Goldwater Moves On; 5.0 Tech Specs Emerge
DCI Gets Year-Long Extension
HOLLYWOOD – Long expected to cease operating on Sept. 30, 2004, Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) will instead continue until Sept. 30, 2005, but will do so without CEO Chuck Goldwater, the organization announced Sept. 6. DCI has ceased “any significant business planning activities,” according to a DCI press release, and longtime chief technology office Walt Ordway will now oversee day-to-day management.

Founded in March 2002 by seven major film studios to establish technical specifications and explore business plans for digital cinema, DCI also said it would release version 5.0 of its technical specifications on Sept. 30, 2004.

Over the next year, DCI will work to refine tech specs, address security concerns, perform interoperability tests and “support formalization of industry standards.”    

Raised Eyebrows Down Under
Oz Movie Pros Get
D-Cinema Biz Pitch
GOLD COAST, Australia – U.S. company Cinematica pitched – to delegates attending a seminar at August’s Australian International Movie Convention in Gold Coast – a business plan that would supply free Digital Light Processing Cinema (DLPC) equipment to exhibitors.

The plan calls for distributors to pay a monthly lease fee that would be half what distributors currently pay to create and ship celluloid prints.

"If someone comes up with a model that works, distributors would embrace it,” said Mike Selwyn, local managing director for United International Pictures. “But I can see a myriad of practical difficulties.”

“There is a myth going around that exhibitors will get this for free,” said Hoyts Cinemas exec Paul Johnson, who questioned who would foot the bill for maintenance and upgrades. “If we can resolve all the issues of upgrading, common standards, maintenance and training, I will be at the front of the line.”

D-Rollout Likely Begins This Fall
ACAN Expects Distribs
To Have Funding Role
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Another clue has emerged regarding the business model American Cinema Advertising Network (ACAN) intends to use to equip dozens of U.S. screens with high-end Digital Light Processing Cinema (DLPC) projection equipment in the coming months.

ACAN CEO Alan Gorovitz in June told In Focus his company expects to “be paid by both the distributor and the exhibitor” to offset the cost of buying new high-end digital cinema systems for San Diego-based UltraStar Cinemas.

Distribution’s involvement in financing was absent from an April 2 press release from ACAN and UltraStar, which revealed a deal that would see all of UltraStar’s 81 auditoria receive DLPC equipment by the end of next year.

A d-rollout of this size would see UltraStar come close to singlehandedly doubling the number of ticket-selling DLPC-equipped auditoria in the United States.

UltraStar COO John Ellison told In Focus in June that the first of its ACAN DLPC installations would likely come on line in September. 

Some 200 D-Screens at 150 Sites
UK Film Council Plans 200 DLPCs
LONDON – The United Kingdom Film Council revealed in August more details of its plan to equip cinemas nationally with digital projection equipment, noting that $24 million has been earmarked to upgrade approximately 200 auditoria at 150 sites with 2K Digital Light Processing Cinema (DLPC) systems.

The installations are intended to expose moviegoers throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to a broader selection of specialized product. U.K. exhibitors agreeing to play a specified number of specialized film titles were expected to have until Oct. 8 to apply for the DLPC equipment, which will be made available to certain compliant cinemas at little or no cost.

Once deployment is completed, the United Kingdom will likely emerge with more DLPC-equipped public auditoria than any other nation. 

Access IT Satellite System Goes On Line In July
Cinemas Again Get Movies From Space
LOS ANGELES – After a long layoff, movies are again being beamed into cinemas from outer space.

Access Integrated Technologies (AIT), a 4-year-old firm which manages the storage and delivery of digital content, used an artificial satellite on July 23 to deliver Digital Light Processing Cinema (DLPC)-compatible “digital prints” of Warner Bros.’ “Catwoman” into 17 American auditoria.

It marked the first time since Boeing Digital Cinema halted its delivery service in mid-2003 that a DLPC-compatible feature had been delivered to cinemas via satellite.

AIT acquired in March the assets of now-defunct Boeing Digital Cinema, a pioneer in the satellite delivery of digital content to cinemas. AIT’s purchase included the servers and DLPC projectors installed in 21 cinemas. By July 23, AIT had added six additional systems, bringing its total to 27 satellite-ready facilities.

Subsequent to “Catwoman,” AIT’s satellite system has been used to distribute DreamWorks’ “Collateral” and Warner Bros.’ newly-enhanced version of “THX-1138.” Russell Wintner, president of AIT subsidary Access Digital Media, says he expects AIT’s satellite system to next distribute Warner Bros.’ “Alexander” and Buena Vista’s “The Incredibles,” both opening Nov. 5.

“We are very pleased to now be able to support the multiple studio requests for digitally-enabled screens,” said Wintner.

During the Boeing system’s year-long hiatus, most studio “digital prints” were placed on computer drives and delivered to America’s 80-plus public DLPC-equipped auditoria via courier.

Wintner says AIT doesn’t currently plan to expand its satellite network beyond its current 27 sites, but would replace all of the legacy equipment it owns in the current sites with Hollywood studio-compliant hardware and software.