri Ahokas –Head of Distribution FFF
Tero Koistinen – Finish Film Chamber

The Finnish experience of digitalization. Digital techniques: a new opportunity for documentaries on the big screen?
 
Screening of the Finnish documentary “Steam of Life”, finalist at the European Film Awards 2010

Presentation of the course structure by Anthony Williams, moderator


 
Afternoon – Finnish Film Foundation
 
Economic models –an overview, part 1. Experiences in Europe: Giovanni Dolci (AAM)

Boat to Tallinn

 
Afternoon

Visit to the historical city centre of Tallinn

Boat to Helsinki

 
Afternoon – Finnish Film Foundation

Economic models – an overview, part 3. Experiences in Europe: Ron Sterk (NVB – NL), Steve Perrin (DPF- UK) and Rufino Carrillo (Yelmo)
 

Group Work

How can a movie theatre be transformed thanks to the new technologies?
John Fithian (President of NATO)


 
Departure from Helsinki
Aldo Tammsaar – General Manager of Forum Cinemas: the Forum Cinemas approach to digitalization
 
Visit to the cinema “Coca Cola Plaza“, an urban multiplex in the centre of Tallinn
 
Screening of digital and 3D content
 
 
Opening buffet in Helsinki (Scandic Grand Marina)
 
Dinner in Tallinn
 
Dinner on the boat
or in Helsinki
 
Dinner in Helsinki
 
 
The Moderator

Tony Williams will be the course moderator

 
Focus on the speakers

Michael Karagosian
MKPE Founder and President

 
John Fithian
NATO President
 
Steve Perrin
Chief Executive Digital Partnership LLP
Giovanni Dolci
Arts Alliance Media Ltd
 
Till Cussmann
Head of International Sales FTT
 
Tilman Scheel
Managing Director, Founder, Reelport GmbH, Europe’s Finest GmbH
Harri Ahokas
Head of Domestic Distribution at The Finnish Film Foundation
Emmanuel Joly
European Commission
 
 

 

DigiTraining Plus participants will visit the Coca Cola Plaza in Tallinn (Estonia) and Kino Tapiola in Espoo (Finland)

Kino Tapiola, Espoo


Kino Tapiola, Espoo

 
MEDIA Salles’ contacts and address

MEDIA Salles
Piazza Luigi di Savoia, 24 – 20124 Milano - Italy
Tel.: +39.02.67397823– Fax: +39.02.6690410
E-mail: infocinema@mediasalles.it
Sito web: www.mediasalles.it