Third Party May Subsidize Exhibitors
Reporter: Warners, Sony, Disney
Explore D-Biz Plans
Three of Hollywood’s biggest motion picture distributors – Sony, Buena Vista and Warner Bros. – have teamed to explore a digital-cinema jumpstart that could save the studios billions of dollars in print and shipping expenses and transform the exhibition industry, according to a story in the Nov. 1 edition of The Hollywood Reporter trade daily.

Offer letters from the three studios went out to a number of financial institutions, according to the article, including JPMorgan. One unnamed source told the paper the companies contacted were asked to submit bids by Nov. 5.

The three studios are reportedly seeking a financial entity that would subsidize the purchases of d-projectors for cinemas. The studios would then pay the financier for the opportunity to utilize the projectors.

In spring 2002, all three studios also founded (along with Fox, MGM, Paramount and Universal) Digital Cinema Initiative, which itself was charged with exploring d-cinema business plans – though DCI stopped pursuing that exploration in September.