Dear
readers,
From
25 February to 1 March 2009, MEDIA Salles successfully ran its sixth edition
of the “DigiTraining Plus” course in London, with the support
of the MEDIA Programme and the Italian Government.
Digital implementation in cinemas worldwide
is still the hottest issue that all players have to face in the business.
Now that the teething troubles have been overcome, from a technical point
of view, financing problems are still piling up in most countries, especially
for middle-sized and small independent operators. The MEDIA Salles courses,
however, offer participants a great opportunity to exchange ideas, discuss
business plans and to “think” digital. The truth of the matter
is that the digital changeover demands a completely new way of business
culture. Alternative content, new staff skills, maintenance plans present
serious opportunities and demands that each and every cinema manager has
to face today. Nobody knows for how long we shall still have our traditional
35mm distribution running parallel with the digital version (some believe
10 more years), but still it is strange that in so many countries politicians
and institutions are sitting on their hands waiting for – yes, for
what? Figures provided by MEDIA Salles to the European Audiovisual Observatory
and that are about to be presented in Cannes in the framework of the partnership
established last year, will clearly show that the train has left the platform.
In this respect it is with pleasure that
MEDIA Salles will continue its efforts to lighten the digital challenge
by organizing yet another edition of the “DigiTraining Plus”
course from 17 to 21 February 2010.
Jens Rykaer
President of MEDIA Salles
NEWS
ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF DIGITALISATION
IN EUROPE
MORE DIGITAL SCREENINGS AT THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL
After the Opening Ceremony including
the 3D presentation of the new Disney Picture “Up” –
a world premiere - a wealth of digital screenings will take place
during the 62nd Cannes Film Festival.
These are the key figures for the 2009 edition: 50 digital films
including 3D, 100 digital screenings, 19 digital systems. There
had been 37 digital films in 2008 and 20 in 2007.
XDC, Christie, XpanD and Doremi are the equipment suppliers whilst
the French CST ensures technical supervision of the projections
given during the Festival.
|
DUTCH INDEPENDENT CINEMAS HAVE CREATED
A BUYERS’ GROUP TO GO DIGITAL
Last February Amsterdam Booking Company
B.V. (ABC), a buyers’ group representing Dutch independent cinemas,
announced that they would digitalise 68 screens in 20 cinemas across
The Netherlands.
For this purpose they have signed an agreement with Arts Alliance
Media and chosen Christie and Doremi as equipment suppliers.
Paul Visser, ABC’s managing director, said: “We see clearly
what the future of cinema is going to be: digital, 3D and live events.
We are proud to be the first widespread movers in the Netherlands.”
The ABC roll-out has started equipping screens for the Dutch release
of Disney’s 3D film “Bolt”. Other upcoming 2009
3D movies for the ABC rollout will include “Up” (Pixar/Disney),
“Ice Age 3” (Twentieth Century Fox), “Planet 51”
(Sony Pictures), “Toy Story 3D” (Pixar/Disney) and “Avatar”
(Twentieth Century Fox).
|
SPAIN: YELMO ADDS MORE DIGITAL
SCREENS
Yelmo Cines, one of Spain’s largest
exhibition chains, decided last March to equip 18 new screens in 18
different sites throughout their chain with digital cinema, 3D and
satellite functions.
The deal follows Arts Alliance Media installation of digital projection
equipment for 5 screens at Yelmo’s Isla Azul complex in Madrid
last summer.
Fernando Evole, CEO of Yelmo Cines, said: “The digital cinema
trial that we have been carrying out at Isla Azul has been a great
success. That’s why we are now extending the installation of
digital systems for 3D at 18 of our sites.”
|
3D DIGITAL SCREENS ACROSS CENTRAL EUROPE
FOR PALACE CINEMAS
Palace Cinemas, the exhibition company
founded in 1999 to operate cinemas in Central Europe, announced last
March the addition of twelve 3D digital screens at their sites in
the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary using Masterimage 3D technology
in eleven cases and RealD at Palace West End in Budapest.
Projectors are supplied by Barco whilst servers by XDC.
|
CGR WANTS TO BUILD OUT FRANCE’S
LARGEST 3D CIRCUIT
At the end of April CGR, the third largest
exhibition chain in France, and RealD announced an agreement aiming
at the installation of a total of 200 3D-enabled screens in 33 locations.
Jocelyn Boussy, chief executive officer
of CGR, the first French exhibitor to decide on the digitalisation
of all their screens through a VPF agreement signed with Arts Alliance
Media in 2008, has defined this move into the realm of 3D as another
example of CGR’s ability to seize new opportunities in the cinema
business.
|
CINEMA PARK IS THE LEADER IN THE
RUSSIAN DIGITAL CINEMA MARKET
According to the statistics on digital
screens in Russia, showing the situation as at 19 March 2009, Cinema
Park is the main player in this sector thanks to its 27 digital screens,
all 3D-enabled.
The key figures for Russia, published by Nevafilm, are: 120 digital
screens (out of which 117 are also equipped for 3D), installed in
97 sites in 47 different towns. The main market is Moscow, with 24
screens, followed by St Petersburg (8) and Ufa (6).
|
WOMEN IN DIGITAL CINEMA
Judith Michel, Content Services Sales Manager, XDC
International
I
joined XDC in fall 2008, but I have always lived with cinema, since my
father is a film director and my mother is producing films.
I am responsible for all matters related
to content. On the one hand, I am in charge of our Digital Content Lab,
making the price quotations as well as informing Distributors, Producers,
Sales Agents about digital cinema. To date, there is still work to be
done in order to inform more about the digital workflow. Digital represents
a major change for smaller companies, and it is necessary to spend time
explaining the advantages of going digital and to assist them from scene
to screen. We are currently working with many distributors all over Europe
and every day there are more clients showing interest in this new and
better way to release a film.
On the other hand, I am responsible for
meeting all European distributors regarding the VPF model. Last year we
signed agreements with the 6 major studios in order to co-finance the
digital roll-out of maximum 8,000 screens in 22 countries. That means
that, in four to five years, digital will become a standard for films.
In fact, we will also need the support of independent distributors. My
role is to explain to them how this model works, and why it is important
to switch to digital. We have already started this roll-out in Austria,
so it is important everyone knows about the VPF.
I really enjoy this new challenge.
Working with XDC is a great opportunity for me since I can contribute
to a fast-growing company within a nice business area, a perfect mix between
technology and entertainment!
|
MEDIA
SALLES AT THE 62nd CANNES FILM FESTIVAL
MEDIA Salles latest data on digital cinemas
and screens in Europe as at 1st January
2009
will be presented in Cannes during the European Audiovisual Observatory’s
Afternoon Workshop: ”Show me the money! Monitoring film revenues
and collecting rightsholders’ money”.
Marché du Film 2009,
Sunday 17 May 2009, from 4.00 pm to 6.00 pm at the Salon des Ambassadeurs,
Fourth Floor, Palais des Festivals, Cannes.
|
“DigiTraining Plus:
European Cinemas Experiencing New Technologies”
MEDIA Salles organized the sixth edition
of the “DigiTraining Plus” course: “European Cinemas
Experiencing New Technologies” in London and Hull (UK), from 25
February to 1 March 2009.
32 participants from 13 different European countries took part in the
DGT, the only initiative in the MEDIA Programme to concentrate on new
technologies from the cinemas’ point of view, which updates and
informs exhibitors and representatives of professional associations and
public institutions on the latest news and information about digital cinema
technology, not only from a technical point of view but also from the
perspective of those who may be considering adopting new technologies
themselves in the near future.
The 2009 Course featured a unique and intensive programme, including:
- Lectures, covering the main points involved in making the digital transition
as trouble-free as possible, whilst also drawing attention to the risks
and opportunities involved. Professionals of the cinema industry from
other parts of the world have shared their knowledge on burning issues
such as standards, availability of digital contents and the prospects
for 3D. Among the speakers were: Michael Karagosian, Senior Consultant
on digital cinema for NATO (US), Peter Buckingham, Head of Distribution
& Exhibition at the UK Film Council and Rolv Gjestland, Adviser in
Cinema Technology and Design for Film&Kino (Norway);
- Visits to significant sites and screenings: an important source of added
value, which has greatly enhanced the programme, were the field visits
to cinemas that already use digital projection, thus giving participants
the chance to assess the technology at close quarters, on the basis of
hands-on experience. In particular, this year the participants visited
the Vue Digital Multiplex in Hull and they assisted to an exclusive 4K
screening at Sony private screening room at Sony Pictures Europe offices
in London, as well as visiting the Empire Leicester Square cinema in London;
- Reports by exhibitors who have already experimented with digital technology:
to make the approach more realistic, the case-study method has been used,
to identify the business models that have been adopted in Europe. For
istance Harri Ahokas and Tero Koistinen talked about their experiences
in Finland and Derek Cownty, Head of Programming at Empire Leicester Square,
talked about how to manage a digital cinema.
The daily press releases of the “DigiTraining
Plus 2009” course are the DGT online informer from no. 42 to no.
46 of 2009; you can reach them directly from the menu on the left side
of this page.
SAVE THE DATE
The seventh edition of the “DigiTraining
Plus: European Cinemas Experiencing New Technologies” course
will take place from 17 to 21 February 2010.
Further information will be published on our website, at the page
dedicated to the course:
http://www.mediasalles.it/training/training.htm
|
THE FILMS FROM CANNES AT THE DGT 2009
Digital cinema proves itself to be
the right choice for successful movies. The hit movies from the 61st Cannes
Film Festival, such as the Palme d’Or Entre le Murs and the Dardenne
brothers’ Le silence de Lorna were distributed in digital around
Europe. Thanks to XDC, the participants of the “DigiTraining Plus
2009” course were able to watch some excerpts from those movies
during their visit to the Empire Leicester Square Cinema in London, experiencing
the quality of screening and the entity of the European offer of films
in digital format.
Group of participants at the DGT 2009 at the gigantic screen 1 at the
Empire Leicester Square Cinema in London
From the training offer of
the
MEDIA Programme
Venezia, from 31/08 to 09/09/09
Application Deadline: 31/05/09
|
|
CICAE, the International Confederation of
Art Cinemas, is organizing the 6th edition of its training Course
“ART CINEMA = ACTION + MANAGEMENT” (Venice, 31 August
– 9 September 2009, during the MOSTRA), open to young European
art cinema exhibitors. The objective of the course is to pass
on to younger generations the necessary competences for managing
a cinema devoted to quality films. Thanks to the variety of practical
activities, meetings and groupwork, the Course means to be a point
of reference for young exhibitors who wish to successfully undertake
a hard but at the same time fascinating job, on the market of
quality cinema and European films which is everyday more vulnerable.
The application form is active
on www.cicae.org
and all information is available on the website: contents, synthesis
of previous editions, tariffs & scholarships.
For further information and enrolment, please log on to the CICAE
website at:
http://www.cicae.org/en/formation/europeenne
(in English)
http://www.cicae.org/fr/formation/europeenne
(in French)
http://www.cicae.org/it/formation/europeenne
(in Italian)
(Per
leggere il testo in italiano cliccare qui)
|
|