John Fithian, president and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners and Mitch Neuhauser, managing director of the trade show CinemaCon have issued a joint memo to the industry offering an update regarding the impact the Coronavirus or COVID-19 is having on CinemaCon 2020, set to convene March 30 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. In doing so they made one thing clear: as of now, CinemaCon 2020 will go on as planned.
The ISE Digital Cinema Summit convenes Wednesday, February 12 at the Okura Hotel in Amsterdam the Netherlands. The central question of the event is: where do movies and movie theatres fit in the 21st century? The theme of the half-day event is The Changing Cineplex. During the event we will highlight how advances in digital cinema technology are reshaping movie theatres and the entire movie-going experience.
The speakers are set for the second annual Digital Cinema Summit to be held February 12 at the Hotel Okura in Amsterdam the Netherlands. The theme of the half-day event is The Changing Cineplex. During the event we will highlight how advances in digital cinema technology are reshaping movie theatres and the entire movie-going experience. Digital Cinema Report readers can get thirty percent off the registration fee by using this code: DCS 419882.
Given the state of the motion picture business today it hardly seems possible that in 2010 a significant number of movie theatres were still running film projectors and that many exhibitors were reluctant to make the transition to digital cinema technology. A lot has changed in the past ten years – digital cinema’s second decade – change that was driven almost entirely by new technology. While predicting what the next decade will bring is all but impossible, I feel safe in saying that moving forward the exhibition business will be increasingly interactive, immersive and local. I also feel safe in saying that eSports and content from companies such as Netflix will both play major roles in exhibition before the new decade comes to a close. And China’s role in all of this seems all but certain to get even more complicated. But let’s begin our look back at the past decade with Avatar, the movie that arguably jumpstarted everything.
Following the successful debut earlier this year of the first event, Digital Cinema Report, in conjunction with Integrated Systems Europe is presenting the second Digital Cinema Summit February 12, 2020 at the Okura Hotel in Amsterdam the Netherlands.
Combining one of the oldest architectural designs in the Western world – the amphitheatre – with some of the most advanced motion picture exhibition technology available today may sound like a great idea for a new movie theatre. Applying that concept to an existing theatre, though, makes the challenge seem truly daunting. But that’s exactly what happened when B&B Theatres acquired an old movie house in Overland Park, Kansas and set about the work of making it their own. The result is the world’s second largest ScreenX auditorium and its first ScreenX Amphitheatre, complete with a unique approach to the DTS:X sound system.
The competition for entertainment dollars is a constant challenge, especially for emerging theatre chains. Finding locations with a high discretionary income and offering a unique experience enables them to compete against larger, more established chains. Flix Brewhouse, for one, is not shy about letting customers boast about the good times they have at their theatres. To achieve its social media goals and grow its customer rewards program, The Circle, the exhibitor turned to Social Flash Media.
The Star Cinema Grill in Richmond, Texas, a Houston suburb, made history in June when it installed the largest Samsung Onyx LED Cinema Screen in North America. Now that a few weeks have passed, I wanted to get a sense of how the screen was working, how moviegoers were responding to it and, also, to learn more about the challenges that went into installing such new technology. To do that I spoke with several of the key players involved in the selection, purchase, installation and operation of the Onyx screen.
As is widely known, Dolby Atmos immersive sound technology debuted in June 2012 with the release of Disney-Pixar’s hit film Brave. Two years later Dolby introduced its premium large format theatre concept Dolby Cinema, which incorporates Dolby Atmos sound with Dolby Vision high dynamic range images, luxury seating and other custom design features. This month, another Disney-Pixar movie, Toy Story 4, opened in Dolby Cinemas across the globe, one of several high profile films set for release this year. I recently spoke with Dolby’s Michael Archer, vice president, worldwide cinema sales, and Jed Harmsen, vice president, cinema and content solutions about the Dolby Atmos experience and where the technology goes from here.
Am I alone in thinking that filmmakers and exhibitors have embraced the digital cinema transition with more enthusiasm, creativity and intelligence than the Hollywood studios? Given that Hollywood started the drive to digital, that would be incredibly ironic. I ask this because, last week in Vanity Fair, Nicole Sperling wrote a fascinating article about the current debate apparently raging in Hollywood over the question: what is a movie? But the article raised a different question for me: in the second decade of the digital cinema era, what is a movie theatre?
