Why can’t CD packaging be greener and cheaper? That’s the question that Emthelo, a supply chain consultancy specialising in the entertainment industry asked itself last year. The result of their deliberations is the MINTpack, a new, green, economical CD sleeve, as Emthelo Managing Director Olivier Durand explains to Emma Beddington.
Technicolor and Summit Entertainment have announced an agreement to release the upcoming action adventure Drive Angry, set for release on February 11, 2011 in North American movie theatres, in the Technicolor 3D format.
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The film, which stars Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard and William Fichtner, was directed by Patrick Lussier, and was shot entirely in 3D. “Technicolor 3D allows us to bring Drive Angry to a wider number of theatres in 3D,” said Richie Fay, president of Domestic Distribution for Summit Entertainment. “We see Technicolor 3D as a great bridge solution for the industry as the digital cinema conversion progresses.”
Technicolor 3D, currently installed on more than 300 screens in North America, utilizes 35mm projectors, enabling those theatres which have not yet converted to digital projection to participate in the success of 3D. Summit Entertainment will make Drive Angry available to exhibitors in both Technicolor 3D and digital 3D formats.
“Since the launch of Technicolor 3D in movie theatres last spring, we’ve had tremendously positive feedback from our studio partners, our exhibitor partners, and moviegoers,” said Joe Berchtold, president of Technicolor’s Creative Services division. “We’re thrilled to be working with Summit Entertainment on the release of Drive Angry in the Technicolor 3D format.”
www.summit-ent.com
www.technicolor.com
Spanish replicator Duplico 2000 SL has entered the Blu-ray manufacturing arena with a BLULINE II single and dual layer replication system from Singulus Technologies. “Since the year 2000 we have been working successfully with Singulus CD and DVD mastering as well as replication systems,” said Vicente Bernabeu Ferràs, CEO of Duplico. “Now we are ready to step into the Blu-ray market and enhance our business activities with the implementation of a BLULINE II.”
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Duplico, founded in 2000, has production facilities in Barcelona, where it masters and manufactures a range of optical media and video tapes, and a commercial centre in Madrid. Its clients are among the more well-known film studios, said Bernabeu Ferràs.
“Once again, the high quality and reliability of the Singulus system will help us to maintain a competitive edge and broaden our portfolio with the manufacturing of all optical disc pre-recorded formats, such as CD, DVD and Blu-ray,” he concluded.
This brings to over 80 the number of Blu-ray production systems that Singulus has supplied worldwide and the system, the company says, is “3D ready”.
www.duplico2000.com
www.singulus.de
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Here’s a bundle deal with a difference: Roundtable Concepts and legendary rock band KISS have reached a deal (brokered by Live Nation Merchandise) to launch KISS LED hi-def TVs. The sets will be available in 32, 40 and 46-inch sizes and will be available at retail in mid-November.
“KISS again leads the merchandise and licensing world with another industry first with this first ever concert artist branded HD TV,” said Janet Dwoskin, executive director of Licensing for Live Nation Merchandise.
The KISS logo is embellished on the bottom two corners of the casing and an image of the group appears on the screen for the 8 second warm-up period when the set is powered on. The first units will be limited editions and will come in a collector’s box.
No comment was available from KISS, but Frank Weir of Roundtable Concepts said: “RTC is excited for the opportunity to work with KISS on the ‘premiere’ of this product, a joining of forces between Rock & Roll and the electronics industry. These limited TV’s will be a must-have for any serious KISS fan.”
Continue reading »Packaging specialist Super Jewel Box has announced the successful relocation of its major production lines to Thailand. Production of the cases is fully up and running and, says the company, the latest injection moulding techniques and robot mean that these products can now be offered in larger volumes and at more competitive pricing.
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“Despite the doom and gloom about optical media going away, Super Jewel Box continues to grow, not the least in South East Asia,” said Jan Schuurs, president of Super Jewel Box International. “This growth is at least partially being fuelled by this talk, because wise content owners are choosing to reward their optical media customers with better packaging for their hard-earned money.”
In addition to various distribution centres in Europe and the USA, SJB has further expanded its distribution network by appointing Srithai Superware Public Company Ltd Thailand as a distributor for its products in South-East Asia. The distribution agreement was handed over by Schuurs to Sanan Angubolkul, chairman of Srithai Superware, in the presence of local media.
Srithai is established in Bangkok and will supply the full range of Super Jewel Box products from local stock to Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam.
www.superjewelbox.com
www.srithaisuperware.com
Last week, Brickbox Digital Media announced that it is now officially a part of KIT digital, a leading provider of global video asset management solutions (VAMs). The deal involved upfront consideration of approximately $10.1 million (after working capital adjustment and $1.0 million hold-back related to consolidation o Brickbox’s minority interests). This was comprised of approximately $6.6 million in cash and 339,476 shares of KIT digital common stock.
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“This was a choice acquisition for us, which we had our eyes on for some time, extending our capabilities and commercial reach in premium content management and services for the major and ‘mini-major’ Hollywood studios,” said KIT Digital’s chairman and CEO, Kaleil Isaza Tuzman.
KIT digital, listed on the Prague Stock Exchange and on NASDAQ in the US, is headquartered in Prague.
“For the last two decades, the Czech Republic has become a global knowledge centre for audio-visual engineering, with a history of production, post-production, graphics and special effects work with major studios,” said Tuzman. “Brickbox has been a leader in the market through much of this period, focusing on digital cinema services and master video file management solutions.
“In many respects, the acquisition of Brickbox Digital Media completes the circle on our decision in early 2009 to move our corporate headquarters to Prague, and underlines our commitment to building a global leader from the heart of Central Europe.”
Brickbox Digital Media will continue to develop and service the home entertainment industry, digital cinema and packaged media and, said the company, it will become a stronger business partner for all of its clients by being able to offer greater worldwide facilities from a global company.
www.brickboxdigitalmedia.co.uk
www.kitd.com
Christopher Lloyd will be going back in time again, with a starring role in Entertainment Films’ new IMAX movie Time, the Fourth Dimension (working title) to be co-directed by Jean-Jacques Mantello and Richard Gabai. The film’s release at IMAX 3D and IMAX 2D theatres is currently scheduled for spring 2012.
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“I am very excited about this project and am eager to start shooting this edutainment film in 3D in November,” said Lloyd. “Time, the 4th Dimension will be a one-of-a-kind celebration of science that will allow audiences to better understand the concept of time and how we relate to it in modern day society.”
The movie tells the story of an eccentric professor and his lab assistant as they explore and explain the various dimensions that make up our world while focusing on the extraordinary and misunderstood fourth dimension: space-time.
“We are thrilled to have such a gifted actor and charismatic personality as Christopher Lloyd lend his talent to this unique project which celebrates science through entertainment,” said Francois Mantello, chairman and CEO of 3D Entertainment Films.
Continue reading »Custom Technology (CTC) has announced the launch of its multiview video coding (MVC) beta program for the Cinema Craft HD encoder (Version 1.12), unveiled during the recent IBC 2010 and codenamed CC-3De. The upgrade, says the company, provides MVC functionalities to an encoder that is used and trusted by leading post-production houses worldwide.
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“CC-3De encodes 23.976p Stereoscopic streams at near realtime speeds,” explained Miguel Clarke of CTC European distribution partners Silicon Philosophies. “It supports all the aspect ratios, frame rates and most important, generates files that are 3D-spec compliant and compatible with the professional authoring tools currently in use.
“It’s the only product available that can efficiently process the slew of 3D movies scheduled for Blu-ray release through the end of this year,” Clarke said, “and that’s not just hype.”
All functions inherent to the AVC/H.264 encoder are integrated with toolsets specifically tailored for efficient MVC processing. Its GUI (graphical user interface) provides compression engineers with what is described as “unfettered access” to file property, bit-budgeting, encoder presets, filters, and quantization settings, plus an array of QC functions and the means to achieve the exceptional picture quality that is expected by today’s educated consumer.
“Though most visitors found its GUI logical and intuitive, others voiced reservations about its speed,” Clarke told Digital2Disc, “but our ensuing demonstrations removed their doubt and reinforced CC-3De’s ability to capitalize fully on available CPU resources, as the basis of its unprecedented performance.”
The HD encoder has been used by authoring and post-production houses for the past four years and, said Clarke, it out-performs all AVC/MVC encoding products available and guarantees elementary streams (ES) that are 100% Blu-ray compliant, verifiable through BD/MVC analyzers and verifiers and is compatible with authoring applications, muxing engines and 2D/3D Blu-ray players.
www.cinemacraft.com
www.siliconphilosphies.com
Director James Cameron, whose name has become virtually synonymous with 3D, recently joined the hotly-debated 2D/3D discussion in an interview with Popular Mechanics. Regarding the backlash against 3D, he said, it was a good thing because what consumers were lashing back against is “some pretty crappy stuff.”
Poor quality 3D, he said, has a lot to answer for, and consumers were right to demand their money’s worth when paying a premium. “I think that’s completely valid. I want the studios to get spanked for making bad decisions because I actually think they’re compromising the overall 3D market if they continue this way. I don’t think any long-term damage has been done‚ as long as they take heed of these lessons, and don’t do slapdash six-week conversions that look like crappy pop-up cards.”
One important thing to remember, Cameron stressed, is that the movies released after Avatar were made before its own release: “So any lessons learned about how to do it, in terms of how to use the cameras, how to use the stereo spaces and so on, that might be learned by other live action film makers from Avatar‚ we haven’t seen those films yet. It takes a year to make a decent film.”
Also vital to 3D success, he added, is that: “People need to keep in mind is that 3D doesn’t make a good movie. Good movies are made by good scripts, great acting and a lot of other things besides just being in 3D. 3D can only make a great movie a little bit better.”
Crucially, there needs to be more information from critics and the media to alert people about the distinctions between “This is a crap movie. The 3D’s good, but it’s a crap movie,” and “It’s a good movie, but the 3D’s crap.” For instance, he said, while he was rooting for Avatar star Sam Worthington, Clash of the Titans was a “pretty good movie…but the 3D sucked. In some scenes it didn’t even look like it was 3D.”
On the subject of 2D-3D conversions, he concluded, if they’re not done right, just look like pop-up cards. “It’s a hideously complicated process. It’s much simpler to just shoot it in 3D and hopefully that’s the thing that Hollywood is going to wake up to, I’m praying.”
Continue reading »At the Third Annual High-Def Awards, presented by Home Media Magazine, fans gave Star Trek the biggest thumbs-up of the Blu-ray field. The Paramount title won Best Theatrical Blu-ray, Best Single Extra for its ‘Starfleet Vessel Simulator’ and the Consumers’ Choice Award for best overall Blu-ray Disc release.
Two categories were not subject to a consumer vote and were selected directly by the judges. Best Audio Quality went to Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s electric guitar documentary It Might Get Loud, and a special award for Best Blu-ray Upgrade, defined as an ideal reason to replace an old DVD version of a title, went to 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment’s Fight Club.
The Wizard of Oz was the judges’ choice for the best Blu-ray of 2009, and the were:
The Awards honoured the best Blu-ray releases from 2009, with winners chosen by a month-long consumer vote held in July. A panel of judges nominated titles submitted by studios in a number of categories.
Continue reading »Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America (MDEA) has announced the launch of its nationwide 3D Experience Tour to introduce 3D TVs to US consumers. Mitsubishi’s Mobile Marketing Showroom, a 995 square foot 18-wheeled home theatre experience, will show viewers MDEA’s line-up of 60 inch-plus 3D-capable TVs.
“3D is moving quickly into broadcast, theatrical and gaming content as consumers seek to immerse themselves in the games, movies, and sports programming they love,” said Max Wasinger, executive vice president of sales and marketing, Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America.
“The Mitsubishi 3D Experience Tour brings this experience to towns and cities across America so that consumers can experience for themselves the eye popping, jaw dropping difference our cinema-quality DLP technology makes in 3D entertainment. This year represents the third consecutive year that we have used our mammoth big-rig Mobile Marketing Showroom to tour the US and demonstrate 3D TV as it would be experienced in the home. We’re excited to again hit the road and introduce our unparalleled 2010 line-up of large screen, immersive 3D DLP Home Cinema TVs to America.”
The tour kicks off this week in Detroit, and goes through to Dallas in November.
Continue reading »
Second screening is the new way to consume broadcast content, with companies beginning to look at ways to control the way consumers second screen - and how to make money out of it. George Cole provides an overview of this 21st century viewing trend.
Second screen is making waves in the broadcast, social media and video worlds. In essence, second screen involves using a second display device, like a smartphone, laptop or tablet, while watching television. Many people are now second screening: research by Nielsen found that 70% of tablet users and 68% of smartphone owners used their device while watching television. “There are a lot of stats that show that a very large percentage of people who watch TV are doing it with a second screen on their lap,” says Chuck Parker, former Chief Commercial Officer of Technicolor.
Fingerprinting or watermarking? Is there a difference and does it make a difference? Anti-piracy specialist Richard Atkinson explains what they are and how they work but, most of all, why they are important for content management – and leveraging it for monetization – as much as content protection.
In comparing watermarking and fingerprinting, some aspects are similar and some are different. But, more importantly, as they continue to evolve, those differences are becoming less important. The main issue will be how it is used, because the business is driving things: it’s not just about content protection anymore, but about content leverage. With these capabilities, I can know exactly what the content is (whether there’s a mark in it or whether there’s metadata about it)...and leverage that knowledge in real-time.
Following the best Christmas sales ever for Amazon.com’s Kindle devices, the total e-reader category is expected to once again deliver double-digit growth this year, Jill Bilzi learns, as she looks at how it continues to revolutionize the publishing industry and forever change ‘books’ as we know them.
The exploding demand for digital reading devices and downloaded e- books during the fourth quarter of 2011 brought a flurry of news among the leading suppliers in the market.
Music on CD dead? Not so, say the fans - retro continues to be cool and collectors continue to collect. Debbie Galante Block talks to designers and artists who listen to fans and give them what they want in terms of desirable physical media.
Like vinyl, music packaging was scaled back by major record labels way before consumers were ready to let it go. Also, like vinyl, it’s back! With the advent of digital music, it originally seemed that designers were doomed to designing postage size pictures for iTunes, but artists and their true fans have clamoured for more.
The concept of the interactive documentary as something controlled by the producer is changing, as Michael Mascioni reveals.
Interactive documentaries have traditionally been conceived as a genre allowing users to select and explore different informational segments, elements, and themes in a framework largely circumscribed by the producers. Now, that concept is expanding significantly with the rise of ‘collaborative documentaries’ that have adopted crowdsourcing elements and extensive use of user-generated content.
