Cinemata: First day, first show for all

B D Narayankar

WITH INDIA becoming the largest market for digital cinema in the world, the film industry is at the threshold of scripting a new chapter in distribution network. It will send film files to single-screen digital cinemas through satellite, enabling people living in remotest corners of the country to watch films first day, first show.

Cinemata, a Mumbai-based digital entertainment company, has already started such operations. Till date, it has signed over 200 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) for commercial association with single-screen theatre owners across India. So far, it has launched 21 theatres in Gujarat under the brand name ‘Cinemagic’.

Cinemata plans to come up with 100 more theatres under its management by December 2008. The company aims to revolutionise the entertainment industry by setting up the biggest exhibition company in the country.

“We have a financing model whereby all cinema theatres are seeded with the digital cinema system at our own investment. The theatre owner will pay us only on a per show charge basis. There is no further expense on the theatre owner. Even all upkeep and maintenance including replacement of bulbs is at our cost,” said Cinemata chief executive officer Sameer Goswami.

“Digital distribution is beneficial for movie buffs, especially for cities where a newly released film is watched after seven to eight weeks of its release in metro cities,” says Cinemata chief operating officer Girish Korde.

For filmmakers, once the film is made, they can visit any of the digital entertainment company’s platform and need not worry about all the processing and distribution issues. “Our digital mode of delivery provides the highest level of protection to the producer’s content. The digital files are delivered via satellite directly to our servers installed at the theatres with no intervention at the human level. Cinemata is a one stop end-to-end solution right from producers till the stage of exhibitors,” Korde said.

According to estimates, celluloid film costs about Rs 60,000-70,000 to print. Because of the stiff costs involved, production houses order around 400 prints that are played in theatres in A category cities alone, while the real requirement is more than 12,000 as there are as many screens in the country. “However, a digital print is not as expensive. Through satellite, number of movies can be launched simultaneously across different theatre locations,” Goswami said.

Source: Meri News