Shindler’s Site: Long Live the King

Long live the king: the content king!

With numerous forms of entertainment vying for our attention and money—feature films, TV, LF films, video games, the Internet, books, magazines, newspapers, and newsletters—content is king. Always been and always will. Long live the king.

Although consumers sometimes get caught up in the packaging, at the end of the day nothing else matters if the content is not what we expected. For example, is a novel from your favorite author better in hard cover or in paperback?

First and foremost, is the story compelling? Does it hold our attention? A poor story will not sell many books, no matter what the jacket looks like or how popular the author is. A strong story will remain on the best seller lists for a long time in multiple editions. And it makes no difference to us readers if the author created the book on a typewriter, a word processor, or wrote it out long hand on yellow legal pads.

The popularity of top-notch product usually extends to other formats and media. For example, a movie that scored blockbuster status in its theatrical release will usually do very well on home video/DVD, and in subsequent release windows such as cable and network TV.

Digital (or electronic) cinema is a hot topic now. Screenings in digital auditoriums appear to outsell film screenings, even in the same facility. This is probably due to the novelty and appeal of a new "digital" technology. But consumers are not choosing one digital brand over another, nor are theater operators making purchasing decisions because of a perceived preference or even technical superiority.

The same concept holds true with traditional film projectors. Theaters don’t market the brand of projector they use. Tickets are sold on one basis and one basis only: content.

In image acquisition, new digital cameras are making news. Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones, due in May 2002, has been shot on Sony/Panavision 24p digital cameras and will almost certainly be run in every digital cinema operating on its release date. Despite the somewhat mixed reviews received by Star Wars Episode 1 a few years ago, Episode 2 is one of the most anticipated films of 2002. Will people like it more if they see it digitally? Would they like it less if it had been shot on film? The emphatic answer is no!

The fact is that most of the ticket-buying public does not care how the content was created. They care about content and story.

The LF film industry is now debating which formats should be used for image capture and exhibition. The subject has been discussed in the halls of the GSTA conference and in these pages, last month and this month. Those discussions have centered primarily on aesthetics and other creative issues, but this column looks at the matter strictly from a business perspective.

Fifteen/seventy is the dominant format today and it will continue to be into the foreseeable future. However, for creative and financial reasons, other formats must occasionally be used. The number of 15/70 cameras available in the rental market is limited. Several of the more prolific LF producers have their own cameras and thus do not need to contend with the rental market. But others are left with only one or two options.

Savvy producers have found innovative techniques to get the shot, using 15/70 where it made creative and financial sense and using other formats for the rest of their work. Filmmakers are always striving to get the best images possible at an affordable price. Only this way can he recoup his investment and perhaps even earn a small profit.

A day will come when images from digital cameras rival those of LF film, as is happening today in the mainstream 35mm market. It is a matter of when, not if. But even then, film may never be passé. For the LF industry, the transition to a fully digital world will be a long time coming.

On the exhibition side, 15/70 theaters are dominant, but 8/70 theaters are being built at increasing rates, especially as the industry continues to grow beyond larger cities and into smaller population centers where size and cost of theaters are significant determinants.

Both formats are important to the producer. There is hardly an LF producer who does not print his films to 8/70 as well as 15/70. Not releasing in 8/70 is foolhardy at any time, but especially in the current LF economy. It would be like excluding dome theaters in favor of those with flat screens.