The Three Absolutes (of Digital Cinema)

http://www.digitalcinemareport.com/node/243

 

Submitted by Nick Dager on Thu, 08/14/2008 - 11:51.

 

A little more than a year ago I wrote a column for Box Office magazine called "The Seven Basic Realities of Digital Cinema." Given the current volatile state of this business much of what I wrote has changed since then and I now believe that things can be summed up in three digital cinema absolutes. These are likely to remain with us for the foreseeable future and they are true for the people who make movies as well as for the people who exhibit them.

 

Hollywood only cares about Hollywood. 

 

The major Hollywood studios have and always will look out for their own business interests and digital will do nothing to change that reality.  While certainly some people within the Hollywood system are passionate about the art and craft of movies most of the executives who run the studios are not. They are only passionate about profits and about maximizing their share of them. That those studios, fierce competitors all, were able to agree on the DCI specifications was a minor miracle in itself. The only explanation for that singular achievement is that the studios shared the belief that as much as they dislike and distrust each other, the greater enemy was everyone else. To that end they approved the creation of the digital firewall that is the DCI specifications. Those specifications define a system that is for all practical purposes even more closed and Hollywood-centric than the current film-based system that it is designed to replace. Much of that is due to Hollywood's reasonable concerns that the movies it creates are not stolen. But a more open system could be just as secure. Unless Hollywood can be convinced (coerced?) into adopting an open distribution system - and that still seems highly unlikely - theatres in the United States and around the world that can't accept a so-called DCI-compliant digital release package will not be able to legally screen mainstream Hollywood films. 

 

For filmmakers this changes little. It has always been an uphill battle to have an independent film acquired by Hollywood. For exhibitors it means that unless they invest in DCI-compliant digital cinema technology they will one day (and relatively soon) be unable to present mainstream feature films to their patrons. Despite some well-documented inherent flaws in the film production, distribution and exhibition system - the expense of making and shipping prints and the degradation of prints after multiple screenings to name the obvious - the current century-old system has worked rather well. But the devil is in the details and in this transition era numerous smaller details of technology and business are getting resolved. They will be resolved over time but there is one significant issue that looms on the horizon and that is just how long Hollywood will be able to justify shipping film prints to exhibitors. Kodak and other film manufacturers will not be able to support the professional market indefinitely. The consumer market drives their businesses and when was the last time you saw an ad for a film camera or tried to buy a roll of film? At some point - certainly years away but just as certainly not decades away - when digital releases have reached a certain percentage of movies and when a certain percentage of theatres are operating digitally, Hollywood will stop distributing film prints. When that happens theatres that aren't digital will be left out of the system.

 

Digital cinema technology will always be expensive. 

 

The prices for digital cinema technology are beginning to fall somewhat as more theatres install equipment but the fact is this technology will be expensive for years to come.  And, while prices of the current generation of technology will continue to fall and before too long will be affordable for virtually every exhibitor, the relatively high cost of digital cinema exhibition technology is and will remain a constant. That's because this technology does a lot and because it's life span bears no resemblance to that of comparable film-based technology. Many theatres operate with film projectors that are decades old and that continue to work fine when well maintained. With all due respect to digital cinema technology manufacturers no one believes the new technology will match that record of longevity. Having said that, the manufacturers in this business are working overtime to develop ways to future-proof the systems they sell and current digital cinema tools have already passed the reliability test. But longevity is not always a fair test of business tools. Would you still want to run your business with the same computer you owned twenty or even ten years ago? This is a challenge but in truth the technology promises productivity gains and creates business opportunities never even imagined in the film-based world. Advantages and possibilities we can only begin to envision today will gradually be introduced into digital cinema technology and, when it works for your business, you will want to upgrade.

 

This holds true for filmmakers, too. While it is obvious that a lot of digital production and post-production tools are less costly than ever it is just as true that those tools do not produce an image and sound that is fully acceptable on a truly big screen. Those tools are expensive and will stay expensive as the quality bar keeps getting raised higher and higher. And make no mistake movie screens are about to get bigger. To take full advantage of all the possibilities of a big screen digital 3D experience the days of 100-foot movie screens and bigger are on the horizon. A consumer HD camera will never be able to produce that kind of image.

 

Alternative content will drive the digital cinema future. 

 

Digital cinema is a fact, now, and not something that may happen someday. It's here today and the transition is happening steadily. That is not going to change and every exhibitor in the world must be involved immediately, if not sooner. However, getting involved is not the same thing as investing money in the technology. For many exhibitors, especially smaller chains and independents, it is probably too soon to take the plunge today. But every exhibitor needs to understand everything about the evolving digital world and develop a solid business plan that is tailored to his or her business. Digital cinema will open doors to new money that theatres never dreamed possible. But every opportunity comes with risks and digital cinema is no different. Ingrained in the love-hate relationship that sometimes exists between Hollywood and exhibitors is the reality that Hollywood consistently makes movies that large numbers of people want to see and then supports those movies with expensive and, usually, masterful marketing campaigns. In short, with Hollywood movies, Hollywood does a lot of the heavy lifting. That isn't the case with opportunities such as alternative content. Here each chain - and in some cases each individual theatre - must take on the work of marketing and audience building. There have already been dozens of success stories with alternative content but there have also been more than a handful of failures. What works in one area or even one theatre may not always work elsewhere. The learning process is underway and will continue.

 

For filmmakers this is terrific news. Movie theatres are already discovering new kinds of audiences open to content other than mainstream movies. The demand for a wide range of quality productions will only increase in the future as theatres with digital technology have the ability to play a broader range of content and can deliver audiences willing to pay to see it.