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

 
 
 
  International Edition No. 30 - year 3 - 2 April 2008

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Advance news on the DigiTraining Plus course 2008

Alternative contents to obtain additional revenues: the offer of DDCinema

DDCinema is a joint initiative from Qubo, Dynamic and XDC, to distribute alternative content programmes to those cinemas across Europe equipped with digital cinema projection systems.
DDCinema offers an up-to-date, wide range of operas among which exhibitors will choose their preferred content package. The proposed titles are produced by major European theatres and selected among the best - in matter of set design – operas available. Exhibitors are free to fix the ticket price according to their market requirements and referential target. Since DDCinema doesn’t require any kind of exclusivity, exhibitors are able to offer a complete opera season by integrating or mixing the DDCinema contents with other content providers. For the pre-recorded contents, exhibitors are allowed to play every content as many times they desire within a specified time frame. Directly from DDCinema web site, exhibitors can download marketing tools: posters, pictures, promo and special issues. DDCinema team support exhibitors, through specific marketing actions, with a proper promotion on dedicated press and special ventures. The next live broadcasting will be IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA of Teatro La Fenice in Venice, scheduled on 23 April 2008.
All the pre-recorded and live contents are listed on the website www.ddcinema.net

Practical experiences: this is the keyword for the 2008 edition of DigiTraining Plus course, in which the training sessions will be held largely in cinemas that offer digital screening

The afternoon session on Thursday, 10 April will be held at the ICA - Institute of Contemporary Arts – a cultural centre with two movie theatres, one of which, the main one, is fitted with a digital projector and belongs to the DSN (Digital Screen Network).The ICA hosts mainly thematic film weeks and festivals, placing the emphasis on diversification of offer.
Mark Adams, Director of the Cinema, will welcome the course participants.

The Surrey Quays complex, which can be reached by underground from central London on the Jubilee Line, is one of the two multiplexes that was chosen by Odeon UK at the start of 2007 for a trial of the new digital technology. The nine screens have all been equipped with 2K projectors from Cinemeccanica, accompanied by Doremi servers. Two theatres are also equipped for 3D projection using the RealD system. The manager of Surrey Quays, Richard East, will be guiding course participants in their visit of the complex and will present the main findings of the digital trial, mentioning both technical and practical aspects and ways of programming films and alternative content, such as sports events.

(Per leggere il testo in italiano cliccare qui)

 

Important note for course participants

The course will begin on 9 April 2008 at 3 p.m. at the Ibis London Euston Hotel in St Pancras (3 Cardington Street - NW1 2LW - London) and will close on 13 April at 11 a.m. at the same address.

We advise participants to visit the section of our website devoted to "Practical Information" for the course, where essential information is to be found regarding the organisation of the trip and stay in London.

Invitiamo i partecipanti a visitare la sezione del nostro sito dedicata alle "Practical Information" riguardo il corso, contenente informazioni fondamentali per l'organizzazione del viaggio e del soggiorno a Londra.

(click here to see the practical information)

Useful links for the course

- UK Film Council: www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk
- Arts Alliance Media: www.artsalliancemedia.com
- XDC: www.xdcinema.com
- Kino Digital Cinema:   www.kinocinemas.co.uk
- Odeon UK: www.odeon.co.uk
- Curzon Soho: www.curzoncinemas.com
- EDCF: www.edcf.net
- More2Screen: www.more2screen.com
- RealD: www.reald.com
- Hotel Ibis London Euston St Pancras:   www.ibishotel.com/ibis/fichehotel/gb/ibi/0921/...
European Cinemas Experiencing New Technologies
Course programme
Wednesday, 9 April
 Thursday, 10 April Friday, 11 April Saturday, 12 April Sunday, 13 April
  Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast
 

At Curzon Cinema, Soho
Transfer by metro (Leicester Square), departing from hotel no later than 8.30 am

9 am
The reality of running a digital cinema within the DSN scheme: technical and operational aspects, including distribution, by Fiona Deans and Nicola Gaddes, Arts Alliance Media

Visit of the cinema led by Mick Stephen, technical manager of Curzon Cinemas
 
Business models, part I: Arts Alliance Media, by Fiona Deans

At Odeon Surrey Quays
Transfer by metro (Canada Water), departing from hotel no later than 8.45 am

9.30 am
What benefits does digital cinema bring to exhibitors?
Practical experience of running a digital test on all screens of a digiplex by Richard East, General Manager of Odeon Surrey Quays

10.45 am
Coffee break (visit to the projection booth)

11.15 am
How to obtain additional revenue thanks to digital cinema? - Part 1
Significant experience in United States: the activity of Emerging Pictures, by Giovanni Cozzi

11.45 am
Question & answers session

12 pm
The world of 3D, by Matt Cowan, RealD
3D screen (demo)

At Kino Cinemas, Hawkhurst, West Kent
Transfer by private bus, departing at 7.30 am

9.45 am
How to manage and programme a “purely digital cinema”
by Paul Corcoran

10.45 am
Screening of a selection of upcoming European digital movies by XDC

 At Ibis London Euston St Pancras

9.15 am
Course evaluation
 
11 am
Course closure

Participants are free for lunch 12 pm
Cold lunch
At Curzon Cinema, Soho 		1.15 pm
Lunch
At Frankie & Benny's
Surrey Quays Road, London		 12 pm
Lunch
At The Royal Oak Pub, Hawkhurst		  
At Ibis Euston St Pancras Hotel

3 pm
Welcome coffee and
Registration
 
3.30 pm
Opening of the course
Your host: Jens Rykaer, President of MEDIA Salles

3.45 pm
Welcome speech by Agnieszka Moody, Director of MEDIA Desk UK
 
UK cinema exhibition - challenges and opportunities, by Phil Clapp, CEO of the UK Cinema Exhibitors' Association
 
4.30 pm
Presentation of the course, by Mads Egmont Christensen, moderator
 
Digital screens: how many and where?
by Elisabetta Brunella, Secretary General of MEDIA Salles

5.30 pm
Coffee break

6.00 pm
What do we talk about when we talk about digital cinema?
by Dave Monk, European Digital Cinema Forum

7.45 pm
Presentation of who 's who

 At ICA - Institute of Contemporary Arts
Transfer onfoot

2 pm
Welcome speech by Mark Adams, Director of Cinema of the ICA

2.15 pm
The UK Film Council 's Digital Screen Network and the opportunity of digital cinema, by Alex Stolz, UK Film Council
 
3.30 pm
Questions & answers session on digital contents - film distribution.
With the participation of Anna Godas, Dogwoof Pictures and Sara Frain, Metrodome

4 pm
Coffee break
 
4.30 pm
Business models, Part 2: Technicolor, by Tom Cotton

 Return to Ibis Euston St Pancras Hotel
Transfer by metro (Euston)

3.30 pm
Challenges to copyright in the digital world, by Charlotte McMillan, SJ Berwin

4.15 pm
How to obtain additional revenue thanks to digital cinema? - Part 2
Alternative contents, with presentations by Christine Costello - More2Screen and Fabrice Testa - DDCinema

5 pm
Coffee break

5.30 pm
Business models, part 3: XDC, by Fabrice Testa and Bernard Collard in collaboration with Sound Associates, Jerry Murdoch

 Return to Ibis Euston St Pancras Hotel
Departure at 1.30 pm

3.30 pm
The German debate on cinema digitalisation, by Detlef Rossmann, president of AG Kino

4.30 pm
An overview of significant digital experiences around Europe by:
- Silvana Molino, Microcinema, Italy
- Mathias Holtz, Folkets Hus och Parker, Sweden
- Benjamin Dauhrer, CineCitta, Germany
- Enrique Martínez del Molino, Yelmo Cines, Spain
- Massimiliano Giometti, Giometti Cinema, Italy

6.30 pm
Final statements

  

8.15 pm
Opening dinner
At Ibis Euston St Pancras Hotel

Participants are free for dinner

9.20 pm
Beginning of the screening "U2-3D" at BFI IMAX (metro: Waterloo).
On request - reservation needed (according to availability)

Participants are free for dinner

8.40 pm
Beginning of the screening "Shine a light" at Odeon Surrey Quays
(metro: Canada Water)
On request - reservation needed (according to availability)

8 pm
Closing dinner
At Thistle Hotel, Euston (walking distance from Ibis Euston St Pancras Hotel)		  

Focus on the DigiTraining Plus 2008 Participants: Massimiliano Giometti - Giometti Cinema

Massimiliano Giometti is head of the technical office for Giometti Holding S.r.l, owning an important chain of cinemas in Italy, with 99 screens operating between Emilia Romagna, Marche, Abruzzo and soon to open in Umbria (10 screens in Perugia).
The Giometti family can be considered authentic pioneers of digital cinema in Italy. For two years now several of their cinemas have been fitted with digital systems for a total of 12 2K Cinemeccanica projectors with Dolby servers. Of these screens, 5 are equipped for 3D: 2 with the Nuvision system and 3 with Dolby.
Their interest in trying out new equipment and their attention to innovation are some of the Group’s distinguishing features and are also amongst Massimiliano Giometti’s reasons for choosing to take part in DigiTraining Plus 2008.
“The MEDIA Salles course,” says Massimiliano Giometti, “may be the right opportunity for analyzing the state of the art in digital cinema but above all for understanding what added benefits may derive for a company like ours from extending this technology to a higher number of screens. In the future we do, in fact, intend to install a minimum of 2 digital projectors in every complex, at least one of which will be equipped for 3D, and on which at least one digital film can be shown every week, so that the competitive edge of cinema on the big screen can be maintained in an age when digital home entertainment is increasingly affordable to one and all. Here in Giometti we believe that it is essential to broaden the offer of digital content, now that the latter is starting to become widespread and reaching significant levels in Italy, too.
Another challenge we have taken up and that has proved to be a winner up to now is that of showing as much 3D content as possible. At the moment we offer a 3D film screening every Saturday night in our most recently built complex in Ancona.”
 
(Per leggere il testo in italiano cliccare qui)

 
WOMEN IN DIGITAL CINEMA
Gemma Richardson
Sales and Marketing Director
Arts Alliance Media

I have worked at Arts Alliance Media (AAM) for just over 2 years now. It is remarkable how much has been achieved in that time, compared with my past experience with a similar kind of analog-to-digital conversion challenge - the theatrical digital sound format war back in the 90's. I spent six years battling away on the launch and worldwide rollout of Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (SDDS). Working in a large corporation is a great character-building experience! I remember the layers upon layers of management across continents, resulting in stifling bureaucracy and internal politics that often suffocated the innovative spirit and sheer determination needed to take on a technology revolution.

AAM is the antithesis of that world. It is a privately-held company, founded by an innovative entrepreneur in 2003 to build a pan-European digital entertainment network. Equalitarian in structure, AAM is run by empowered employees throughout the company. There is a great energy in everything we do. The idealist in me thinks that perhaps this is what Sony was like in its formative years during the aftermath of World War II, under its founding visionaries Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita.

(Click here to read the whole article)

The third French circuit, CGR, opts for digital in all its theatres
by Elisabetta Brunella, Secretary General of MEDIA Salles
 
Whilst in Paris, headquarters of the main exhibition companies, the professional associations and the CNC (National Centre of Cinematography), the debates are proliferating, the sensational news arrived from outlying La Rochelle (France) at the end of November: CGR, the third largest circuit in France, is opting to go 100% digital and is doing so with the support of a third party who uses the VPF model.
And so, in Europe’s biggest pool of movie theatres (around 5,400 screens), which counted only 41 digital projectors in the MEDIA Salles census of June 2007, at a single stroke almost 400 screens using the new technology have suddenly appeared.
At the beginning of February, the Idiff – International Digital Forum – provided an opportunity for various players and different positions to be heard. At the round table, which was a rare chance for the presidents of professional associations and the CNC representative to meet, an awareness emerged of the need to take action, yet cautious attitudes, if not resistance, were also to be seen. Whilst Carole Scotta, representing independent distributors, stated: “We are late, action must be taken,” Victor Hadida of the distributors’ federation, repeated that for his members digital remains a technology that must not be allowed to modify the existing relationship between exhibition and distribution.
Jean Labé, president of the exhibitors’ federation (FNCF), also spoke in favour of maintaining the present cinema economy, adding: “ The real problem is for all theatres to shift to digital over a reasonable period of time. This is why the issue of financial resources is crucial.” As to the willingness of the different categories to share in the costs of the transition, if Labé has argued that, apart from the issue of who pays for the equipment, the exhibitors will, in any case, find themselves incurring other costs, such as adapting the projection booths or maintenance, Hadida makes no mystery of the fact that the distributors are not without their “reluctant” members.

(Click here to read the whole article)

(Per leggere il testo in italiano cliccare qui)

Arts Alliance Media
Arts Alliance Media, a company with offices in London and Paris, provides digital distribution services in Europe. With regard to the theatres, AAM operates as an “integrator”, supplying solutions that range from the selection of equipment to financial models, right up to staff training and the management and transmission of content. In April 2007 AAM completed the installation of 240 digital screens for DSN, the circuit financed by the UK Film Council in the United Kingdom. In June of the same year the first agreements with the studios were announced, according to the VPF model. AAM is a partner of Odeon UK, the exhibition company involved in a wide-ranging trial of solutions for digital cinema. The company also operates in Norway under the name Nordic Media Alliance.

(Per leggere il testo in italiano cliccare qui)

VPF
The letters stand for “Virtual Print Fee”, in other words a model conceived for having distributors share in covering the costs necessary for purchasing digital equipment.
This implies that a third party, neither distributor nor exhibitor, buys the equipment, that the cinemas sign a contract agreeing to pay the costs of using and maintaining this equipment, that every time a digital copy is dispatched instead of a 35mm print, the distribution companies pay a sum of money (in theory equivalent to the difference in cost between the two formats, i.e. the so-called VPF) into a shared fund (with a redistributive function). When the cost of the equipment has been covered in this way, the cinema becomes the owner of the equipment. AAM states that the studios’ share amounts to around 80%.

(Per leggere il testo in italiano cliccare qui)

New MEDIA Salles offices

On 30 June 2007 MEDIA Salles relocated its offices to the Milan headquarters of Agis, Italy’s entertainment industry association.
Our new address is:

MEDIA Salles
c/o Agis Lombarda
Piazza Luigi di Savoia, 24
I-20124 Milano
Tel. +39 02 6739781 Direct line +39 02 67397823
Fax +39 02 6690410
E-mail: infocinema@mediasalles.it
temporary address: mediasalles@alice.it