Talk About Digital Cinema

Justin Ribbons
Chief Executive Officer, Empire Cinemas Limited

Justin Ribbons

On Empire Cinemas

Empire is growing. We've started relatively small - we're about 5% of the UK market. We're either the smallest of the large players or the largest of the small players, depending on where you cut the line - and we're looking at opportunities in the UK to grow. We've got 147 screens in total of which we've deployed 6 digital in High Wycombe and we have 3 of the Film Council systems that we've deployed in various complexes around the UK. All of our screens are in the UK.

On the business and digital quality

The cinema business is healthy in the UK, but I think we have to do more to continue to improve the experience we provide to our customers and we have an opportunity with digital to do that. On 'day one' of the print, there is very little difference between a good 35 mm film print and digital projection. The difference comes in the later stages of the performance, in the second week where the image quality on the screen is noticeably better with digital and I think that providing a consistent experience for the customer across the whole range of the film's performance - is important - and digital does that.

On the advantages of digital

What's pushing us to want to go digital is quality, it's ease of operation, it's a feeling that it allows flexibility in the content, not just for films, but for alternative content. And it's a step into the future.

When I was with UCI, part of my role in business development was to look at a range of uses for the cinema and my involvement was born out of a belief at that time that cinemas were underutilised. I believed they provided a vital function in the community and in the future, they could play an even more integral role in the community and that digital could help that happen, help put a great range of material on screen.

On a surprising finding

We've done some low-level exit surveys and one of the things - surprisingly - that we're finding is that the customers are telling us that digital sounds better. Originally, we thought that was a 'trick of the mind', but in investigating it further, we found that the sound files on a digital print are less compressed than a normal 35mm film print with a CD provided alongside. So, what we think is that the sound is cleaner on a digital print than it is on many of the 35mm film prints.

On digital pre-show

Pre-show is a great idea. People in the UK are used to very limited 'slugs' of advertising. The typical cinema advertising slot is around 10 to 13 minutes and it stands in stark contrast to people's experience in terms of television advertising and you need something to break that up a little bit. I think the pre-show is a great way to introduce the show, to bring in advertising as well as other content on screen, mix it up a little bit and provide something that's a little bit more interesting and we're working with our partner, Carlton Screen Advertising to try to develop something in that area.

On alternative content

I still believe in alternative content, however, there are numerous difficulties in terms of obtaining the fundamental legal rights to show things on screen. One of the issues with the whole alternative content industry is that it was born in the age where there hasn't been this possibility of showing things in digital on a cinema screen. Therefore, none of the underlying contracts are written where it is at all clear who owns the digital rights and so any one who is venturing into this area is a pioneer and has to hack their way through a forest of legal language to obtain the rights.

Music is a good example. There is an absolutely clear case for putting music into a cinema, however, fighting through various rights-holders is extremely difficult and not one that can be taken lightly. When there are enough digital screens available and the revenues gained from those screens is a compelling argument, then the issues will melt away because there will be enough money available. But at this stage, the pioneering stage, it's a fight to put it on screen. We believe in it, but it will not happen quickly.

On selecting a partner

Anyone selecting a technology partner needs to be careful in selecting the right technology partner - someone for today and tomorrow - but the hurdles seem to be very few and really are more in the business area - obtaining the right deal with a partner who has the right VPF's, the right print fees, worked out with the studios. We're looking for somebody who's going to be there tomorrow. The commercial deals that are being discussed at the moment are ten-year deals. I think we want to make sure that the partners we're working with are going to be there over the ten-year period and are going to deliver an improved product over that period.

On working with Kodak

Kodak is doing very well for us. We're working closely with Kodak, with six Kodak systems at our cinema in High Wycombe; we're committed to the cinema, we put the best technical team into the cinema to make sure there were minimal problems. There have been very few problems with it, so it's done what we expected it to do. And I think we've worked very well together. We're very happy with Kodak as a technology partner.

On 3D

The next stage is really 3D and I think we need more simplification in the 3D process. The possibility of adding 3D to a 2D platform means that we have to focus on selecting the right platform to ensure that it operates - and can operate in the future - in 3D. I'm nervous about rolling out a 2D system without understanding where we're heading and what we require for 3D.

I think the server element is probably not the difficult element; I think it's really the projector and the screen, so they can show both 3D processes. There are two 3D processes at the moment and there might be more technology coming down the road. One technology today requires a silver screen and my belief is - that if we are going to show 3D, then, every screen and every system in every complex, everywhere should be able to show 3D.

On satellite vs hard drive delivery

The difficulty with satellite delivery is picking the right satellite. If you can get all parties to agree on which satellite will be used, then you can cast the satellite dish once, but what we've found is that if you have a satellite delivery system you never pick the right satellite and so you always have to re-task the dish for the particular piece of content coming down line.

Hard drives are fine with us. They seem to be easy to load; they're fairly stable. The studios need to pay attention to the mastering process and make sure that's good quality. But I think overall, the process is working relatively well. There may be advantages, once a whole country is up and running, to move to a satellite delivery system but with a footprint as small as some of the countries in Europe have, it may not be worth that for some time.

On the future

We have a great belief in digital. I think it's the future of the industry. It's where we're heading - to convert all screens, all areas.

I think that the Kodak system provides us with a good quality system where I'm very comfortable with Kodak as a partner. In a potentially-quickly-changing digital world, having a serious technology partner who is there for the long term gives me comfort. It's a bedstone to really enable me to move forward in this field and I think it's something where the technology is going to change and therefore we want something stable and I think Kodak gives us that stability. There are a lot of other industry players that are new names to this and I think that Kodak brings some history and some stability.