“It’s like nothing we have ever seen before,” said Graham Spurling, the owner of Movies @ Cinemas, one of Ireland’s largest cinema chains. “The rule book has been ripped apart. But look, we have got to keep positive. We will see good times again.” He’s not the self-proclaimed World’s Greatest Showman for nothing. Full disclosure, I consider him to be my friend.
Christie today announced that, for the twelfth year in a row, it is the proud sponsor of the Shanghai International Film Festival, which runs July 25 to August 2. This will be the first major international film festival to be held in China since the COVID-19 outbreak at the beginning of this year.
The Hollywood Professional Association has announced details of its Industry Recovery Task Force Virtual Global Town Hall, set for Wednesday, July 29 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PDT. The Industry Recovery Task Force was formed in May of this year as a critical HPA Board initiative, aimed at understanding how content creation can be enabled in a world impacted by the pandemic crisis. This is the first in a series of virtual Industry Recovery Task Force global town hall events planned for the following months and will feature major voices from the creative, health and political arenas. Industry veteran and IRTF chair Leon Silverman and HPA Board member Craig German will co-chair the event.
Rooftop Films, in partnership with Museum of the Moving Image, the New York Hall of Science, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation, has announced the opening of two drive-in festival locations in New York City. The Queens Drive-In will open in partnership with MoMI and NYSCI on the grounds of the New York Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The Brooklyn Drive-In opened this past weekend on the pier of The Brooklyn Army Terminal, in partnership with NYCEDC. Both venues will present films throughout the summer and fall of 2020.
South Korean exhibitor Megabox has opened that country’s first Dolby Cinema at its Megabox COEX theatre in southern Seoul.
When Chicago-based Periscope Post & Audio launched its Hollywood facility last year, it was targeting Southern California’s boom in film and television production. But the building that houses Periscope, previously occupied by another full service post house, needed a serious upgrade. Enter sound studio specialist Kaiser Comm Construction. Today the 22,000-square-foot facility offers complete sound and picture finishing resources tailored to meet today’s highest standards, especially among streaming services like Netflix and Amazon, which often require shows delivered in high dynamic range with immersive Dolby Atmos soundtracks.
STMPD Recording Studios in Amsterdam recently completed an extensive three-year renovation, bringing its total number of studios to eight, including a 135 square-meter Dolby Atmos Premier Studio. With just nine Dolby Atmos Premier studios in the world, and only two others in Europe, STMPD recording studios joins a very exclusive club.
The Lavazza Drive-In Film Festival at Toronto’s Ontario Place is set for July 20-31. The festival, which is sponsored by Christie Digital Systems, is co-hosted by the Italian Contemporary Film Festival and presented by IC Savings and CHIN Radio/TV. Moviegoers will be able to enjoy a curated selection of films from countries hardest hit by COVID-19, in a safe, socially distanced environment.
IMAX today expanded its longstanding partnership with Wanda Cinema in China by signing a 20-theatre agreement. Under the deal, Wanda will upgrade to IMAX with Laser technology at ten of its top-grossing IMAX locations and install ten IMAX systems at new locations throughout the country.
When Los Angeles-based cinematographer Quyen Tran was selected to shoot the new film Palm Springs she knew she had a short production schedule, which made her pre-production planning even more critical than usual.
