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Since starting the AV club at my elementary school in the 1950's, I've always loved the world of projection. In the 1980's, I started a company that did large screen Civic-Center projection events such as prize-fights, concerts, etc. Those days ended with the advent of home PPV, but the way and speed in which home viewing, even without the fun of being a participant in a crowd, took over surprised me.
With this in mind, in 2009 when it was time to design a home theater for my new house, I was convinced that within a few years the theatrical exhibition business was going to change, with "day and date" availability of first-run films almost inevitable. As such, I was determined to scale things to a level that seemed crazy at the time, but would be a real substitute when this finally happened. It turned out that the consolidation of theater ownership into a small number of companies owning the majority of screens gave the exhibition industry additional leverage to threaten the studios into not attempting to even try date and date. Although the technology to deliver first-run films to the home evolved, there remained a "Mexican standoff" which has prevented any studios from conducting a meaningful test.
Ultimately, the superior economics of first-run, direct to the home, feature delivery for both the studios as well as consumers is inescapable. The declining year to year theatrical attendance speaks for itself. But because the studios are almost all public companies, the transition period to a new distribution model (which would result in studios having to endure boycotts by the exhibitors, before their very own businesses failed from lack of product) prevented any test of a full-blown Hollywood feature from taking place.
With this week's events surrounding "The Interview", an unprecedented set of circumstances allowed the first "real" test to take place. Admittedly, there were still flaws: Since everything was last-minute, the awareness level of the PPV availability was extremely low. The technical mistakes by Sony allowed pirated copies of the film to circulate almost instantly, and many of the leading streaming distribution channels were not participating. But regardless of the actual numbers, history was made and the "genie" has been finally let out of the bottle.
If one looks at what the average size of home TV screens has now grown to, it has reached the point of being an adequate theater substitute for most people. The only thing missing was the content, and for the first time people have experienced what it is like to see a brand-new film without having to drive somewhere, stand in line, pay exorbitant ticket and concession prices, while enduring cell phones, talking during the movie, etc.
The future HAS arrived!
With this in mind, in 2009 when it was time to design a home theater for my new house, I was convinced that within a few years the theatrical exhibition business was going to change, with "day and date" availability of first-run films almost inevitable. As such, I was determined to scale things to a level that seemed crazy at the time, but would be a real substitute when this finally happened. It turned out that the consolidation of theater ownership into a small number of companies owning the majority of screens gave the exhibition industry additional leverage to threaten the studios into not attempting to even try date and date. Although the technology to deliver first-run films to the home evolved, there remained a "Mexican standoff" which has prevented any studios from conducting a meaningful test.
Ultimately, the superior economics of first-run, direct to the home, feature delivery for both the studios as well as consumers is inescapable. The declining year to year theatrical attendance speaks for itself. But because the studios are almost all public companies, the transition period to a new distribution model (which would result in studios having to endure boycotts by the exhibitors, before their very own businesses failed from lack of product) prevented any test of a full-blown Hollywood feature from taking place.
With this week's events surrounding "The Interview", an unprecedented set of circumstances allowed the first "real" test to take place. Admittedly, there were still flaws: Since everything was last-minute, the awareness level of the PPV availability was extremely low. The technical mistakes by Sony allowed pirated copies of the film to circulate almost instantly, and many of the leading streaming distribution channels were not participating. But regardless of the actual numbers, history was made and the "genie" has been finally let out of the bottle.
If one looks at what the average size of home TV screens has now grown to, it has reached the point of being an adequate theater substitute for most people. The only thing missing was the content, and for the first time people have experienced what it is like to see a brand-new film without having to drive somewhere, stand in line, pay exorbitant ticket and concession prices, while enduring cell phones, talking during the movie, etc.
The future HAS arrived!
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