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Topic: Wisconsin drive-in goes digital

Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 05-20-2011 10:02 PM

quote: Frank Angel
So Mark, the DI was doing fine when they were running film, but went belly up when new owners put in digital?

Yea, the DI survived fine all these years. Not knowing how an area operates, any area for that matter that you move into to do buisness shows me that the new owners have a lack of buisness fortitude. To be dependent on a single band to help float your buisness and one at that which was going along at least ok all these years is a wacky buisness scheme to say the least.

Mark

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Victor Liorentas
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 800
From: london ontario canada
Registered: May 2009

posted 05-20-2011 10:08 PM

Yes Frank!
I agree and that is exactly what I tell everyone who will listen!

Very tough lately with this apparent invasion of the digital projection snatchers! [Wink]

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David Kilderry
Master Film Handler

Posts: 355
From: Melbourne Australia
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 05-21-2011 07:41 AM

The drive-ins that survive long term will be digital. We added an extra screen late last year, that at the moment, is more important.

There is at least one drive-in that runs all year round not far from WI and that is the Ford Wyoming in Detroit. It does pay to be close to a large population and have heaters as they do.

I can't understand how many Summer season drive-ins survive now in the US and Canada. Here in Australia all drive-ins run all year round and always have.

We have done our best with big xenons (5k) correctly aligned and replaced regularly, installed the best lenses we can for light and sharpness and kept up both screen, port glass and reflector cleanliness. It is a battle keeping a good image on screen, but vitally important for drive-ins especially. It actually never gets completely dark here given all the light pollution from surrounding factories.

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Louis Bornwasser
Film God

Posts: 4441
From: prospect ky usa
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 05-21-2011 07:42 AM

Frank: you are spot on.

Reports that "film is gone" have been made since 2004 or before. There are no announcements from labs or studios. They seem to originate from the top of N.A.T.O., which has been proven wrong since "Dec of 2005." Louis

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Mike Frese
Master Film Handler

Posts: 465
From: Holts Summit, MO
Registered: Jun 2007

posted 05-21-2011 08:36 AM

quote: Frank Angel
Someone explain to me what the rush is all about?

These are the options as I see them:

1) Have plans/agreements in place to in 12 mos to have equipment installed by Sept 2012 to receive VPFs
2) Wait till the last possible minute with the hopes that equipment will drop in price after the built-in demand goes away

Since every significant chain (let's say 10 or more locations) has announced plans to convert (and it is being done to receive the VPFs) by the end of next year, 2/3rds of the screens accounting for over 90% of the box office gross will be digital. Probably 95%+. If you do not believe pull up your Rentrak account and look at the grosses.

Now if this was 2013 this summer instead of 2011; I believe you could still get the big movies on film: Panda 2, POTC, Transformers, Green Lantern, etc. But what are you going to play in the spring and fall. A movie like Water For Elephants or Soul Surfer at approx. 2800 and 2200 locations respectively might only have a couple hundred film prints (Soul Surfer maybe ZERO). Then what???

Why will a studio chase after 5% of the business that may cost them 80% or more to get??

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Louis Bornwasser
Film God

Posts: 4441
From: prospect ky usa
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 05-21-2011 06:13 PM

Because film is cheaper for the studios, that's why. Not what it should cost, but what it does cost (contracts.) Louis

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 05-21-2011 10:08 PM

Louis... So film is cheaper? How so? You're saying a 35mm print of a 6 reel movie costs the studios less to buy than the $150.00 it costs them to put together a DCP package? Also, you must have missed that Technicolor closed their Hollywood release print facility at the end of last year. What other kind of film is disappearing announcements do you need to be notified of? The announcement at Cinema Con this year was the first actual date I've ever heard given by anyone and that date was based solely on the present rate of conversion. Not much more need be said...

Mark

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Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 05-21-2011 10:09 PM

The DCP costs signficantly more than $150 when the VPF cost is included. Presumably, most of the theatres that have installed [dlp]

are eligible for VPFs, and many of the 35mm-only houses are not. Not everyone plays first-run titles from major distributors exclusively.

As for the Spud DI, it sounds as if it would have failed with or without [dlp]

. Too bad the owners didn't really understand the business or their market.

As for the Wisconsin DI, I wish them luck. We need more successful drive-ins.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 05-21-2011 10:14 PM

Scott, I'm only talking about cost of manufacturing a 6 reel film print vs. a DCP sans the VPF. Not everyone is collecting VPF's. I believe you will find that VPF money comes from other distribution budgets anyways.

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Mike Frese
Master Film Handler

Posts: 465
From: Holts Summit, MO
Registered: Jun 2007

posted 05-21-2011 10:40 PM

quote: Scott Norwood
The DCP costs signficantly more than $150 when the VPF cost is included

Add the $800 or so VPF to that $150 and the studios still must think that is cheaper than film......or they would not have agreed to do it. Then in 10 years when the VPFs are gone....cha ching for the studios!

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Louis Bornwasser
Film God

Posts: 4441
From: prospect ky usa
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 05-22-2011 06:34 AM

I think the studios would run you for President IF they only had to pay $150 (or even 10x that) for a digital print. I agree that is the raw cost, but it is NOT what they have to pay. Louis

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Frank Angel
Film God

Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 05-22-2011 07:35 AM

The DI Discussion Group had this:

quote:
I saw this on Facebook.

"Highway 18 Outdoor Theatre
Had our first disaster of the season. Projector went down last Friday and we lost the whole weekend. Bad computer board. New one arriving tomorrow morning. "

They hope to be up this weekend as they're opening "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides"

Here's wishing them luck.

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Dave Bird
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 777
From: Perth, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jun 2000

posted 05-25-2011 02:08 PM

Looong time between posts... I know there's probably a couple drive-in owners who want to strangle me on this, but I just don't see this conversion as a big deal. These things won't be as reliable I suppose and will become an ongoing expense like anything else. The main worry is will people keep coming to movies, and I can't guess that. But I think you need to understand finance to know whether you should be scared of this.
We are a very, very small rural seasonal drive-in in Canada. Short season, 16 weeks or so, and I see no problem at all in re-jigging some of our expense lines to carry a digital projector at current interest rates in perpetuity (as I assume we'll be replacing them every 7 years maybe?). I've even had the audacity to say we may be adding to the bottom line with the film work and travel/shipping expense gone. Your results may vary.

And will I trumpet to the heavens how great this is for fans? YOU BET! I know this doesn't do a thing for presentation and you know that, but I subscribe to the great Bill Veeck school of marketing: He once needed to renovate some shipping ramps at great expense under the outfield stands at old Comiskey Park. The new beer trucks were too large and obviously needed to be accomodated. What does he do? Talks about how much money he's spending so he could honor one of his star players (who hated water) with a new sailboat! And made a big day of it (after which the boat was returned to the dealer and the player received a small farm instead). You bet we'll be talking about how great this thing is, how much we spent and how much better they'll enjoy the "modern, digital" drive-in. I'll shed a tear for my 58 year old XL, and we'll get back to making popcorn!

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 05-25-2011 04:19 PM

quote:
You bet we'll be talking about how great this thing is, how much we spent and how much better they'll enjoy the "modern, digital" drive-in. I'll shed a tear for my 58 year old XL, and we'll get back to making popcorn!

Nice! I'm doing the same here, except I don't trumpet the "digital" word too much because we are an "old fashioned" movie theatre. We even still use words like film, thread, splice, etc. when talking to patrons. But I'm more than happy to show the equipment to anyone who asks the slightest question. I would bet the majority of our patrons don't even know we converted.

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Troy Powell
Film Handler

Posts: 20
From: Jacksonville, Florida / usa
Registered: Nov 2009

posted 05-25-2011 05:24 PM

How in the hell is he making it on a one screener? In order for us to make it in a drive in was to at lease put 2,3,or4 screens min. just to get first runs. Then you have to consider the snack bar size to take up the extra load. Our snack bar was built for a 1 screener so we had to open an hour before the show and we still had patrons out the door. $8000.00 in food aint bad for one night.

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