MINDSHARE
TW EDITORIAL
Sound Just as digital multichannel surround sound, when it was introduced in the 1990s, settled on two competing formats, Dolby and DTS, the next generation of digital sound that is now trending across the world, is settling on two competing formats, Dolby Atmos and Barco Auro. For sure there are other formats with their hats in the ring but Dolby and Barco have taken an early lead. Since the turn of this century, when additional channels for audio height were first mooted, cinema sound has been looking for the next frontier but it only now, in this decade, digital sound is taking its next big leap … into 3D sound ... as it is commonly known. With the production community and recording studios accepting these formats the die is cast, and hence with software (movies with 3D sound tracks) being available, exhibition cannot ignore Atmos and Auro any longer. In India a few cinemas, especially in South India that has always been a pioneer on the technology front, have wired for Barco Auro. The trend started with Sathyam Chennai and has now spread not only in Chennai but other cities of South like Madurai, Trichy in Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad, Mysore in other states.
Picture Like 3D sound, the cinema picture is trending towards 4K and it is only a matter of time before the world’s state-of-the-art cinema multiplexes and art-houses switch
to this format. This too will become mainstream soon. Barco has just launched what it claims to be the first postproduction 4K projector for the studios. So from the backend to the frontend, the entire value chain is now a pure 4K. From moviemakers to audiences, all can experience pristine, super-sharp images.
Some other interesting notes … Jurassic Park that set the trend in cinema surround sound is now being released in 3D to set the trend in both 3D picture and sound … The first Imax movie from India’s Bollywood is going to be Dhoom3 that will be released on Imax screens alongside normal screens. It’s never been a better time to be in the cinema exhibition business. We live in exciting times as history gets re-written. Stay tuned!
CinemaCon 2013 CinemaCon is the greatest show on earth … for our community … period! You can miss other shows but not CinemaCon. The scale, the grandeur, the product is just awesome and so relevant to the
industry. It is the biggest gathering of production, distribution, exhibition and technology in the world. Essentially a North American show, CinemaCon attracts visitors from around the globe, all the continents. The seminars are huge events spread across giant ballrooms as are the food functions, usually three-course sit-down banquets. Wine and cheese flow freely as does the conversation with networking opportunities the highlight of the show. New releases and technology demonstrations are state-of-the-art with Hollywood’s top talent giving their views, live on-the-spot in-your-face. The whole industry does its research all through the year for a possible launch at CinemaCon. The tradeshow of theatre equipment is a maze of aisles and halls, difficult to complete in the allotted three days. CinemaCon is also a marvel of creative planning and flawless execution. One after the other the events flow super-smooth and with precision punctuality. Crowd control and security checks are seamless that overall leads to a very pleasant and wow experience. If you are somebody in the cinema business, especially exhibition, make sure you make this annual pilgrimage. See you at CinemaCon 2013 … being held at Ceasars Palace, Las Vegas… from 15 to 18 April 2013!
Sandeep Mittal
Editor / Publisher
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Issue # 58 March-April 2013
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INSTALLS TW-22
Clancy D'souza - Marketing +91 98925 04871
Germany’s Cinema with
Revolutionary Sound Technology! TW-23 New Look to Dallas TW-26
Sony 4K to Digitise Content TW-27
TECHNOLOGY
Naga Bhanu M - Online Kavitha K - Sales Co-ordinator Contributing Writer Jim Slater, Cinema Technology, UK
Something Really Special...
in 3D, HFR and Dolby Atmos TW-33 Bringing Dolby Atmos to the Empire
CINEMA SYSTEMS TW-37
Sandeep Mittal - Editorial
True Movie Stars do Great Things -
Above All Backstage TW-29
raghav@sandy.in
Yashodhara S - Production & Circulation
Alcons C-series for
NBCUniversal Screening Rooms
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Norden Farm Selects
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Printing Ramya Reprographic, Bengaluru Published by Sandeep Mittal on behalf of Sandy Media 32/2, Sonnenahalli Industrial Layout, Off Whitefield Road, Mahadevpura, Bengaluru 560 048, India Phone +9180 4115 0982, 2852 4177 info@sandy.in www.theatreworld.in
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Sony Digital Cinema 4K SRX-R515P Projection System Achieves Full Compliance with DCI Specification Sony Corporation announced that its new, fourth-generation digital cinema 4K projection system successfully completed the full range of compliance tests for specifications required by Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC (DCI). Sony's SRXR515P projection system, including projector and Integrated Media Block (IMB), has passed all DCI compliance tests. Sony was accredited under the DCI specification for its "integrated projection systems." These systems are based on the ground-breaking Sony 4K projector that can present ultra-high-resolution images (8.85 million pixels, four times as many as 2K) and a fully Integrated Media Block (IMB) for the secure management of digital cinema content. In March 2011, Sony became the industry's first manufacturer to successfully complete the full range of compliance tests for specifications required by DCI, when both the SRXR220/LMT-200 and SRX-320/LMT-300 integrated systems, including projector and media block, were certified. Sony remains the industry leader in 4K digital cinema solutions and 4K entertainment technology worldwide. The Sony SRX-R515P digital projection system delivers high quality 4K resolution images with an industry leading contrast ratio averaging 8000:1. The SRX-R515P features a new multiple lamp system, achieving low running costs with easy and safe lamp replacement processes, and is designed specifically to meet the needs of exhibitors with smaller screen sizes that are considering conversion from 35mm projection to digital projection. The addition of the SRX-R515P to
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of 4K entertainment devices and content continues to expand rapidly as electronics manufacturers; movie makers and broadcasters develop content and equipment at this higher resolution.
Sony's line of 4K technologies is further evidence of Sony's industryleading innovation in 4K entertainment experiences. The world
The DCI compliance tests for Sony systems were conducted by Research Institute for Digital Media and Content, Keio University, Japan, which is qualified by DCI for compliance testing. The compliance test consists of two parts, a procedural test to confirm if the devices work exactly as prescribed by the DCI Specification and a design evaluation to examine if their security design meets the requirements of the DCI Specification.
CinemaxX and Sony Digital Cinema Finalize VPF Deal Germany's most famous cinema chain, CinemaxX, has officially signed up to a Virtual Print Fee (VPF) Deal with Sony Digital Cinema, which includes all 34 of its venues in Germany and Denmark. To date, 127 CinemaxX screens have been equipped with Sony's 4K digital projection systems and the rest are scheduled to be implemented mid 2013. Christian Gisy, CinemaxX's CEO, said "As we approach the final round of cinema digitization we are very pleased to complete a VPF deal with Sony Digital Cinema. Our decision to install Sony 4K projectors with 3D capability was absolutely right. As
the only major German cinema chain that relies on Sony 4K Projectors, we were able to present the blockbuster release The Hobbit in High Frame Rate (HFR) with just a simple software upgrade allowing the great duel-lens 3D technology of Sony to achieve the best possible 3D image. The resulting immersive images complimented the Hobbit's HFR presentation perfectly. In keeping with our promise of 'more than cinema', our customers enjoy the ultimate cinema experience thanks to Sony Digital Cinema." With Sony's Virtual Print Fee (VPF) program, the transition to digital is easier and more affordable. Sony helps shoulder the costs for cinemas switching to 4K. Sony Digital Cinema works closely with major movie studios and distributors to subsidize the cost of exhibitors' technology transition. Sony's VPF program dramatically cuts
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capital investment and eases the cash flow as the audience enjoys the spectacular benefits of 4K projection from day one. David McIntosh, Director, Sony Europe, commented: "Sony is delighted to partner with CinemaxX to help build on its great reputation in the German market for delivering the best possible cinema experience to its customers. With 4K technology becoming mainstream, this investment by CinemaxX will future proof itself and ensure it's ahead of the industry by installing quality projectors across all of their venues."
Armie Hammer to Receive CinemaCon Male Star of Tomorrow Award Armie Hammer will receive the "CinemaCon Male Star of Tomorrow Award" at this year's CinemaCon, which was announced by the convention's Managing Director Mitch Neuhauser. Hammer will be presented with this special honor at the "CinemaCon Big Screen Achievement Awards" ceremony to take place on April 18, in The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The Coca-Cola Company, the official presenting sponsor of CinemaCon,
will host the final night gala awards program. "Having already received acclaim for his notable supporting roles in such films as 'The Social Network,' Hammer is poised to really break out this year with his starring role as the fictional icon of American culture, The Lone Ranger," noted Neuhauser. "For this reason we cannot think of another talented young actor more deserving of being this year's 'CinemaCon Male Star of Tomorrow.'" Hammer will star this summer in the highly anticipated action-adventure film "The Lone Ranger," to be released by Disney on July 3, 2013. Hammer stars as the title character opposite Johnny Depp's Native American warrior Tonto. Tonto recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid, a man of the law, into The Lone Ranger, a legend of justice, taking the audience on a runaway train of epic surprises and humorous friction as the two unlikely heroes must learn to work together and fight against greed and corruption. A Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer Films presentation, "The Lone Ranger" is directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski, with screen story by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio and Justin Haythe, and screenplay by Justin Haythe and Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio. "The Lone Ranger" also stars Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner, Barry Pepper, James Badge Dale, Ruth Wilson and Helena Bonham Carter. Following his breakout role as the Winklevoss twins in the awardwinning film "The Social Network," Hammer went on to star opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar Hoover biopic "J. Edgar," earning him a 2012 SAG nomination for "Best Supporting Actor" for his portrayal of Clyde Tolson. He also starred as Prince Alcott in "Mirror Mirror," opposite Julia Roberts and Lily Collins in the Tarsem Singh Dhandwar directed film.
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QSC Audio Products Appoints Mark Mayfield as Cinema Marketing Manager QSC Audio Products is pleased to announce that Mark Mayfield has joined the company as Cinema Marketing Manager. In his new role, Mayfield will be responsible for developing and executing marketing programs as well as providing sales and technical support for the acclaimed QSC Cinema line of products. Mark has had a rich career working in the audio industry, working as a recording/live sound engineer, as well as extensive experience in cinema product marketing for firms including Bose Corporation, Harman International (JBL Professional), and Eastern Acoustics Works. Prior to joining QSC, Mayfield has held several editorial positions, launching several major industry trade publications, and has authored dozens of articles and reports on cinema sound and AV technology and their various applications. Mark has presented cinema sound seminars in Europe, Asia, and North America, and is an adjunct faculty member of the InfoComm Academy. Mayfield holds a BS from St. Lawrence University and an MBA from Boston College. "I have spent much of my career focusing on cinema, and I'm thrilled at the opportunity to make a difference in the quality of sound in the cinema marketplace, especially working with a prestigious brand like QSC," says Mayfield. "The team of experienced cinema sound professionals here is unmatched anywhere in the industry, and it's truly an honor to be part of that."
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Fox Theatres in Pennsylvania Goes Digital with Christie Projectors Christie is helping the Fox Berkshire Theatre, enter the modern age of digital cinema, following the complete upgrades of its eight screens exclusively with Christie Solaria Series projectors. Formerly the Wyomissing 8, the facility recently celebrated its return to the Fox Theatres family after being under different management since 1996. The movie house's integrator and one of Christie's preferred partners, Entertainment Supply & Technology (ES&T), selected Christie's Managed Services team to install eight DCIcompliant Christie projectors, including two Christie CP2230s, one Christie CP2220, and five Christie CP2210s. As part of the agreement, Christie's Managed Services team, in addition to projection, provided an integrated hardware package comprised of sound, networking and theatre management systems and will continue to provide onsite technical field services and 24/7 remote monitoring and telephone support through its network operations center. Donald Fox, President of Fox Theatres, has been pleased with the progress. "ES&T was instrumental in readying the facility for the conversion, and in the timely delivery and installation of all the equipment," he said. "Working with Christie's Managed Services team, they had Fox Berkshire up and running in time to show all the holiday blockbusters. Christie projectors wowed our audiences with the exceptional clarity, brilliant colors, and sharpness of the images. They were a hit right from the start." "Fox Theatres has a long history of entertaining the local community, ensuring that movie-goers get the best possible cinematic experience," noted Sean James, vice president, Managed Services, Christie. "ES&T and Christie have always been strong supporters of independent chains like Fox Theatres, which are
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vital to the economic health of the communities they serve." Christie projectors will also feature strongly in the future of Fox Berkshire, according to ES&T, which said it looks forward to installing them at four new screens scheduled to go up in 2013. These include a large-format theatre with a giant screen, which will be added to the complex during the second phase of renovations. Total revitalization plans include adding Dolby Surround 7.1 in all the auditoriums, renovating the lobby, entrance, restrooms, concession stand, and signage, as well as installing new seating in existing rooms. According to Bruce Schneiter, vice president of technical services, ES&T, the smooth installation of Christie projectors was a reflection of the experience and professionalism of ES&T. "We are a strong advocate of performing thorough field checks and site surveys at the client's location prior to the delivery of the equipment, ensuring a perfect match of components, fast and efficient installation, and minimum downtime. "ES&T is committed to helping exhibitors realize their vision of designing modern facilities that reflect the latest innovations in lobby and auditorium design, as well as digital entertainment," Schneiter continued. "Our association with Christie has always been strong, built upon our mutual commitment to providing our customers with the highest quality products and technical support." Added Craig Sholder, vice president,
Entertainment Solutions for Christie: "We are very pleased that Christie projectors were selected to bring the movie-viewing experience to the next level of entertainment for the people of Wyomissing, with cuttingedge technology that includes High Frame Rate (HFR) and 3D digital cinema capabilities. We look forward to continuing our excellent relationship with ES&T to help exhibitors across the country make the move to digital."
XPAND Partners With Presente3D XPAND, the global leader in 3D technology development and deployment has entered into a worldwide distribution agreement with Presente3D, the stereoscopic 3D plug-in for Microsoft PowerPoint, to distribute Presente3D to its education and business customers. Presente3D is an easy to use plug-in for Microsoft PowerPoint 2007/2010/ 2013 that allows users to easily take any Microsoft PowerPoint slide and make it 3D in minutes. The plug-in is integrated directly into Microsoft PowerPoint's ribbon bar where you can easily add Z-Depth (Pop-out/ Pop-in) and thickness to any object on the slide. The software supports all 3DTV's, 3D-enabled projectors and is compatible with XPAND's 3D eyewear and hardware systems. In the latest release of Presente3D, users have the ability to create interactive 3D presentations with the ability to play 3D simulations and 3D videos from a 3D presentation created in Presente3D. "We are happy to be working with a 3D industry leader in XPAND. They have built a large network of dealers and educators around the world who are using 3D to communicate better to their students and staff," said Dennis Cafiero, CEO, Presente3D.
Doremi Appointed Official Digital Cinema Partner for Berlinale 2013 Doremi, a leader in digital cinema technology, has been confirmed as official supplier of the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival, the 'Berlinale'. The company is proud to provide twenty sets of equipment to support projections at the festival in 2D and 3D, and in 2K and 4K resolutions. As official supplier and digital cinema partner of Berlinale 2013, Doremi is providing equipment for the festival's digital cinema screenings. With 25 years' experience, the company has worked with many major international festivals. At Berlinale 2013 the Doremi equipment includes two types of digital cinema servers, the DCP-2000 and the Integrated Media Block (IMB)/ShowVault. Doremi servers have earned a reputation for efficiency and reliability, and are the most installed and widely used cinema servers worldwide. The IMB & ShowVault solution includes features to provide efficient operation for the latest cinema requirements. These include a double 3G SDI input, an HDMI input with HDCP and HDMI 3D connections as well as support for 4K and 48/60fps High Frame Rate (HFR) screenings. The video input can be powered via PCI Express, HDMI and SDI connections, and the use of just one RJ45 audio output helps to simplify the cabling. The IMB can de-interlace 1080i inputs, and outputs all formats in native XYZ colorspace, so avoiding the need to change projector settings when switching between DCI movies and television footage.
projection, and we look forward to a strong and productive collaboration." Ove Sander, Technical Manager Digital Cinema of the Berlinale adds, "We are very excited to have Doremi as a new partner for Digital Cinema this year. Its server products are used by the majority of cinemas that we use for the festival, so being able to also equip our temporary venues, such as the Berlinale Palast, with these systems makes the management and planning of our infrastructure a lot easier. The Doremi ShowVaults can easily be integrated into our fiber network, so for the first time the Berlinale will transfer DCPs directly via this high-speed network into the different venues."
RealD and Karo Film to Equip up to 200 Screens Across Russia With RealD 3D RealD Inc. and Karo Film, one of Russia's leading cinema chains, announced an agreement to equip up to 200 Karo Film cinema screens across Russia with RealD 3D technology. Installation of RealD 3D technology has already begun. "A key part of our investment in Karo Film is upgrading the movie going experience by offering the industry's brightest 3D presentation on both our
standard and large format auditoriums. This agreement with RealD will give us the ability to equip screens of all sizes in all of our current locations with RealD 3D while allowing us to plan to offer RealD 3D in multiple new locations we expect to announce in the near future," said Paul Heth, CEO of Karo Film. "Having recently opened an office in Moscow, Russia is an increasingly important market for RealD and one we have targeted with ambitious plans for long-term growth. This agreement with Karo Film and Paul Heth meaningfully increases the number of screens committed to RealD 3D in the region while offering movie-goers at Karo Film locations a premium, bright and realistic visual experience that can deliver on the true promise of 3D cinema," said Michael V. Lewis, Chairman and CEO of RealD. Karo Film recently announced a strategic investment by a consortium backing the Moscow based media entrepreneur, Paul Heth, and consisting of the leading investor, Baring Vostok Private Equity, UFG Private Equity and the Russian Direct Investment Fund. The consortium acquired a controlling interest in the company and committed to an additional investment of approximately $100 million to open new multiplex cinema venues under the Karo brand over the next three years. Karo Film currently operates 31 modern movie theatres comprising of 197 screens in Moscow, the Moscow region, St. Petersburg, Nizhniy Novgorod, Samara, Kazan, Kaliningrad and Surgut.
The partnership between the Berlinale and Doremi shows the company's commitment to provide all audiences with a quality cinema experience, and so help to ensure the success of the festival. Patrick Zucchetta, CEO Doremi Europe, comments, "We thank the Berlinale for its trust in us. We are proud to provide this prestigious event with our technology to guarantee the best quality
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Barco's New DP2K-10Sx Small Theatre Projector Premiered at Berlinale Barco successfully added a new chapter to its 10-year partnership with the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale). The recent 63rd annual Berlinale saw the premiere of Barco's DP2K-10Sx projector specifically designed for smaller screens. The new projector proved a perfect fit for the Berlinale's many screenings in the intimate setting of small cinema theatres. "Over the past ten years Barco has built up a successful partnership with the Berlinale," says Theodore Marescaux, Product Manager Digital Cinema at Barco. The festival offers a complete cinematic experience ranging from mainstream cinema screenings as well as independent and arthouse films to experimental projects. This year's edition was the ideal opportunity to launch the new compact DP2K-10Sx projector on the German, Austrian and Swiss markets." Some of the over 800 films at the European Film Market of the Berlinale are screened exclusively for a smaller audience of industry professionals. The festival also created the initiative 'Berlinale goes Kiez' to create festival atmosphere at arthouse cinemas of different neighborhoods. The so called 'Flying Red Carpet' has been travelling from arthouse cinema to arthouse cinema on seven evenings during the festival, screening two films from the official program each day. "Most quality projectors are too big to install in these smaller cinemas," says Ove Sander, Technical Manager Digital Cinema. Barco's DP2K-10Sx, however, is a perfect fit. "Thanks to this new projector, we were able to digitally project about 90% of the Berlinale movies, compared to 75% in 2012." When developing the DP2K-10Sx, Barco closely kept the cinema operator in mind. Independent cinemas or arthouses are typically small businesses, sometimes even
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family-run, where everyone helps out. "Our new DP2K-10Sx integrates our leading digital cinema technologies into a compact, scalable and cost-effective platform without sacrificing image quality. To make sure everyone can work with it, we made a huge effort to make it user-friendly," adds JĂśrg BrĂźggen, Sales Manager Digital Cinema DACH. Tim Sinnaeve, Market Director Digital Cinema at Barco, "Going digital is a big and important step for smaller cinemas. There is a lot of concern in the industry that the transition from 35mm to digital threatens the survival of smaller, independent and arthouse cinemas that take up a unique position in the cinema landscape. Barco strongly believes that digital cinema also offers a unique opportunity for these cinemas to thrive, as it offers them flexibility in their programming and new business opportunities. Our new projector will make the transition easier for smaller theatres and help them grasp these new opportunities." The Barco DP2K-10Sx projector comes as a fully integrated, DCIcompliant projector including a 0.69" DLP Cinema projector, a highgrade cinema lens and an Integrated Media Server with integrated redundant storage. In its class it offers the brightest and sharpest image quality, being the perfect worry-free solution to go digital with minimal hassle and risk.
Regency Theatres Selects Volfoni as its Newest Digital 3D Cinema Provider Volfoni Inc, the leading French manufacturer of high quality active and passive 3D equipment, announced it will provide several of its digital 3D theatre systems to California based chain Regency Theatres. This ground breaking deal marks the first installations of Volfoni's passive 3D system in a U.S. theatre chain. The Volfoni system, called SmartCrystal Cinema, is a high-end passive 3D theatre system made in Europe. Approved by the major studios, the system features Volfoni's innovative "Surface-Switching" liquid crystal technology, and a light efficiency way beyond that of competitors. "Volfoni 3D systems have been adopted by over 500 theatres worldwide, and we are excited to begin our first roll-out in the U.S. market," said Jerome Testut, Managing Director for Volfoni U.S. "We are abosultely thrilled to announce our first partnership with a U.S.based theatre chain," noted Matt Garelik, VP Business Development for Volfoni U.S. "This is a milestone for the company and a preview of things to come." One could say it's a match made in film technology heaven, both Regency and Volfoni strive to stay on the cutting-edge of their industries. Regency recently installed D-Box MFX (TM) motion seating in several of its theatres. When combined with 3D, the experience is unparalleled. "Digital 3D is as ubiquitous as popcorn is for moviegoers today," said Lyndon Golin, CEO of Regency Theatres. "Volfoni's top notch yet economically priced system allows us to show 3D at more of our theatres, thereby allowing us to provide an immersive experience to even more of our customers."
Perfect Berlinale 2013 with Kinoton The 63rd Berlin International Film Festival was a resounding success, continuing the event's grand tradition. Kinoton backed the Berlinale as one of its official partners, providing a large number of D-Cinema projection solutions, professional service, and on-site support. This year films were digitally distributed to more than half of the approximately 60 Berlinale auditoriums, and the most of the Berlinale movies were transferred from the film office to the venues via fiber-optic connections. This posed daunting technical and logistical challenges for the Berlinale team, since there was also a considerably greater demand for digital projectors, powerful server systems, and high speed data lines. According to the organizers, the challenges would have been impossible to master without the support and expertise of partner enterprises such as Kinoton, Barco, Colt, Dolby, Doremi, DVS and Arri. Dagmar Forelle, in charge of sponsoring, stated that "organizing a festival involves solving much larger and more complex challenges than those encountered on an everyday basis in 'normal' cinema operation. The cooperation among Kinoton, Barco, and the Berlinale was a winwin situation." This year, Kinoton teamed up with Barco to provide 24 high-end D-Cinema projection solutions for 19 movie theatre auditoriums and several other screening locations, backed by service for all projector installations. Kinoton's service technicians professionally integrated 2K and 4K digital cinema projectors in the Berlinale auditoriums, sensitively adapting and configuring them to meet the festival's special requirements and comply with DCI guidelines. The D-Cinema projection solutions and comprehensive support provided by Kinoton and Barco ensured
flawless digital cinema at venues including the Berlinale Palace, the Friedrichstadt Palace, the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, the CinemaxX, and the Martin Gropius Building.
Australian International Movie Convention The Australian International Movie Convention (AIMC) on Queensland's Gold Coast is one of the great film conventions in the world. The 2013 AIMC will be the 68th convention hosted by the National Association of Cinema Operators-Australasia (NACO) and its predecessors, and will run from October 14-17 at Jupiters Hotel & Casino, Broadbeach. The AIMC brings exhibitors, distributors, producers and allied trades and suppliers together in one place for four days and provides an opportunity for industry participants to make a smart investment in their businesses. From humble beginnings as a Queensland state-based conference in the mid-1940's with only about 60 delegates, the Convention had grown to around 200 delegates by the 1970's and increased steadily to around 550 in the mid 1990's. To reflect the growth in delegates nationally, the Convention was officially branded as the "Australian National Movie Convention" in 1989. The Gold Coast became the official "home" of the Convention. In 2000,
as a reflection of the increasing number of International speakers and delegates, the Convention was rebranded as the "Australian International Movie Convention", as it is now known. The move to Jupiters Hotel & Casino at Broadbeach in 2009 was an initiative designed to amalgamate all convention activities - film screenings, seminars, trade show and networking functions - in one venue. Adding to the convenience this offered was the opportunity for the majority of delegates to stay on-site if they wished, or in alternate accommodation in close proximity in the Broadbeach area. In 1992 the inaugural Australian Star of the Year Award was won by Paul Mercurio for "Strictly Ballroom". Since then other actors to be honoured, all of whom have gone on to international success, have included Russell Crowe, Eric Bana, Hugo Weaving, Geoffrey Rush, Jacqueline McKenzie, Hugh Jackman, Jacqui Weaver, Ben Mendelsohn and the late Heath Ledger.
2013 AIMC The AIMC continues to go from strength to strength, working continually with its partners in film distribution, technology & sound, auditorium fit-out, catering and marketing to provide the optimal convention experience. In 2013, the AIMC organisers are reaching out to representatives from allied film industries such as home entertainment to attend. We will also be welcoming a larger international contingent from the Asian, United States and European markets and will continue to evolve the variety of speakers and presentations. It is always gratifying to receive positive feedback from each convention, and our team works hard to provide an informative and exciting event each year within our basic framework. The program is very full, but it represents value for money and a good business investment.
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National Association of Cinema Operators-Australasia (NACO) A National Association of Cinema Operators did not happen overnight. For the past 70 years, cinema exhibition was represented by various state associations, independent associations, trade associations, employer associations and state chambers of commerce, but never by a national association made up entirely of cinema exhibitors. NACO evolved out of the Motion Picture Exhibitors Association of Queensland (MPEAQ), which was incorporated in 1947 and continues to host the annual AIMC as part of this long tradition and as a service to the film industry in the Australia/ Pacific region. There has been a very significant investment by exhibitors in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region, with over 2,000 screens in nearly 500 locations in Australia and over 400 screens in New Zealand. More than 10,000 people are employed in the cinema industry, and the big screen consistently rates as one of the top social outings for all demographics. NACO's primary objective is to protect this very substantial investment made by its members. It is an organisation for all exhibitors majors; independents; multi-screen; single screen; or drive-in from the city or the country and it represents all member exhibitors, irrespective of their size or structure, in genuine, whole-of-industry issues. These issues could include film theft, licencing fees, film classification, collapsing of windows, digitalisation. Movie theft, or piracy, costs the industry and the economies billions of dollars, and too many people their jobs and livelihoods. The industry is taking very active steps to protect itself, and NACO supports the activities of the two key agencies in Australia working to protect the industry-the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) and the Intellectual Property Awareness Foundation (IPAF) - as well as with the film distributors through the
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Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia (MPDAA) and the Australian Independent Distributors Association (AIDA). They also work with international organisations such as the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) in the U.S. AFACT works closely with industry, government and law enforcement authorities to protect the film and television industry, retailers and movie fans from the adverse impact of copyright theft in Australia. NACO has collaborated with AFACT, MPDAA and the Australian Home Entertainment Distributors Association (AHEDA) in the preparation of submissions to government relating to new standards of regulation of telecommunications, television, radio and the internet.
AAM and Cinevise in Digital Cinema Software Deal with Cine Colombia Cine Colombia, Colombia's leading exhibitor with 37 multiplex sites, 248 screens and 48,000 seats, has agreed a deal with Arts Alliance Media (AAM) and Cinevise to equip its circuit with AAM's Theatre Management System, Screenwriter. All screens will also receive Cinevise's central rack equipment, and will be monitored and serviced from Cinevise's global network operations centre to maintain the quality and standards that Cine Colombia has had for 85 years in the Colombian market. The deal is AAM's first in Colombia, and follows recent deals across other countries in the region. This deal has been enabled through the AAM/Cinevise partnership established in 2011 to bring AAM
software to the Latin American market. CEO of Cine Colombia Munir Falah said "Signing this deal with AAM and Cinevise is a great step for our digital cinema rollout. Seeing AAM's and Cinevise's experience in digital cinema gave us the confidence to sign with them as trusted partners, and we look forward to bringing AAM's Screenwriter software and Cinevise´s monitoring to all our screens in order to streamline all our digital cinema operations." Alex Younger, President of Cinevise, added "Cine Colombia has always been at the forefront of new technology in the cinema industry. We are glad that they have chosen our solution for their NOC monitoring services and central rack deployment." Eric Stevens, Commercial Director at Arts Alliance Media, commented "We're delighted to arrive in Colombia in style with Cine Colombia. Adding one of Latin America's preeminent exhibitors is an honour and further demonstrates our commitment to the region. Our experience over the years has enabled us to humbly build some of the best cinema software in the world."
Cobb Theatres Installs Barco Auro 11.1 Sound Systems Cobb Theatres, known for being a leader in providing its guests with the ultimate movie going experiences, has partnered with Barco and has installed Auro 11.1, the nextgeneration in sound technology, at Cobb Village 12 Cinemas in Leesburg, VA, and at their Lakeside 18 & IMAX location in Lakeland, FL. Moviegoers will experience this new immersive layered sound technology while screening the upcoming DreamWorks films The Croods starting on Friday March 22 and Turbo set to release July 2013
Joseph Gordon-Levitt to Receive CinemaCon Breakthrough Filmmaker of The Year Award Sundance in January, the film and its writer, director and star have been earning incredible praise across the globe. CinemaCon is excited to honor Joseph Gordon-Levitt with its 2013 'Breakthrough Filmmaker of the Year Award.'"
Joseph Gordon-Levitt will receive the "CinemaCon Breakthrough Filmmaker of the Year Award" at this year's CinemaCon, which was announced by the convention's Managing Director Mitch Neuhauser. CinemaCon, the largest and most important convention for the motion picture theatre industry, will be held from April 15-18, 2013 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas at which time more than 5,000 industry members will be gathering. Gordon-Levitt will be presented with this special honor at the "CinemaCon Big Screen Achievement Awards" ceremony to take place on april 18, in The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The Coca-Cola Company, the official presenting sponsor of CinemaCon, will host the final night gala awards program. "Having already been embraced by moviegoers and critics alike with his diverse list of acting credits, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is sure to establish himself as one of the most exciting new directors in movies today with the release of his directorial debut 'Don Jon's Addiction,'" noted Neuhauser. "Since screening at
Jon Martello (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), aka "Don Jon" to his friends, is a strong, handsome, good old fashioned guy. He loves his family, his friends, his church and his porn. Between his ability to pull "10s" every weekend and the hours he spends online, Jon has pretty specific ideas about what makes the perfect woman. Barbara Sugarman (Scarlett Johansson) is a bright, beautiful, good old fashioned woman with her own romantic ideas about what makes the perfect man. Expectations collide as Jon and Barbara struggle to see past what they want, and discover what they need in this fresh, funny, and poignant comedy written and directed by Joseph GordonLevitt. Gordon-Levitt most recently starred in Steven Spielberg's critically acclaimed "Lincoln" opposite Daniel Day Lewis and "Looper" opposite Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt. His additional film credits include "The Dark Knight Rises," for which he received a People's Choice Award nomination, "50/50," for which he received a Golden Globe nomination, "Inception" and "(500) Days of Summer," for which he received Golden Globe, Independent Spirit Award and People's Choice Award nominations. He is also well known to television audiences for his starring role on NBC's award-winning comedy series "3rd Rock from the Sun." In addition to acting and directing, Gordon-Levitt founded an open collaborative production company called hitRECord where he directs a massive online community of artists in various projects.
Harrison Ford to Receive CinemaCon Lifetime Achievement Award
Legendary actor Harrison Ford will receive the "CinemaCon Lifetime Achievement Award" at this year's CinemaCon, it was announced by the convention's Managing Director Mitch Neuhauser. CinemaCon, the largest and most important convention for the motion picture theatre industry, will be held from April 15-18, 2013 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas at which time more than 5,000 industry members will be gathering. Ford will be presented with this special honor at the "CinemaCon Big Screen Achievement Awards" ceremony to take place on April 18, in The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The Coca-Cola Company, the official presenting sponsor of CinemaCon, will host the final night gala awards program. "With a career spanning five decades, Harrison Ford has brought some of the most memorable characters of our time alive on the big screen," noted Neuhauser. "From Han Solo to Indiana Jones, he has showcased his innate ability to embrace and mold these remarkable
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roles into characters that will forever be remembered by movie lovers around the world for decades to come. We could not be more honored to present this years 'CinemaCon Lifetime Achievement Award' to such a remarkable actor, Harrison Ford." Ford can be seen later this year in "Ender's Game," which is set to be released by Summit Entertainment, a LIONSGATE company, on November 1, 2013. The epic adventure film based on the best-selling, awardwinning novel stars Ford as Colonel Hyrum Graff who, along with the International Military, is training the best young minds for an epic battle that will determine the future of Earth and save the human race. "Ender's Game" also stars Ben Kingsley, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld and Viola Davis with Abigail Breslin. In April, Ford will be seen in Legendary Entertainment's "42" as Branch Rickey, the Major League Baseball executive who helped shatter baseball's color barrier by making Jackie Robinson the first African-American player in the MLB. And in the fall of 2013, Ford will star in the Robert Luketic thriller "Paranoia." Harrison Ford's Hollywood career was launched following his portrayal of hot rod demon Bob Falfa in George Lucas' 1973 Oscar nominated hit, "American Graffiti." Four years later, he reunited with Lucas when he landed the nowlegendary role of Han Solo in "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope." In 1981, Ford brought Indiana Jones to life on the big screen for Steven Spielberg in the Best Picturenominated "Raiders of the Lost Ark," reprising the heroic character in three sequels: "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." He earned an Academy Award nomination in 1986 for his compelling role as detective John Book in "Witness." In 2000, the American Film Institute honored him with their Lifetime Achievement
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Award. And, in addition to receiving four nominations from the Hollywood Foreign Press for his roles in "Sabrina," "The Fugitive," "The Mosquito Coast" and "Witness," Ford was revered by the organization with the 2002 Cecil B. DeMille Award at the annual Golden Globes ceremony. His many other credits include Francis Coppola's Oscar nominated epic "Apocalypse Now," "The Conversation," Lucas' "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back" and "Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi," Ridley Scott's iconic sci-fi classic "Blade Runner," Mike Nichols' Oscar nominated romantic comedy "Working Girl" and his 1991 drama "Regarding Henry," "Patriot Games," "Clear and Present Danger," "Presumed Innocent," "Air Force One," "What Lies Beneath," "K-19: The Widowmaker," "Extraordinary Measures," "Morning Glory" and "Cowboys & Aliens." Several of these movies represent some of the highest-grossing films in their respective release years.
ICTA Announces Representative for European Office The International Cinema Technology Association (ICTA) announced that it has appointed Thomas Rüttgers as the representative for ICTA Europe. Joe
DeMeo, President of ICTA, made the announcement and stated, "Our main goal is to strengthen the position of our European members within the association." He added that ICTA is also planning to extend its co-operation with other European bodies such as EDCF, UNIC and Mediasalles for seminars, trade events and publications. Thomas Rüttgers will make his office at European Cinema Consulting (ECCO) in Dusseldorf, Germany. Vice President and Managing Director of ECCO, Mr. Rüttgers stated: "I am delighted that ICTA has chosen ECCO and myself to support their team and am convinced that this is the right step to raise interest in ICTA in Europe." He went on to say that one of the next steps of ICTA Europe will be to put the European Seminar Series on a new level and make it a networking event for all European players of the cinema industry, involving as many other European and international trade associations as possible. Thomas has been in the cinema industry for over 25 years. From 1996 till 2011 he was Managing Partner of the cinema outfitter FTT in Düsseldorf, a company founded by HannesRüttgers, a cousin of Thomas' father HannsdieterRüttgers, back in 1960. Under his management, the family-run business expanded its international business and opened a series of joint ventures throughout Europe. In 2011, he was appointed Senior Vice President Sales of dcinex group (formerly XDC, FTT and BewegteBilder) and took care of business development and sales activities of all European branch offices of the group. In 2012 he founded ECCO - European Cinema Consulting. The company acts as a link between manufacturers, system integrators and exhibitors aiming at building relationships between all major players in the industry. The upcoming ICTA Seminar Series will take place in Barcelona on June 22nd and 23rd.
Sony Digital Cinema and the Thurso Cinema Finalise VPF Deal
ArcLight Expands with Doremi ArcLight Cinemas in its first expansion outside the Greater Los Angeles market has selected Doremi technology to manage its unique new 14 screen, 1,800 seat cinema in San Diego. The complex will feature both 2k and 4k Integrated Media Blocks (IMBs) and Doremi servers. In addition, the installation includes a comprehensive accessibility package for the hearing and sight impaired.
The Thurso Cinema, the UK mainland's most northerly cinema, has signed up to a Virtual Print Fee (VPF) deal with Sony Digital Cinema. The independent cinema, which recently re-opened, will have two SRX-R515 4K cinema projectors installed, allowing cinema goers to experience the best possible picture quality. The Thurso Cinema will now have the ability to offer new services beyond traditional content, such as comedy, sports, music, theatre, opera, multiuser big screen gaming and cultural events. The independent cinema already has the National Theatre Live; Royal Opera House and British Museum Live content in the pipeline empowering it to expand its current role to become an Digital Entertainment Centre with thanks to Sony's SRX-R515 4K digital projector. Rob Arthur, Managing Director of The Thurso Cinema commented, "Bringing digital cinema to Caithness is a big deal as we can now offer a range of entertainment content that appeals to a broader audience and ensures that the cinema is in use all day every day throughout the year. We are very excited about the installation of the Sony 4K digital projector system at The Thurso Cinema as our customers will be getting the very best cinema experience and can now enjoy the content with crystal clear picture quality and sound." Roy Kirk, Area Manager at Highlands and Islands Enterprise, said, "HIE actively supports the development of innovative opportunities in arts and culture across the region in order to
strengthen our communities. Since it's reopening in July last year, The Thurso Cinema has proved an incredible success. The local community have come out in force to support the Cinema and make the most of having a new quality attraction in their midst. The new equipment will enhance this experience and provide opportunities for a range of new events to be held. We are delighted that Rob and his team have invested further and look forward to continuing to work with The Thurso Cinema in the future." David McIntosh, Director, Sony Europe, commented: "Sony is delighted to partner with The Thurso Cinema. Having two Sony 4K digital projector systems installed allows customers of The Thurso Cinema to enjoy a full range of alternative content and blockbuster releases projected in outstanding picture quality. The SRXR515, with its outstanding image quality, operational versatility and low cost of ownership, showcases Sony's long term commitment to delivering the ultimate entertainment experience to the independent cinema market." With Sony's Virtual Print Fee (VPF) programme, the transition to digital is easier and more affordable. Sony helps shoulder the costs for independent cinemas switching to 4K. Sony Digital Cinema works closely with major movie studios and distributors to subsidise the cost of exhibitors' technology transition. Sony's VPF programme dramatically cuts capital investment and eases the cash flow as the audience enjoys the benefits of 4K projection from day one.
"To create the ideal movie going experience, the leading state-of-theart technology is required," said Joe Miraglia, Director of Design, Construction and Facilities, Pacific Theatres. "Our decision to partner with Doremi and their integrated platform is representative of our commitment to an unprecedented combination of technology, amenities, reliability and customer service." "Doremi's superior level of customer service and technical support were among some of the factors that influenced ArcLight's decision." commented Jose Alvarado, President, ACS Enterprises. ACS Enterprises managed the installation as well procurement of equipment. "By offering the most advanced and flexible feature set for their product lines, partnering with Doremi was the right choice for us" added Joe Miraglia. ArcLight Cinema's signature theatre amenities will be supplemented with the industry's most advanced accessibility devices, the Doremi CaptiView and Fidelio. "The CaptiView provides a discrete in-seat caption display and the Fidelio wireless audio system delivers descriptive narration for the visually impaired and amplified sound for the hearing impaired," said Beth Figge, Senior Sales Manager, Doremi. "These exceptional accessories help ArcLight to champion its commitment to accessibility and provide unique entertainment experiences to a diverse marketplace."
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NEC Revolutionises Digital Cinema with NSH Lamps in NC900C Projector NEC Display Solutions Europe has launched the NC900C, the most compact DCI-certified digital cinema projector on the market, powered by dual NSH lamp technology. NEC Digital Cinema projector engineers, along with Texas Instruments, investigated the best lamp technology to incorporate with new S2K chipset when designing the NC900C digital cinema projector. The NC900C was the first projector to incorporate the new S2K chipset and use NSH lamps. Perfect for small cinema screens, art houses and mobile and public cinemas, the NC900C called for a lamp that was easy to implement and maintain, lowered total cost of ownership (TCO), and had unbeatable brightness, colour and reliability. The NC900C runs with a 350W NSH Dual-Lamp system, which uses almost half the power consumption of competitors. This puts the projector's power consumption at less than 1000W, which translates into savings up to approximately @700 per. The choice of an NSH dual-lamp ensures one lamp still operates in case of any lamp problem, and the defective can be swapped out while projector is working. Furthermore, as the Lamp mirror is safely included within the lamp module, there is no need to worry about potential mirror damage, and because NSH lamp heat dissipation is lower than its Xenon counterparts, no external projector exhaust is needed. In addition to all the benefits NSH lamps bring to the NC900C and the digital cinema market, NEC Colour Management ensures that the same natural colour standards remain high and uncompromised. "In the NC900C NEC Display Solutions has combined our compact S2K chip and the most suitable NSH dual-lamp
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cinema settings," said Gerd Kaiser, Product Line Manager for Large Venue Projectors at NEC Display Solutions Europe.
technology to create an incredibly efficient projector. We are really pleased with the end result and how well received the NC900C is on the market," said Dave Duncan, Business Manager of DLP Cinema for Texas Instruments. "With the combined powers of Texas Instrument's S2K chipset, NSH lamps, and our innovative easy lamp system, we were able to bring a high end digital cinema solution to smaller
"NEC engineers had our customers in mind to make the NC900C the most user friendly digital cinema projector. This combination of lamp system and chipset helps lower the TCO and makes it easy for anyone to change the lamp as the lamp is not under pressure in the OFF-state." NEC will also be partnering with digital video server provider Doremi to deliver a one stop solution of one manufacturer with a fully integrated, true turnkey cinema solution. This provides an end-to-end worry-free solution for theatres desiring to join the digital cinema revolution.
Continuous Investment in Philips Digital Cinema Lamp Range Philips is continuously expanding its portfolio of Digital Cinema Xenon lamps and related services, showing its clear commitment to become the preferred partner for cinema exhibitors around the globe. At the CinemaCon show in Las Vegas, USA, Philips will announce the new Digital Cinema Xenon lamp XDC 4002N, customized for NEC 1600C and 2000C digital cinema projectors. This 4 kW lamp model will have a warranted lifetime of 1000 hours. With this new addition, Philips expands the range of lamps available for NEC digital cinema projectors and shows again a clear commitment to providing a complete range of bestin-class Digital lamps for Digital Cinema projectors. Besides this new product range addition, Philips will present recently added service and sales support
activities, all designed to support the customer in the best way. The new and improved packaging clearly communicates the main features and benefits of the Philips lamps. In addition, Philips has developed together with its partners a range of instructional videos for operators, training them on lamp replacement and lamp alignment. Finally, Philips has invested in a further expansion of its team of Key Account Managers worldwide. The highlights of the Philips range of Digital Cinema Xenon lamps, service and support offering will be presented in the Philips booth (booth 2607A) at CinemaCon, held from April 15-18 2013 in Las Vegas.
GDC Technology Presents PSD3000 Portage Storage Device
Designed as the perfect solution to the DCI-compliant SX-3000 Standalone IMB, the PSD-3000 Portage Storage Device provides highly reliable and lower cost content storage. It allows flexible instant content transfer between storage devices and provides up to 6TB redundant hot swappable storage. Its compact size and lightweight allows easy installation. This innovative PSD-3000 seamless integrates with SX-3000 to offer premium HFR playback quality, comprehensive alternative content support, and perfect compatibility with all DLP Cinema projectors.
A unique and appealing feature for the postproduction community is the dedicated Communicator software, which provides greater control over the color space, enables color correction per eye for 3D content, and offers powerful input analysis. "To achieve best-in-class performance for postproduction, we have equipped our DP4K-P with purpose designed components such as a 4K input board and a high-contrast lens," comments Goran Stojmenovik, Product Manager at Barco. "And thanks to the redesigned Communicator software fully tuned to the postproduction workflow, postproduction professionals will be able to boost their creative processes."
Ultimate image quality The DP4K-P comes with a dedicated 4K (4 x 3Gb/s) input board, which enables playback of native 4K content. Its special color filter creates a wide gamut, considerably wider than the current DCI/SMPTE recommended color space to accurately match colors to any color gamut. Each projector is calibrated for superior brightness and color uniformity. And thanks to its purpose-built lens set, the DP4K-P displays images with significantly higher contrast.
New software tool for flexible control The dedicated Communicator software has been revamped in close co-operation with Barco's long term partners in the industry. The overall look and feel of the interface has been adapted to the dark environment in which it is used. Its intuitive menu structure is quick to navigate and all of the functionalities are conveniently bundled into a single section, which enhances the workflow and eliminates the need for extra training or additional tools. The dedicated software offers increased control over the color space and enables color correction per eye for 3D content.
Powerful input analysis When combined with the quad 3Gb/s input board, the Communicator software becomes a powerful input analysis tool, enabling postproduction professionals to visualize the picture content via a bit-depth analysis of the different inputs. They can also easily compare inputs through the split-screen analysis (diagonal, vertical, side-byside and checker board). These new features support the visual evaluation and enable postproduction professionals to test the quality of the input content with more confidence.
Barco Launches 4K Digital Postproduction Projector Global digital cinema leader Barco is proud to introduce the world's first 4K projector dedicated to postproduction, archiving, restoration and 4K color grading. Featuring a greatly expanded color gamut, higher contrast and superior color uniformity in comparison with standard digital cinema projectors, the DP4K-P is specifically designed to meet the exacting demands of the postproduction industry.
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• INSTALLS •
Germany’s Cinema with
Revolutionary Sound Technology! The Traumpalast in Backnang, Germany installed a new Dolby Atmos surround sound system. The cinema in this Swabian town northeast of Stuttgart, which had only recently reopened with a full set of equipment from Kinoton is only Germany's second featuring the new and revolutionary sound technology. In this case as well, Kinoton handled all of the planning, logistics, and installation work. Complementing its fully networked Kinoton D-Cinema projection solutions, the Traumpalast is now also setting new standards with regard to the quality and possibilities of sound reproduction in movie theatres. Kinoton specially configured the new Dolby Atmos system to suit the auditorium in the Backnang Traumpalast. Additional surround speakers on the ceiling and side walls and subwoofers on the rear walls dynamically immerse moviegoers in a world of sound. All of the speakers (a total of 57) are powered by a
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dynamic amplification system with a total output of about 40,000 watts. Dolby Atmos is backwardscompatible and also supports the Dolby Surround 7.1 and 5.1 formats. Until now, a state-of-the-art cinema with 7.1 or 5.1 could distribute the sound to seven or five channels plus a subwoofer group for playing music, background noises, dialog, or sound effects. Dolby Atmos goes further: in addition to sending the sound out via channels, it can be individually distributed to as many as 64 discrete speaker feeds. What's more, "sound objects" can be defined at any desired coordinates within the auditorium.
Dolby Atmos has already been used for films including The Life of Pi and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Even the "soft sounds" in Hobbit become amazingly realistic with Dolby Atmos. Like when a bird flies through the forest, or if someone is talking in a hobbit den, the sound lets you tell where the still unseenspeaker is located. The release of a number of other films using Dolby Atmos has been announced for 2013. The Backnang Traumpalast reopened on November 1, 2012 after remodeling. The cinema's five auditoriums together seat more than 600, and the customization, variety, and colors of its interior decoration and furnishing are probably unique in the cinema industry. "The Traumpalast is luminous, all in blue like the stars on the logos, from the façade through the foyer into all of the auditoriums," says owner Heinz Lochmann, who has now opened his sixth Traumpalast cinema.
• INSTALLS •
New Look to Dallas LOOK Cinemas, a newly formed Dallas-based theatre company opens its doors to North Texas residents on March 29. The upscale entertainment complex is located at Prestonwood Creek, at Prestonwood Road and Beltline Road. The new dining and entertainment complex is the first
project of LOOK Cinemas, LLC. LOOK founders Tom Stephenson, a notable theatre industry veteran, and Brian Mason, a Dallas based entrepreneur, have partnered with well-known restaurant entrepreneur Joseph Palladino for the inaugural project. “Our goal is to offer the single best
combination of the movie and dining experiences,” Stephenson said. “As a consumer, Dallas has always asked me to choose between a great theater experience or, a great dining experience. Like most Dallas consumers, I never liked being forced to choose.”
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• INSTA L LS •
Dallas consumers may now enjoy a state-of-the-art, 11-screen, 1,900-seat stadium theatre complex co-located with a Nick & Sam’s Grill restaurant and a Coal Vines Pizza and Wine Bar. LOOK patrons have the option to dine in the Nick & Sam’s Grill restaurant or in one of the three
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dine-in screens. The menu features several unique bistro favorites in addition to gourmet comfort food. Moviegoers may relax in LOOK’s oversized power reclining chairs while enjoying fine dining and entertainment. LOOK also boasts the most revolutionary movie-viewing
experience, Evolution, featuring enormous silver screens and Dolby Atmos, the finest cinema sound available. In addition to the Nick & Sam’s Grill fare, diners may enjoy another Palladino concept in the complex: Coal Vines. This specialty pizza and
• INSTALLS • Tom Stephenson previously founded Dallas-based Rave Motion Pictures where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer for the last ten years. Under his leadership, Rave became the fourth largest theatre circuit in the United States.
wine bar has been a successful and popular dining spot in the Uptown and Legacy areas and will open at LOOK Cinemas later this spring. “I’m incredibly excited to take one of my signature concepts to a wonderful new location in Dallas and create a one-stop entertainment and dining destination with unique appeal to both adults and families.” Palladino said.
The Lofts, another component of the LOOK concept, feature three sophisticated theatres with spacious stadium riser seats paired with tables on either side. This experience is enhanced by a lobby bar serving beer, wine and handcrafted cocktails, plus lighter fare including sushi rolls, handmade nachos, Joe’s Famous Coneys and other freshly prepared small plates. The Lofts are designated
for moviegoers ages 21 and over, unless accompanied by an adult after 6 p.m. In addition to multiple dining and theatre options, LOOK Cinemas offers the classic moviegoing experience in one of three General Admission theatres featuring the latest enhanced digital cinema projection and pure digital audio.
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• INSTALLS • Norden Farm Selects
Sony 4K to Digitise Content Sony Digital Cinema announced that Norden Farm, an Arts Centre based in Maidenhead, has installed its new 4K projector to transform the viewing experience for customers, enable the delivery of alternative content, and boost its corporate offering, allowing the organisation to deliver a wider range of services to its local community. The Sony SRX-R515, Sony's latest 4K digital cinema offering, will see the Arts House transition from analogue film based on 35mm projectors to a more reliable, better quality and future-ready digital offering. The new projector will be installed in the organisation's main, 200 seat auditorium by Sound Associates, one of Sony's Authorised Dealers for the UK and Irish Cinema market. The installation will ensure the Arts House is able to offer its customers the very best picture and sound quality, while also allowing it to diversify into offering new entertainment experiences, such as opera and theatre. The superior image quality will make the venue more attractive to corporate clients looking to stage presentations and events, while also easing the administrative burden and operational costs associated with screening different types of content. Matt Biss, Technical Manager at Norden Farm, commented, "Bringing digital cinema to our business is going to have a huge impact on the range and quality of services we'll be able to offer customers, from their experience of the independent films we screen to the packages we're able to offer corporate clients. "We'll be able to offer new services beyond traditional content which is critical to the future success of the business. For instance, we recently screened a performance of La Boheme from the Royal Opera House. The event was a complete sell
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out and the audience left asking us for similar events in future highlighting there is an increasing appetite for content of this kind. The installation of the new Sony projector means we'll be able to offer these experiences for our customers, providing a picture and sound quality that ensures the performance is as impressive and immersive akin to the live stage production." The quality of picture provided by the new projector is down to the fact it's a digital offering with 4K. Sony Digital Cinema 4K technology is over 4 times the resolution of an HDTV or the previous generation digital cinema (2K). Biss commented on the decision to install Sony's offering above competitor products, "Our decision to install the Sony 4K projector was pretty straight-forward. We knew we wanted a digital upgrade and while we looked at a range of options, our decision didn't come down to price, it came down to quality. We wanted to
install the best product in the market, the one that would meet our needs right now and set us up for success in future. We're confident the SRX-R515 can do just that and are excited at the opportunities that lie ahead." David McIntosh, Director, Sony Europe, commented: "Sony is committed to creating the very best entertainment experiences for all our customers through digital projection. Our 4K projectors deliver an outstanding image quality along with operational versatility and low running costs, meaning they can open up new opportunities for the entertainment industry. We're particularly excited about working with Norden Farm because of the way they are embracing the potential technology has to transform art and film, delivering new experiences to customers and setting new standards for the quality of screenings."
• INSTALLS • Alcons C-series for
NBCUniversal Screening Rooms optimum viewing and listening environment, with the stadium seating raked sufficiently to ensure there is never a patron in the row in front obscuring the view. "The internal acoustic design was also excellent," says Claydon. "White Mark has done an amazing job balancing excellent bass absorption with diffusion in both rooms. In combination with the Alcons CSeries, we required very minimal EQ to tune the system."
NBCUniversal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies, has recently completed the refurbishment of its Central St Giles offices in London. The project included the creation of two state-ofthe-art preview theatres for executive and private screenings. Alcons cinema specific C-series loudspeakers were chosen as an integral part of the installation. "For NBCUniversal's new facility at Central St. Giles, we wanted to achieve the highest quality environment for sound and image," says cinema optics consultant Laurence Claydon, who engaged acoustic consultancy company White Mark on the project. "We already had experience of Alcons CR1, having achieved excellent results at Universal's original Oxford Street facility, and retained some of these components for the smaller screening room." The larger room has a CR4 3-way screen system, comprising two 15" LF, four 6.5" MF and three 4" pro-ribbon HF, tri-amplified by two 2kW ALC2, with two 4kW ALC4 amplified loudspeaker controllers with SDP processing. The room features the allnew CRS8 2-way 8" vented LF + 4" pro-ribbon HF surrounds, with identical screen/surround components
for perfect voice matching, with two CB362 low-tuned double 18" woofers providing sub bass. The smaller room, meanwhile, benefits from a CR1 screen system, 3way passive system comprising one 12" LF, 1x 6.5" MF, a 4" pro-ribbon HF, with only 18cm / 7-in. system depth, 2-way CCS8 surrounds and a BF181i as subwoofer. All elements are powered and controlled by an ALC2 amplified loudspeaker controller. "To get the new screening room environment right was a significant engineering challenge, and we engaged Acoustic designers White Mark Limited at an early stage," Claydon continues. "Architect Renzo Piano's new Central St Giles complex was primarily designed to house offices, and didn't really lend itself to building a heavy, acousticallyisolated, floating preview theatre of 64 seats. We certainly didn't have enough floor-to-ceiling height or load-bearing capacity to build on the upper floors." Eventually, a double-height area with a mezzanine was located behind the main reception. With some careful design, this was able to accommodate two preview theatres; one with 64 seats and one with 15 seats. Both screening rooms offer an
Complementing this is an acoustically transparent woven screen from Screen Research. Claydon adds, "These not only provide best audio quality, but also have incredibly even reflective properties at any viewing angle, and are completely free from any Moiré patterning we would see on perforated screens when projecting digitally." Finally, projection is provided by a 4K Christie CP4220 in the large theatre, and 2K Christie CP2210 in the smaller room. Both rooms are ready for High-Framerate 3D, featuring Dolby and Doremi Integrated Media Blocks. A Dolby CP750 cinema sound processor is provided for professional sources, and an Arcam AV888 for domestic sources. Future sound formats, such as Dolby Atmos, will also be easy to accommodate at a later stage. "Both rooms are now in almost fulltime use," says Claydon. "Universal Pictures are incredibly pleased with the results and we were delighted to have Andrew Lloyd Webber attend the larger theatre a few weeks back." "These rooms are amongst the best we have ever heard," adds Robin Sellars, Engineer - Jesus Christ Superstar. " "Comments from the wider industry have also been incredibly positive," Claydon concludes. "Many have been surprised at the step-change in quality we've been able to achieve." March-April 2013
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• TECHNOLOGY • True Movie Stars do Great Things -
Above All Backstage Julia Roberts would look pale without it, Daniel Craig, alias James Bond, would disappear into the darkness far too soon, and no-one would have noticed the tears in the eyes of Ingrid Bergmann in the farewell scene in "Casablanca"! It is only the projector lights that bring the stars to the silver screen brilliantly, and have even been awarded an Oscar. Reason enough to look at one of the heroes backstage. The success story of the Osram XBO projector lamp started as early as 1954 as a projection light source for commercial screening. Over the following years, quality, reliability and lifespan behavior was constantly improved and, thanks to numerous technical innovations, the screen illumination was increased by about 30% with the same lamp wattage. Even with the switch to digital cinema technology, Osram XBO projection lamps have a decisive role. Because, thanks to their superior quality and product range of 1,200 W to 8,000 W they represent the latest state-of-theart in film technology. Robust, durable, and efficient, they have all the characteristics that
heroes have, and they shine better than all the others.
The secret of their success Specifically when used with digital cinema projectors, the lamps, completely independent of the screen size, have to guarantee superior reproduction of highresolution pictures with unvarying quality of light, and all that with a lifespan as long as possible. The Osram XBO here displays its strengths completely: In comparison to the traditional lamps, they provide more lumens per watt and also offer a longer lifespan. A truly Hollywoodstyle achievement!
Strong qualities in the leading role The Osram XBO has a technically developed product range, specially attuned to Barco, Christie, NEC, and Sony projectors. And one more plus point characterizes the cinema lamps with the long tradition: Thanks to the innovative Coil Sealing
Technology it is extremely robust, and this simplifies transport and handling.
Conclusion: XBO theatre lamps are movie heroes "Made in Germany" that play a decisive role behind the scenes. No wonder Osram was awarded the coveted Oscar for their invention by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1984
1954 Osram introduces world's first XBO lamp replacing the traditional carbon arc. 1961 Introduction of XBO 2,500 W xenon short arc lamps.
OSRAM XBO product highlights in detail:
• Short
arc with highest
luminance for more light on screen
• Extended lamp life • Excellent lumen maintenance • High level of arc stability over life + 50% robustness
• 6,000
K color temperature,
constant over life
• Hot
restart and instant light on
screen
• Dimmable in a wide range • Wattage range from 1,200 W to 8,000 W
• Available for all the four projector manufacturers
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1984 Academy Award for technical achievement in development of XBO lamps. 1990-2000 Osram introduces XBO 10,000 W lamps for improved picture quality and safety. 1998 First short arc XBO lamps designed for video and digital cinema projectors. 2001 Extended durability and enhanced warranty program of the XBO lamp. 2002 Osram introduces high wattage XBO lamps for large screens. 2006 Introduction of digital cinema lamps and new innovative packaging with protective fleece cover. 2007 Introduction of four families: Traditional, Classic, Xtreme Life and Digital. 2008 Mechanization of XBO cinema lamp production; special technical customer service program. 2010 First worldwide automated XBO production. 2011 Completed lamp families for digital cinema. 2012/2013 Introduction of long life lamps for digital cinema projection.
• TECHNOLOGY •
Something Really Special ...
in 3D, HFR and Dolby Atmos
– Jim Slater Jim Slater raves over a very special cinema showing of The Hobbit at the Empire, Leicester Square, and discusses the skilled work and the numerous ‘fascinating technical facts’ that go into making a special screening special. Each year Dolby cinema was full, and I later learned HFR pictures lay on a special that there was actually an ‘overflow I thought that the pictures were great. Christmas screening’ at the nearby Dolby House Having previously only seen relatively screening to thank in Soho. short ‘test clips’ of HFR material at 48 the multitudes of and 60fps, and having read some To my delight, the show turned out people who have worked with the dreadful stuff on the internet about to be a technical triumph, a real ‘tour company throughout the year, and ‘too much detail’ and ‘dizziness and de force’ for the projection team, their families and friends are invited nausea’, I was genuinely interested to and I thought that CT readers might to the Empire Leicester Square. This experience 48fps for myself. Let me be interested to learn about some of year’s presentation was The Hobbit, a say that even after 2 hours and fifty the behind the scenes planning that movie that had already gained minutes of 48fps per eye HFR, I felt goes into mounting a high-profile masses of pre-publicity, but we were that the HFR just added clarity, and event such as this. Before looking at also promised that the movie would that the images were as good as any I how all this came about, my own be shown in Dolby 3D, at the High have seen. I certainly can’t understand views of the showing might be of Frame Rate of 48 fps, and some of the complaints about HFR some interest, if only to set the scene. accompanied by that I have read – the revolutionary cynically, my first Dolby Atmos sound thoughts were that ‘Keep Cinema Special’ is a subject that I am all too system that had just these complaints been installed in perhaps came from often writing about, usually with undertones of Empire Screen 1. So, those who think that complaint about less than perfect screenings, so it given the chance to all future showings is great to be able to report on a recent showing see a new movie should be subject to and to experience the constraints that that really did provide a wonderful experience of how all these new were unavoidable going to the cinema – a really special occasion technologies would with film. showing just how good a visit to the cinema can be. work together, it But subsequent was perhaps no discussions with surprise that the March-April 2013
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• TECHNOLOGY •
experts about the reasons why some HFR showings might have given rise to complaints suggest that not all showings might have been carried out as they should have been technically – it is vitally important that server/IMB settings and projector settings are correct, especially when 3D images are being shown, and it is evidently all too easy to get these wrong, resulting in images that don’t look as they should.
3D brightness The Dolby 3D was good too (I was conscious initially of the brain having to work quite hard to deal with all
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that was going on, but that feeling soon disappeared). As one who truly believes that we need 14fL in 3D eventually, I was actually pleasantly surprised at how good the 4.5fL pics were, and again, once accustomed to the brightness level, found absolutely no problem. I was later to learn that 4 projectors were used, two to provide each eye image, and that there were two other projectors on standby as spares. Four projectors to provide 4.5fL tells a sobering story of the (in) efficiency of all current 3D systems – no wonder I complain about the dim 3D pics in my local multiplex!
Superb sound Having heard and been impressed by Dolby Atmos on numerous previous occasions, I had wondered beforehand how the system would cope when the ceiling speakers were high (60 ft?) above the audience, but I needn’t have worried. I sat five rows from the front, fairly centrally and in line with the fourth row of side surrounds. Volume levels were just right–loud when needed but never uncomfortable, and the thing I noticed most was that the dialogue was extremely clear and well separated even when the sounds of battle were at their height. This makes it particularly strange, then, that the only occasion when I had reason for concern was during the important Gollum ‘riddles’ sequence, I found it hard to hear some of Gollum’s answers, which rather spoils the effect. Others have noted this, I later found from the web and from conversations with others who have heard the movie in other places, so it is a sound mixing issue and certainly not Atmos related. On a couple of other brief occasions I also heard ‘peculiar’ or ‘unexpected’ sounds (including a bird at one point) in the rear/side surrounds that seemed not to fit in with the on-screen action,
• TECHNOLOGY • causing me to turn around – I would have loved to discuss this with the sound mixer!
Technical Planning and implementation Unsurprisingly, planning began months in advance. Once it had been decided that Warner Bros would provide the Hobbit, Grant Duncan their European V.P. Technical Operations gave the go ahead and their Technical Director Richard Hühndorf coordinated the approvals and the screenings, playing a full part with Empire’s CEO Justin Ribbons and Technical Director André Mort in working out exactly what would be required. The key decision that the 2K movie would be shown at 48fps in Dolby 3D and Dolby Atmos meant that the showing would be breaking a considerable amount of new ground technically, and discussions took place with the Empire Technical Manager Chris Tostevin and his team, who have long experience of putting on special showings for premieres, with Dolby and with engineers from
Motion Picture Solutions. Ian Thomas of MPS would be responsible for making sure that the multiple projectors were optimally aligned and synchronised, and Dolby’s Richard Stockdale and Michael Denner for ensuring that the Dolby Atmos immersive sound system gave the best possible results in the massive Empire Screen 1 auditorium, which isn’t easy to cover uniformly. Past premieres have used multiple projectors, indeed The Empire was the first UK cinema to use the Dolby 3D Large Screen solution, way back in 2009, so the team had a good idea of how much light would be required to provide adequate brightness in 3D, but this time the calculations had to take into account the differences that projection at 48fps might make. In fact the whole setup was actually put in place for the Royal Film Performance on December 12th by MPS and Dolby. Although the Empire’s existing four Barco DP3000 projectors would presumably have been well up to the task, for that prestigious occasion André had
decided that Empire would buy in two new Barco DP4K-32B projectors Barco advertise them with the strapline ‘the brightest on the planet’! And as if to prove that absolutely nothing would be too much trouble, the Empire team actually installed an extra porthole before the Life of Pi premiere and the Royal Film Performance, to ensure that all the projectors could put optimum images on the screen. André arranged for a special metal framework to be built, to ensure mechanical stability, and the Empire engineers carried out the projector installation. So for the Royal screening the two new Barco 32Bs were used, and since Warner Bros and Empire were naturally keen to ensure that there was adequate backup in case anything should go wrong for such a prestigious occasion, the existing four Barco 3000s were used as backup on that occasion. It was decided to leave everything in place for the Dolby show on December 22nd with Dolby taking complete responsibility for that show.
The four projector Barco DP3000 rig used for the Dolby screening
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• TECHNOLOGY • After some further discussions on the day before the show and some last minute light checks, the four 3000s proved to be slightly brighter that day, simply due to relative lampaging on the two 32Bs, and these were therefore used as the primary source, with the 32Bs as the backup. Barco were kind enough to let us hold on to their lenses, and Dolby’s Michael Denner carried out a ‘pixel perfect’ alignment and synchronisation of the multiple projector images, and checked that the on screen illumination levels and colour balance were ‘spot on’. Those four projectors and their combined 27kW of lamp power actually managed to put a whole 4.5 foot Lamberts on the screen in 3D! Dolby’s Richard Stockdale ensured that the Dolby Atmos sound system was working perfectly through the dozens of recently installed speakers around and above the auditorium, and Dolby’s Stuart Bourne was on hand to operate the DVS Clipster (kindly supplied by Dil Dhillon of Root6, with the assistance of Ian Thomas of MPS).
The four projectors were arranged so that two provided the images for each eye, the Dolby Large Screen solution utilising a onepiece solid colour filter wheel within each projector. I was interested to learn that the system’s colour filters actually provide different light attenuation for each ‘eye’ view, depending upon the RGB filtering characteristics of the particular projector. This is completely compensated for during the colour correction setup process, but in practical terms meant that the set of projectors providing images for one eye needed 6.5kW lamps whilst the other set needed 7kW lamps. The same applied to the two ‘standby projectors’. Again I was fascinated to learn that during the show all six projectors were fully powered up, ready for an instant changeover if required. I must say that I had assumed that the spare projectors would be operated with the dowser in place, but it turned out that the images might well have drifted due to changes in lens temperature, so the light from the
DP4K-32Bs was actually projected on to heat shields placed in front of the portholes, the shields being instantly removable if required. The 48fps requirement meant that modifications needed to be made to the usual server arrangements, so a Qube Integrated Media Block was used in place of the normal Dolby IMB on the 32Bs, with thanks to Nigel Dennis. The content from the Digital Cinema Packages, which had arrived from Warner Bros on hard drives a week before the show, was fed to the four Barco 3000s from a DVS Clipster system (normally used in postproduction) at the high bit rates required for the 48fps 3D images. Two Dolby Atmos Rendering and Mastering units (main and backup) were synchronised to the Clipster and IMBs to provide a complete and elegant backup solution. The Dolby Atmos sound processor contains 64 channels of Dolby Lake linear phase equalisation, which is a significant advancement in room alignment processing power and quality.
All right on the day... Very early on the Saturday morning the whole technical team was there, carrying out the last minute checks as the equipment warmed up. As the audience later took their places for the ten o’clock screening and Dolby’s cinema marketing director, Julian Pinn, welcomed us and introduced the show, I actually felt a sense of quiet relief for all those involved in ensuring that this really did provide a screening to remember - and it did! It was a reminder that in spite of all the moans we hear about the presentday cinema industry, when we do put our skills and talents together the resulting combination of technical teamwork and showmanship really can make cinema special.
The newly installed twin projector DP4K-32B rig - you can just see the new porthole towards the right, and the Qube storage servers below the projectors
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(The author Jim Slater is the Editor of Cinema Technology magazine, the specialist publication for cinema professionals. He can be reached at jim.slater@slaterelectronics.com)
• TECHNOLOGY •
Bringing Dolby Atmos to the Empire
Bringing Atmos to the Empire. The task of equipping a major cinema is obviously far more difficult, since not only is the size of the auditorium much greater than that of a screening room, but you really cannot afford to have the cinema closed for long periods of time whilst the conversion is done. Having listened to the amazing results of the Dolby Atmos conversion at The Empire Leicester Square, I was therefore interested to learn how Dolby and The Empire had gone about this complex task. I spoke with André Mort, Technical Director of Empire Cinemas, and with Nick Watson of Dolby, who had jointly project-managed the operation. Planning – time scale I asked when the project had actually begun, and was told that in fact it had been a long time in the planning. The Empire has long been a beta-test site for various Dolby developments, and André recalled that they had worked with Dolby on its immersive sound system from a very early stage – even before the name Atmos was agreed!
Who was involved? ‘All the usual suspects’ was my immediate reaction! ‘As well as André
and Nick, Chris Connett, Richard Stockdale and Chris Quested from Dolby and Neil Goulding, Empire’s construction director, played major parts.’ Maeve Contractors carried out the building work and AJR Electrical installed all the new wiring and carried out the electrical work.
Technical Decisions and why they were made Nick Watson was given the drawings and dimensions for the Screen 1 auditorium, and he and André agreed on various parameters,
– Jim Slater including the sound pressure levels to be achieved in each part of the auditorium. Not an easy task, especially when you consider that the auditorium has a circle, and that it has in the past proved fairly difficult to achieve audio perfection in the ‘undercroft’ seating below the circle. Nick went away, talked with his colleagues and came back with a plan showing the proposed number of side surround speakers and ceiling surround speakers, detailing speaker coverage angles and positions necessary to achieve coverage throughout the auditorium. I would have thought that it might be difficult to achieve the required 85 dBC SPL reference level from ceiling speakers very high above the audience’s heads, but I was told that this didn’t in fact turn out to be a particular problem, and that they were also able to provide the overhead sound experience in the small undercroft area. I would have imagined that Nick’s plan would have been subject to much negotiation (..do we really need so many extra speakers…?) but André March-April 2013
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• TECHNOLOGY •
assured me that there was very little need to change anything, and that the Empire team soon approved the suggested technical specifications and gave the go ahead for the installation.
Speakers all around Significant changes were required in order to provide the truly immersive sound from the Dolby Atmos system. Fourteen ceiling mounted JBL AM7215/26 speakers in two rows of seven provide the overhead sounds throughout the theatre, and two extra JBL ASB6128 sub-woofers are mounted in the back wall below the rear surrounds. The Atmos system needs to be able to let the sound flow smoothly from the front screen edges to the side surrounds, without any break, so three extra side surround speakers were installed on each side of the auditorium between the screen and the first of the existing side surrounds. In fact the first four side surrounds on each side now use the new JBL 8350 speakers. There are effectively 14 pairs of surround speakers on each side of the auditorium, providing seven discrete side channels-a pair of side surround speakers corresponds to a
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single top surround speaker. There are also ten speakers per side on the back wall. So there is a grand total of 62 surround speakers being fed by 34 surround outputs from the Dolby Atmos processor. Adding the five screen channels, screen subwoofers and rear bassmanagement subwoofers this equates to a total of 42 processor outputs being rendered from up to 128 audio streams in the Dolby Atmos soundtrack.
Cabling I was interested that speaker cabling was carried out with standard 6mm speaker cables, and asked whether a more modern networked speaker system had been considered. André said that the CobraNet (audio over Ethernet) system had been considered when the major refurbishment of the cinema’s sound system had been carried out seven years ago. At that time the system was fairly new to
cinemas and there was little evidence of its long-term reliability, so it had not been adopted. The current conversion to Dolby Atmos was making use of existing wiring where possible, so a networked system wouldn’t have been appropriate at this time, but André doesn’t dismiss the use of a networked audio system in the future. Physical arrangements for cabling are actually quite straightforward, with a reasonable amount of space in the side walls and access above the ceiling for wires to the overhead speakers. Mounting the overheads proved a significant challenge, however, and scaffolding had to be installed throughout in order to allow for the necessary modifications to be made to the ceiling to allow for the mounting, and for the necessary safety equipment. I had noticed that from the auditorium the overhead speakers were apparently concealed in some sort of ‘pods’, making the installation look far more attractive than in venues where no attempt has been made to conceal the overhead speakers. This is particularly important at this venue, since the theatre ceiling and its twinkling lights are a major contributor to creating the ‘magic’ of a performance. André told me that in fact the ceiling speakers are merely concealed with speaker fabric, which is stretched over the support frames, the arrangement certainly looks good from ground level.
The sound racks All the new surround speakers take some driving, and I was interested to see that 11 new Crown CTs 3000s had been installed, with two more powerful Crown ITEC 9000s to drive the extra two subwoofers. The new sound rack equipment required significant amounts of rewiring to cope with all the extra amplifiers. At the time of my visit the kit also included two Dolby (RMU) Rendering and Mastering Units, one a spare, which provided 64 channels of Dolby Lake, processing, enabling detailed equalisation and room alignment. André explained that the system I was seeing was a temporary arrangement until the new Dolby Atmos sound processors became available. As part of the Dolby beta-testing programme, Empire actually received and installed one of the early production versions of the CP850 Dolby Atmos processor a couple of weeks after my visit. This involved some rack re-wiring, but the final result will be simpler than the interim solution that I saw, and the swap-out proved quite straightforward. I asked how the regular Empire projection team would be able to cope with the new sound arrangements, should anything go wrong. It was explained that if something should happen to the Dolby Atmos system during the period when the temporary equipment is in place then the projectionists are unlikely to be able to fix it in a short time, and would call in the Dolby experts, but the whole cinema system has been carefully arranged so that it can switch back immediately to the regular Dolby 7.1 sound system which the projection team are well used to coping with. This was purely a temporary arrangement, of course, once the Dolby Atmos CP850 Processor has been fitted and the testing is complete, the whole cinema sound system reverts to its normal elegant simplicity, well within the capabilities of the usual projection team. March-April 2013
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• TECHNOLOGY • Quite an investment
Equalisation
How long did it take?
I asked how the team had gone about equalising the Screen 1 auditorium, since it is such a complex space now fitted with a phenomenally sophisticated sound system with numerous speakers acting as arrays as well as individual sound sources. I was told that the usual auto-equalisation system using a number of carefully positioned microphones in different parts of the auditorium and connected to the Dolby RMU had made it a relatively straightforward to task to make the necessary adjustments and to deliver the correct EQ and level settings to each part of the auditorium. Careful listening in each area of the room had then indicated that the system was working to spec and providing excellent results from the Dolby Atmos test signals.
Amazingly, in view of all the physical and construction work involved, including the installation and dismantling of all that scaffolding, Screen 1 actually out of action for just one week, and the new Dolby Atmos equipped theatre has already drawn in large audiences who wanted to hear just how good cinema sound can be. I was interested to see that Empire fans on the various social networking sites are already asking when the next film with Dolby Atmos will be shown. Dolby have announced that In 2013, titles, including Gravity and Pacific Rim from Warner Bros. And Star Trek into Darkness from Paramount Pictures are scheduled to receive the Dolby Atmos treatment, and additional studio titles will follow.
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I still think of Empire as a ‘family business’, even though it has grown to have some 17 sites and 164 screens, and I find something really satisfying in knowing that the ultimate owner of Empire Cinemas, Thomas Anderson, is obviously prepared to spend money to see that his cinemas remain at the forefront of technology and entertainment. I can’t think of another cinema owner who would have spent perhaps a quarter of a million pounds on improving the sound system in a West End cinema just seven years after another large amount was spent on completely renovating that same sound system, and it is also hard to think of another cinema that would spend as much on equipment for premieres as we have seen at the Empire Leicester Square. Empire’s management were pioneers in the adoption of digital projection and are continuing to embrace the new technologies as they come along, and see Dolby Atmos as the next step forward in keeping the cinema experience something special. It is no wonder that Screen 1 at Empire Leicester Square has long been my favourite UK cinema – somehow the whole experience of watching and listening to a movie there never fails to capture that quintessential ‘magic’ that cinema at its best can bring. (The author Jim Slater is the Editor of Cinema Technology magazine, the specialist publication for cinema professionals. He can be reached at jim.slater@slaterelectronics.com)
• CINEMA SYSTEMS • Projection Series-XXXVII
Special Film Systems One way in which new technology is affecting cinema projection is the introduction of special film projection systems, aimed at enhancing or transforming the experience of large screen viewing. Such systems are based partly on the same thinking as the now almost extinct Cinerama - to expand the screen size to the point where the image seen in the auditorium occupies almost the entire field of vision of each member of the audience, so that there is little or no visual reference to the real world beyond the edges of the screen. Systems such as Imax, Omnimax and Showscan exploit giant screens so that scenes containing movement, either of the camera or the subject, or both, produce physical reactions in the audience, as if they were actually part of the action. Many of the films produced for such systems deliberately portray extreme motion, such as flying, car racing, underwater motion or space travel, to provoke physical reactions in the audience. In the case of Showscan, such effects are extended by including actual movement of the audience seating, synchronised to the apparent motion of the film action. There are cinemas featuring the Canadian Imax system in North America, Australia, Europe and Africa. The only two in Britain at the
Imax engages all the senses
moment are in Bradford and London. The film image, either 2D or 3D, is projected on a giant screen which can be ten times the area of a conventional cinema screen. In order to produce images of sufficient quality for such large areas, the system uses 70mm film with the frames disposed horizontally along the film. Each frames is 1.91"x 2.74" (48.5mm x 69.6mm), representing an aspect ratio of 1:1.43. This is the largest film frame in flat screen film history, and is about ten times the area of a 35mm frame. The size of the screen depends on the size of the auditorium, but is calculated to provide a viewing
angle of between 50 and 130 degrees for every member of the audience. The largest of such screens measures 70.5 x 96ft (21.2 x 29.3m). The film is shot at either 24 or 48 fps, using special max camera, in which the film travels sideways through the gate. Projection depends crucially on a non-intermittent method known as the Rolling Loop. As the film advance sideways through the projector, each frame is held momentarily in the gate by a vacuum, and is positioned accurately by registration pins engaging with its fifteen perforations. Picture steadiness and focus are superior to conventional intermittent-type projectors, and the Imax projector also features a 68% shutter, which March-April 2013
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• CINEMA SYSTEMS • Sound is recorded separately, either on 3 x CD system, separate magnetic film, or digital tape and features 6 channels:
Channel Channel Channel Channel Channel Channel
1: left surround 2: stage left 3: centre 4: stage right 5: right surround 6: screen top/ centre top
Most of the normal handling, projection and maintenance points also apply to Imax projection, but cleanliness is even more crucial than normal, since the projector is very vulnerable to dirt, and the magnification factor shows up even the most minute contamination on the projected image. Continuous film cleaning is provided by replaceable wiper blades positioned near the lens. Rewinding is necessary after projection, as the film is fed from the outside of the reels. The projection system allows simultaneous rewind and projection. Imax provide threemonthly service checks.
Imax film frame compared to standard 70mm & 35mm formats (actual size)
transmits a third more light than the conventional 50% version. The wide angle lens is also superior to conventional lenses. Illumination is provided by xenon lamps of between 4.5 and 12Kw, depending on screen size. The normal projection rate is 24 fbs, but there are 48 fbs systems which virtually eliminate flicker, and are capable of running on continuous loop platter systems. Note the two films, one above the other, one for each eye. Each frame from each print is shown alternately. An Imax 3D projector & film path
Another company who specialise in giant screen experience is the Iwerks Entertainment Inc. of America, founded 75 years ago by Ub Iwerks, a collaborator and friend of Walt Disney. Iwerks claims to be ".... the worlds leading provider of location-based entertainment (LBE) attractions with over 250 installations world-wide." (Iwerks Website, 1997), and specialises in "rides".
screen can be 10 times bigger than normal
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A typical ride is really a simulation of action sequences, using either 2D or 3D film (HDTV video) synchronised to seating motion. Audience become sensorily involved not
• CINEMA SYSTEMS •
A loop cabinet enables the ride film sequence to be projected as an endless loop, avoiding the need to rewind. Once loaded the ride is automated.
The seating is hydraulically operated, synchronised to the action of the film.
Unlike Imax, which requires a special auditorium, Showscan can be used in standard cinemas or theme park auditoria, of which there are many, mostly in North America and Japan. Seating is steeply raked, and the screen is curved, accommodating the 1:2.21 image aspect ratio. Films are shot on a special Showscan camera, and the projector can be converted from 60 fps to 24 and 30 fps, for conventional film showing of either 35 or 70mm gauges. In addition to the visual experience of the film itself, Showscan can add an element of physical motion, using its "Dynamic Motion Simulator". This works by moving the seating in synchronism with the apparent motion in the image, using hydraulic rams.
The lwerks 35mm projector uses horizontal frames, with 8 running at 48 fps.
Detail of gate area Details from lwerks systems
just by seeing a film which occupies almost all their field of vision, but by being mechanically moved around as well. Iwerks boast a wide variety of such systems, using various versions of 35mm and 70mm film, laserdisc, and 7 channel digital sound on CD-Rom. The Showscan film process employs a capture rate of 60 fps, working on the theory that this is similar to the way the human eye perceives the world. Whether or not this is true, certainly all trace of flicker is eliminated in projection. Like Imax, it also uses 70mm film, but in the usual vertically disposed frame mode. The
film frame is four times the area of 35mm, and 6 channel Dolby sound is included.
Showscan uses 70mm vertical
Details from lwerks systems
If you have not been to see Imax why not take a trip to Bradford? You can arrange to see the projection system for yourself, and talk to the staff about the system. Report your findings here! March-April 2013
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3D is the Future !!!! TheatreWorld in conversation with Adam MacDonald about MasterImage 3D… TW – Tell us about MasterImage 3D company history? AM – The continued growth and success of 3d technology is what drives MasterImage 3D. Our commitments to making 3d thrive now and in the future inspires us to keep innovating image quality and to continue pioneering 3D solutions for theatres and mobile devices. In addition, just as we ensure all our 3D technologies are precisely engineered for each platform, we also determine how to deliver them through the most agreeable business terms. Because we believe every screen deserves a chance to be 3D. Theatres in over 70 countries trust MasterImage 3D for the clearest, sharpest 3D experiences making us one of the fastest-growing digital 3D cinema system suppliers. Founded in 2004, the company is privately held and headquartered in Hollywood, with offices in the London, Tokyo, South Korea and Taipei. In addition to several 3D Cinema innovations, this year we will launch several autostereoscopic 3D Tablets in different regions. It has been this passion for innovative 3D technologies that have allowed MasterImage 3D to prosper as a 3D visionary focused on image quality and comfort of 3D viewing experience.
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TW – Why is MasterImage 3D known around the world for its superior 3D image quality? AM – + Color + Clarity + Contrast The best 3D images aren't just bright. They're a perfect balance of color fidelity, brightness and clarity. Our proprietary assembly process mounts the highest quality circular polarizing filters to a polycarbonate disc. This Circular Polarized Filter Disc synchronizes with the projector and silver screen to deliver the brightest 3D images to the screen with minimal crosstalk and color shift. The premium image presentation is what makes the MI-CLARITY3D such a successful product around the world. Brighter presentation Inside the MI-CLARITY3D, you'll find the simplest and most precise 3D filtering system on the market. With our Circular Polarized Filter Disc, a 3D movie only passes through 2 layers (filter and filter disc) to be polarized before being shown on the screen
Adam MacDonald Sales Manager EMEA, Digital Cinema, MasterImage 3D
versus 7-layers of manipulation of the movie in competing LiquidCrystal systems. Fewer layers equal better crosstalk and better brightness. Optically matched eyewear MasterImage 3D eyewear uses the exact filter material that is used on the Circular Polarized Filter Disc, resulting in pristine picture quality. LiquidCrystal systems are not able to match the polarization material of their eyewear, resulting in images with less color fidelity, contrast and clarity.
TW – How does a theatre decide what is the right system for them? AM – This is the biggest change in 3D cinema over the past 5 years. There is no longer a one-sized fits all solution for every exhibitor. There is a range of theatre size, projection room configuration and economic constraints. Over the last 18 months, MasterImage 3D has expanded their offering to make it so ever theatre can fit into a MasterImage 3D system. Customers like working with one supplier they know and trust. Theatres with Standard Booths (MI-CLARITY3D SA) Freestanding system that moves easily between auditoriums for film booking flexibility. Easy to install and operational within 30 minutes. Theatres with Boothless Projection (MI-CLARITY3D MX) Designed for cinemas with mezzanine-free booth configurations. A compact HEPA covered filter head mounts onto your boothless auditoriums. A control console allows floor-standing rack-or-wall mounting within 5m of filter assembly. Limited-Space Projection Booths (MI-CLARITY3D RH) Fit into tight spaces in smaller projection booths. A free-mounting actuator allows the filter head to move in-and-out of 2D/3D position in horizontal or vertical motion. Large Screens with Dual Projection (MI-DUAL3D) The dual filter solution provides optimal 3D viewing with all of our 3D eyewear for oversized screen installations larger than 55 feet. Smaller or Economic Screen Alternative (MI-WAVE3D) A cost-effective complement to the MI-CLARITY3D, our LC polarization modular stands apart from the competition with the proper balance of Contrast, Clarity and Light Efficiency. TW – What is the MasterImage 3D business model for their systems?
Economical Eyewear •
Cost effective styles and sizes for adults and children
•
Various recyclable and reusable options
Tech Specs
AM – Our customers universally want flexibility in ownership, buy a trusted system over ongoing revenue sharing. When 3D movies do well, you should benefit the most, not your technology partner. Our ownership model has no ongoing royalties, license-fees or hidden costs. Our sensible cost-of-ownership model is why we have a customer retention rate of over 99%. The bottom line is no seat-tax, immediate return on your investment and complete retention of your 3D revenues. TW – What additional features should a modern exhibitor expect from their 3D system supplier? AM – At a minimum, contemporary theatres should demand a system with superior 3D image quality and high-frame-rate readiness for nextgeneration storytelling. But, there are other areas that will make your team more efficient and your bottom-line better managed. These are some features MasterImage 3D designed for modern cinemas. Automation •
Remote access to all automation features through GPIO, RS232, 3D Port, TTL and Ethernet ports
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User-friendly software updates
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Updated user-interface for system set-up and status
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Variety of options for automated 2D/3D positioning and memory
Sync •
Pulse frequency (48Hz - 76 Hz)
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Projector synchronization signal may be provided through a variety of sources
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Technology: Polarized Filter Disc, upgradable filter
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Ratios: Max Lens Ratio (1:15:1), Extinction Ratio (120:1)
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Max Lamp Capacity: 7kw
TW – How do you consider what is the potential for 3D in the future? Do you think the interest for audiences will increase further? AM – 3D will continue to become a bigger and bigger medium of the content ecosystem. Hollywood studios and cinematic storytellers love the ability to tell richer, more visually immersive stories. And, the business model is lucrative for studios to continue to embrace and cultivate the format. That is why the 2013 slate for 3D is so strong-Star Trek Into Darkness, Iron Man 3, Man of Steel, The Hobbit, The Wolverine, Thor… plus, new entrants from master-class directors: Baz Lurhmann (The Great Gatsby), Sam Raimi (The Great and Powerful Oz) and Guillermo del Toro (Pacific Rim). But, 3D does not start-and-stop with cinema. There are 3D cable stations paving the way around the world (Sky 3D, 3net, ESPN 3D, CCTV) and original 3D content creation is continuing to become more and more impressive. This month we attended the 3D Creative Arts Awards put on by the International 3D Society and it was a proclamation that the 3D community is healthy and innovating-from Ang Lee's Life of Pi to independent 3D shorts across Asia, Europe and the US. 3D mobile devices really open up the 3D content ecosystem, which encourage 3D mobile gaming, maps, user-interface design and short-form 3D videos. As these devices come with dual-lens cameras, everyone will have the power to be 3D content creators. The 3D revolution is just starting. Wait and see. March-April 2013
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PREVIEW
15-18 April 2013 Caesars Palace, Las Vegas
From April 15 - 18, 2013, the eyes and ears of the worldwide motion picture theatre industry will be focused on Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, as the third annual CinemaCon, the Official convention of NATO, takes flight. Having gotten off to a successful start in 2011, CinemaCon is the largest and most important annual gathering of cinema owners and operators from around the world.
Attendees Whether you work in Cinema Exhibition, Film Distribution or Production, or, in the Equipment or Concession fields, CinemaCon is where you should be come April 15th. If you're involved in Marketing, Advertising or the burgeoning field of Social Media Networking, CinemaCon is where you should be come April 15th. And, should your field of expertise be in the design, construction or financing of movie theatres or the exciting world of digital cinema, then
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March-April 2013
CinemaCon is where you definitely should be come April 15th. So, if it's networking with peers old and new, being a part of exclusive studio presentations and screenings highlighting the upcoming summer slate of releases, catching up on what
Floor Plan
it takes to outfit and run a stateof-the art motion picture theatre, sitting down and talking with the key executives and decision makers from the nation's theatres, or, listening to some of today's top stars and filmmakers,
then you won't want to miss out on CinemaCon 2013. The CinemaCon schedule will be complete with studio presentations and screenings (showcasing exclusive footage for the cinema industry); sponsored food events and the most topical of seminars geared to all facets of the industry. CinemaCon will also feature the largest theatre industry trade show featuring the latest, most important and innovative technological advances in theatre equipment, and, the newest, most delectable offerings from the concession world-everything you need to satisfy the demanding needs of today's sophisticated moviegoer. And to conclude the week in grand style, The Coca-Cola Company will be host to the Annual CinemaCon Big Screen Achievement Awards that will see top honors bestowed upon some of today's most glamorous and talented stars and filmmakers. And, given the dominant role played by the International Boxoffice today, for those professionals involved in the worldwide cinema industry, CinemaCon is delighted to be holding an International Day of programming just for you on Monday, April 15th.
Highlights From exclusive Hollywood product presentations debuting a slate of upcoming films, to must-see premiere feature screenings, to the biggest stars, producers and directors, CinemaCon will jumpstart the excitement and buzz that surrounds the summer season at the box office. The CinemaCon schedule will be broad, diverse, educational and fun, and will feature the largest cinema trade show in the world. Today's moviegoer is savvy, discriminating and extremely knowledgeable. When it comes to
selecting a theatre to see a respective film, that same moviegoer would rather drive the extra distance to ensure they are getting the ultimate, state-of-the-art presentation and theatrical experience possible. Today's demanding moviegoer is looking for optimum picture and sound quality, theatre seats that provide great comfort, a ticketing system that is quick and efficient, a concession stand that offers a diverse array of food and beverage items and a theatre setting that provides the best amenities imaginable-all of which makes that moviegoing experience worth driving the extra distance. Today's cinema owner is just as demanding and discriminating when it comes to the building of new theatres or the remodeling and maintenance of existing theatres. The theatre market is competitive and the stakes are high. The CinemaCon Trade Show serves that competitive, high-stakes market. Giving cinema owners from all over the world the opportunity to experience the latest and most important advances in the world of theatre equipment and concession products, CinemaCon offers offers the world's largest trade show geared specifically for the motion picture theatre owner. It is here that decision
making cinema owners and executives walk the aisles, keeping an eye out for new equipment, products and services that will help make theirs the "go-to" theatres. If the motion picture theatre industry is in your business plans, then CinemaCon is where you must be in April, 2013. With more than 5000 industry professional expected to attend CinemaCon 2013, being a part of the Trade Show is essential for any company that serves the cinema industry. With potential Trade Show Space of more than 500 booths and 12 premium suite locations, the CinemaCon Trade Show will be housed in the beautiful, new Conference Center of Caesars Palace. CinemaCon also offers Trade Show exhibitors private, complimentary meeting spaces off the bustle of the trade floor to meet clients, make pitches and close deals. CinemaCon is delighted to have as its major trade show partners, two of the industry's leading trade associations, ICTA (International Cinema Technology Association) and NAC (National Association of Concessionaires).
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Exhibitors 1 Better .............................................................. 907F ACS Enterprises .................................................. 207F Adaptive Micro Systems .................................... 128F ASL ................................................................... 2110A All Cinema Sales & Services ............................... 830F American Cinema ............................................. 2611A American International Concession .................... 825F American Licorice Company ............................... 628F Archibald Frozen Desserts ................................ 1031F Arts Alliance Media ......................................... 2007A Ballantyne Strong. ........................................... 2403A Barco ................................................................ 2313A Bass Industries ................................................... 637F Benchmark Games .............................................. 134F Best Sanitizers .................................................. 1017F Betson Enterprises ............................................. 227F Better Life Technology ...................................... 1003F BGW Systems ................................................... 2006A Boca Systems ...................................................... 821F Bright Star Systems Corp ................................. 2325A Business Russia .................................................. 1028F C. Cretors and Co. ............................................... 413F Caddy Products .................................................. 521F California Seating .............................................. 836F Callahan Digital Cinema ................................... 2725A Camatic Seating ................................................. 713F Capital Food Concessions ................................. 2015A CardioReady ....................................................... 221F Chestnut Identity Apparel ................................ 2002A Christie .............................................. 2103A, Milano1 Cima Network .................................................... 925F Cine Digital Manager ....................................... 2124A CineCert ........................................................... 2011A Cinecolor ............................................................ 132F Cinedavis .......................................................... 2724A Cinedigm ....................................................... Milano5 Cinema Concepts ................................................ 238F Cinema Equipment & Supplies/Cinevise ........... 2010A Cinema Lighting Corp ......................................... 529F Cinema Scene Marketing ................................... 831F Cinema Solutions ................................................ 218F Cinemeccanica .................................................. 2817A Cinetize .............................................................. 114F CJ 4DPLEX ........................................................ 2503A Color Ad Packaging ............................................ 931F ConAgra Foods ................................................... 531F Connie's Pizza / Nation Pizza ............................. 927F Continental Concession ....................................... 520F Creative America ............................................... 730F CRU-DataPort ................................................... 2815A Datasat Digital ................................................ 2510A D-BOX Technologies Inc. .................................. 2119A DCP24. Digital Delivery ................................... 2013A DEEL! Media ...................................................... 933F DepthQ 3D / Lightspeed . ................................. 2712A Dippin' Dots ........................................................ 404F DMS & DTS .................................................... Milano2 Dolby Laboratories .......................................... 2303A Dolphin Seating .................................................. 528F Doremi ............................................................. 2511A Durkan ............................................................... 429F Eisenberg Sausage ............................................. 307F Embedded Processor ........................................... 305F Enpar Audio ........................................................ 237F Entertainment Supply & Tech. .......................... 2106A Eomac Ltd. .......................................................... 719F Eurokeyton S.A. ............................................... 2718A Everything Cinema ............................................. 926F Fanlight ............................................................ 2625A FBD Partnership, LP .......................................... 1016F Figueras International Seating ......................... 2709A Filmack Studios .................................................. 224F Focux Technology ............................................. 2118A Fox Blocks .......................................................... 219F Franklin Designs ................................................. 317F Frankston Packaging .......................................... 728F F'real Foods ........................................................ 112F Funacho .............................................................. 337F
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Fuyi Acoustics .................................................... 331F G&S Acoustics ..................................................... 819F GDC .................................................................. 2219A Gehl Foods .......................................................... 916F Gold Medal Products .......................................... 707F Golden Link ........................................................ 631F Greystone Public Seating ................................... 312F GXM ................................................................. 2114A Harkness Screens ............................................. 2411A High Performance Stereo ................................. 2004A Hollywood Movie Money ................................... 104F Hytex Industries ................................................. 629F Inorca Seating .................................................... 913F INTEG Process Group ........................................ 2716A Integrity Seating ................................................ 129F Inter-Grain Specialty Products ........................... 1018F International Cinema Technology (ICTA) ............ 231F International Electrical Wire & Cable ................ 1001F Irwin Seating Company ...................................... 201F iTEMP ................................................................. 230F J&J Snack Foods ................................................ 1025F Jack Roe USA ...................................................... 717F JBL Professional / CROWN ................................. 301F JKR Partners ...................................................... 1020F Jolly Time Pop Corn ............................................ 828F Kernel Seasons .................................................. 921F Kinocreativ ......................................................... 632F Kinoton ............................................................ 2213A Klipsch .............................................................. 2514A Konica Minolta Sensing .................................... 2714A Lancer Corporation ............................................ 233F LBI/BOYD Acoustical Products ............................ 324F Liberty Studios .................................................. 906F Logix ICF ............................................................ 832F Look3D Eyewear ................................................ 124F Magna-Tech Electronic ..................................... 2415A MARS Chocolate ................................................. 701F Martek Contracts ............................................... 419F MasterImage 3D .............................................. 2706A Max-R ............................................................... 2710A Mediamation .................................................... 2425A Mesbur+Smith Architects ................................... 729F Meyer Sound ...................................................... 807F Michael Wolf Interiors/ DBA Wolf Theatre Services ............................... 1008F MightyTicket ...................................................... 106F Mobiliario SA de CV ........................................... 801F Movie Brand Packaging ...................................... 416F Moviead ............................................................. 636F Moving Image Technologies ............................. 2419A Nathan's Famous ................................................ 100F National Association of Concessionaires ............. 929F NCR Corporation ............................................... 2603A Nebraska Popcorn Sales ..................................... 432F NEC Display Solutions ........................ 2715A, Milano4 Nestle ................................................................. 512F Nevada Film Office ........................................... 1021F Novar ................................................................. 918F Odell's ................................................................ 725F Omniterm .......................................................... 625F Oreck Commercial Sales ..................................... 433F Osram Sylvania .................................................. 917F Packaging Concepts ............................................ 824F Paradigm Design ................................................ 116F Peach Digital ...................................................... 232F Pelican Productions ............................................ 928F PepsiCo Foodservice ........................................... 101F Philips Specialty Lighting ................................. 2607A Photo Research ................................................ 2120A PirateEye .......................................................... 1033F Popcornopolis ..................................................... 630F Pot O' Gold ......................................................... 319F Power Direct ...................................................... 225F Preferred Popcorn .............................................. 424F Prime Ticket ....................................................... 220F Proctor Companies ............................................. 109F Progressive Flooring ........................................... 620F Promotion In Motion Companies ........................ 212F
ProSTAR Industries ............................................. 113F QSC .................................................................... 613F Qube Cinema .................................................... 2519A Quest Cinema Equipment ................................. 2017A RadioBoss 2-Way Radios ..................................... 318F RCM Media ......................................................... 330F Ready Theatre Systems .................................... 2225A Red Hot Chicago ................................................. 936F Retriever Software ............................................ 829F Reynolds & Reynolds ........................................... 217F RGS International ............................................. 2615A Richland Asia ..................................................... 1019F Ricos Products ................................................... 1007F Rogers Electric ................................................. 2008A Roney International ......................................... 2216A Royal Paper Corporation .................................... 213F SCA Tissue North America .................................. 827F Schneider Optics .............................................. 2212A Schuettler Tchnik ............................................. 2022A Schult Industries ................................................. 813F Screen Rewards .................................................. 731F Seating Concepts ................................................ 513F Senor Tech .......................................................... 130F Sensible Cinema/PrintTixUSA ............................ 216F Severtson Screens ............................................ 2108A Shake N' Share .................................................. 1026F Simply Right ....................................................... 732F SLS Audio ......................................................... 2018A Socal Safe .......................................................... 817F Sonic Equipment Company ............................... 2125A Sony ...................... Neopolitan1, 2701A, Neopolitan2 Soundfold ........................................................... 316F SPFM .................................................................. 434F SSDC .................................................................. 1024F Stadium Savers .................................................. 117F Stadium Seating Enterprises .............................. 329F Star Screen ....................................................... 2426A Stein Industries .................................................. 912F Stratacache ...................................................... 2019A Summit Food Enterprises ................................... 909F Taste Of Nature ................................................. 320F Taylor Company ............................................... 2113A Tempo Industries ................................................ 525F The Cawley ......................................................... 108F The Coca-Cola Company ...................................... 401F The Hershey Company ....................................... 1004F The ICEE Company .............................................. 428F ................ Publication Bin TicketNew .......................................................... 333F Ticketsoft ........................................................... 119F Tivoli .................................................................. 306F TK Architects ...................................................... 325F Tootsie Roll Industries ........................................ 905F Ultra Stereo Labs ............................................... 313F Universal Cinema Services ............................... 2619A Ushio America .................................................. 2622A Vantiv ................................................................ 226F Variety The Children's Charity of the US ........... 228F Ventura Foods .................................................... 536F VIP Cinema Seating ............................................ 901F Vista Entertainment ........................................... 425F Vistar ................................................................. 619F Vivian Company ................................................. 736F Volfoni 3D ........................................................ 2809A Waterless Co. Inc. ............................................... 133F Weaver Popcorn ................................................ 1013F Weldon Williams & Lick ..................................... 1015F Wesnic ............................................................... 1029F West World Media ............................................. 914F White Castle Food Products ............................... 125F Wilkinson Walls ................................................. 1030F Will Rogers Health Fair ................................. Milano3 Wulf Installations ............................................... 924F XPAND 3D ........................................................ 2003A Yu Yu Lighting ................................................. 2424A
REVIEW
12-14 March 2013 The Renaissance, Powai, Mumbai
The 14th edition of FICCI Frames started on March 12, 2013 at Hotel Renaissance, Mumbai with this year's theme being 'Engaging a Billion Consumers'. It was inaugurated by the Hon. Union Minister of State, Ministry of External Affairs Ms. Preneet Kaur in the presence of President FICCI Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai, the newly appointed Chairman of the FICCI Media & Entertainment Committee Uday Shankar, noted filmmaker and celebrity Karan Johar, the president of the Producers' Guild of India Ramesh Sippy, the Guest of Honor Dr. Soon Tae Park, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, Republic of Korea, and the key note speaker Andy Bird, Chairman, Walt Disney, International.
The well-known Hindi cinema actress and star Kareena Kapoor lighted the ceremonial lamp. Subhash Chandra, Chairman of ZEE, was honored for his contributions to the broadcast industry since ZEE started its
operations twenty years ago. He could not make it to the function. A video of his acceptance remarks was shown to the audience and his son Puneet Goenka MD, Zee TV, accepted the honor on his behalf and thanked FICCI for the same. In his keynote address, Andy Bird described in detail the business philosophy of Disney and the reasons he was optimistic about its growth in India led by Ronnie Screwvala, MD of Disney UTV, and how his company plans to focus on TV, Films and Merchandising businesses in the region and thus has been investing money in developing original Indian content for its channels in India. Speaking on the occasion Uday Shankar rued the fact that M&E Industry still does not have
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EVENT CALENDER
2013 •
reliable systems of measuring its reach and whatever audience measurement and market monitoring methods are used their integrity is highly suspect. He also pointed out that in spite of the compulsory digitization of cable network in India, the issues of regulating last mile operators and deregulating cable prices need to be addressed further. He sought the active intervention of policymakers i.e. TRAI, the I&B Ministry, and the Government of India, to ensure that.
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"Sound and picture - together telling the story", Masterclass by Ioan Allen, Senior Vice President, Dolby laboratories
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Apps are Changing the World: Can India be the next app Superpower? - An incisive look into appliances / tools / technologies that are making the craft more exciting, In the dizzying world of apps which are adding dimensions to our daily life and enabling us to access content and services hither to unthought of, and to find ways to best monetize and develop new ideas
The topics discussed were : •
•
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The Second Phase of TV Digitization
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Ways to Build the Strategic Partnerships between KoreaIndia Creative Industries
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The SAARC Ministers' Panel Forging Enduring Ties - This panel comprised of the information ministers of the SAARC countries and were first time at FRAMES and deliberated on ways of effective bilateral partnerships towards mutual growth of respective entertainment and media industries
•
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Engaging A Billion Consumers in the media and entertainment Industry
Film Distribution & Exhibition: Challenges & the Way Forward - The session examined the many hurdles still besetting the cinema exhibition and distribution industry and deliberate on ways to resolve the current scenario
March-April 2013
Perception & Portrayal of Women in TV and Film: The Regressive Gene -This session debated and pose a serious question whether the way women are perceived in both TV and film have actually gone through a sea change at all, barring a few exceptions
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Indian Studio Infrastructure: Are We Ready for the Next Century? - Indian cinema is 100 years old but are our studios and infrastructural logistics ready to take on global competition and filmmaking of the future? Stakeholders take stock of the issues facing Indian studio infrastructure and suggest strategies Unlocking Customer Value Through Technology In OutOf-Home Media - The session put forth potent views from industry experts on the imperatives for the Indian market, when it comes to technology adoption and perceptible benefits of the same. It will discover how the OOH industry is implementing extraordinary changes that position the medium as a more valuable and innovative platform
15-18 APRIL CINEMACON, LAS VEGAS, USA www.cinemacon.com
24-27 JUNE CINEEUROPE BARCELONA, SPAIN www.cinemaexpo.com
26-28 JULY CINEMA TODAY, CHENNAI, INDIA www.cinematoday.in
31 JULY - 1 AUGUST CINEMA INDIA, MUMBAI, INDIA www.cinemaindiaexpo.com
15-19 SEPTEMBER KINO EXPO, ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA www.kinoexpo.ru
13-17 OCTOBER AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL MOVIE CONVENTION GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA www.movieconvention.com.au
21-24 OCTOBER SHOWEAST, FLORIDA, USA www.showeast.com
9-12 DECEMBER CINEASIA, HONG KONG www.cineasia.com
2014 MARCH FRAMES, MUMBAI, INDIA www.ficci-frames.com
entertainworld Inox, Lake City Mall
Entertaining Lake City
Inox Leisure, made its entry into Udaipur with the launch of its first multiplex in the city. Located at Lake City Mall, Inox is now open to guests with 4 screens and 901 seats. This is Inox’s 6th multiplex in Rajasthan. Inox already has 4 multiplexes in Jaipur and 1 in Kota. March-April 2013
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entertainworld Mr. Alok Tandon, CEO - Inox Leisure Ltd. said, "It's our privilege to open our first multiplex in this beautiful city of Udaipur. Our aim is to revolutionize the movie watching experience in the city with modern comforts, clear uncompressed sound and bright, crystal clear image. We are also pleased that this new multiplex is now part of a historic move by Inox where all screens across the country are equipped with top-of-the-line 2K, DCI compliant digital projectors," he added. Luxury is the corner stone of all Inox multiplexes. Plush seats with ample leg space, lush carpeting in the auditoriums, a spacious lobby and state-of-the -art technolgy; all backed by world-class hospitality, makes it
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entertainworld
a never seen before movie experience. The movies showcased at Inox, Lake City Mall in the opening week were Murder 3, Jayantabhai Ki Love Story, Special 26, ABCD (Hindi) and Zero Dark Thirty (English). Once at the cinema, the customer experience is further enhanced at 'Refuel' the in-house brand of theatre food, which serves an extended menu of flavored popcorn, hot and cold snacks, beverages and a variety of combo meals. With the launch of this multiplex, Inox now has a total of 45 multiplexes and 178 screens in 29 cities across India.
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F U T U R E
R E L E A S E S
A glimpse of movies coming soon‌ The Brass Teapot Production Magnolia Pictures
Production Warner Bros.
Director Ramaa Mosley
Director Brian Helgeland
Starring Juno Temple, Michael Angarano
Starring Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford
Genre Comedy, Drama
Genre Drama
Evil Dead
Oblivion Production TriStar Pictures
Production Universal Pictures
Director Fede Alvarez
Director Joseph Kosinski
Starring Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez
Starring Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman
Genre Comedy, Fantasy
Genre Action, Adventure
Jurassic Park 3D
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42
Scary Movie 5
Production Universal Pictures
Production Dimension Films
Director Steven Spielberg
Director Malcolm Lee
Starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern
Starring Ashley Tisdale, Simon Rex
Genre Adventure, Sci-Fi
Genre Comedy, Horror
F U T U R E
The Big Wedding
R E L E A S E S The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Production Lionsgate
Production IFC Films
Director Justin Zackham
Director Mira Nair
Starring Robert De Niro, Katherine Heigl
Starring Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson
Genre Comedy, Romance
Genre Drama
Mud
The Iceman Production Roadside Attractions
Production Millennium
Director Jeff Nichols
Director Ariel Vromen
Starring Tye Sheridan, Matthew
Starring Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder
Genre Drama
Genre Action, Crime
The Numbers Station
Iron Man 3
Production Image Entertainment
Production Walt Disney
Director Kasper Barfoed
Director Shane Black
Starring John Cusack, Malin Akerman
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow
Genre Action, Thriller
Genre Action, Adventure
Pain & Gain
Kiss of the Damned Production Paramount Pictures
Production Magnet Releasing
Director Michael Bay
Director Xan Cassavetes
Starring Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson
Starring JosĂŠphine de La, Milo Ventimiglia
Genre Action, Crime
Genre Drama, Horror
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F U T U R E
Tyler Perry Presents Peeples
Production LD Entertainment
Director Tina Gordon Chism
Director Katie Aselton
Starring Tina Gordon Chism, David Alan Grier
Starring Kate Bosworth, Lake Bell
Genre Comedy
Genre Thriller
Epic Production Dimension Films
Production 20th Century Fox
Director Nicol谩s L贸pez
Director Chris Wedge
Starring Eli Roth
Starring Beyonce Knowles, Colin Farrell
Genre Horror, Thriller
The Great Gatsby
Genre Action, Adventure
Fast & Furious 6
Production Warner Bros.
Production Universal Pictures
Director Baz Luhrmann
Director Justin Lin
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire
Starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker
Genre Drama
Genre Action, Thriller
Star Trek Into Darkness
March-April 2013
Black Rock
Production Lionsgate
Aftershock
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R E L E A S E S
The Hangover Part III
Production Paramount
Production Warner Bros.
Director J.J. Abrams
Director Todd Phillips
Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto
Starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms
Genre Sci-Fi
Genre Comedy
F U T U R E
R E L E A S E S
Shootout At Wadala
Shortcut Romeo Production Susi Ganesh Prod.
Production White Feather
Director Susi Ganesh
Director Sanjay Gupta
Starring Neil Nitin Mukesh, Ameesha Patel
Starring John Abraham, Anil Kapoor
Genre Romance,Thriller
Genre Crime
Zanjeer
Ek Thi Daayan Production Balaji Telefilms Ltd
Production Reliance
Director Kannan Iyer
Director Apoorva Lakhia
Starring Emraan Hashmi, Konkona Sen
Starring Ram Charan, Priyanka Chopra
Genre Thriller
Genre Action,Thriller
ADVERTISERS’ INDEX Company
Page #
Product
Website
ShowBizz
TM-9
Software
www.eshowbizz.com
GDC
TM-2
Media Delivery
www.gdc-tech.com
MasterImage
TW-56
3D Cinema
www.masterimage3d.com
AIMC
TW-35
Tradeshow
www.movieconvention.com.au
Amar AV
TM-27
Screens
www.amarscreens.com
Anutone
TM-10
Acoustics
www.anutone.com
Barco
TM-5
Projectors
www.barco.com
Christie
TW-9
Projectors
www.christiedigital.com
CineEurpoe
TW-54
Tradeshow
www.cinemaexpo.com
CinemaCon
TW-2
Tradeshow
www.cinemacon.com
CinemaToday
TM-28
Tradeshow
www.cinematoday.in
Doremi
TW-11
Digital Cinema
www.doremilabs.com
Galalite
TM-7
Screens
www.galalitescreens.com
Harkness
TW-23,25
Screens
www.harkness-screens.com
Harman
TW-55
Sound
www.harman.in
Osram
TM-3
Projection Lamps
www.osram.com
QSC
TW-5
Sound
www.qsccinema.com
USL
TW-7
Sound
www.uslinc.com
Volfoni
TW-3
3D Cinema
www.volfoni.com
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