E-delivery..."No Cinema Left Behind"

[Mike Blakesley]

Several years ago I was complaining about DCDC, who had told us that we don't have enought "turns" (movie changes) to make it worth it for them to put their equipment into our theater. I offered to pay for the equipment, but they ignored that.

Then, along came Deluxe with their E-Delivery solution, which was scads better than the DCDC satellite option. No equipment needed on the roof; just a broadband connection. So we applied for that and installed it. The fee per feature was $25, which was more than what DCDC was charging, but it is still less than we were paying for hard drive deliveries plus way more convenient.

Then DCDC and Deluxe merged, so now it's one big happy company.

Fast forward to today. I got e-mails from Deluxe AND from DCDC, both offering the E-delivery for $15 a month. They want to get everyone signed up, they want "no cinema left behind." So I wrote in saying heck yes, we would love to sign up for the new program at this lower cost. I responded to both emails, which came from different people.

They have both ignored my emails and we're still paying $25 per feature.

Has anyone else been able to convert over from $25 E-delivery to $15 E-delivery? Any suggestions on how I might go about it?

I'm planning on talking to them at CinemaCon next month, and also asking them when they're going to deliver on the long-promised KDMs downloading to the server automatically. They told me two years ago that was going to happen "soon."

[James Gardiner]

That sounds about right.

This whole DCP delivery gambit is largely smoke and mirrors. There are clearly “things” happening behind the scenes that exhibitors aren’t being told about.

They should also be matching the price. I would absolutely be pushing back on that. Charging an existing customer more than new customers for the same service would likely raise consumer law issues in many jurisdictions.

The KDM angle is unlikely to happen — and frankly, it shouldn’t. You don’t want to commit to infrastructure requirements that lock you into a single vendor.

That’s one of the main reasons I built the AutoKDM tool in the cinema-catcher-app. It’s free and handles all your KDM management, so you’re not at the mercy of a third party controlling a critical process that determines whether your screens go dark or not.

[Frank Cox]

Charging an existing customer more than new customers for the same service would likely raise consumer law issues in many jurisdictions.

Consumer protection laws generally don't apply to B2B transactions.

[Mike Blakesley]

The KDM angle is unlikely to happen — and frankly, it shouldn’t. You don’t want to commit to infrastructure requirements that lock you into a single vendor.

Well there is no "tying" to anything. They could still send the keys by email and could still put them on their portal...but why not just drop them into the server with the content? They won't work on any other server anyway so there is zero security risk, unless somebody breaks into our place and steals our whole projection rig. And if that happened, I would report it instantly, resulting in no more keys being issued for that server, so ... what are they worried about?

[James Gardiner]

Well there is no "tying" to anything. They could still send the keys by email and could still put them on their portal...but why not just drop them into the server with the content? They won't work on any other server anyway so there is zero security risk, unless somebody breaks into our place and steals our whole projection rig. And if that happened, I would report it instantly, resulting in no more keys being issued for that server, so ... what are they worried about?

If a DCP supplier starts acting as a middle-man in the delivery of critical data, the question becomes: who is responsible if something goes wrong and it leads to a loss?

As a cinema exhibitor, whenever you can retain control over core business processes rather than outsourcing them, that is the responsible path. It protects your operational independence and your future.

Many TMS systems already implement KDM fetching and ingest functionality. If your TMS does not support this, or is limited due to its security implementation, then using a tool that enables this, and is not controlled by entities with a conflict of interest, is the prudent approach.

Think of it another way: if you have a concession stand in your cinema, do you outsource the running of that core revenue infrastructure, or do you operate it yourself? Most cinemas run it themselves, because controlling key operational elements of the business matters.

The same principle applies here.

[Frank Cox]

I don't see the lock-in involved KDM fetching that you're talking about here.

If someone sends you the key via your TMS, dandy. If you don't get it that way then they can send you email or flash drive or a couple of stone tablets tied to a camel. There's no lock-in there that I can see other than the original distributor themselves, which doesn't change if the delivery method is different.

Same thing with the actual movie. If it's not here when I expect it to be here I just get on the horn and ask why.

[James Gardiner]

@frank, Yes — if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.

The main reason you’re unlikely to see delivery agents get into this space is simple: the email system already works very well, and it’s free.

What advantage does a delivery agent gain by taking on that responsibility and the associated technical debt? Most major exhibitors have already built their own KDM delivery systems internally.

cinema-catcher-app is simply a free option for exhibitors who aren’t in a position to build their own tools.

And it comes back to one of the key rules of running a successful business: don’t outsource critical functional processes.

Otherwise you have to ask ... who actually owns the business?

[Caleb Williams]

We have migrated two of our six locations to e-delivery with DCDC. While operationally we have not seen any difference from satellite, I can say that their rollout was a complete mess. I understand contacting and coordinating with multiple providers to get a service set up is complex business, but please for the love of cinema get the contact info for the target theater correct. During the months of January and February my cell phone was ringing constantly from Spectrum/Cox installers asking to confirm install times for theaters in New York, Texas, Oklahoma, Utah, and California. Every time I had to tell them, "actually I'm in WY, not sure why Deluxe gave you this number".

There also seems to be no clear communication happening between the D-NOC team and the DCDC team about the switchover time. We have two other locations with hardware installed since Christmas. When asked when they plan to kick us over to e-delivery, the response from both sides is "IDK". This effects our ability to book live events, of which there happen to be several in April. Them changing our system requires a re-certification of the location for live-streaming, causing a hold on any potential bookings.

Post-switchover, things are totally fine and normal. The leadup to switchover has been a different beast entirely.

[James Gardiner]

@Caleb, shutdown (gracefully) the delivery box when live streams are in progress?? If utilising the same link.
Delivery box will recover fine when turned back on.

[Caleb Williams]

@Caleb, shutdown (gracefully) the delivery box when live streams are in progress?? If utilising the same link.
Delivery box will recover fine when turned back on.

I'm not concerned about the stream itself, it seems to work as expected. Our issue was that Deluxe, in their extreme helpfulness, sent an email to the studio pending an upcoming booking that said our site was "at-risk" because of the e-delivery system cutover. The studio refused to allow us to book the film because of this, and everyone at Deluxe I talked to dragged their feet getting the updated information out. Mind you, that site had been on e-delivery for 2 months, and a live-playback test had been completed weeks prior to the attempt to book the film.

My point was that Deluxe seems to be EXTREMELY disorganised with e-delivery rollout, to the point of causing issues booking live events. The fact that they gave out my personal information to Spectrum/Cox as contact info for dozens of theaters I'm not affiliated with is also frustrating for me, and I'm sure for the theater owners looking forward to equipment installs.

They need to get it together.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Consumer protection laws generally don't apply to B2B transactions.

I guess they can hold you onto the original contract, whatever the runtime of that was, but once that's expired, you should be able to get the service they're advertising for the price they're advertising, otherwise it would probably be a case of discriminatory practices.

[Frank Cox]

Our issue was that Deluxe, in their extreme helpfulness, sent an email to the studio pending an upcoming booking that said our site was "at-risk" because of the e-delivery system cutover.

That's odd. My Internet service was at risk of being cut off for maintenance (that ultimately lasted less than one morning anyway) and I sent an email to Deluxe telling them that my Internet was going to be cut off on the morning of whatever date and I'll let them know when it's back. The reply I got was to the effect of: no problem, we'll send you hard drives until you get it back.

Again, that didn't end up being necessary since the big-deal maintenance that I was warned about turned out to be just a couple of hours. But Deluxe seemed to have no issues dealing with it if it had gone on for several days or a week.

[Frank Cox]

you should be able to get the service they're advertising for the price they're advertising, otherwise it would probably be a case of discriminatory practices.

You're assuming that there are publicly advertised prices. B2B transactions aren't generally publicly advertised either and I'm sure that I pay more for Pepsi than Walmart does.

[Jim Cassedy]

Be careful what you wish for. We've got five different electronic cinema delivery boxes
right now. I'd say 98% of our DCP content comes via one of these sources. This change
also means that almost all of our 'prime show' playlists are now remotely built and
scheduled by somebody who is not only over 1,500miles away, but who also has never
stepped a foot inside my venue. I can't even edit one of these remotely built playlists to
tweak a volume or lighting cue that I'm not happy with. ( Actually, I have figured out
a 'back door' way to fool the system into letting me make changes, although it's a bit
convoluted and I can't always guarantee that 'the system' won't force the old playlist
back on any given day) The reality is that the big corporate owned theater chains,
like many other businesses, are moving fast into the A-I universe, in an effort to
'streamline operations' and reduce labor costs. Private, family-owned 'neighborhood
theaters are probably pretty safe for now, but once you allow 'the studios' to start
putting their equipment on your premises, who's to say that, at some point, they, or
the ISDCF mandates that you'll have to let them start exercising control over your
operations if you want to keep receiving content and keys?

While at this time, I can't go into specific details, the theater organization I work for
has just made some major operational changes which include the way concessions
and food are handled, which has resulted in a significant reduction in staff.
I can think of at least half-a-dozen coworkers I haven't seen in the past two weeks
since some of these changes have started taking effect, and I feel very bad for them.
(Publicly, the company sez here have been no layoffs, but the fact is that they have
reduced the hours of most of the floor and service staff to the point that many of them
have simply resigned, thus saving management from paying unemployment benefits)

If they could figure out a way to get rid of me, I'm sure they would, especially since
they've got to pay me a union salary. The reason I'm probably fairly safe for now is
that we run a lot of 35/70mm films, many of them being legacy titles that can't be
platterized, and because we also do a large amount of 'live' events, as well as a
number of rentals, private screenings and partys, all of which usually involve extra
lights, microphones, and often need other forms of 'operator intervention' that
would be difficult to automate.
So, I'm not feeling too threatened for now, but even if they did somehow shut me
out, it would affect me a lot more emotionally than financially. . . . I've reached the
point in my life where I don't 'need' the money, and could quite comfortably retire.
I work because I still get satisfaction out of it and I still enjoy the work-
. . . except for some days! lol

[Mike Blakesley]

I feel like we are under a far greater threat from studios decreasing the window than from any other source. I guess I don't see the 'danger' in using a server owned by Deluxe to receive content. It's no different than depending on them to send out the hard drives. What I don't get is why they can't just send the keys down the same damn pipeline. Or, why isn't there some way to automate getting it from the email to my projector. There is some allusion in this thread to such a program but it's not clear how an independent theater like mine would implement it.