Reg. Trib. Milano n. 418 del 02.07.2007
Direttore responsabile: Elisabetta Brunella
***
International Edition No. 75 - year 6 - 16 November 2011
| Dear readers,
|
I
am happy to open this new issue of the DGT online informer by announcing
the ninth edition of the course DigiTraining Plus: European
Cinemas Experiencing new Technologies to be held in 2012 from
29 August to 2 September. After two years in the Deep North, as
guests of Finland and, in 2011, also of Estonia, this time we are
moving to the Netherlands. Thanks to the collaboration with our
Dutch partners, the course will take place in a very special location:
the headquarters of the EYE Film Institute, a futuristic building
now under construction in the centre of Amsterdam. Here the participants
will be able to experience theatres with innovative solutions: digital
projectors of course, but also versatile spaces conceived to offer
spectators the very best conditions for enjoying both films and
alternative content, such as live music. Those keen on technology
will find another reason for taking part in the course in the visit
to the Institute for Sound and Vision in Hilversum, amongst Europe’s
most important centres for the conservation and viewing of audiovisual
material, one of whose strong points is the digitalization of the
material. For those who, instead, are more interested in economic
models that can facilitate the digital transition, the Netherlands
boast one of the most significant examples: in the Cinema Digitaal
project, distributors and exhibitors have joined forces to achieve
complete digitalization of Dutch cinemas by 2012, thanks also to
the intervention of public institutions.
MEDIA Salles
presents
the ninth edition of the training course for
European exhibitors and cinema professionals
DigiTraining Plus:
European Cinemas Experiencing New Technologies
that will take place
from 29 August – 2 September 2012
in The Netherlands
the country whose film theatres are all going digital
with Cinema Digitaal
The new and innovative location of the
EYE Film Institute Netherlands in Amsterdam
will host the course 
The course programme includes
lectures by international experts, exchange of experiences,
visits to cutting edge cinemas equipped with digital installations
Participation fee: 850 € + VAT (if applicable)
Includes: lessons, teaching materials, hotel (4 nights)
and the most part of the meals
Scholarships available:
the reduced fee for those who will be granted a scholarship
is 630 € + VAT (if applicable)
Visit the page dedicated to the course on our
website
www.mediasalles.it/training/training.htm
or write an email to:
digitraining@mediasalles.it
(Per leggere il testo in
italiano cliccare qui)
FOCUS ON ITALY: the challenges of digital for the Italian cinema industry.
1,000 screens have changed to the new technologies, 2,500 have yet to
be digitalized
Between the end of October and beginnings
of November, first at Eurovisioni and then at the Rome Film Festival,
several conferences were held in Italy on the digitalization of cinemas.
At these meetings some advance news was presented from a highly interesting
study, carried out by MEDIA Salles and the European Audiovisual Observatory,
entitled “The European Digital Cinema Report”, which analyzes the costs
and benefits of this technological transformation and the way digital
roll-out is progressing in European countries.
In particular, attention was drawn to the fact that the digital shift
involves high costs and may come to even 3 or 4 times the cost of traditional
35 mm equipment.
From the debate amongst the numerous and authoritative figures from the
cinema industry present and from the data provided by the analysts from
the European Audiovisual Observatory, it emerged that, although digitalization
represents a great opportunity for the cinema industry in general, at
present considerable problems of a financial and economic nature are preventing
small and medium-sized exhibitors from proceeding to digitalize their
theatres. This is why in Italy around 2,500 screens have yet to be digitalized.
(Click here to read the
whole article)
(Per
leggere il testo in italiano cliccare qui)
In Rome, the MEDIA Salles and European Audiovisual Observatory presentation:
an opportunity to take stock of digitalization in Italy
The
digitalization of Italy’s cinemas is experiencing a slowdown. Proof
comes from the data revealed by MEDIA Salles on the day
organized to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the MEDIA Programme,
which took place on 20 October at the Hotel Bernini Bristol, at the Rome
Film Festival’s Business Street. In the morning
session, devoted to the digital transition in Europe, several players
from the sector were present, including the President of Agis and Anec,
Paolo Protti, the Vice President of MEDIA Salles and
Acting Vice President of Anec, Luigi Grispello and the
President of Anem, Carlo Bernaschi. Also present was
the Director General for Cinema of the MiBAC (Ministry of Cultural Affairs),
Nicola Borrelli.
According to the figures presented by Elisabetta
Brunella, Secretary General of MEDIA Salles, from 1 January 2011 to October
2011 the number of digital screens in Italy rose from 912 to 1,080 (+18.4%),
whilst on the other leading European markets the increase was much higher:
in Germany, in particular, the number of digital screens rose from 1,239
to 2,000 (+61.4%), whilst, when taking into consideration the first six
months of 2011, the increase in France was of 43.2% (from 1,885 to 2,700
digital screens), in the United Kingdom 42.8% (from 1,400 to 2,000), in
Spain 32.1% (from 772 to 1,020) and in Russia 27.5% (from 941 to 1,200).
It should also be noted that from 1 January 2010 to 1 January 2011, in
Italy the number of digital screens rose from 434 to 912 with a 110% increase.
(Click here to read the
whole article)
(Per leggere
il testo in italiano cliccare qui)
Click here to see the latest MEDIA Salles presentations:Elisabetta Brunella at Eurovisioni (video) – Rome, 19th October 2011
Power Point presentation at the European Day - Rome, 29th October 2011
Power Point presentation at “D-Cinema: Viaggio nel Digitale” – Rome, 1st November 2011
WOMEN IN DIGITAL CINEMA
Elise Brandt
Manager Assistant - Kuusan Kino Ky/Studio
123 - Kuusankoski (Finland)
My
career in cinema began at the age of six, when my family started running
a newly-built cinema in our small town. Of course the whole family, kids
included, was helping out and so I got to spend my childhood in a cinema
environment, and naturally continued on the given path to my adulthood,
learning the booth work and taking on regular shifts behind the counter
at fifteen.
Of course ten years ago I told everyone who was talking about digital
cinema that it would never come to pass. Too many controversies, and absolutely
nothing can equal film. Those words have been taken back many times! Our
three-screen cinema turned all-digital a year ago, over a period of three
years. It has been a very eventful three years, and quite a learning curve!
The whole industry has changed and is still changing, and we are determined
to be on the frontline.
Not only have the distribution methods changed, but there is also a variety
of alternative content to be had quite easily. We have shown documentaries
and locally made movies, and started regular opera and ballet screenings
last February, from the Royal Opera House in London. At first we were
the only cinema in Finland showing their content but after some talks
we agreed to act as a distributor for Finland for the same content and
now in November there will be eight cinemas to join us and as more small
cinemas find out that showing alternative content is actually not expensive
or difficult at all, they will follow. We will also be showing a series
of four Broadway musicals starting from November, which is something our
audience have requested. At the moment we are, yet again, the only cinema
in Finland to be showing this content.
In my opinion, a small town cinema (and why not all others as well) needs
to be versatile. Not just movies, and not just showing them. What about
a staff member masked as an ape and behaving like one, to take your ticket
at the door for Planet of the Apes? Or a green lantern to sell your ticket
to, surprise, Green Lantern movie? We have seen an outbreak of Smurf fever
(symptoms include uncontrolled smiling, excessive joy in living and blue
spots on facial area) and organized a Harry Potter event for local fans,
complete with broom-flying lessons and getting the audience to shout a
spell together to start the movie. With all this we want to make our audience
expect something more than just the movie. We want to make them feel we
are just as enthusiastic about movies as they are! Simply, we want them
to feel more inclined to come back more often to spend their money having
fun with us.
Also, there is the web. Social media, forums, new marketing opportunities
but also high maintenance. To use such tools, we can’t just put
the information out there and start waiting. We need to be participating,
selling actively. We are competing with so much, and we need to remind
the audience that going to the movies is not only about the movie, it’s
about the experience that you cannot have anywhere else. Sadly, sometimes
we need to remind ourselves to remember this as well.
As we reach out actively to new and existing audiences, we can help each
other adapt to the change that’s constantly going on. To that purpose,
myself and a colleague of mine have opened an online forum for all those
working in the field of making or showing movies, and anything that touches
that field. As we move to the digital age, it’s far better to do
it together instead of each banging our heads on the proverbial wall one
at a time. Someone’s bound to find the door in that wall and let
everybody else know about it.
| All different, all digital by Elisabetta Brunella This column hosts portraits of cinemas in Europe and the rest of the world which are quite different from one another but have in common the fact that they have all adopted digital projection.
Landmark Sunshine
Cinema – New York Elisabetta Brunella This article has been published in the "Giornale
dello Spettacolo" no. 15, 7 October 2011 |
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News on the development
of digitalization in Europe Barco and Nevafilm complete first European 3D audio installation
(Per leggere il testo in italiano cliccare qui)
|
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News from Spain 440,000 euros for digitalization allocated by the Basque government On 18th October last, the Basque government
approved a proposal providing a basis for regulating contributions
to the digitalization of movie theatres in the Autonomous Community
of the Basque Country. |
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Yelmo Cines becomes the first exhibitor in Spain fully digital Yelmo Cines, Spain’s leading
exhibitor, is the first in the country to become 100% digital. |
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YMAGIS signs agreement for digital cinema deployment with Spanish independent distributors Baditri S. L and Olwyn Films S. L. Ymagis has signed an agreement in
Spain for digital cinema deployment with distributors Baditri S.
L. and Olwyn Films S. L. The first movie distributed
by Baditri in digital format following this agreement was Transgression
by Enric Alberich, released on 21st October. |
The
American spectator does not live from multiplexes alone. Proof of
this is the good fortune of a cinema like New York’s Landmark
Sunshine, situated in Lower Manhattan in a brick building built
in 1844 to house the Dutch Reformed Church and later used for various
other functions: as a cinema, a theatre, a warehouse. Since its
radical transformation, lasting over a year, in 2001, five screens
have emerged, three of which with stadium seating, capable of accommodating
between 118 and 284 for a total of 830 spectators, preceded by a
roomy foyer equipped with a bar. Tickets are bought on the sidewalk
under a marquee lit by a myriad of small light bulbs. With a look
suggesting the ‘Twenties, the golden age of movie palaces,
and, most importantly, its decidedly arthouse programming based
on a mixture of independent American films and foreign-language
productions screened with subtitles, as well as a wide selection
of documentaries, the Sunshine attracts customers with sophisticated
tastes amongst the residents of Lower East Side. “Our audiences
are ‘arty’,” says Mandy Moncayo the young and
dynamic manager of the cinema, “just like this neighbourhood.”
The price of the ticket is more or less the same as in big complexes:
thirteen dollars for each screening from the first, at 11.45 a.m.,
to the last, at 10 p.m. A customer loyalty card gives a free screening
for every ten tickets purchased. The classics, on offer at midnight
Fridays and Saturdays, are sold at ten dollars. For those who wish
to purchase online from the webpage there is an extra charge of
one dollar. Facebook and Twitter are the tools the Sunshine uses
to keep in touch with those who belong to its Film Club and whom
it targets with special initiatives. “We offer a large number
of events, such as thematic screenings for Christmas or other occasions,
as well as advance screenings with actors present, in collaboration
with distributors, particularly for the Hollywood productions our
audiences are likely to appreciate. But we don’t sell these
events: access to our red carpet is by invitation only,” adds
Mandy. As for technology, the Sunshine reflects the approach of
the mother company: for Landmark – the arthouse chain boasting
245 screens in 21 U.S. cities – the transition to digital
proceeds “cautiously”. Thus, in its Lower Manhattan
complex two digital projectors have been installed so far, a Barco
2K and a Sony 4K. For the moment no 3D.
At
the Jam Hall cinema in St Petersburg, Barco and Nevafilm have installed
Auro-3D, a truly immersive audio technology reproducing sound in
3D so that it comes from above and all around the spectator.
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