Goes Exclusive With Environment-Friendly Prints
MGM First To Use Cyan Soundtracks On All Titles

LOS ANGELES – With the May 28 release of “Soul Plane,” MGM will become the first major motion picture distributor to release all of its titles in the environmentally friendly cyan-dye analog soundtrack format.

The move follows DreamWorks’ Sept. 19 release of the Jason Biggs-Christina Ricci romantic comedy “Anything Else,” the first feature to to be distributed exclusively on dye-only prints (In Focus, September 2003).

Cyan-dye-only soundtracks are produced without the caustic chemicals and silver used in the usual print manufacturing process and significantly reduce water usage. Silver-replicated tracks collectively use approximately 20 million gallons of water a year – enough drinking water for a town of 75,000. Distributors further reduce waste by eliminating the need to replace prints due to redevelopment problems in silver soundtracks.

“MGM is proud to be in the forefront of this landmark change in film soundtracks, and to be taking a significant step in improving the environment,” said Chris Aronson, MGM executive vice president and general sales manager.

Conversion to cyan requires the installation of red light-emitting diode (LED) readers in projectors, as a pure cyan soundtrack played on a white light or infrared reader will cause distortion, sound reduction or possible inaudibility. It is estimated that the vast majority of the projectors in the United States are now equipped with the red LED readers, according to an MGM press release.

The studio’s release of these prints marks a significant breakthrough in making the conversion to pure cyan a reality for NATO, which has worked closely with the Dye Track Committee, a group of motion picture executives formed in 1998, in the fight to replace silver tracks with pure cyan dye tracks.

LEDs also last about five times longer than tungsten lights, and slowly fade over time, giving operators warning that replacement is due.

“We are grateful for MGM’s leadership, and delighted that the studios are taking advantage of the theatres’ shift to red-light readers,” said NATO president John Fithian. “This demonstrates that the film industry as a whole has an environmental conscience.”

Digital soundtracks do not require silver replication and are thus not affected by the new process. c.