Keep in mind I owned and ran a historic theatre for several years, ran 35mm, collected 35mm film for almost 20 years. I like 35mm very much, but in order to keep from going broke especially in classic film exhibition is to avoid expensive shipping as well as have access to hundreds of titles not generally available from 35mm distributors. Especially the public domain material—the few independent distributors that had much of the obscure PD stuff in 35mm are long gone, and surviving prints are in collectors hands. Digital is getting better all the time, and it is no surprise most mainstream releases will eventually, over the next decade be mostly digital.
From a theatre operators point of view, here are the reasons to go digital:
1. Super sharp and clear projection.
2. NO expensive shipping of heavy film prints both ways
3. Excellent flexibility—any excellent quality video source can be run.
4. No shortage of digital prints for classics or indies, unlike film.
5. Many 35mm bookers can’t guarantee condition of older titles.
I, too wish them well. Being the former owner of a restored movie theatre and current successful operator of classic movie society running movies on two area screens, here is my advice:
Digital is not a dirty word—-I use a 7000 lumen DLP projector and get a fantastic sharp, clear image on a 25 foot wide screen.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been in a 35mm theatre and had to endure soft focus or worn prints. With digital my focus is always sharp and the prints are clean.
Keep in mind I owned and ran a historic theatre for several years, ran 35mm, collected 35mm film for almost 20 years. I like 35mm very much, but in order to keep from going broke especially in classic film exhibition is to avoid expensive shipping as well as have access to hundreds of titles not generally available from 35mm distributors. Especially the public domain material—the few independent distributors that had much of the obscure PD stuff in 35mm are long gone, and surviving prints are in collectors hands. Digital is getting better all the time, and it is no surprise most mainstream releases will eventually, over the next decade be mostly digital.
From a theatre operators point of view, here are the reasons to go digital:
1. Super sharp and clear projection.
2. NO expensive shipping of heavy film prints both ways
3. Excellent flexibility—any excellent quality video source can be run.
4. No shortage of digital prints for classics or indies, unlike film.
5. Many 35mm bookers can’t guarantee condition of older titles.
I, too wish them well. Being the former owner of a restored movie theatre and current successful operator of classic movie society running movies on two area screens, here is my advice:
Digital is not a dirty word—-I use a 7000 lumen DLP projector and get a fantastic sharp, clear image on a 25 foot wide screen.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been in a 35mm theatre and had to endure soft focus or worn prints. With digital my focus is always sharp and the prints are clean.