Technology360

Innovation at the Met

The Metropolitan Opera, of all organizations, has been doing a very innovative thing by transmitting its performances in HDTV to movie theaters around the country as well as other innovations.  Non-profit fundraising guru Bob Stein writes:

... [CEO Peter Gelb] has taken opera to the streets--free large-screen broadcasts in Times Square (opening night of Madame Butterfly), introduced $20 rush orchestra tickets and broadcast live performances to movie screens around the world. He's brought directors from the theater world to stage operas, and he even recruited design celeb Isaac Mizrahi to create the costumes for Orfeo ed Euridice.  ¶  What has resulted is a revitalized Met. According to Bloomberg.com,

Sales during the 2006-07 season rose 7.1 percent to 810,225, said Gelb, who succeeded Joseph Volpe in August. In all, the Met sold 83.9 percent of tickets offered for its 3,800- seat opera house at Manhattan's Lincoln Center compared with 76.8 percent last season.

Link:  Major Giving.

The legendary Mark Schubin gave a talk about the Met's Live HD opera-to-theater broadcasts at October's Iowa DTV Symposium.  The talk (The Metropolitan Opera Live in HD: global cinemacasts, robotic cameras, and more) is available both as a PowerPoint (click here and scroll down to the Content Track's Tuesday at 2:30 session) and as an MP3 file.

Just went to the Met web site and see that one of their theaters is about a 75-mile drive from me, so I'm going to buy a ticket and check it out.  --Dennis

Video-to-go on a thumb drive

Here's an interesting idea.  Porto Media lets you download a movie to a thumb drive from a kiosk or ATM in about a half-minute.  IBM has a video profile (transcript also).  Link:  IBM.  --Dennis

What happened to Mark Schubin's Monday Memos?

Production engineer extraordinaire Mark Schubin's Monday Memos on digital television, a labor of love for him, an important source of information for his readers, and fodder for many a post on this blog, have been MIA since late last summer.  One of the many who has missed them asked about it on the OpenD TV list.  One of his principal gigs has been the Met Opera, and it's been feeding live performances to theaters around the country.  Here's his interesting response in its entirety.  --Dennis

[opendtv] Re: Whatever happened to...

• From: Mark Schubin <tvmark@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
• To: Open DTV Forum <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
• Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2007 11:19:31 -0400 (EDT)

The multiplication of media at the Metropolitan Opera happened.  If you're at 
the PBS Technology Conference next week, come to my Friday presentation, 
subtitled "My Life Since September."

In brief, we are transmitting live HD cinemacasts to sold-out movie theaters 
around the world.  How sold out?  The live transmission of "Barber of Seville" 
on March 24 ranked well within the top-20 in U.S. weekend grosses, despite the 
fact that it was shown only once.

Why is it taking so much of my time?  Here are a few highlights from "Barber" 
(just one of the series):
- 16 transponders on 13 satellites as well as three transoceanic fiber cables
- multiple motion-compensating HD frame-rate converters
- one-hour HD delays to compensate for the different starts of Summer Time in 
North America and Europe
- 14 HD cameras and 30 recorders
- five robotic mounts, including two extendable towers and a track, all of 
which had to be deployed in minutes
- a 600-foot live, backwards Steadicam move (ending at a live burro)
- shooting multicamera live in the control room itself (one intermission was 
shot live in five different venues)
- live subtitling in multiple languages
- stereo, 5.1, and LT/RT sound, discrete and encoded
- coordinating live commercial U.S. radio, non-commercial U.S. radio, global 
radio, and the HD cinemacasts, all of which sometimes share and sometimes use 
different production elements
- coordinating the parking of production vehicles on three Manhattan blocks 
with the fire department, the police, and local security

Wheeee!

But I'll try to get something out.

Sorry.

TTFN,
Mark

High-Definition Opera Hits Movie Theaters

As I recall, it was 20 years ago this last fall when we dropped the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts from our radio service.  We did so because the Met required stations in the "lower 48" to carry the broadcasts live, unlike stations in Canada, Alaska and Hawaii.  For those of us in the Pacific Time Zone, that meant prime real estate on Saturday mornings.  At the time, we replaced it with classical music on Saturdays and non-Met opera on Sunday evenings.  Those classical listeners on the next pledge drive contributed an order of magnitude more than the opera listeners ever had in the same time period -- though all 250 opera listeners apparently owned typewriters and used them in what was (and still stands) our the greatest protest over a programming decision.  I thought the Met displayed stunning arrogance in this ("It's like a sporting event," I was told).  But then they probably thought the same of us, who, after all, were obviously rural philistines depriving our listeners of opera from this great institution.

All that history is that is to key on the "sporting event" remark.  The Met has hit on a great idea for opera, which after all is as much a visual event as it is an aural one -- and, arguably, it's as much of a social event as it is an artistic one.  They're beaming live opera performances in high definition video to movie theaters.  NPR carried a story on this on the 31st, to which you can listen here.  Good luck to them. 

Update 3 Jan. 2007:
The Los Angeles Times reports there were technical difficulties at some theaters.  Link:  TVPredictions.  --Dennis

Coming Soon to a TV Near You?

Ronald Grover writes:

It's the Holy Grail of the movie download business. Movies straight from the Internet to your TV, none of that watching the flick in your straight-back chair while peering at your computer monitor. Now, for those who want to watch movies the way they should be enjoyed—that is, while curled up on your couch—comes the first downloadable movie that can be burned onto a DVD. On July 19, CinemaNow, a movie download site backed by independent film studio Lionsgate Entertainment, Microsoft, Blockbuster, and others, announced it will be the first to provide that service. ...

Link:  BusinessWeek.

Apple to announce iTunes movie rentals

Ryan Katz writes:

... Think Secret has learned exclusively that CEO Steve Jobs will use his keynote address to announce the debut of movie rentals through the iTunes Music Store. While the announcement will undoubtedly be billed as a further extension of iTunes' dominance in digital media downloads, it represents a coup for the movie industry, which will have succeeded in standing its ground against Apple's pressures to offer consumers the option of owning movie downloads. ...

Link:  Think Secret.

Umair Haque thinks it's a mistake.  See Jobs Effect.  Link:  Bubblegeneration.  --Dennis

What Netflix Could Teach Hollywood

David Leonhardt has a great overview of Netflix and long-tail economics in the New York Times.  --Dennis

Disney, Pixar and Jobs

John Hagel has an insightful piece about why Steve Jobs isn't necessarily the right person to revitalize Disney.  A great instinct for product design and integration doesn't automatically translate to a great instinct for the 2.0 world -- as iTunes amply demonstrates IMHO.  Link:  Edge Perspectives.  --Dennis

Bubble May Burst Hollywood

Eric Hellweg writes:   "... Today [1/27/2006] is the release date for Bubble, a new film directed by Soderbergh and released by HDNET Films, an upstart film company cofounded by Cuban. Setting Bubble apart from, say, Nanny McPhee and Big Momma's House 2, two other films debuting on Friday, is that the film will be available in cinemas and on the HDNET cable channel on the same day. What's more, just four days later, it will be out on DVD. In other words: there will be no "window" between its theatrical release and its availability for home viewing. ...¶ ... theatrical revenues have been diminishing steadily as a percentage of overall revenues for the movie industry. In 1980, 55 percent of industry revenues came from theatrical showings. In 2005, the trend was in full swing: roughly 85 percent of revenues came from home video sales. As a result, the time before a home-video release has shrunk, as DVD revenues have encompassed more and more of the movie industry's overall revenues and profits. And, of course, studios are rushing to collect those home video sales."  Link:  Technology Review.

Also see David Goetzl's, IFC: Now Showing In A Theater Near You, And On VOD.  "... IFC will make at least 24 films available this year to cable companies for VOD distribution at the same time the films are playing on the silver screen. The MSOs will determine how much to charge for the films. In a market like Manhattan, where movies can cost $10.50, a cost half as much--or less--could take business from theater operators. ..."  Link:  MediaPost.

The Fragmented Media Future

David Schatsky writes:  "... Consumers increasingly expect to be able to consume media when and where they want, on any platform or device, in any context. The technology and media industries are beginning to oblige them. Fragmentation is both a cause and effect, creating a cycle in which fragmented audiences lead to fragmented content, which allows audiences to fragment further, and so on.  ¶  These changes will threaten established practices and entrenched interests in the media and advertising sectors, but consumers will benefit and ultimately, companies that can ride this wave will benefit as well. They have no choice. Take movies: Nearly 100% of the growth in movie industry revenues over the last 50 years has come from new markets, such as home video, and new platforms, such as DVD. ..."  Link:  Jupiterresearch.  Thanks to Terry Heaton for the tip.  --Dennis

Simultaneous DVD, on-demand video releases draw nearer

Eric Bangeman writes:  "We've been proponents of changing up the movie release schedule for some time. Since time immemorial (i.e., since the invention of the VCR and launch of HBO), theaters have had first dibs on movies. Only after the films have cleared out of the budget, second-run movie houses would they be released on DVD (or videotape), video-on-demand, and then televised on pay-per-view or one of the premium movie channels, and finally end up on network TV.  ¶  The strategy worked well enough for a couple of decades, but as Hollywood is faced with declining theater attendance and DVD sales, it has been forced to cast about for ways to keep people paying to see its product. The Wall Street Journal is reporting (subscription only) that a handful of studios are near an agreement to pilot simultaneous DVD and video-on-releases. ..."  Link:  ars technica.

This could be a beautiful friendship

Scott Kirsner writes:  "... Consumers now spend nearly 200 hours a year using the Internet, compared to 13 hours in a movie theater, according to the investment firm Veronis Suhler. Sales and rentals of DVDs aren't as brisk as they once were, and studios worry that new digital cinema equipment, once installed in thousands of theaters, will increase the intensity of competition for screen time, since the digital gear will be capable of showing Brazilian soccer matches, live Madonna concerts or the season finales of popular TV shows -- not just ``Spider-Man 3'' and similar studio fare.  ¶  While movie moguls in Southern California are popping Pepcids and worrying that their connection to their audience is dissolving, companies in Northern California are devising new technologies and services -- from TiVo to Netflix to Open Media Network to Apple's iTunes Music Store -- that deliver content in a new way. The divergent goals and perspectives of the dominant industries of Northern and Southern California (high tech and motion pictures) have led to friction -- and a few wary alliances. ..."  Link:  San Jose Mercury News.

Studios Shun Netflix, No Downloads

Dave Zatz writes:  "Netflix has run into the studio brick wall. At this point the studios have very little incentive to move their media via third-party download: DVD sales are a huge cash cow and they own existing services Movielink and CinemaNow. ..."  Link:  Zatz Not Funny.

Once It Was Direct to Video, Now It's Direct to the Web

John Anderson writes:  "... So what about more general fare with no stars, budgets or hope? That's where IndieFlix, founded by Ms. Andreen and her business partner, the filmmaker Gian-Carlo Scandiuzzi, comes in. Directors submit their films, which are then posted on the Web site (www.indieflix.com). When users log on and click to buy the films that capture their interest, IndieFlix burns them onto a DVD and ships them out. The price for a feature-length film is $9.95. ..."  Link:  New York Times.

Frisky disc biz1

Ben Fritz writes:  "A year after it slashed prices in an aggressive move to hold off competitor Blockbuster, Netflix is moving in for the kill.   ¶  Third-quarter earnings reported Wednesday showed Netco is continuing to boom, surging ahead of its nearest competitor on the Net and directly challenging those in the non-virtual world as well.   ¶  Rather than taking the opportunity to raise prices and focus on profits, Netflix is looking to use its position to put the permanent kibosh on remaining challengers.  CEO Reed Hastings said company will test further price cuts over the next six months to see if it can accelerate growth further without sacrificing margins. ..."  Link:  Variety.

Forget the Bootleg, Just Download the Movie Legally

... The studios have been working for months to confront the technological and business challenges of digital sales. Those initiatives gained new urgency on June 27 when the Supreme Court ruled that companies distributing software that allows users to trade pirated copies of audio and video files are liable for copyright infringement only if they induce users to break the law.  ¶  Sony, for example, is converting 500 movie titles to a digital format that can be downloaded and sold. Universal Pictures, a unit of NBC Universal, which is 80 percent owned by General Electric and 20 percent owned by Vivendi Universal, is preparing nearly 200 titles for digital online sale. And Warner Brothers, a division of Time Warner, says it has already digitized most of its library of 5,000 films and will start selling some of them online later this year. ...  Link:  New York Times.

22.2 Multichannel Surround Sound for Ultrahigh Definition Video

The ultrahigh definition video system has 16 times the resolution of HDTV and more than twice the resolution of 70mm motion film,... The ultrahigh-definition video system is called "Super Hi-Vision."  ¶  NHK has also developed a 22.2 multichannel sound system for use with ultrahigh-definition video. ... Link [pdf]:  NAB TV TechCheck.  Got speakers? --Dennis

Is it illegal to collect movies?

Mark Cuban: "Hollywood is afraid of people in theaters with camcorders. They want to pass laws so that bad, bad people like Kramer and Jerry Seinfeld cant grow cottage industries selling us wobbly movies with the sound of breathing on the soundtrack, pressed on DVDs and sold for 5 or 10 dollars on street corners. ¶ I look at this tiny, tiny industry and ask why would people buy these DVDs ? ¶ I dont think its the pricepoint of studio released DVDs. The street versions are cheaper, but usually by only 5 or 10 dollars. IMHO, the reason people buy the DVDs on the street is that they are available. If you cant make it to the theater to see a movie all your friends are talking about, why not buy it downtown on the way home from work ? ¶ The same applies to downloading. ..." Link: Blog Maverick.

Blockbuster Takes a Page from NetFlix

Blockbuster says it will begin offering an online movie-rental service -- similar to the model popularized by NetFlix -- beginning in 2005. In addition to undercutting NetFlix's subscription price, Blockbuster will offer two free in-store movie rental coupons per month. ... NewsFactor Network link

An Online Supplier for Your Desktop Cineplex

Going to the movies these days may simply involve a trip to your desktop, as video-on-demand Internet movie services help turn personal computers into multiscreen cineplexes. ¶ A technological step beyond video rentals and pay-per-view cable movie channels, these online movie services provide a legal and reliable way to download and stream thousands of films, from recently released Hollywood blockbusters to vintage serials. ¶ Several video-on-demand services operating with the blessings of the film industry, like Movielink, CinemaNow and Movieflix, have been online for some time. But these services, along with the newly introduced Starz Ticket service, are now gaining considerably in appeal as computer processing power and Internet access speeds reach the point where DVD-quality movies can be efficiently delivered to a mass audience. ... New York Times link

Fox News critique goes directly to living rooms / Filmmakers opt for house parties over theater release

Over Sunday dinner, the Bay Area progressive choir gathered in 382 house parties from Piedmont to San Francisco's Bayview to nod along to the latest political season documentary -- this one ridiculing archnemesis Fox News. ¶
This 80-minute film, however, may never do what movies are supposed to do: Play in theaters. It may not even get to TV. ¶ That's where the house parties come in. They're the focus of the marketing campaign for "Outfoxed." ... ¶ The filmmakers turned the century-old film distribution model upside down by premiering the documentary Sunday at more than 3,000 house parties nationwide. And while director Robert Greenwald is talking to a cable company and hopes for a theatrical release, he's relying on word of mouth and the Internet to sell what he hopes will be more than 100,000 DVDs of the film at about $10 each. ... San Francisco Chronicle link

The Death and Rebirth of the Movie Industry

Part of what is going on between DreamWorks and HP is the full digitization of the process. From cradle to grave, eventually, the film will be digital. By the end of the decade, these digital films might be correctable even after they have been received for showing in the theaters. ... TechNewsWorld link Interesting commentary on the future of movies. Regionalized films? Changing product placements? --Dennis