Published: December 16, 2006 09:23 pm            

Carmike Cinemas going digital

Dale Hurst admits he’s only seen two movies in a theater this year: “Night at the Museum” and “Collier and Company.”

As the marketing director for Columbus-based Carmike Cinemas, the country’s third-largest theater chain, Hurst spends most of his time on the road promoting films and drumming up support for the company’s 302 theaters. That leaves little time for movie-watching.

But a company-wide conversion to high tech digital projectors from the familiar 35 mm film may lead Hurst to spend more time in the theaters. The digital projector upgrade at Dalton’s Carmike Cinemas 9 in Walnut Square Mall is among 2,300 planned during a 22-month period. Hurst said the company won’t raise ticket prices to offset the new projectors.

“When you’ve been in the business as long as I have, you realize that this is it,” said Hurst, a Dalton native who worked at local theaters for more than 30 years. “Seeing a digital movie means that there will be no film scratch, fade or wear out by too many showings. They will see a perfect, jitter-free, high quality image whether it’s the 10th, 100th or even 1,000th showing.”

Carmike Cinemas has signed an agreement with Christie/ AIX (a unit of AccessIT) for the company to provide a complete system that includes the digital projector server. The system uses Christie Digital Cinema projectors, which are also 3-D capable, powered by three DLP Cinema chips developed by Texas Instruments. Each chip, a shade larger than a postage stamp, can reproduce up to 35 trillion colors, providing a high definition image that is a “perfect reproduction” of the original master print of the movie.

The content is delivered by AccessIT via satellite from a server (considered the ‘brains’ of the system) to all theaters connected by a proprietary network. The movies are downloaded early in the week and can be shown numerous times.

Currently at the Dalton location, the movies are being delivered in small cases. Hurst expects the satellite system to be installed by early spring.

“Replacing the 100-year-old film projection technology and converting to digital cinema helps them take the movie-watching experience to a whole new level,” said Jack Kline, president and chief operating officer of Christie Digital Systems.

The Carmike theater in Dalton will keep three film projectors because not all movies will be digital, Hurst said. Although Hurst grew up with 35 mm film, it has presented problems over the years.

Any imperfection on the film, which has to be manually placed in the projector and later rewound, will show up on the screen. Pieces on lint, dirt or anything else floating in the air can stick to the film and interfere with the picture. If a part of the film becomes mangled, it may be necessary to physically cut frames out of the film.

“Sometimes you would have a man get up from a table and the next shot would have him walking halfway down the road,” Hurst said. “The only thing that’s going to stop a movie now is a power outage. No more stopping a movie because the projector isn’t working, no more film breaking.”

With a lifetime in the movie industry, Hurst believes four advancements have revolutionized movies: the multiplex, digital sound, stadium seating and digital pictures. While the movie industry has long always focused on improving the theater environment, “We’ve never done anything to enhance the actual movie, the reason that you came to the theater in the first place,” Hurst said.

The new digital pictures are “an entertainment experience our customers cannot get at home,” said Michael Patrick, chief executive officer and chairman of Carmike Cinemas. Is the industry’s interest in replacing the 35 mm film with digital technology a response to the increasing popularity of home theaters, complete with expansive flat screen televisions and pricey sound systems?

Yes and no, Hurst says.

“I think we’re all competing for that entertainment dollar,” Hurst said. “It could be that our industry is competing with that home environment, but again people love to be out and be around other people. My father (who managed movie theaters locally) had a great analogy: Every home has a kitchen, but try to eat out on a Friday or a Saturday night.”

Hurst said he animated and action movies will translate extremely well digitally.

“Movies like that, you need to see on a bigger screen,” Hurst said. “Even if you have a 72-inch screen at home, that’s big, but it’s nothing like watching it on a 30-foot screen.”

Hurst doubts there will be more upgrades at he Dalton theater. Plans to remodel the existing theater a few years ago were scrapped.

“I think the next upgrade we’re going to see is a new theater,” Hurst said. “It’s no big secret that we’ve been trying to build a new theater here for the past five or six years. It’s going to happen whether we do it or somebody else does it. The home office knows that I’m so anxious for Dalton to get a new theater because this a money-making town for us.”

        

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