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

International Edition No. 77 - year 6 -
23 December 2011

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NEW APPOINTMENTS

Following its meeting on Saturday 10th December, the Executive Committee has appointed Luigi Grispello President of MEDIA Salles, the Finnish member Tero Koistinen as Vice President and the English member Mike Vickers as Treasurer.
A new member, Ron Sterk, Director of NVB (Nederlandse Vereniging Van Bioscoopexploitanten), the Dutch Exhibitors’ Association, was also welcomed.
The meeting was held in Amsterdam, the city which will be hosting the course “DigiTraining Plus: European Cinemas Experiencing New Technologies” from 29 August to 2 September 2012. In Amsterdam the MEDIA Salles committee members met representatives of the Dutch partners for the course, including NVB and the EYE Film Institute, to decide on the main content of the course’s new edition – its ninth – which will be held at a crucial point for digitalisation in Europe: in 2012 over 50% of European cinemas will prove to be equipped with the new projection technologies.

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NEWS ON DIGITALISATION WORLDWIDE
by Francesca Mesiano

THE WORLD’S DIGITAL “TIPPING POINT”
Texas Instruments and DLP Cinema™ announced last 7 December that over 50,000 screens worldwide are now equipped with digital projection systems.
This means that at this point digital conversion has crossed the watershed with over 50% of the world’s screens digitalized. Complete conversion is foreseen for the end of 2015.

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DIGITAL MILANO

AMBROGINO D’ORO AWARD TO MILAN’S CINEMA MEXICO
“NUMBER 57, VIA SAVONA IS THE ADDRESS FOR FANS OF INDEPENDENT AND ART-HOUSE CINEMA.
THIS IS A THEATRE THAT DOES NOT SCREEN THROWAWAY FILMS – ONE WEEK’S PROGRAMMING AND STRAIGHT ON TO A NEW FILM. INSTEAD IT FOCUSES ON FILMS THAT TAKE TIME TO BE DISCOVERED, PROBABLY RECOMMENDED BY WORD OF MOUTH, AS HAPPENED WITH “LE VENT FAIT SON TOUR” AND ABOVE ALL WITH THE “ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW”, WHICH HAS RUN WITHOUT A BREAK AT THE MEXICO FOR 30 YEARS.
THE DEUS EX MACHINA OF ALL THIS IS ANTONIO SANCASSANI, OWNER-MANAGER OF THE CINEMA MEXICO.”

This was the motivation given, when Milan’s Cinema Mexico received the City’s certificate of Civic Merit during the ceremony for the 2011 “Ambrogini d’Oro” awards.
The award, whose name is inspired by Saint Ambrose, patron saint of Milan, represents a prestigious acknowledgement for Antonio Sancassani’s Mexico to be proud of, recognizing its role in Milanese cultural life, as a landmark for those who are fans of quality and art-house cinema.
At the same time, it means acknowledgement for the Italian cinemas in general: it is, in fact, the first time an Ambrogino d’Oro has been awarded to a cinema.

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THE FIRST NIGHT OF THE SCALA AT THE CINEMA THANKS TO DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
As every year, on 7 December, the day of Sant’Ambrogio (Saint Ambrose), the Teatro alla Scala opened its opera season. This time a performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, directed by Daniel Baremboim, marked the inauguration.
Thanks to digital technology, the most important event in the Milanese opera calendar was broadcast live, via satellite, to 150 Italian cinemas.
It is estimated that at least 35,000 spectators were present in Italian film theatres. Also connected were 200 cinemas in Europe and as many again in the USA.

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EUROPE

CREATIVE EUROPE
The European Commission’s new programme for the cultural and creative sectors was announced on 23 November 2011, with a proposed budget of 1.8 billion euros for the period 2014-2020 (with an increase of 37% on current spending levels).
Built on the experience and success of the Culture and MEDIA Programmes, which have supported the cultural and audiovisual sectors for more than twenty years, the new programme will allocate about 900 million euros to support for the cinema and audiovisual sector.

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DIGITALIZATION GROWS IN EUROPEAN CIRCUITS
Cinestar, leading German exhibition chain, has signed an agreement whereby Arts Alliance Media becomes the exclusive supplier of digital technology for complexes managed by companies linked to Greater Union.
The agreement is financed by Amalgamated Holdings Limited (AHL), the Australian company that controls Greater Union, and aims to convert up to 450 screens over a two-year period.
Thanks to VPF agreements with AAM, AHL will see most of the initial costs recovered through payments from distributors using digital systems. AAM will manage the VPF agreements with the distributors and also provide the theatre and library management systems at the CineStar venues involved.

In November the Odeon & UCI Cinemas group signed an agreement with Arts Alliance Media (AAM) for the supply of theatre management systems in Germany, Austria and Italy, covering a total of 65 sites and 661 screens.
Using private investments and direct contracts with all six of the Hollywood majors, Odeon UCI
had already financed the digitalization through Digital Deployment Associates Limited (DDAL).
On the basis of the DDAL contracts, the Group had already installed digital systems on 475 screens on the three markets and will complete the full conversion by mid-2012.

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AGREEMENT BETWEEN FTT DIGITAL CINEMA ITALIA AND NEC DISPLAY SOLUTIONS
At the end of November an important agreement was sealed between NEC Display Solutions and FTT Digital Cinema Italia for distribution on the Italian market.
Film Ton Technik Hannsdieter Ruettgers GmbH (FTT) is a German company affiliated to the XDC Group and present in many European countries.
On the panorama of radical change brought about by the shift to digital technology appearances have been made on the one hand by NEC with its range of NC projectors (4 different DCI-approved projectors, including a 4K model) and on the other by FTT with sales, installation and maintenance services.

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THE POLISH FILM INSTITUTE SUPPORTS DIGITALISATION OF ARTHOUSE CINEMAS IN POLAND
The Polish Film Institute, in collaboration with the National Film Archive, supports Polish Digital Cinemas Network, a program that came into being with the aim of assisting Polish cinemas (in particular arthouse theatres) in their conversion to digital technology.
The cinemas belonging to the Network (31 today) are equipped with avantgarde digital projectors. Being also members of SKSiL Local and Arthouse Cinema Network, their essential objective is to promote Polish films.

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C-KINO.PL WEBSITE LAUNCHED
At the end of November c-kino.pl, a website devoted to the Polish Digital Cinemas Network, was launched, to provide information, available in Polish and English, on cinemas belonging to the Network.

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ASIA

DIGITALISATION IN CHINA
The Beijing Film Company, a state enterprise operating in film production, distribution and exhibition, with over 70 cinemas in China, has signed a contract for the installation of four different models of Barco digital projectors.

HONG KONG MOVES TOWARDS FULL DIGITALISATION
Today, around 90% of Hong Kong’s screens have already shifted to digital technology.
14 of the major Hong Kong distributors have signed a VPF agreement with GDC Technology for digital distribution in cinemas.
The distributors, who include Broadway Circuit, Ma On Shan Classic Cinema and UA Cinemas, will be paying the VPF in order to speed up digital conversion in Hong Kong.

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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.

Cinema Teatro Pedretti, Morbegno (SO)

The opinion of a fond spectator on her trusted local cinema
by Francesca Mesiano

At the word “cinema” anyone who has grown up in Valtellina – a winter sports venue in the heart of the Alps, famous above all for its mountains, which are the birthplace of ski champions like Deborah Compagnoni and Giorgio Rocca – cannot fail to call to mind immediately the Cinema Teatro Pedretti in Morbegno, which conserves the discreet fascination of an almost family place in our imagination. Personally. I grew up in the Pedretti, from the interminable box-office queues for Titanic at the age of 12, right up to the recent introduction of digital.
Its status as a local “institution” is well reflected in practice both in its position, in Piazza Mattei – one of the main, and certainly liveliest, squares in the centre of Morbegno – and, above all, in the building, which in itself represents a snippet of history. An ex-convent of the Capuchin Fathers dating from 1600, it was requisitioned by Napoleon and transformed into a military storehouse, then reduced to a timber warehouse, subsequently falling to rack and ruin until the end of the Eighteen hundreds.
In 1890, however, it gained new life as a building consecrated to art, becoming a town theatre (Teatro Sociale) and finally assuming its present form at the end of the last century, thanks to Armando Pedretti.
The recent installation (dated August 2010) of the digital projection equipment completes the story, representing a decisive encounter with modernity and accompanying the Pedretti, the leading film theatre in the province of Sondrio, towards the new and ever more stimulating experience of digital cinema and 3D technology.
Roberto Gasperi, the Pedretti’s manager, proudly shows me the “Biglietto d’Oro” (Golden ticket)* awarded for the 2008/2009 single-screen category and talks with enthusiasm about the new system, convinced that the future of the cinema lies in digital technology and 3D and that it is essential, even for a provincial cinema, to keep up-to-date with new developments in order to offer its audiences the best possible service. Passing from the building and its history to the actual experience of a spectator at the Pedretti, we can stock up on popcorn and soft drinks to enter the auditorium – a total of 424 seats, 224 in the stalls and 140 in the balconies – and gain our spacious and comfortable armchair seats upholstered in dark-coloured velvet.
At this stage, after ads devoted to the widest range of business enterprises in the area - accompanied each time by the same background compilation – the lights are dimmed, then extinguished, and we can enjoy the success of the moment on the new digital screen.
Naturally, as we are in a provincial area, and since the cinema only has one auditorium, some films are often not screened or arrive here with some delay compared to their theatrical release in the country’s cinemas, but the managers have come to an effective compromise in their choice of programming between the demands of marketing and personal taste. This means that especially at times that are far from the “Christmas boom” – during which the “cine-panettone” (Christmas-cake cinema) film, whether domestic or foreign, of the year is regularly offered and repeated, a pleasant variety of screenings can be enjoyed.
To sum up, thanks to its history and the care taken by its managers to offer the tools of modern film exhibition, despite the local dimension, the Cinema Teatro Pedretti continues to stand as an important landmark for local culture, as well as being the trusty local cinema for the town’s citizens.

*The Biglietto d’Oro (Golden Ticket) is awarded each year by the Anec (the Italian exhibitors’ association) to various categories of cinemas monitored by Cinetel, which have recorded the highest number of spectators in the past cinema season.

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I have been working at ACEC (Area Catalana d’Exhibició Cinematogràfica) since 1999. I am part of the team dedicated to the programming of the screens belonging to the chain based in Spain. I am also a member of the Intellectual Property Commission of FECE. And I collaborate in the programming of FECINEMA, a Festival that takes place in Manresa (Barcelona) annually.

My view on digital cinema is that it is a reality and has reached a point of no return. Now that the step has been taken, we should focus on the many advantages, leaving behind the small disadvantages that we must accept.

We cannot deny that the Cinema Industry is a sector that has stayed loyal to its principles for too long when compared to other sectors. This is why many are afraid of the digital world. We are all aware of the issue of expiry dates. Technology is already obsolete the minute it is installed.

I must also add that in the crisis the sector is experiencing, due to several specific threats and the state of world affairs in general, the expenditure required is a worrying factor. Not to mention the new actors that have sprung up, the integrators. The latter have become a relief in a way, yet created alarming dependence in another.

But, let’s focus on the advantages. From the programming point of view, which is the side of the business I know best, digitalization brings many advantages, which accompany a change in the exhibitor’s mentality and obviously also in the distributor’s.

First of all, the very easy access to copies. The original promise of all cinemas with an integrator having the desired copies makes no sense because this wouldn’t change the business model but become a way to destroy it. However, it is a fact that cheaper copies – nowadays the VPF increases the price of the copy to the distributor - will make it possible to reach more cinemas in the long run.

Above all, programming can be improved when it comes down to versatility: the chance to have more than one film loaded in different versions; the alternative content that provides advantages; a diversified offer of events that not only enriches the programming but can get rid of the many dead times in the cinema; the chance to provide double programming, rediscovering old versions (the role of the marketing department is also very important when it comes to creating exceptional events). It is a good time to recover the copyrights of many old titles, which can find their place with not too expensive copies and, especially, be offered in good condition.

Obviously, advantages do not come only from the programming side. The advantages in logistics and the quality of the copies is another fact that deserves attention:

A hard disc with KDM is infinitely more operational than the old 35mm copies, not to mention coming improvements like the smart jog that will enhance it even more in the future. Moreover, the intangibility of the product is also a reality and it also makes us much more dependent on technical support that is not physically available in the cinema. However, this service is taking gigantic steps forward.

There is also the image quality, even though it cannot be immediately appreciated by the viewer, where it will be made clear in the long run that the quality offered is far superior.

However, I insist this has to be a team effort between owners of the screens and distributors. I believe that although digitalization means a substantial improvement in the quality of the services offered and is a necessary step to be taken by the sector, we cannot forget that our main worry will still be to have the audience that appreciates the social value of cinema-going.

 
Educational Background
I have a degree in Law and another one in Art History (Universitat de Barcelona). Erasmus in Montpellier (Université Paul Valéry). I hold a postgraduate degree in Management of Cultural Institutions, Companies and Platforms (Universitat Pompeu Fabra). I also followed the specialisation modules in Intellectual Property, Audiovisual Law and Concurrence Defense and Unfair Competition organised by ESADE University.

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MEDIA Salles’ contacts and address

MEDIA Salles
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Tel.: +39.02.6739781 - Fax: +39.02.6690410
E-mail: infocinema@mediasalles.it
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