Sperling Reich must have the fastest typing fingers in the West to nail down as much detail as he does here from a fast-paced lunch-time discussion.
When Macdowell turned to Solomon to get an exhibitor's opinion the discussion turned somewhat acrimonious, in a friendly sort of way. "I happen not to be a proponent of 2K [projector resolution] and I have not been a big proponent of integrators," said Solomon. "I believe we should be able to band together and form our own consortium and go negotiate for our own VPFs. I don't believe in giving a cut to an integrator."
CBG's Campbell, like Christiansen, isn't as down on integrators as Solomon and is of the opinion such third parties might be necessary, especially in the short-term. "Self financing is not going to happen for a long time," said Campbell. "I think self-financing is going to be done through the integrators and if we have to pay a small fee of the VPF then so be it."
Solomon, whose smooth New Orleans drawl had Macdowell comparing him to a slick southern lawyer, is not the retiring type and is almost always quotable. Given the chance to air a few thoughts, he let his grievances fly. His comments received the biggest audience reaction by far. "If 2K is the way we're going, then 35mm is better," he argued. "Apparently digital helps distribution, but it doesn't do a thing for exhibition. If distributors want to go with 2K then give us the money and we'll get on with it, otherwise we're going to have to go at our own pace. If distribution wants 2K, give us the money!"
Solomon went on to get a huge laugh when he recounted asking one of his regional managers, "What's the difference between a 35mm film print and a digital cinema hard drive? He said, 'about 40 pounds'."
Levin attempted to diffuse Solomon by pointing out that two of the studios were present and on stage, ready to talk about giving Southern VPFs, but Solomon got the last word in during this exchange as well by snapping back "I know, but I have to figure out how I'm going to pay for [3D] glasses with one of them."
In one instant Solomon made public the rumor that Fox had been telling North American exhibitors that after "Ice Age 3" the studio would no longer be paying for disposable 3D glasses. Presently none of the studios pay for disposable glasses in Europe, though they have been footing the bill in the U.S., Canada and at times Mexico.
Read the whole thing. It will be well worth your time.
ShoWest 09 marked a change in programming. Monday has in recent years been "International Day," but with the increasing interconnectedness of the industry, it no longer made sense to separate out the international programming. Hence, Monday became the official opening day instead of the traditional Tuesday.
Fox's Jim Gianopulos kicked off the Opening Day luncheon with an overview of the health of the exhibition industry:
Gianopulos' Keynote Address was a speech laced with charts and graphs showing how the theatrical moviegoing experience continues to grow despite the recent economic upheaval and recession. He noted that despite the dramatic increase in home technology like HD televisions and Blu-ray, those who own five or more pieces of home theater technology are still more likely to go to the movie theater every weekend than less. He mentioned that movie attendance continues to be the #3 choice for most people going out for their entertainment and that it made up a larger audience of those going to sporting events, Broadway theater and other activities, which tend to be more costly. International growth was also a large factor, noting that North America made up roughly half of the over $18 billion grossed at the box office worldwide in 2008, and that there was a lot of room for growth.
A picture of James and the Giant Graph is here. A chart showing how people who use 5 or more home entertainment technologies go to more movies is here and another one showing what the inside of my brain looks like is here.
Moderated by G. Kendrick Macdowell, VP, general counsel and director of government affairs at NATO, the panel featured two studio execs who have pledged support in the form of virtual print fees to individual exhibitors. Mark Christiansen, executive VP of operations at Paramount Pictures, deemed his studio’s plan “incredibly easy…something you can do now.” But Fox exec VP of digital exhibition Julian Levin, who is also reaching out to individual cinema owners, bluntly criticized the streamlined Paramount offer document as having “a lot of holes,” contrasting the Fox approach as that of “a grown-up business.”
Even more contentious was exhibitor George Solomon, CEO of Southern Theatres. Dismissing the role of third-party integrators like Cinedigm and Digital Cinema Implementation Partners, he declared, “I believe that mid-size circuits should be able to negotiate virtual print fees directly or have their own consortiums… I don’t believe in giving a cut to an integrator.”
The plain-speaking Solomon, whom Macdowell at one point compared to a crafty Southern lawyer, proved not much of a champion of the digital revolution. “35mm is still better,” he contended. “What’s the difference between a hard drive and 35mm film? Forty pounds!” Arguing that the benefits of digital accrue mainly to the studios, he challenged, “If distribution wants 2K, give us the money!”
Patrick von Sychowski at Celluloid Junkie has a marvelous post about ShoWest:
I will personally never forget my first ShoWest, unsuspectingly getting dragged into a 15 minute demonstration of the miracle that was spray-on substance made from oranges to remove chewing gum from carpets. I was too timid to explain that I was just a cub reporter/analyst for a statistics based media research publication with zero purchasing influence over my nearest fleapit, let alone cinema chain. I got the full demo, though sadly not a free sample of the Orange Miracle product.
We may all think that ShoWest and the exhibition business is all about Rachel McAdams and Zac Efron flashing their million dollar grins from the stage as they accepts the award for cinema’s ‘breakthrough performer/star of the year‘, but after everyone has left the multiplexes someone still has to scrape the gum off the carpets. And for that reason cinema trade shows will be around for a long time still.
There was much to talk about at ShoWest 2009, but frankly, I'm much too tired to do it. Instead, here are some of the big events and the media and blogs reporting them.
Celluloid Junkie on the Opening Day "How to Stay Ahead of the Curve" seminar:
When it came to the topic of the digital conversation, the panelists' differences were abundantly clear. Mitchell argued that theatres in smaller towns were being overlooked when it comes to virtual print fee deals. (In fact, Twentieth Century Fox recently settled a law suit with an independent exhibitor over just such a matter). Mitchell contended that the digital conversion is too expensive for such theatres and distributors should view giving VPFs to such cinemas as a marketing play by lowering film rental to help pay for the expensive digital equipment.
Katzenberg was quick to disagree, adding that his films are so costly he can't afford to lower film rental. "Dreamworks Animation only makes two of the most expensive movies made each year," he countered. "If we're not in the top 12 to 15 each year we'll go out of business."
"It just a law of economics and the theatres in small towns just can't afford digital so the rules might have to bend for them," Harkins interjected.
Mitchell got a round of applause when he added, "These kids that live in the little markets need to be getting in the habit of going to the movies rather than staying at home surfing the web. This is the most liberal industry in the world in helping people out and all I'm saying is to help out some of our own. Give a small guy a hand here."
State of the Industry speeches and press conference from Screen Daily:
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