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The Regent Theatre needs to go Digital!

About Digital Cinema

Is Digital Cinema 3D?

No. Digital allows a theater to have 3D, but 3D is only one of the many advantages offered by digital cinema. Indeed, 3D is probably not the greatest advantage.

What Are the Advantages of Digital Cinema?

Digital cinema means that instead of using a 35mm film, the movie is on a computer hard drive. This means greatly reduced production, shipping, and labour expense. For example, instead of shipping a 70 pound, multi-parcel 35mm film, you now ship a one-pound hard drive. When this arrives, there is no labour involved in splicing, mounting, and threading the film. When the movie is over, the same savings in labour and freight are realized. Digital also means that every movie is crystal clear: there is no film to wear out and scratch. And finally, digital means 3D movies are possible.

If Digital is So Great, Why Doesn't Every Theatre Use It?

Soon, they probably will. Digital is preferred by the movie distributors, too. Distributors prefer digital for many reasons: they don't have to make and ship heavy 35mm film, and the viewing quality of their movies is greatly improved. In addition, with digital, movie distributors can conceivably give every movie theater the same movie on opening night, because they can create a virtually unlimited number of "prints" at low cost.

Movie theatres have been slow to adopt digital simply because of the initial cost. However, the recent surge in popularity of 3D movies has allowed some movie houses to make substantial additional income. These increased profits have accelerated the move to digital. One company, Cinedigm Digital, has predicted that "by the end of 2012 at least 70 percent of U.S. screens will be digital."

In November, 2010, Technicolor Inc., one of the world's largest film processors, announced that it will close its North Hollywood film plant, citing "the decline in film and growth of digital." The article, which you can read here, said Technicolor is investing $200 million in digital technology.

Will Theaters Without Digital Have to Close?

Possibly. No one knows for sure, but the risk is real.

So far, movie distributors are still making 35mm film versions of all their movies, even though they are shipping a higher percentage of digital versions with each release. As more movie screens are converted to digital, it is possible that a distributor may decide to only ship a digital version of a film with no corresponding 35mm film version. When this occurs, and if the distributor does not lose money, then other distributors might follow suit. At that point, movie theatres which have only 35mm projectors will have fewer, less desirable movies to show.

Does The Regent Theatre Plan to Go Digital?

Yes. The volunteer Theatre Board spent many hours working on this issue over the past few months. The only road block was the cost: over $85,000 for the digital conversion, this would include a system that would allow for the future addition of 3D capability should the need arise.

Isn't $85,000 A Lot of Money?

Yes. But the present 35mm projector is over four decades old, and if the digital projector lasts only 20 years, then the cost is less than $5,000 per year. The Regent Theatre will save over $8,000 every year in reduced freight and labour costs, and it is likely that the clearer picture and the 3D format will increase ticket and concession sales.

Converting to digital is a good business decision, which is why so many theatres are converting as quickly as they can. Indeed, this is a global conversion, and the Independent Cinema Association of Australia (ICAA) is calling digital conversion? "the most important change in cinema exhibition in 100 years."

Can the Regent Theater Borrow Money and Obtain Digital Sooner?

Yes, but we want to reduce the theatre's liability as much as possible, converting quickly is better than later, because several surrounding theatres are already offering digital and 3D, which puts the Regent Theatre at a competitive disadvantage. In addition, the annual savings from freight and labour will be much greater than the interest cost.

Where Do I Send My Cheque?

You may hand carry or mail your donation to the the Regent Theatre box office. The cheque should be made to: The Regent Theatre Foundation, with Regent Theatre Digital in the memo line. The mailing address is:

The Regent Theatre Foundation, 224 Main Street, Picton, Ontario, K0K 2T0

All donations are considered tax deductible, and for donations over $20, we will mail you a tax receipt of the donation.

We are a registered Canadian charitable foundation (# 11911 3678 RR0001)

Will My Donation Be Publicly Recognized?

Yes, unless you prefer otherwise. We will place your name on a list and the Theatre Board may also publicize your generous donation in other ways. The contributions will be put into categories of $1,000, $500, $250, and $100.

Can I Donate Anonymously?

Of course. We will simply list your donation in the proper category with the word "Anonymous".

How Do I Donate on-line?

Click on the Donate button below.