SAWA Review of ShoWest 2008

This review on ShoWest 2008 was written

by Patrick von Sychowski - COO Adlabs,

India, for an on behalf of SAWA

 

More than just an annual confab for cinema exhibitors, vendors

and (some) studios in Las Vegas, ShoWest has become the annual

State of the Union for digital cinema. Progress is measured in

added screen counts since the previous years, announcements are

times for the hectic week and products are unveiled with great

fanfare. There were great hopes for digital cinema, most of which

were frustrated as key announcements were delayed or did not

meet the full expectations, meaning that the digital cinema

conundrum still remains.

 

Most hotly anticipated was the announcement of a deployment

plan by DCIP (Digital Cinema Implementation Partners), which is

the joint effort between the three largest US exhibitors: Regal,

AMC and Cinemark (with support from Warner Bros. and

Universal) to digitize their 14,000-plus screens in the US. As this

will impact everything from technology to financing, most other

exhibitors around the world have adopted a wait-and-see-what-

DCIP-does attitude with regards to digital cinema. Such was the

anticipation that DCIP was forced to give an interview to the

press to dampen expectations. “"We're hopeful that in the second

quarter we will get it all arranged," said Travis Reid, chief executive

of Digital Cinema Implementation Partners,” in an interview.

Similarly the smaller Cinema Buying Group (CBG) which unites

smaller mom-and-pop US cinemas into a larger buying entity did

not have any major announcement. It was left up to AccessIT,

who had kick started digital cinema deployment in the US with

its 3,700 screen conversion (short of 4,000 target, due to time

limits of its first deal), to announce that they had signed up four

of the six studios (Warner Bros and Sony Pictures have not yet

committed) for the second phase involving 10,000 screens.

However, no exhibitor partners were announced, AccessIT's share

price had been depressed recently and ability to tap credit markets

was likely to be restricted. Yet other third party integrators

had even less to offer, with the likes of Technicolor and Kodak

announcing limited installation plans with a handful of cinemas.

The greater focus was on digital 3D, with Dreamwork SKG

Animation's Jeffrey Katzenberg promising that exhibitors will

reap untold box offices riches by converting to digital cinema

and 3D. He showed a clip from 'Monsters vs. Aliens' as well as

some test footage from 'Kung Fu Panda' that had been re-rendered

in 3D (though the film will only be released in 2D). There

was also an exclusive preview of the summer release 'Journey to

the Centre of the Earth 3-D' and wile itself may not have be

Indian Jones-lite, the 3D effects were impressive enough. The

success of 'Hanna Montana', which had taken north of $60m at

the US box office was a major talking point, though the flop of

SAWA ATTENDS

SHOWEST IN 2008

This review on ShoWest 2008 was written

by Patrick von Sychowski - COO Adlabs,

India, for an on behalf of SAWA

'U2 3D' was not dissected at equal lengths. The inescapable fact

was, that despite some 36 feature films to be released in digital

3D announced or in the pipeline, the flood will not start until

2009.

Meanwhile, digital 3D technologies and solutions where everywhere

at the show. With many exhibitors un-happy with the

licence terms of market leader RealD, there were alternative

solutions from Dolby and Korean new comer Masterimage.

Projector manufacturer even suggested that buying and stacking

two 2K DLP Cinema projectors could be a more cost effective

way of offering digital 3D – though this did not extend to a

buy-two-for-the-price-of-one offer. Sony's 4K projector

impressed by lighting up the biggest screen at ShoWest for Sony

Pictures '21', though inability to show digital 3D from one projector

contributed to the lack of enthusiasm about the product

amongst cinema owners.

While digital cinema first and now 3D have kept ShoWest afloat

through new sponsors and topics for debate, there was a widespread

feel that the show was in terminal decline. Many studios

held off showcasing their product and even the goodie bag

seems smaller each year. The annual speeches by both Dan

Glickman of the MPAA and John Fithian of NATO were upbeat,

but did not completely paper over the cracks of long term cinema

going trends in the US. Yet important topics, ranging from

concessions and advertising to movie theft (aka 'piracy') and promotion

need yearly revision and the show remains the best

opportunity for face-to-face meetings with anyone you would

ever want to or need to meet in this business in one place. This is

why discussions were under way for NATO to take the show back

in 2011 and shift it to April to bring it closer to the summer

release window. By that stage cinemas across the world will be

well into the digital conversion process.