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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Topic: DCIP actually does something (maybe?)
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Scott Norwood
Film God
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Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 10-01-2008 02:21 AM
From the Wall Street Journal
They don't say what happens when this generation of projectors becomes obsolete and needs to be replaced. Presumably, the exhibitors get stuck with the total bill.
quote:
Studios Back Plan to Finance Rollout Of Digital Cinema Equipment
LOS ANGELES – A consortium of movie exhibitors is expected to announce Wednesday that it has obtained the backing of a total of five Hollywood studios for a plan to help finance the rollout of digital cinema equipment in U.S. theaters, according to people familiar with the matter, giving it the critical mass it needs to make products like 3-D cinema widely available.
Though the transformation to digital projectors in theaters has been discussed for a decade, only in the past few months have a number of Hollywood's biggest studios signed onto the project. On Wednesday, the consortium is expected to announce that Lion's Gate Entertainment Corp. has joined the four studios which had previously supported the plan: Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures, News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox, General Electric Co.'s Universal Pictures and the Walt Disney Co. News Corp. also owns Dow Jones Co., Inc., publisher of The Wall Street Journal.
The consortium of theater owners, which is called the Digital Cinema Implementation Partners and includes Regal Entertainment Group, Cinemark Holdings Inc. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., has been eager to add the technology but hasn't wanted to bear the cost alone. Under the agreement, the studios will help defray the $1 billion it will cost to install the expensive digital projection equipment.
Under the DCIP plan, the three big chains will be able to outfit several thousand of their combined 15,000 screens next year with the technology, with a goal of converting almost all in three to four years. It costs around $70,000 to outfit a screen with digital projectors.
DCIP officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Digital projection would cut millions of dollars in annual costs for the studios by eliminating the need for film prints. It would give theater owners more flexibility to move films on and off the screens they operate. Digital projectors are also crucial to the rollout of equipment needed for 3-D movies, which Hollywood is increasingly planning to produce.
Under the DCIP plan, the three big chains will be able to outfit several thousand of their combined 15,000 screens next year with the technology, with a goal of converting almost all in three to four years. It costs around $70,000 to outfit a screen with digital projectors.
The financing package, totaling $1 billion, will be led by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., and paid for over eight to 10 years. Private equity firm Blackstone is also involved in the financing, according to people familiar with the details of Wednesday's announcement.
Earlier this month, Universal Pictures and Disney agreed to throw their backing behind DCIP, though Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. studio and Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures will not be involved in DCIP at this time. Warner Bros. couldn't be reached for comment.
The studios will pay their share by contributing the money they would have spent on movie prints -- about $800 to $1,000 per film -- in the form of a so-called virtual print fee. The participating studios are promising to provide a digital print of their movies for each screen that converts to digital. The studios' total annual contribution would vary depending on how many movies each company releases per year.
The Hollywood studios' payoff comes later. Once the equipment is rolled out and their financing obligations are done, digital distribution of movies will cost just pennies per digital "print." The rollout of digital cinema has also been complicated by competing technologies.
Sony Corp.'s electronics unit is trying to get theaters to adopt its own digital technology. It is expected to announce on Thursday that it has entered into its own agreement with Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount, to provide exhibitors with Sony's own digital projector system, according to people familiar with the matter.
That group plans to roll out Sony "4K SXRD" projectors in theaters in North America, Asia and Europe, according these people. Sony's projectors have more than 4000 pixels per horizontal line. Most digital projectors on the market are 2K, meaning they have more than 2000 pixels per horizontal line. Specific details of the rollout and financing have not been disclosed. A Sony spokesman, Tom Di Nome, said that Sony is "working to finalize digital cinema agreements with Sony Pictures Entertainment, Fox and Paramount for a planned announcement."
While the long-term cost savings have been an incentive to participate, the move toward digital cinema has finally picked up steam recently, thanks to interest in a new generation of high-tech 3-D movies that has been billed by some as a key to keeping the theatrical film business healthy. Several movies, such as "Journey to the Center of the Earth," have taken in considerably more revenue on 3-D than expected, getting both studios and theater owners more interested in converting screens to digital, the first step in most 3-D set-ups. —Sarah McBride contributed to this article.
Write to Peter Sanders at peter.sanders@wsj.com
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Tony Bandiera Jr
Film God
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Posts: 3067
From: Moreland Idaho
Registered: Apr 2004
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posted 10-05-2008 12:12 AM
Jhawk, That's true and the items you mentioned are quite successful and of great quality. But remember that the output of those devices will interface readily with virtually any monitor or display device. And I do believe that Sony is not the only maker of Betacam, digicam and HDcam tape.
But as for the projectors...what about 4k? Is it going to be something that ONLY Sony's servers will interface with?
My big issue is that it will become an albatross like Beta home VCRS, and to some extent SDDS, and historically any format or system that tries to be exclusive will fail in the marketplace, with very rare exceptions.
In the article in the original post, if a theatre chain signs on with Sony's proposal, does that mean they can only play digital content from Fox and Paramount? That's how it looks from here, even if the hardware does support other studio's product. I can see a conflict where Fox and/or Paramount places pressure on the exhibitors to play thier product over someone elses.
This kind of thing, and the fact that digital projector technology keeps evolving, meaning that this 4k machine will become obsolete when the 8k machines come out, all make me maintain that the industry is extremely stupid to push for a technology with few tangible benefits(*) when we already have a world-wide standard in 35mm that is more than adequate to the task. The only ones who profits from this are the studios in saving film costs. Everyone else, including the fine projectionists here and the paying public, get the royal
* And don't give me any lines of crap like Oh, with we can run alternate content at our cinemas like sports events, etc. Any person with common sense will either pay to go to the event or watch it at home, with drinks and food not a problem, rather than trek to a cinema and pay through the nose. Alternate content is NOT going to save the cinema industry. Better quality of films (artistically and maintaing higher standards of FILM projection) along with closing the window to DVD will help bolster the cinema industry. Any thing else is just more
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Bruce Hansen
Jedi Master Film Handler
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Posts: 847
From: Stone Mountain, GA, USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 10-05-2008 01:05 PM
Another thing that the marketing morons have not figured out, is that 3D has come and gone several times already. I think that one of the main reasons, is that most 3D movies are made just to show off 3D effects, and the movie itself sucks. At first people will go to see this, because it's new and different; but will stop going when the 3D new-ness has worn off, and they figure out that there is nothing to the movies themselves. It sounds like to studios are betting a lot on something that is not going to last.
I think they are also thinking about the life of a 35MM projector, not the life of a video projector. Due to the constant march of technology, and the (I believe) shorter life of a video projector, I think the 8 to 10 year pay off is way too long.
This whole thing is greed based. Greed is an emotion. When you make a decision based on emotions, you are not using your intellect. Emotional decisions are always wrong decisions.
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Geena Phillips
Expert Film Handler
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Posts: 198
From: Norcross, GA / USA
Registered: Apr 2006
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posted 10-15-2008 12:43 AM
quote: And don't give me any lines of crap like Oh, with [dlp] we can run alternate content at our cinemas like sports events, etc. Any person with common sense will either pay to go to the event or watch it at home, with drinks and food not a problem, rather than trek to a cinema and pay through the nose.
Honestly, Tony, listen to what you're saying. All issues with digital cinema aside, do you seriously mean to advance the notion that a business which is able to offer more to its customers is NOT improving its position in the marketplace? Even without digital, or so much as basic video, projection, we've managed to do pretty well on booking non-theatrical events and presentations.
And you couldn't be more wrong about sporting events, especially for venues that have good food and drink options. I saw the SuperBowl at an AMC location in 1999, and even with the crappy video presentation there was back then, and free admission (which is generally assumed to bring out the cheapskates), that place couldn't keep food and drink orders filled fast enough.
For smaller venues, especially those stiff competition from the big chains like we have here, alternate content can be a VERY lucrative proposition. Digital projection is just one more tool to make theatres attractive to those customers.
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