Paramount Offers To Pay Print Fees Directly To Theaters!

Hey guys - Jim here. GOOD NEWS! ...And a quick catch up here - last year a consortium of players (AMC, Regal and Cinemark) joined together to obtain about $1 billion to finance the conversion of their theaters to digital and it was very good news indeed.

Then the credit crunch hit and money dried up fairly fast - even for money making ventures like the movies (which don't seem to suffer AT ALL during hard times).

Enter the studios and in particular Paramount, who are getting very anxious to get the theaters converted to digital and to provide the required equipment for 3D add-ons from companies like Real D. So Paramount has stepped forward today acoording to Variety and offered to pay the print fees directly to the theaters if they can finance their own conversions.

A print fee is representative of the old system of printing off copy reels of the original movies and distributing them to theaters across the country. It was expensive to do this. With digital movies, the print fee is practically eliminated and now the studios are saying that perhaps we will pay theaters this "virtual" fee (for digital movies) if they are willing to invest as well.

Apparently there are about 1,250 theaters converted to 3D from the 5,620 digital screens that are available (and growing).

Paramount will pay a "virtual print fee" to any theater owner that converts at least half of all of it's screens to digital and will pay even more of a fee for 3D conversions.
"We urge all studios to give this creative option a fair chance," John Fithian of the National Association of Theater Owners said.

This is awesome news. I had not expected movement from the studios on a wide scale on this front but the end result of higher profits is the golden carrot enticing everyone along. Great to hear this!!

Cinemark and RealD announce deal for 1500 3D screens!

Hey folks, Michael here with another HUGE 3D milestone!

The 3D revolution is in full swing now as RealD 3D has teamed with Cinemark to convert 1500 Cinemark screens to 3D!  This will bring the total worldwide RealD 3D screen count to over 5000.

Michael Lewis, RealD chairman and ceo, calls the 5000 screen milestone a "game changing number for 3D and for the business of movies."

Dan Fellman, President Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures, called the deal "a huge win for studios and exhibitors alike."

Now, along with the 1500 screen Real D / Regal deal announced just last month, 2 of the 3 major theatre chains (only AMC has yet to ink a major 3D deal) have staked a big claim in the future of cinema!

RealD is now even more firmly positioned as the leader in the 3D rollout.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, although some 3D installations will proceed immediately on previously installed digital projector systems, most of Cinemark's 3D installations will have to wait until more screens are converted to digital.  And this, of course, won't happen until financial arrangements between the studios, digital projector companies, and exhibitors are ironed out.  This new deal should help expedite that financial wrangling, as one by one the theatre chains are making their commitment to 3D obvious, and no one will want to be left out!

Congratulations to both Cinemark and RealD 3D on the deal!

Where The Hell Are Regal, Cinemark And AMC? Katzenberg Voicing 3D Concerns

In a recent interview by Variety with Jeff Katzenberg, JK expressed his displeasure with the big three theater chains namely Regal, Cinemark and AMC:

"In the last 30 days, things have not progressed as well as I had hoped, expected and, quite frankly, been committed to, by all the parties involved," Katzenberg said in response to an analyst's question. "It's ongoing as we speak literally now, but in terms of getting the big three (exhibitors: Regal, Cinemark and AMC) on board and actively moving forward, I feel as though things have dragged along, and it's been pretty disappointing."

I understand that budgeting for capital improvements can be tricky at best for these massive organizations, however if commitments have been made - and they have - then why the hell aren't they acting much more fluidly?

The theater chains don't stand to gain much more, if any, revenue from moving to digital projection. HOWEVER - digital projection is required for today's 3D technology (Real D, Dolby) where they can and WILL profit substantially through increased ticket prices; up to 50% more in some cases.

To ease the burden of moving to digital - even if they did not convert to 3D - the studios will pay a "Virtual Print Fee" to the theater chains because the studios save money by not having to print film reels and then distribute the very heavy canisters.

This isn't something that just recently surfaced either. John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners uncovered the slow moving theaters at NAB 2008 when he said "If the studios want this to happen in time for 2009, the deals have to be struck, and they have to be struck right now". They still haven't responded with the action required!

To be honest, the comments made by Fithian would have held much more water if he hadn't blamed Steven Spielberg for much of this inaction. As I posted earlier - that's ridiculous.

So where are we? Well let's see - we have:

1. The big three animation studios going fully 3D from now on - Pixar, Dreamworks and Disney have all committed to their future movies being 3D.
2. Massive budget 3D movies in production: Avatar for one with a $250m wallet (my projection).
3. Proven audience acceptance of 3D: "Beowulf" and Hannah Montana's concert movie both exceeded expectations. Even with increased ticket prices, the experience reigned supreme.
4. Overwhelming studio and directorial response to 3D: All major studios have 3D projects (see 3D movie list) - in FACT there are over 50 3D projects lined up to 2012 - and count James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, George Lucas, Tim Burton, Robert Zemeckis, Steven Soderbergh, Robert Rodriguez, and even upstart directors like Thomas Jane, as converts.
5. COMMITMENTS to roll out digital screens and 3D conversions over and above the existing ~1000 screens (See 3D theater list).

So, ummm - why the hell are the theater chains dragging their feet? Wake up and butter your toast guys; the time is NOW.

I invite representatives from those theater chains to get in touch with me via the "Contact Me" form below to present their side of things - until then, I am very disappointed as well. It's not just the studio executives you are letting down here guys - its the fans. Word is out.