The Big Picture

The first speakers have been confirmed for the Digital Cinema Summit scheduled for February 6, 2019 at the Okura Hotel in Amsterdam the Netherlands. Created by Digital Cinema Report in conjunction with Integrated Systems Europe, the theme of the half-day event is Transforming the Moviegoing Experience.

Technology fails. Anyone reading this article knows that even better than I do. That’s been a fact of life in the motion picture business from the earliest days. Film jammed in cameras and projectors, light bulbs burned out unexpectedly, and sound systems malfunctioned for no apparent reason. In each case, the people involved addressed the problem and moved on. Thankfully, technology today is more robust and reliable than ever before and when something goes wrong it’s often easier to fix than ever before. But technology isn’t always the issue. Increasingly in today’s competitive entertainment environment, the important issue is customer relations.

The motion picture industry convenes April 22-26 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas for the sixth edition of CinemaCon. Vegas has always struck me as the perfect place for the National Association of Theatre Owners to holds its annual convention because the movie business itself is a gamble: for every movie that wins big there are too many others that don’t. Meanwhile, in a world of ever-increasing competition, exhibitors have to find enough steady customers to maintain and, ideally, grow their business. Then there is technology. Today most of the movie theatres in the world operate on a digital platform, which means that a Pandora’s box of technology enhancements are there for the taking. There are a wide range of choices that can boost movie theatre attendance, productivity and profitability. But which ones are right for your theatre? Choosing the right technology and, paying for it, is the challenge. Success requires understanding the opportunities.

Screen actors convey emotion in several ways: their voices, their eyes and the subtle color changes of their facial skin. But what if – as in the case of Gary Oldman’s Oscar-winning performance in Darkest Hour – much of their face is covered in silicone? That was one of the key questions Peter Doyle, supervising colorist at Technicolor, addressed when he collaborated on the film’s palette.