Our (Public) Role in Digital Cinema

MKPE has been active in digital cinema since the 90's, not only advising clients, but often playing a public role in moving the industry forward.

• Pacific Bell in the Mid-90's

  Based on industry interest in electronic projection and the potential to leverage the company's distribution capability, Thomas MacCalla, as Pacific Bell's Director of Entertainment Technology, led their exploration into digital cinema. After some experimentation, the effort was abandoned when it was felt that the projection technology would not be ready in a reasonable time frame.

• ETC Digital Cinema Lab

  As COO of USC's Entertainment Technology Center, Thomas MacCalla conceived the idea of the ETC Digital Cinema Lab, and convinced the then seven major film studios to fund it. Thomas led the ETC DCL in its early years.

• First Public Digital 3-D Demonstration

  In late 2004, Peter Jackson suggested to Michael Kaye and Neil Feldman of In-Three that they organize the industry's first major demonstration of digital 3-D projection. They turned to friend Michael Karagosian, who, together with Thomas MacCalla, put together the world's first public presentation of 3-D for ShoWest 2005 to an audience of skeptics. Supported by five major film directors, the presentation was a success, demonstrating that 3-D could become the missing value-add for digital cinema. Soon afterwards, Disney issued an RFP for converting the movie Chicken Little to 3-D for its Fall 2005 release.

• "The Chasm"

  In 2006, amid reports that digital cinema penetration was growing by leaps and bounds, Michael Karagosian warned that the industry was heading into a chasm. (A chasm results when the technology is not ready for major market adoption. This can be caused by any number of factors.) In the case of digital cinema, it was clear that pundits were impressed with the growth of installations - which can lag sales by up to a year - but did not recognize that sales weren't keeping up. Michael also positioned early growth as early adopter growth, and not a sign of mainstream market adoption. By late 2007, manufacturers were painfully aware that the rate of growth experienced in the early adopter stage was a bubble.

• Digital Cinema Packaging

  It was clear that the motion picture industry required a digital distribution format that had no similarity to the authoring format developed for DVD's. Strong business demands on the side of exhibition required that movies and trailers be packaged separately. To develop a capable format, Michael Karagosian assembled the first meeting of select industry experts in December of 2001 to determine the best path forward. This became the first meeting of what was to become the SMPTE DC28 Packaging Ad Hoc Group. 90% of the distribution format now standardized was conceived in that first meeting in December. As chairperson, Michael gave the first industry presentation on digital cinema packaging at the NAB Digital Cinema Summit in 2002, and his written work in SMPTE became the basis of the Packaging chapter in the original version of the DCI specification.

• Automated Security Key Delivery

  Security keys are married to equipment. Equipment moves, and a means was needed to synchronize security key fulfillment centers. Michael Karagosian proposed the Facility List Message concept to DCI members in early 2005, later writing the standard in the industry's first step toward automating security key delivery.

• Closed Captions

  To meet the intent of the US Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), digital cinema needs to be much more capable than film in supporting those with visual and auditory impairments. In late 2006, Michael Karagosian organized and continues to chair the SMPTE ad hoc committee responsible for developing Closed Caption standards for cinema. Unlike the closed captions of television, closed captions in cinema allow specially equipped patrons to view captions without impacting the movie-going experience of others. With standards in place, the barrier to entry for emerging and competing closed caption technologies will be signifcantly reduced, bringing choice to exhibitors and to audiences.