From the monthly archives:

August 2009

Executive Summary

August 2009

  • Digital Cinema Equipment as Collateral? The roll of the deployment entity has changed, and the risks the exhibitor faces have changed along with it.
  • DCIP. Rumors abound that Blackstone Group is preparing a private equity investment.
  • ISDCF TDL update. One studio encourages adoption of an obsolete format.
  • SMPTE update. Five documents, included two closed caption standards, pass ballot, with comments to be resolved. Michael Karagosian takes over the chairman role for 21DC-30 Exhibition Working Group.
  • 3-D for Film? Technicolor announces its 3-D film program. But Technicolor is only one of three such entries, all incompatible.
  • CEA in the UK announced its intent to organize a buying group for its independent theatre owner members.
  • Time Andaeus engages in rollout in China.  Estimates predict 50% digital cinema penetration by end of 2009.
  • Sony and RealD score sales in Germany.
  • NATO hires Mitch Neuhauser for its 2011 trade show.

  • Arts Alliance Media prepares for its Norwegian bid, with the merger of Nordic Digital Alliance and cinema advertising aggregator Intellinet.
  • Warner Bros and Viacom put Chinese Mann on the block…again.
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Digital Cinema Equipment as Collateral?

August 2009

A fundamental shift has taken place in digital cinema lending patterns, affecting the activities of 3rd party digital cinema deployment entities.  The structure of these entities was first contemplated by studios in the closing days of DCI’s business activities in 2005. (DCI stands for Digital Cinema Initiatives, a joint venture of the six major motion [...]

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DCIP

August 2009

Ever the target of rumors, DCIP is said to be well on the road to obtaining a round of private equity for its first round of equipment purchases.  The equity financing would come through Blackstone Group, on the order of $200M to $300M, enough to purchase 3000 systems.  Assuming that their deployment agreements require 50% [...]

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ISDCF and the TDL

August 2009

ISDCF didn’t meet this month, but work behind the scenes on Trusted Device List (TDL) began to take shape as various proponents took steps to move the discussion forward.
Industry-wide, competitive security key management, of which TDL management is one part, relies upon a few factors that don’t exist today:  the ability for competitive entities to [...]

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SMPTE

August 2009

SMPTE 21DC next meets in September.  Five ballots representing five new standards will be discussed.  Each of the ballots passed, but with comments to be resolved.  If the comments are easily resolved and the parent committee agrees that another ballot is not required, these documents will move forward for publication as standards.
The balloted standards are:
1)      [...]

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Technicolor and 3-D

August 2009

Technicolor has been working on a 3-D-for-film process for some time, but the first public announcement of it was made in a company focus article appearing in the Los Angeles Times this month.  In the article, Jeffrey Katzenberg was quoted with supportive statements.
The technology in discussion is not new, but simply a repackaging of an [...]

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Cinema Exhibitor Association (CEA)

August 2009

The UK-based Cinema Exhibitor Association announced its intent to form a digital cinema funding group for its independent members.  Stating support of 450 of some 1050 independent members, CEA is still in the exploratory stage.  Its next step is to hire a chief executive to evaluate the group’s opportunities and assemble a business plan.  This [...]

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Other News

August 2009

Time Andaeus, Christie, and Doremi will join in an 800-screen digital cinema rollout in China.  Time Andaeus partnered with Doremi to develop its Montage CDCS2000 digital cinema server.  Shanghai Daily estimates that 50% of the country’s 4000 cinema screens will be digital by end of year.
Sony and RealD will be providing systems to CinemaxX screens [...]

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