Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Digital Cinema in Canada

This is topic Digital Cinema in Canada in forum Digital Cinema Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Armand Daiguillon (Member # 10334) on 10-24-2019, 11:48 PM:

Hi all,

I'm hoping someone here can help me help someone else.
I know someone in Alberta Canada who is looking to open up a single screen theater - he got hoodwinked by some people and got a bunch of non dci compliant equipment that he now has to get rid of. I'm in Florida USA and I dont know anything about the Canadian market - but i'm trying to help this guy out. I've explained to him what he needs and the investment it will require. I'm hoping one of you guys know some decent companies in Canada that could provide sales, service and support for DCI compliant equipment.

Any ideas ?

Thanks !!!

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 10-25-2019, 12:38 AM:

Projectech in Toronto does all of my service work. They send a tech out on a kind of a circuit every year so he hits all of the theatres that they do work for to do preventive maintenance and whatever else is needed. They also have a guy who will answer the phone and talk you through solving problems.

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 10-25-2019, 08:09 AM:

Disclaimer: I work with Projectech.
In the West you have Cinematronix and Projectech, I don't know of another full service cinema dealer there.
Both are good and can supply, install, and maintain a complete cinema system plus refer you to competent seating and screen specialists.
Cinematronics is basically a Christie shop, Projectech is Barco. Both can get any brand you want I think but specialize in those. NEC are good but there are very few in Canada so experienced support techs are rare. For servers Dolby/Doremi and GDC are the main players. Sony systems are pretty much absent from Canada, maybe for good reasons... I have no experience with them.
Avoid A/V dealers... they have a different mindset and little to no experience with digital cinema. The bigger projectors for A/V are functionally very similar to DC ones but don't have all the security stuff. But the scurity stuff causes many offscreen issues and having a tech on call that understands it can resolve a problem quickly.
Ask around. Do not believe salespeople, many will bend truth into pretzels to make a sale.
All projector brands have separate distribution channels for their A/V and D-Cinema products so an A/V dealer usually has to buy a cinema projector from a different cinema dealer... or get a grey market one. I have come across a few end users who got shafted, getting a system unusable for commercial cinema or paying a lot more than they should have.
There is also a used market. Cinemas close for many reasons or update their equipment. Projectors and servers can be found, there are dealers and even Ebay has them. Some are a good deal, some are obsolete and risky: service and parts unavailable. And no warranty. Some replacement parts, if available, are shockingly expensive. A new system can easily have a lower TCO than used if a major component fails in the warranty period.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 10-25-2019, 08:51 AM:

I like the "send out on a kind of circuit" idea. We have a few customers in California's Central Belt, which are too far north to comfortably service as a day trip from the LA metro, and too far south to do so from the Bay Area. Whenever we go to one of these places, the customer ends up being whacked with a big mileage and hotel bill, as well as the actual service call.

Two in particular are within 90 miles of each other, but always want calls at completely different times. One of these days I must try to contact them and see if we can co-ordinate planned maintenance visits for both of them in a single trip. If we could, it would get the cost down for them quite a bit.

Posted by Allan Barnes (Member # 5178) on 10-25-2019, 06:41 PM:

ProjecTech from Toronto is GREAT there are my "go-to" company! That being said, I have an NEC1600, Barco 1200 and Dolby DCP100 for sale.

Posted by Armand Daiguillon (Member # 10334) on 10-25-2019, 11:19 PM:

Thank you all - I will forward this info on.

[Smile]

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 10-28-2019, 11:03 AM:

Independent Theatrre supply(a division of Magic Lantern Theatres) in Edmonton AB sells and services NEC and are factory trained