SI DC conference: Peter Wilson chairs panel on DCI compliance

Talks about whether DCI specifications would work in a "fair" way for Europe. He gives background to DCI, SMPTE and Fraunhofer. One bullet point reads: "Are you willing to pay for the DCI compliance police and if so, how much?". This should be an interesting panel.

Etienne: we don't want a two speed cinema in France, so CST will probably use the DCI specification.

Sven Andersen, gives overview of discussions underway in Germany. Exhibitors have hit the breaks on deployment, wanting distributors to pay for it all. German screens can't afford 'DCI screens', at least at €80,000 each. Maybe they would go for a sub-set of DCI.

Rickard Gramfors: shares the Swedish experience, ending with an impassioned plea not to let Internet piracy destroy a whole generation when it comes to forming the habit of going to the cinema.

Dave Monk: Can you afford NOT be DCI compliant. Rickard points out that there has been no leakage from their digital network. Kevin Wakeford asks "what is affordable?". Sven says €30K-40K is discussed in Germany. Rickard says that they rent from XDC, so similar price point to that. Etienne says it should be same as 35mm projector.

Conclusion: small exhibitors would like to be DCI-compliant but can't afford it.

SI DC conf: The French Connection

No, not a digitally re-mastered version of the Gene Hackman classic but the presentation from CNfilms by Etienne Traisnell on D-Cinema roll-out in France. Gives overview of cinema situation in France. Mentions Daniel goudineau's report that might or might not decide roll-out in France: stake of Universality, (ransparancy and Solidarity. Projector minimum 2K. Server JPEG2000 and MPEG2 (!!) "Recommendation: do not exclude any system but encourage polyvalance." (I am not familiar with that word, but guessing it means plurality).

Recommends that by 2009 all French films be made available for digital distribution. Outlines various strategic choises for technology. I'm still reeling from the fact that it seems France appears to be endorsing MPEG2 as an alternative to JPEG2000 for feature films. Talks about economic choices: European is leasing (XDC), public funding (UKFC) or European cinema subsidy, vs. US VPF model. "Reinforced selective support for the most vulnerable theatres."

SI DC conf: Afternoon business panel

Chuck Goldwater (AccessIT), Tom Cotton (Technicolor), Kevin Wakeford (Sony), Paul Collard (Technicolor).

Chuck reviews what Christie/AIX has been doing. Lots! LOTS! From digital roll out to faith-based movies for Fox. Discusses options for rolling out internationally. Doesn't mention any territories specifically. Paul - Ascent are global content service provider, he tells us. Doesn't give practical examples of experience in this field (or mention that Ascent have a 'For Sale' sign on its front lawn), but Paul is a nice guy and I've always had a lot of respect for him. Tom talks about three main areas: roll out, content preparation and screen advertising solution (in the US). His role is mainly in the roll out. Kevin represents manufacturing arm of Sony, he makes clear, not Sony Pictures.

Q from Mike - why is Europe lagging and what are the problems. Paul: in one word, "fragmentation". Mike semi-baited Chuck with a question about US-centric approaches to digital conversions in Europe. Chuck gives a good reply that each country needs its own approach. Tom, "we're not trying to rail road anything through." It will take more time to move in Europe, adressing specificities of the European market. Kevin: everyone is looking to economies of scale for driving prices down, hence need for a single standard.

Tom: we've been testing all the equipment since January in a controlled environment, now moving it into beta phase in the US (but says nothing about Europe or Kinepolis deal). Paul talks about small and independent cinemas being sqieezed in the digital future, citing Anders Gertsen's statistics on a small number of cinemas accounting for 90-95 per cent of box occfice revenue. Chuck talks about dealing with problems and communicating with exhibitors. Tom: our model doesn't exclude anyone. Paul: we need to reduce the unpredictability of the process. Kevin, stressing the importance of testing.

Q from GE Capital points out that financial markets have been under writing the roll out, based primarily on cash flow, which won't be the same in Europe. Tom thinks that it's still doable. Chuck: it's not an impediment but another issue in the pay-for-play model. Kevin talks about the importance of 4K, particularly in the long term.

Jason Powers (Dolby) asks about the significance of the Kinepolis announcement of converting all of its cinemas. Tom thinks that this is a good move.

SI DC conf; Steve Perrin (UK Film Council)

Overview and update of Digital Screen Network. 88 installations in place. Very few technical problems. Retrofitting of Cine-link 2, JPEG2000 completed and makes committment to upgrades of watermarking and USB 2.0 ingest when they become available. Over 30 niche films distributed in DSN, compared to 6 "Hollywood films" played so far (mainly Disney).

Discusses indicators of success to date. Too early to say if audiences have grown. Issue is 'not enough screens'. Problem is not enough films, ie can't be moved between different screens in a multiplex as usually only one screen is digital. Talks about problems with improperly graded films (at least two high profile releases did not go ahead because of this).

Discusses barriers to be overcome, such as establishment of standards and need for cost of hardware to come down further. Could DSN be a publicly funded model for Europe? Stresses that DSN model is "aimed at world film, rather than just local productions." Stresses that ultimately it is about audiences rather than technology.

Concludes a trio of very good presentations. In terms of use of Powerpoint (my recent pet peeve) I rate Julian's the highest, though David's had lots of useful statistics that could not have been presented any other way other than maybe as a hand out (or buy the report!), while Steve is a such a good (nay, terrific) speaker that he really didn't need the ppt.

SI DC conf: David Kerr (UIP)

David talks about the international release of M:I:III. Decision to release it in digital took place just three weeks before the opening date. MPEG release but only to 2K. (Why not JPEG?). 106 screens in 11 countries/versions. Previous films released in digital was Shrek 2, shark Tale and Madagascar.

Apparently there were technical compatibility problems that forced Technicolor to drop the JPEG2000 version (aha, that's why). There were also issues with renewing keys. Doing the key re-generation in Los Angeles meant that they lost half a day for Europe. Cost them more to do it digitally and it did not save them any money.

Conclusion: "Production [of DCPs] cannot take place in Los Angeles, but must take place in Europe and regionally." (Amen to that - come to Deluxe Digital Cinema Europe!!). Slide: "The End (see I told you it would be quick)". Anders Gertsen asks about the re-use of hard drives. Yes, there is a process in place. Q from Mike Gubbins: will it change release patterns? Not just yet it seems.

SI DC conf: Tim Richards (Vue)

Vue have 30 digital cinema installations, mainly thanks to UKFC's DSN. Lists lots of questions facing the industry. Bollywood productions exceeded UK productions this year! Should Vue follow NCM model, go with third party or go it alone? Lists barriers to entry from a very practical perspective and demonstrating good understanding of the issues.

Discusses recent Vue initiatives and these range from music and sports to corporate and gaming, as well as digital 3-D. "Cinema auditorium is perfect sound stage, with a screen in front of it." Queen HD cinema release with the band members present, with sound re-mixed for cinema. "Massive occupancy rates.".Green Day, Morrisey and Pink Floyd plus others lined up. Impressive trials of gaming. Over 9,000 admits for the free World Cup screenings this summer. New products launches, which has a "promising future". 3-D; Chicken Little and Monster House 3-D, with Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas lined up next. Word-of-mouth has strong effect on long-term (week three and four) attendance for 3-D screenings.

Good powerpoint in terms of use of images, only conclusion heavy on text.

Screen Int'l DC Conference; David Hancock (Screen Digest)

David jokes about always being the second speaker after the leynote and delivering numbers, research and overview after the flashier presentation.

Headline figures on digital cinema growth. 1,474 digital screens 1H 2006, Sept is closer 1,800. (Same figures as IBC I'm guessing.) 264 per cent growth, 84 per cent J2K screens. Echoes Karagosian's point that we are still in the "early phase" with US growth down to spike of one large exhibitor. Growth 1H05 to 1H06 US was 687.8%, but Korea close behind. Seoul (52) tops London (25) for cities with most installations.

Debate "not as far advanced" in Europe as in US. Policy makers starting to wake up to what DC might mean. However, "worrying quietness" about what DC might mean. Presents Digital Cinema Conversion Index. US and UK tops, while Norway and Finland languish near the bottom, though David highlights the "X Factor" of the Norwegian gov't's initiative in the digital cinema field. Very interesting explanation of the breakdown of factors and how they quantify factors. "Single broad model may work I as long as differentiated by market." Also, gov't intervention may be required.

David's slides appear to have been screwed up as lines drop off the page and numbers overlap. Discusses the potential role of government in digital cinema roll out. Conclusion; "Questions remain!!" but get started now.

Also a very good presentation. Even better than the IBC presentation he gave a few weeks ago. Sets the bar high the rest of today's presentations and panels.

Screen Int'l DC Conference - Julian Levin keynote

Chair Mike Gubbins is running late because of delayed train so we launch straight into Julian's keynote.

Juliam opens by talking about the importance of one standard. "Organized chaos" is best description of current state and will stay that way for 12 months, he says. Jiulian gives overview of digital cinema workflow, stressing role of KDMs. Talks about the role and achievments of DCI. (I'm hoping we will get on to Fox soon and not be shy about how they have pioneered the release of JPEG2000 DCPs in Europe more than any other studio to date). Stresses that added capabilities such as HD and MPEG are not precluded.

Now talks about VPF. Gives a theoretical example of how VPF could pay off an installation in 9 years. Talks about third-party entities (Christie/AIX and Technicolor) and exhibitors (Rave, NCM and others), dicussions going on in Europe (no deals just yet) but says that VPF may not be around forever. Gives a statistical example from Screen Digest report (go David and Charlotte!).

Now on to 'Challenges'. Fraunhofer and the issue of compliance training and requirements. Beta testing underway in US but need for it in Europe too, particularly re; subtitling. VPF model will vary depending on the territory. "Digital cinema is the future...and the future is now." - finishing slide.

Q&A covering security/IP theft ("piracy"), exhibitor contributions, 35mm print recycling and how it affects VPF, the challenge from home entertainment, Fox support of JPEG2000 installations, and more.

Excellent speech with detailed overview of the entire digital cinema landscape. The conference is off to a good start!

Post-IBC analysis, EDCF's new president and more exciting d-cinema news

Apologies for not getting around to writing any kind of summary of the digital cinema events at IBC sooner as there's been a lot to get on with immediately afterwards internally.

In my view, this was the year that IBC truly became a digital cinema event that was not to be missed. While there had been many previous years with good session, this was the first time that everything was so consistently good as to make it a definitive must-attend event.

A large part of the credit goes to the organisers for pulling together a great selection of speakers in a very good mix of panels. Hats off to Dave Monk in particular, the panel chairs and everyone who worked hard behind the scenes. There were lots of worthwhile events showcasing everything from digital stereoscopic cinema (SPE's "Monster House", with lines literally forming around the block) to various 4K equipment demos. Hats off here to Phil White, Rex Beckett and everyone in the projection booth. There were also plenty of interesting digital cinema-related stands to visit and meetings to be had on the IBC show floor.

Without taking anything away from the organisers, though, it could also be that digital cinema is maturing as an industry, though it is still in its starting blocks. (Perhaps we should see everything that went on before as the training and warm-up for the main event, i.e. something that should not be skipped over, even though to the un-initiated outsider it's a bore to wait for the race to get underway.) I'm not saying that everything was perfect or that everyone got everything right - I know one colleague who will now never forget that DCM stands for 'Digital Cinema Master' and not 'Digital Cinema Material' - but even the best of events should have scope for improvement, and this year IBC set the bar fairly high for itself next year based on the really good quality of this years conference and show.

One of the good elements of IBC as the EDCF meetings. I know that there were a few raised eyebrows when it was announced that John Wilkinson of the CEA was replacing Ase Kleveland as President of the EDCF. But John more than delivered in what was an inaugural presentation that mixed the right level of insight, humour and realisation of what is needed for the EDCF to move ahead. Having the head of a cinema industry association leading the EDCF is a very important step in engaging the exhibitor community and it turns out that it being Mr Wilkinson he understands the EDCF and the priorities it should have (such as engaging at the right level with Brussels). So hats off to him and the EDCF board too. (Remember, I wore both a Deluxe hat and a NORDIC hat at IBC, so I've got plenty of hats to raise). It wasn't fireworks, but that's not what the EDCF needs right now, rather quiet determination to make it work in this critical phase.

I don't want to get too navel gazing about the blog, but as many of your took the time to offer comments, feedback and constructive criticisms, it's only fair that I acknowledge it here. I will be the first to put my hand up and say that I have not found the right tone for it yet. I know what it isn't (E-Cinema Alert Mark II), but I'm still not 100% sure what it is. A way to keep you informed about the digital cinema industry, including what Deluxe is doing in it, is the best description I can think of.

Some said I wrote too much or had comments that were slightly too barbed or just not funny. Perhaps. But having commented on this industry since 1999 I have more respect for everyone still hanging in there than you might guess and even admire the achievements of our would-be competitors. (Cue harp playing and a golden halo appearing over the head of yours truly).

On the specific charge that I shouldn't be the first to throw stone, particularly correcting other people's Powerpoint spelling errors when my own blog postings are littered with them too. Fair 'nuff, up to a point. I type out these in a rush, often on a tiny Blackberry keyboard in dimly lit spaces, as opposed to having prepared them in advance and shown it several times at international conferences. And if you must get a name wrong, it's particularly unfortunate if it happens to be that of one of the greatest and most famous European directors alive and working today. But enough of a solipsistic introspective self-critique.

Interesting news reaches us from AccessIT, which has made three senior appointments as the company continues its break-neck growth. "ACCESSITÂ’S CHRISTIE/AIX UNIT ANNOUNCES THREE EXECUTIVE HIRES" Chuck Goldwater is absolutely right when he says that "Christie/AIX is the clear leader in the deployment of digital cinema in the United States" and I'm glad I got a chance to catch up with him at IBC (you too can meet all Digital Cinema All-Stars at next year's IBC, but book now if you want to find an affordable hotel!). All three executives have solid groundings and I hope to meet them myself when I'm in Los Angeles next. It might be worth mentioning that Deluxe and AccessIT have a very good working relationship in the US, where Deluxe has supplied their growing chain of installations with more films in digital than anyone else, thanks to the digital push of our partner studios. If/when AccessIT roll out in Europe, which I am sure they will do, I hope that we too in Deluxe Digital Cinema Europe (DDCE) will get to extend that co-operation to our shores. See managed to work a relevant plug for Deluxe into that piece of news. I'm learning, I'm learning.

IBC DCD live blog: fourth session (misc)

We get to see the 'History of Digital Cinema' reel put together by the ETC.

Thomas Hoegh (Arts Alliance) - Gives what comes across as the afternoon keynote, but it's the same one I've heard before. Given that he has delivered it several times at previous events, I'm surprised that it is not more polished. Also, someone should point out that in the slide where he shows the programming of a digital multiplex of the future (the one where a film called "Gay Western" seems to play a lot) that several of the screenings are marked as "New Almoldovar". As Steve Perrin, who uses the director of 'Volver' a lot as an example, could tell him, there is only one 'L' in the Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's surname.

Thomas apologises for re-using the "Zone of Contention". Says "Harry Potter" films will grow but mediocre films will get squeezed out. I'm not sure about the tact of using the latest Adam Sandler film as an example of the latter when Al Barton is in the audience and it was SPE that released "Click". Now he talks about turning a Henrik Ibsen poem into a conceptual show in Japan. People are scratching their heads at the digital cinema relevance of this. Apparently digital projectors were used. Small Quicktime file shown. Five swirling vortexes on the screen and what sounds like an angry Japanese voice on the soundtrack. This goes on for the better part of a minute. Very strange. Then it's over. He said he would talk more about the other Norwegian project, but it was just the slide at the start. Ho-hum.

Kevin Wakeford (Sony Europe) - Will talk about the role and view of Sony and show "Poseidon" clip. With Danish subtitles. No powerpoint (well done!) and good historical prediction. Must ask him for a copy of it. Lists "Four reasons for 4K" - Emotional, Quality, Experience and Financial (I think. Sorry. I'm typing notes from previous session due to Vodafone problems with instant e-mail). We watch the "Poseidon" clip. Looks good, though I'm too far back to make out any detail. But why are clips heavy on CG footage done in 2K used so often for presentations of 4K? It was the same with the "I, Robot" clip that now appears to have been retired.

Neil Feldman (In-Three) - Good presentation on Dimensionalization (important note, this is a trade marked In-Three term, although the likes of James Cameron apparently uses it freely as a generic verb). He stresses that their process does not involve planes (layers) as they are in control of every aspect of the image. Calls the result "surround sound for the eyes" rather than gimmicky theme-park ride or headache-inducing Imax-like experience. Good presentation. Can't keep up with the typing. Stresses that their content works both with active glasses and passive (polarized) glasses. Small sop to Sony - 3D has to be part of the package. Calls it the 'killer application' of digital cinema.

Andrew Robinson (Harkness Hall) - Why screen technology matters, talk. Light loss and issue both for active and passive 3D. Can be as much as 50%. Explains each method. "Passive systems are clearly preferred rout in cinemas." Silver screen considerations. More inclined to hot spot and narrower viewing angle (25-30 degrees). Still thinks that silver screen is the way forward.

Matt Cowan (Real D) - talks about how much more "Chicken little" and "Monster house" earned in 3D. Talks about Real-D deployments. Lists future 3D films. Apparently there is rumours of a U2 concert in 3D (Bono - coming at you!!) He explains the technology behind the system. Second eye apparently only requires 15% extra bandwidth. Glasses are circular polarized for no ghosting. Lots of content promised for demo, Meet the Robinsons trailer will be only new one for me. Thanks given to Christie, QuVis and Harkness Hall.

IBC DCD live-blog - session three (business plans)

Steve Perrin (UK Film Council) - We're here to talk film, not technology. Two issues - standards (DCI is not end but beginning of end) and who's going to pay.

Chuck Goldwater (AccessIT) - newly promoted, Chuck refreshingly did not claim "DCI compliance" (he is much too smart, not least having been Mr DCI) but "designed to conform to the DCI Technical Specification." Gives overview of their US exhibitor and distributor deals. From 2300 screen chains to 8 screen single multiplexes. Interestingly they are now also signing up independents on the distributor side. "Who will pay?" EVERYONE - in proportion to benefits. Stressed that there is no luxury of learning on the job any more. Finishes with three humble observations, last of which is - take the first step, the water is getting warmer.

Denise Hsu (Technicolor) - Realises that people are not in the mood for another TDC hard sell. Instead has several slides about print issues and total cost of ownership for diggtal cinema, done in the sort of text-heavy style that Edward Tufte rightly critisizes for burrying important information and being unreadable. I'm sorry to say that she then she goes back into hard sell mode. Apparently Technicolor is the "only company that can handle both 35mm print and digital distribution." Riiiiiiiight...... At least she didn't re-use the slide claiming Technicolor is rolling out digital cinema in the US with an exhibitor that doesn't exist any more.

Bernard Collard (XDC) - presents "Draft 1.0" of Who will pay for Europe. Gives examples of different distributors for the same films in different European territories. 41 countries in Europe, of which XDC has installed 240 screens (1.3K and 2K), which accounts for 80% of installs in Europe. 170 movies have been "peocessed" and over 200,000 screenings held.

Gwendal Aufret (Eclair) - Talks brifly about a VPF-based plan for 2,500-4,000 screens in FIGS and Scandinavia. Apparently the former stands for France, Italy, Germany and Spain. Talk about ambitions of truly Napoleonic proportions! It will be an interesting one to follow.

Nothing too interesting emerged in the Q&A session.

IBC DCD live blog; second session (global overview)

David Hancock; Gives scene setter by providing statistics on digital deployments. Quality Screen Digest data as always. US and Christie dominate deployment, for obvious reasons. No mention of Norway. NORDIC won't be counted until 2H 2006.

Zhu Zhu (China): Perspective on D-Cinema deployment in China. 100 film studios, 260 features in China in 2005. BO was Euro 2bn. Overseas BO income 1.6bn Euro. 55 multiplexes with 272 screens built. Over 3500 smaller screens in countryside 34/149 mux/screens in first half 2006. Good joke about not rushing into China. At least not until you understand SARFT, CFGC, BIRTV. Next trailer of Chinese films. Lots of martial arts historical films but also some car racing. Average ticket price just Euro 0.10 but in big cities two to five Euros. US box office is 70x Chinas. Warner plans to have 170 screens by the end of 2007.

Milestones for d-cinema in China. Too many to re-type here. "Chyna" first all-digital end-to-end film (5 min long). 2006 China will build 1,500 digital small theatres. Barco 47 2K projectors in China. Has a deal in place for total of 100 with CFGC. CCTV have ordered two Dolby systems. China is thus one of the fastest growing digital cinema countries in the world. China has produced 52 digital movies, though she does not explain if she means DI, MPEG DCPs or J2K DCPs. Digital Movie mobile Playing System using MPEG4 developed. Montage Digital Player (Jindian Group). "Shops will sell digital cinema products." (???)

Kiran Reddy (India) - Sathyam Cinemas experience. 13,000 cinemas 26,000 owners. Hollywood BO is just 5 per cent. 450 e-cinema installations in India. 1st and only commercial D-Cinema installation in India. Barco, Christie, Qube and GDC used. RDX. "10,000 MTBF? Unlikely!". Lots of technology problems. Replacement parts an issue. They have played 11 Hollywood films to date. Some local content related issues. Brand and charge it as a premium experience. (10-15% higher ticket price). $85K plus 36 per cent in taxes. Operational cost $5000.

Talks about VPF, advertising and ODS. 3D content - "We hate silver screens." No one will watch cricket on big screen for five days. F1 will cannot compete with sold out films on Sunday night. E- and D-cinema not competing but there is threat that E-cinema might muscle into premium screening venue.

Michael Karagosian (USA) - MKPE. X-Men 2 $85m 1st week, X-Men 3 $120m, latter 51 less screens than former. So how do you explain the 50% bump? Interlocking! Nice PPT slide of articles about D-Cinema on the rise. BUT peak was last Sept when Carmike committed. Shows Technology adoption Currve from Geoffrey Moore's Crossing the Chasm. Maps D-Cinema adoption onto this. (I am very impressed already, and not just because Michael dedicated the presentation to me. So far I'm still breathing). Micheal sites the section from the DCI spec that it's up to each studio to decide whether to stick to it and in what way (John Birchell Hughes is nodding in agreement). Smart exhibitors are holding off. Lists what exhibitors want to see, apart from just lower cost.

Mentions National CineMedia. One to watch. 14,500 screens. With Cineplex 15,750, that's 40% of US cinema screens and two-third of US BO. NCM will be the Early Majority. Europe may be the Late Majority. Says manufacturers have more work to do. Business issues to be solved. NCM say it will take off in 2008.

(I'm still breathing!)

Nico Simon (Luxembourg and beyond) - Utopolis' (utopian?) perspective. 30 out 100 screens sigital with XDC. Luxembourg 10 screens 100% digital. Digital projectors don't fit into all projection booths. List of films and ODS. Word-of-mouth of football in HD grew audience for World Cup on big screen in Holland (or did he say France?). Didn't work in countries that didn't qualify for the games. Some European films. Says 2K is better than 35mm. Calls it "learning investment". Tech problems, Content problems and Cost problems. Keys were a problem. Seems like keys were not issued for all screens in a particular cinema. Cost problem is THE problem to solve. Calls for European Business Model. Everyone should pay a fair share.

I put a (slightly provocative) question to Nico about when he will upgrade to JPEG2000 so that Deluxe Digital Cinema Europe can start supplying him content from our clients. He replies, "when XDC upgrade to their next-generation hybrid server", which it looks like it will not be until 2007. It's a pitty, but I'm guessing that SPE won't supply him with "Casino Royal" and 20th Century Fox won't give him "Eragon". JBH retorts that the European market is fragmented and we need to take account of that.

Monk asks the panel if any regrets getting involved in digital cinema. No one regrets it.

IBC DCD live blog; first panel (standards)

Mark Kimball (Disney) - Talks about DCI's role in establishing standards. Explains DCI organization. Jerry/Uni will assume Tech part responsibility for the post-DCI organization. More than 88 errata published since DCI closed. Most for clarification. Fraunhofer reading led to most of the errata (including correcting their English!) Now moving on to SMPTE process. Compliance testing proceedure being put in place. DCI will not certify equipment. It will be up to each individual studio to decide what is and isn't "DCI compliant".

Wendy Aylsworth (WB) - Talks about DC28 Charter. Pays tribute to Charles Swartz for reminding us that motion picture industry only took off when 35mm standard became universal at the turn of the last century. Reminds us that cinema is a niche market, compared to for example broadcasting. In 2005 DC28 added Stereoscopic WG. 16 core documents published. 428 Suite - D-Cinema Distribution Master, gives example of how standard sub-sections can be published bit by bit.

Siegfried Fossel (Fraunhofer) - Talks about two projects, DCI compliance test procedure as well as FFA Recommendations and Guidilines being wrotten for German Federal Film Board. Latter has recommendations for work-flow and other issues. Guidelines for both film producers and theatre owners. The document will be available in Jan 2007. This will be followed by test installations. Hope is to introduce D-Cinema in Germany from 2007 onwards. Lots of interesting things, too much to be typed on the Barbie-sized keyboard of my BlackBerry.

Thierry Delpit (CST) - Talks about ISA platform. It's a complete digital chain stretching from post house-to-projection booth in line with DCI/SMPTE specs and standards. One of the goals is to help French companies - surprise, surprise, given the French state's involvement. Full list of the eight partner companies. It's the same companies that will be at the ETC in Hollywood next week. No mention of the French digital cinema standrads.

PvS (Deluxe) - The point of my presentation is PowerPoint= bad, NORDIC = good (for the industry).

Denise Hsu (Technicolor) - Denise stands in for Curt Behlmer, she is responsible for Technicolor's digital roll-out strategy. Updates us on what TDC has been doing in testing and evaluating equipment. Talks about offering "a complete portfolio of entertainment options" to their cinema clients. Interoperability Test Center (ITC) opened in January 2006. ITC is also being used to develop Theatre Management System for Technicolor. They have developed "Killer Test Patterns" (yo, bro, sounds wicked!) 240-300 screens in 30-35 sites is deployment plan for the US. Also 130 screens with Kinepolis in Belgium. "DCI compliance to be achioeved by the end of Beta" (2007). Extended Technicolor sales pitch ends her speach. (Is it just because I'm now with Deluxe that I'm somewhat put off by this kind of hard sell?)

Looks like we are about to finish on time, but I'm having problems sending e-mails from my BlackBerry and hence the blog posts are not going up on the website.

IBC D-Cinema Day live-blog; Jerry Pierce keynote

Jerry's speech is called "Good, Bad and Ugly; Technology to Business" and I will refrain from speculating which one of my colleagues these epitaths are aimed at until I hear what Jerry has to say.

The whole day D-Cinema session has moved to the big Auditorium, though I doubt we will pull in as large a crowd as "Pirates 2" in digital pulled in last night. I saw that it crossed $1bn, so no wonder Mark Kimball was skipping and smiling this morning.

Universal has ramped up the digital releases lately. Dambusters re-make in digital for sure? Let's see what Mr Pierce has to say.

9:10 - Still waiting for session to start. Reasonably good turnout for this time in the morning. Dr Sandbank is bending Wendy Aylesworth and Craig Todd's collective ears. Dr Monk now apologises for slightly delayed start.

9:15 - Theme Day producer Dave Monk reading out Jerry's bio. It's long. Jerry says its nice to see an audience where he knows half of us by name. (It's not that small, is it?). "Roll-out is real," he says. Major reason to do it is to control cost and improve quality to bring audiences back to cinema. "Best image on earth." Jerry is thrilled for Disney that Pirates 2 made a cool billion. No really. OK, through grtted teeth. But the quality was great, he admitted. "But when digital fails, it's a disaster." Howard Lukk is sitting behond me and mutters "thanks Jerry."

9:25 - 80% of Uni titles go DI. "Don't forget trailers" which JP calls the forgotten part of digital cinema. Shocker - all-but-one Univ titles have gone out digitally in 2006. ("Idlewild" was too small to merrit digital release). Miami vice went out to 69 screens. 185Gb. "Black Dahlia" going out Friday. Smaller film but 69 copies ie the digital cinema network has grown.

9:30 Uni strategy is crawl-walk-run; start domestically (US and DCI package only), move to few territories (next step), wide support (next couple of years).

9:35 - Having digital theatre is not enough to guarantee you a Uni digital film. Business agreement has to be in place too. Ultimately it is about the movie, not technology, says Jerry.

9:40 - Basic Business slide, last point, "No NEW MIDDLE MEN". Next one: VPF is seen as a short term way of contributing to the conversion of equipment. Long term no VPF. Europe may have a variety of business models.

9:45 - A look at 'Side Show' issues, delivery, 3D and ODS. 35mm delivery cost just $45 for 6-9 reels of 60lbs. For digital? "No clear long term solution at this time! (Maybe never)." Jerry thanks Wendy for recognising his quality chairing work on the transport committee. Next - "Show Me the 3D Money!" $10m extra cost of making 3D film and $50m to convert a screen. Extra expenses can only be covered in the first (theatrical) window. 3D doesn't sell extra on DVD. ODS, you will first need to train/condition audiences to come and watch football and other non-film content in cinemas.

"Frank, direct and no-holds barred" presentation, is jow Monk describes Jerry's speech. Worth schedule running 20 min late.

Not enough time before IBC, War Against Hand-Cream and Dolby goes to China

I seem to have less and less time for blogging the longer I'm here, but I'm determined to keep it up, if only to not confound your expectations of how soon this venture will see me with my foot in my mouth. Not yet, as such, but then it's only been a handful of postings so far.

The reason for the lack of time is that I'm starting the serious round of meetings with distributors and exhibitors to introduce myself and tell them about Deluxe's plans for rolling out digital cinema in Europe. Some of them we are already deep into the planning, dating from way before I joined the company. But even these now get the chance to meet me with my Deluxe hat on (actually, it's a rather fetching baseball cap). No fewer than six meetings fitted in today with another half a dozen slotted in for tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone who have been getting in touch about meeting up in IBC. So far these people have all kindly managed to find time for me, but I still need to reach out to some, such as QuVis and Kinepolis. But there's still a few days before the plane takes off for Amsterdam from London City Airport. I urge you all to avoid Heathrow as all costs if you can in these dark days of the War Against Hand-Cream:

An innocent victim of the War Against Hand-Cream, one-legged New Zealand sprinter Kate Horan was, reports the Dominion Post, a prime medal hope at this week's Paralympic World Athletics Championships in Holland. Until she was told in transit at Heathrow that her $10,000 running leg couldn't be carried as hand luggage. And then in Amsterdam that British Airways had lost it. Words, frankly, fail us.

Meanwhile in the news, Dolby has secured a deal to supply digital cinema servers to China Central Television (CCTV) for their new state-of-the-art screening rooms. So now Dolby digital cinema servers can be found everywhere from Reykjavik to Beijing. (Memo to self: must get hold of one of their boxes myself for our own state-of-the-art screening room QC facility at Deluxe London). But Dolby aren't doing half as well in China as a Canadian company, if the following press release is to be believed. The title says it all "Section Rouge Média Inc. signs an option for the development of a digital cinema multiplexes chain in the People's Republic of China in link with its strategy to develop access to the Chinese market".

In cinema events news, SmartJog are inviting to an event at Hollywood's ETC/DCL on 20 Sept and Barco will have its digitala cinema event at London's BAFTA on 6 Oct, though I don't have links for either invite, which only arrived in my inbox in the past few hours. See you there for both. Now that I finally have my BlackBerry there's apparently a way to update blogs directly by e-mail, so come and watch me blog my way into trouble in real-time.

Being co-operative, Kinepolis profits and who's the digital Daddy in Venice

I must confess that my exposure to the London post-production industry has mostly been limited to hanging out in the Blue Post and assorted other Soho pubs, listening to war stories by the likes of Mitch Mitchell, Kevin Phelan, Jon Thompson and whoever else was in the bar at that time. [LATER EDITION: I am in no way implying that hanging out in pubs is all the these three outstanding examples of Soho's post-production excellence.]

Although I got an inkling of it then, I've had it confirmed to me in the brief time that I've been in the building housing Deluxe, as well as EFILM London and Capital FX, the tremendous degree of co-operation that goes on between companies that you would think are at-each-others-throats competitors. The truth is that subcontracting, sharing and semi-necessitated co-operation is the order of the day, both in post-production and digital cinema. This is not a peacenik "let's all love each other and be friends" but a facto of survival in a small industry based on relations and trust.

In that spirit, I was glad to read about the three-digit record profits at Kinepolis (456% to be precise), which is in the process of using some of those profits to roll out digital cinema together with Thomson, Barco and Dolby. Whether it is Technicolor, Dolby, Arts Alliance or Deluxe rolling out digital cinema, we all stand to benefit from it at this stage.

In other news Doremi stakes a claim to the Venice Film Festival with the press release "Doremi Plays in Venice". This seems to somewhat contradict the claim that QuVis was the "preferred digital cinema player at the 63rd VFF, through a press release headlined "QUVIS PREFERRED DIGITAL CINEMA SYSTEM PROVIDER TO VENICE FILM FESTIVAL".

What is for me personally more interesting is that the title that people in this building have been working hard on, smart sci-fi thriller "Children of Men", has been feted by critics and even called the best entry in the festival so far, according to this review in The Guardian. Fingers crossed, it might have a digital release as well. Watch this space and little co-operation might do it.

IBC looms large and a friend drops by

I had an unexpected visitor today, though I won't go into who or why he's here just yet. We've got to keep some of the mystery of this place.

Instead the large part of the day has been devoted to the logistics surrounding IBC. Having the luxury of a dual perspective on IBC as an attendee and as a member of the Conference Committee I can complain to myself if there is anything I don't like. But this year I can't even complain about the hotel as I've been very kindly put up in the NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky by Deluxe.

IBC looks like it will be the usual mixture of trade show and meetings, followed by the conference and EDCF. There is quite the contingent coming over from Deluxe, both UK and US, so expect to see several familiar faces. As always I never have time to see everyone and everything that I would like, which is particularly bad when I'm wearing a new hat and handing out new business cards. Hopefully they will have arrived by then. BlackBerry is said to be driven down from Denham to London today. As for my MacBook, I had to wait so long that I ended up canceling my order. According to an article In Guardian's Technology blog there is a strong lilelihood that a new MacBook featuring the Merom (64-bit Core 2 Duo) chips will appear 12 September, so I'm just as happy to wait until after IBC to get my hands on it.

Other than that I can recommend Leon, an award winning fast food place at the top of London's Carnaby street, where I had lunch today. My friend, who travels too much and admits that hence he doesn't always eat as well as he should, rated it highly. It certainly beats anything they serve at the RAI. Memo to self: complain to myself about Dutch catering ahead of next Conference Committee and work it into Digital Cinema Theme Day. To paraphrase Napoleon, even a digital cinema army marches on it stomach.

How "corporate" is Deluxe, plus things we WON'T be doing

I had a long and interesting telephone conversation with my contact, friend and occasional panel sparring partner Owen Thomas today. When he is not a producer for his very talented wife May Miles-Thomas through their production company Elemental Films, he has been spending more time thinking about the realities and future of independent film in the UK than anyone else that I know. While he won't use the c-word abut himself ('consultant', that is) he is not only very knowledgeable but also living proof that you don't have to be based in London to be an authority in these matters, seeing that he is recently transplanted from Glasgow to Edinburgh.

Moving on from the over-used and over-wrought 'long tail' concept for niche films, he challenged me over whether Deluxe was right to focus purely on the theatrical market (Rank sold off the DVD replication business in a separate deal from Deluxe), with sister companies ranging from Panavision to Capital FX all focused on the up-stream film service market. Surely, he said, he and I had agreed on a number of conferences and panels that the money was in the ancillary platforms for film.

I agree and disagree. From a producer's perspective he is absolutely right that the money is downstream, but while we personally both love the cinema experience, I would go one step further than him. I would defend it by speculating that while the current booking practices of one title having 3-4 screenings per day for 1-2 weeks will soon die, there will be more variations of films through a phrase that I'm trying to coin, which is, "the one screen digital multiplex." That way cinema will survive and Deluxe Digital Services will prosper.

He touched a more raw nerve when he asked me whether not Deluxe was "too corporate?" Too corporate for me, ex-journalist and honorary digital viking that I am, but more to the point, too corporate for small producers. He made the valid point that the Deluxe website is US-centric and gives no indication of the UK/European/ROW operations, unless you dig your way down to the "Contact Us" section.

There is some truth to this (help, I'm turning into Scooble in no time) but it would be a shame if this gave the impression that we do not care for or want to work with smaller projects than the $100m Fox and Paramount ones. We do. Passionately. As do our sister operations EFILM and Capital FX. No project is too small for us to consider, as we would not rather sit and twiddle our thumbs waiting to get to make the DI for the 22nd Bond film than work with local non-studio production outfit. And there's nothing stopping us from juggling several different size balls/projects at once. To paraphrase the inscription on the Statue of Liberty, 'Bring us your poor and needy projects.' And when you do, ask for me or Liz.

Owen is more correct in that Deluxe will not be streaming content to your mobile phone or doing a video-on-demand deal with film distributors any time soon.