The Cinema Buying Group has released a revised Particpation Agreement.

The new agreement entails the creation of a "Late Membership Class" comprising those who join CBG-NATO after the November 2 deadline who may, or may not, participate in the digital deal negotiated for CBG members. According to the Agreement:

The Participant understands and agrees that the Managing Director was obliged to provide potential digital vendors with a fixed membership roster so that the economics of providing equipment and service to CBG members could be calculated, and the RFP process concluded fairly. The Participant understands and acknowledges that-in addition to urging independent cinema owners to join CBG, repeatedly and in multiple forums, over the last two years-NATO sent notice of a CBG membership deadline of November 2, 2007 to all NATO members, that NATO requested that state and regional units circulate the notice to all of their members, and that notice of the membership deadline was posted on the CBG website. The Participant understands and agrees that by joining CBG after November 2, 2007, the Participant will belong to a "Late Membership Class," and that participation in the digital cinema equipment and service deal negotiated for CBG members is not guaranteed, and/or that participation in the deal, at the vendor's discretion, may not be on the same terms as provided to CBG members in good standing before November 3, 2007.

The Late Membership Class only applies to digital cinema equipment and services and does not affect any other aspect of CBG membership.

Tags: NATO

The Cinema Buying Group has announced a deadline for CBG membership, for purposes of participating in the digital cinema deal arranged by CBG for CBG members. That deadline is Friday, November 2, 2007:

The Cinema Buying Group is currently engaged in evaluating proposals from digital cinema system integrators to provide digital cinema equipment and service to CBG members. It is now necessary to provide precise information to qualified vendors about the locations they would be equipping-which compels us to finalize the CBG membership list. It is therefore necessary to impose a deadline.

If your paperwork and dues are not received by November 2^nd, then you will not qualify to participate in the digital cinema equipment and service deal currently under evaluation. Please visit www.cbgpurchasing.com to get more information about CBG membership and download the forms that must be completed.

Tags: NATO

NATO has released its DVD release window tracking reports and they include some good news for movie theater owners. Year-to-date (as of 9/26/2007), the average release window has expanded by a full week - 4 months 18 days vs. 4 months 11 days for all of 2006.

A few caveats. These tracking reports follow a moving target - averages will go up and down as films are added to the DVD release schedule through the year. There are only nine Q3 releases that have DVD release dates as of the report's release (this lack could also be seen in a positive light, as the major studios are not pulling the trigger early on DVD release dates for Q3 films).

The report is here, plus  Video Release Window Averages by Gross, Video Release Window by Film, and Percentage of Releases Over Four Month Release Window by Studio.

Tags: NATO, Windows

The L.A Times takes a front-page look into Lust, Caution's attempt to remove the perceived stigma and misconceptions of the NC-17 rating. Reporter Lorenza Muñoz goes deep into the weeds with studio executives and uncovers some new misconceptions perpetuated by the executives themselves.

In addition, the lingering association between NC-17 and X-rated fare can take a toll at the box office. Films labeled as NC-17 sell as many as 25% fewer tickets, studio executives said. The highest-grossing NC-17 film was "Showgirls," a 1995 film that brought in $20.4 million.

It is difficult to conceive on what basis anyone can make such a comparison. There will need to be more than a dozen or so NC-17 rated films before there is enough data to make a such an assertion. If one can make an assertion, the available evidence points in the opposite direction:

NC-17 rated films take in, on average, $2.1 million more than unrated films - the preferred form for releasing films that might otherwise be rated NC-17. In other words, one might make the reckless assertion that the stigmatic NC-17 increases box office take by more than 100 percent.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Marketing, NATO, Ratings

The Cinema Buying Group (CBG), a semi-autonomous buying program under the NATO umbrella for small and medium-sized independent theaters, took a big step forward in making digital cinema equipment available for independent theater operators by issuing a request for proposals for digital cinema equipment and service providers.

CBG-NATO members (representing more than 4,000 screens) desire to acquire digital cinema equipment and service on favorable terms, funded in whole or part through "virtual print fee" (VPF) arrangements, that ensure their ability to provide high quality and reliable digital exhibition service to patrons in their markets. The purpose of this RFP is to solicit proposals from qualified vendors to provide digital cinema equipment and service to the members of the CBG, and to determine as promptly as possible thereafter which vendor's proposal best suits the needs and interests of the members of the CBG.

Simply put, the RFP announces the intention of small and medium independent theaters to be fully included in the accelerating rollout of digital cinema.

To be considered, all proposals must be received by the CBG not later than 12 noon (EDT), Friday, September 28, 2007.  The CBG intends to make a selection of vendors before the end of 2007.

The press release is here.

The CBG is here.

Tags: NATO

You might expect the director of media for the National Association of Theatre Owners to believe that, but so does Jonathan Sehring, president of IFC Films, which releases a small number of films in theaters and on pay-per-view simultaneously. According to the article in Weekly Variety:

Sehring makes it clear that First Take is an outlet only for movies that figure to have a hard time drawing people into the theaters. For example, "You Kill Me," the IFC-distributed movie starring Ben Kingsley, Tea Leoni and Luke Wilson, which opened in theaters last month, will not go to First Take because it’s projected to pull seven figures at the multiplexes. (The movie has grossed $829,000 so far in limited release.)

PPV and direct-to-video releases are honorable and profitable ways to distribute movies. Why drag movie theaters into it?

Tags: NATO, Windows

Die Hard was living free on the internet - unthinkingly posted on an independent film upload site - according to Variety's Anne Thompson. Iklipz discovered the posting, removed it and alerted the film's distributor.

New York gave its municipal anti-camcording law its first workout Monday night at a screening of Transformers when NYPD caught an alleged in-theater camcorder pirate in a sting operation. According to the New York Daily News,

About 30 minutes before the 8p.m. showing, theater employees received a call from the NYPD saying they were plotting a sting at the theater, a known haven for bootleggers, police said.

"The movie companies ... knew it was coming from our theater," said manager Justin Hill, 23. "We were taking heat for it because we weren't catching anyone."

Seven plainclothes cops corralled Diallo - who has a history of illegally recording films - moments after the screening ended, police said.

The AP notes police 'arrested Diallo, 48, after an officer seated behind him in the theater saw him raise his right arm after the film began, court papers said. During a search shortly after the movie ended, police found a video recorder "strapped underneath his right arm via a body harness," and a video player and remote control in his jacket pockets, the papers added.'

Movie theaters across the country have recently received new anti-camcording posters - shipped, ironically enough, with prints of Transformers.

Tags: Laws, Movie Theft, NATO