mediajunk

Ireland is to become the first country in the world to have completely digital cinema, according to a report in Electric News.

Digital Cinema Limited (DCL), the Irish subsidiary of the digital cinema technology firm Avica Europe, will be installing new technology into 500 screens in 105 sites throughout the country at a cost of EUR40 million, making Ireland the first country in the world to convert all cinemas to a digital format from 35mm film.

The new technology will make it easier for smaller cinemas to get faster access to new movies rather than having to wait for bigger cinemas to finish their run of a specific movie. It is likely too that the cost of movies in digital format will reduce in time, according to [DCL spokesperson] Cummins.

Interesting. Of the perceived benefits, however, I hadn't really noticed any delay in films hitting cinema screens in the provinces -- unlike the 1980s, when Dublin got releases first. I presume that the country as a whole now get a greater number of prints.

I imagine that, in the future, releases will be made on a worldwide basis, synchronised so that movies premiere in cinemas around the world on the same day. To do this, cinemas would not only need to be digital, but would have to be capable of receiving encrypted, high-quality downloads, directly from source distributors, usually the Hollywood Studios.

But, you point out, wouldn't a move to digital ultimately favour independent filmmakers, as the cost of distribution would be dramatically reduced? Perhaps, but as far as I know the major barriers to entries for independent filmmakers these days are still the production costs -- dominated by the cost of CGI graphics and copyright payments (even to show a picture on a wall in a movie today, you may have to pay a fee -- and the major studios want to keep it that way).

Plus ca change...