CGR: First European network to make full switch to digital
The announcement that CGR Cinémas plans to convert all of its 390 screens to digital projection before the end of 2009 – which would make it the first European network to make the complete transition to digital – came as a surprise, given that French exhibitors have been very wary about making a rapid changeover to digital projection.
The sudden change in attitude is all the more striking in a French context, seeing as how CGR has decided to use VPF (Virtual Print Free), a financing model involving a third-party investor, already used in the United States but viewed with some suspicion by National Centre for Cinematography (CNC) Director General Véronique Cayla, who at the last exhibitors’ conference stated that this system had "clearly revealed its risks and limitations" (see article).
The agreement signed between CGR Cinémas and the UK’s Arts Alliance Media (the British division of a Norwegian investment fund) makes provision for the digital conversion of between 200 and 250 screens before the end of 2008, with 35mm screenings being held alongside digital during the transition phase. Eight screens will be operational by the end of 2007 and the chosen manufacturers include Christie (projectors), Doremi (servers) and Ciné Digital Services (installation and assistance).
The estimated cost of the operation will amount to €40-50m with an investment made by CGR of around €10-15m. With a ten-year guarantee, the agreement will give CGR full control of the access keys for digital films (thus maintaining its freedom of programming) and the exhibitor has pledged not to increase admission prices, except in the case of 3D projections.
However, the issue of the number of films available in digital format raises further unknown questions that European producers and distributors should seek to resolve in order to avoid being outdone from the start by the major US networks (three of which have already signed agreements with Arts Alliance Media).
Arts Alliance Media, which has completed the installation of 240 screens for the UK Film Council, has also been taking part in two digital test platforms, one in the UK as of February 2007 at the Odeon Surrey Quays cinema and the other in Norway as of April 2006, in different cinemas across the country. In its capacity as a digital laboratory, the company has encoded more than 200 master prints and delivered more than 3,600 digital prints to date.
(Translated from French)
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