NATO's Cinema Buying Group Secures Massive Deal with Real D For 3D Screens
This is simply AWESOME news for the 3D movie industry! Hats off to all that negotiated this tremendous deal and lets get to work!! :-) Here is the release...
Los Angeles (September 2, 2008) – Cinema Buying Group (CBG), a buying program for independent theaters administered by the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), today announced an agreement with RealD, the world’s largest digital 3D experience provider. The agreement brings next-generation 3D capability to CBG’s independent cinemas, currently totaling over 8,000 screens in the United States and Canada.
With CBG’s earlier announcement of Access Integrated Technologies, Inc. as its selected digital integrator, the essential ingredients for taking North American independent cinema operators into the digital era, including digital 3D capability, are now in place.
The new generation of digital 3D exemplified by RealD has been hailed as the most vital and exciting development in cinema since the advent of color film.
Wayne Anderson, CBG’s managing director, said, “CBG is committed to bringing the best 3D experience possible to our members. We are very pleased that we can offer a simple, affordable, and superior 3D experience to all of our cinema guests. As the penetration of digital screens grows, we anticipate RealD installations to top 1,000 among CBG members.”
Joe Peixoto, President, Worldwide Cinema, RealD, said, “We are very proud to add Cinema Buying Group to our family of exhibition partners. RealD has allowed both large and small exhibitors to take full advantage of next-generation 3D technology. The addition of CBG is further validation that 3D is here to stay. With over 30 3D titles already announced in the next three years, exhibitors and audiences can truly believe in the future of cinema.”
Kendrick Macdowell, NATO’s vice president and counsel to CBG, said, “CBG’s mission is to ensure a thriving community of independent exhibitors in the digital age. The RealD deal takes us a critical step forward in that mission. 3D capability, however, requires a digital projector and server. So it’s now incumbent on all the industry stakeholders, including studios, to get agreements in place that ensure access to affordable digital equipment for independent exhibitors.”
The Cinema Buying Group, a NATO-administered program for independent theater operators, currently represents 643 members with 8,125 screens in the United States and Canada.
RealD is the global leader in 3D, bringing the most advanced and enjoyable digital 3D experience to cinemas worldwide. RealD’s next-generation technology, deployed across the world’s largest 3D platform in 27 countries with more than 1,400 installations worldwide, provides a stunningly realistic viewing experience beyond the usual concepts of 3D cinema. The impact of 3D upon today’s moviemaking has been compared to the advent of color film when once there was only black and white. Beyond cinema, RealD is the worldwide inventor and provider of key stereoscopic technologies used in science, manufacturing, marketing, and other industries, with thirty years of scientific development behind its systems. RealD’s mission-critical 3D visualization technologies are used by organizations such as NASA, Pfizer, BMW, Boeing and more. For more information, visit www.reald.com.
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