Page 15 - Microsoft Word - RDcover11_03.doc

Instead of a $2000 film print delivered in a can, they are screening new releases from a hard
drive for a fraction of the price. With an estimated 2000 Australian screens being converted at a
cost of $30 million, Paddington's Verona cinema will be next to switch from Monday.

Of the major chains, Event expects to have all its 473 screens and Hoyts its 361 screens
converted within four weeks.

The smaller chains and independent cinemas are following, with Palace expecting to have about
100 screens switched within six months.

While it took time for the industry to work out a method of sharing the cost, the spark for the
shift was the audience's willingness to pay more for Avatar in 3D, which was possible only with
digital projection.

But just as music purists bemoaned the switch from vinyl records to CDs, some enthusiasts are
wondering if cinemas will lose something by abandoning 35mm.

The chief commercial and development officer for Hoyts, Matthew Liebmann, says digital
projection allows the pristine quality of the picture to be maintained long after celluloid prints
have been degraded.

''I don't miss LPs,'' he says. ''I like digital music, I like CDs.
''The improvement in audio in this industry is similar.

''We get crystal clear sound and perfect picture and I think those things immerse you more.''
Mr Liebmann says cinemas also have more flexibility in programming.

''While our bread and butter will always be the Hollywood blockbusters, the ability to use this
technology for sporting events, for concerts, for alternate children's content - and to use our
facilities more broadly, even for product launches, events and church groups - [is] starting to
grow.''

The managing director of the entertainment services group Deluxe Australia, Alaric
McAusland, believes the change is a landmark event and brings ''significant efficiency gains'' to
the industry.

He expects all the country's cinemas to be converted by next year. But the changeover means
35mm projectionists have become a threatened species.

''Pretty much every adjustment is behind a password,'' Mr Butterfield says. ''So it's for the techs
to do now.''

Reprinted in Reel Deals by courtesy of the Author and the SMH