What I did in New Zealand, Or, Why Peter Jackson has the grooviest post-production outfit in the whole world

I spent several productive and interesting day in Wellington, New Zealand as a speaker and guest of AnimfxNZ. Having been to many conferences it is easy to get jaded about these things, but the sheer brainpower of the assembled crowd (from afar and local) made it exceptional.

Carolyn Giardina was there and in addition to moderating the opening panel that set the tone for the two day conference she found time to do an excellent write up in THR.com. Read the whole article. Here is just the opening:

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Underscoring the growing global interest in 3-D, both for theatrical release and in the home, 3Ality Digital CEO Steve Schklair told attendees at the 3rd annual AnimfxNZ Symposium held at the Wellington Convention Center how his company recently lensed an episode of NBC's "Chuck" in the 3-D format.

3Ality Digital -- the company behind the musical documentary film "U2 3D" -- handled the special episode of the spy comedy series, set to air Feb. 2, the Monday following the Super Bowl. Plans to distribute glasses to consumers are under way.

The exec offered his perspective on the prospects of 3-D in the home. "The good new is there are at least two million 'stereo-ready' sets in the U.S. market waiting for stereo content," he said. "The bad news is the market has moved away from rear projection TVs, so that will eventually go away."

But he added that new options for 3-D TV are on the way. "The home market is moving forward because there is starting to be content in the market."

In addition to the two-day conference we got a tour of Wellington and visited Peter Jackson's Weta and Park Road Post. As Guillermo Del Toro said, "This is Hollywood - the way God intended it to be." I could not agree more. There was also networking with all the great speakers, touring of the charming city of Wellington (Aberdeen crossed with San Francisco) and sampling of New Zealand wine and food. A big thanks to Kim Lavery who did such a great job of organizing it and all the people who helped out. Next year I will volunteer to go there just to run around and hold the microphone. It. Was. That. Good.

The President is coming...in 2K digital

One of the many exciting things about working in India is the chance to get to be part of many 'firsts' and to work with people who are passionate about driving change. One of these people is Rohan Sippy - of the legendary Bollywood Sippy family - who is behind India's first end-to-end feature release: shot on the Viper, released exclusively in 2K and in-between that - yes, you guessed it - mastered and encoded by Adlabs Digital Cinema.

The mockumentary 'The President Is Coming' is releasing next week and we are privileged to have worked with what is not only a first-of-its-kind films, but what also looks like a very funny comedy (judging by the trailer). From Entertainment One India:

The future of Indian cinema is finally here. In a futuristic move, Ramesh Sippy Entertainment (RSE) has decided to release their forthcoming movie The President is Coming, exclusively on the 2K Digital Platform.

This means that no celluloid prints of this film will be distributed in Mumbai and will result in substantial savings on cost of release. The film will have prime show timings in all the screens and there will be no shuttling of prints. RSE is under contract with Scrabble Entertainment to use their wide Digital platform of 2K Digital Screens throughout India. Patrons will experience 2K Digital Image Quality which is the best in the world today.

The President is Coming is an English film and the first ever 'Mockumentary' about new India. It is a comedy about young India's ambitions and aspirations. With a style that is very tongue in cheek, the film takes a look at President George Bush' visit to India in 2006 where he wanted to shake hands with one young Indian under the age of 30.

Find out more about the movie itself from the MySpace page. I look forward to seeing it, not least because it is in English, and I hope you all get a chance to see it too. Maybe even in 2K.

Adlab's BIG Cinemas is Exhibitor of the Year at CineAsia 2008

No sooner had Adlabs' exhibition arm been re-branded BIG Cinemas then the news broke that it will be crowned Exhibitor of the Year at this year's CineAsia held in Macau on 9-11 December. We are thrilled on behalf of our colleagues at BIG Cinema who have worked tirelessly to not just make it India's largest cinema chain, but now also one of the most honoured. From THR.com:

Sunshine said that the 2008 edition at the Wynn Hotel and the Macau Tower, set for Dec. 9-11, will feature an advance 3-D screening of the Disney animated comedy "Bolt." The confab's Exhibitor of the Year award will go to Tusha Dhingra, the head of India's Big Cinemas, formerly known as Adlabs.

This comes not long after the cinema chain was named Retailer of the Year award and Best Retailer in Entertainment before that. But this definitely tops both of those achievements. I would like to think that being a digital cinema pioneer in India had a small part to play in the decision underpinning this award.

The global economy may be down but India just had a weekend box office bonanza with the twin hits Golmal Returns and Fashion both playing to full houses. This coming weekend Quantum of Solace will open here (a week before the US, no less) on the largest print release ever for a Hollywood film in India - 600 prints, beating Sony's previous record for Spider-Man 3 (597 prints), with Casino Royal (427 prints) in third place rounding off SPE's hat trick.

The coming weeks will see releases that were pushed back from their original Diwali release slots, so it should be a very happy Q4 for BIG Cinemas and other Indian exhibitors.