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.
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