Features

Hundred Days Programme and local cinema industry

28 Jan 2015 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

With the launched 100 Days Programme of the Government of Sri Lanka, it has been suggested to look at the reforms required in the local film industry with the view to address its immediate concerns with short-term and long-term benefits. This is to protect all the stakeholders including exhibitors, distribution companies, producers, artists, directors, technical and support staff, spectators and the regulator, National Film Corporation.

Need to move from 35mm reels to digital
We do not have a choice. Today nine out of 10 US movie screens have made the switch from 35mm film to digital. This is the same in the rest of the world including our neighbouring India. With this change, there is no requirement of 35mm reels time to come. Today the movies are distributed via hard drives, the Internet, dedicated satellite links or optical disks as Blu-ray Discs.

Thus, Technicolor has shut down its final film lab. Fujifilm no longer makes films for motion pictures. Kodak, the last remaining producer, declared it bankrupt in 2012 and recently entered discussions with studios in a last-ditch attempt to ensure some kind of infrastructure to support it. This will also come to an end in the coming months meaning no one will manufacture 35mm reels in the world thereafter and movies can be only screened digitally. Unless we upgrade the projecting systems in our theatres sooner to digital, we won’t be able to screen any movies!

Cost benefit from 35mm reels to digital
The shift to digital distribution promises to save the industry billions of rupees but it comes at a price. Most of our theatres cannot afford to buy digital projectors, which typically cost between Rs.6 million to Rs.10 million each. Thus, we will need to arrange a supplier credit programme or a special funding arrangement with a low interest rate from a state bank to the theatre owners for this transition.
On the other hand, today a reel of a film would cost average Rs.110,000 and depending on the number of prints, the total reel cost could exceed Rs.4 million. Once digital, it could be as low as Rs.5,000 per film and for total cost of Rs.175,000. This is an enormous saving for the producer.

Cost of buying the digital projectors could be shared between the theatre owners and producers due to the huge saving producers getting, which needs to be discussed and agreed between both parties. This is the model used by many countries during the transition from 35mm to digital. Other benefits from 35mm reels to digital No matter how carefully it is handled, every time a 35mm film print is run through a projector, it will degrade, collecting blemishes, scratches, tears, worn edges that affect the viewing quality. The famous movie Titanic was reportedly played for so long in theatres that some prints fell apart in the projectors. You show a digital copy of a film once or a thousand times, the quality remains undiminished, while the producer’s bottom line grow.

Further, the film projectionists of decades past had a busy and potentially perilous job. Their booths typically housed two projectors and every 20 minutes, when a reel finished, the projectionist would switch from one projector to the other. Every few hours, the carbon arc light rods that burned blindingly bright inside the projectors to illuminate the screen would have to be replaced.

All of that has been replaced, for the time being at least, by something called DCP, or Digital Cinema Package. It involves a hard drive, roughly the size of a paperback, which is couriered to the theatre, where it is unpacked from its protective foam-lined case and slotted into a server that feeds a digital projector. Digital distribution also makes it feasible to launch a movie simultaneously on 10s of thousands of screens across the planet, from New York to New Delhi or Colombo and while you’re at it, on platforms such as iTunery as and on aeroplanes.

Format
Evolution of 35mm to digital was in three different formats - E cinema to 2K and to 4K format, which each format has its own price tag. Currently in India and rest of the world all three formats are available and in the process of getting upgraded to the highest format. Resolutions are represented by the horizontal pixel count where 2K - 2048×1080 or 2.2 megapixels and 4K - 4096×2160 or 8.8 megapixels. Due to the affordability, we may need to categorise our theatres into above three standards as A, B and C and get it upgraded as and when possible.

Other areas need immediate attention
Upgrading of the projection system of existing theatres to digital will not solve all the problems of the local cinema industry faced today. It is equally important to upgrade the

Upgraded modern film theatre infrastructure of the existing theatres i.e. seats, toilets, etc., to an acceptable standard and achieving this, exhibitors require assistance in arranging the required funding. Arranging a loan scheme via a state bank with low interest on a long-term basis would address this issue to a greater extent.

Further, the necessary actions need to be taken to reopen the closed down theatres as well as the establishment of new theatres in strategic locations of the country. Encourage foreign direct investment (FDI) where a new circuit to be established for investors who would establish more than 50 new theatres.
Establishment of a proper film distribution system and ensure all the circuits to fully adhere t o t he same by National Film Corporation as the governing body and regulator of the film industry is important.

Another suggestion is the establishment of a scheme to fund a selected number of films through an arrangement made with a state bank to ensure better creations to be made an as a motivation and attracting factor for new producers to be introduced to the industry. Both commercial and art movies are to be covered in this scheme with a transparent and an independent selection criteria.

(Dr. Arosha Fernando is a renowned film producer, scholar and a telecommunication and media professional. Until the recent past Dr. Arosha has been working as the Working Director and a Board Member of Independent Television Network Limited (ITN))

Features

Hundred Days Programme and local cinema industry

Most Popular Articles

Third review approved by IMF, SL to get next US$ 333 million tranche

Niloufer Esufally-Anverally Makes a Stylish Comeback with the Launch of NLFR

Global Entrepreneurship Week 2024 kicks off across all 25 districts

LATES'T NEWS

Four students stranded due to floods transported to exam centres by Navy

Presence of Harini, Vijitha, Tilvin at ABBA Tribute Show clarified

Imran Khan supporters rally in Pakistan despite ban, arrests

Accident causes bus to break apart

SEC issues summons for Gautam Adani, nephew on bribery allegations