Wednesday, March 16, 2005 | 8:16 a.m.
Not much has changed in the theater business in the last few years.
Which is the way theater owners seem to want it.
At least, that's the impression at the annual ShoWest Convention, the largest event for the motion-picture industry in the world, which runs through Thursday at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas.
Sure, the reclining movie seats on display at the trade show convention are a bit fancier, the movie-theater sound systems more "state of the art," and low-carb candy a healthier option than the snacks offered in the past.
Most ShoWest exhibitors, though, seemed to offer the same products they had last year. Or even the year before.
The lack of change shouldn't come as a surprise. This is the same industry, after all, that relies on 100-year-old technology -- film projection -- to attract customers.
But that is changing.
A new technology, digital projection, is quickly emerging as the heir apparent to film. More than a high-tech novelty, many studios and filmmakers have anointed it the savior of Hollywood.
Proponents of digital cinema contend it's considerably cheaper to make than film, looks better than film -- especially after repeated viewings -- and is more easily and affordably distributed to theaters via satellite than film, which is hand-delivered.
"What we see is an evolution going on," said Glenn Wastyn, business development manager for Belgium-based Barco, a leading manufacturer of digital projectors.
"More films are being produced digitally and go through digital post-production. And producers want these films shown the same way."
While there are fewer than 500 digital projectors in theaters today, Wastyn said the figure is likely to increase by another 200 by year's end.
"The amounts discussed today are much higher than last year," he said. "The main issue is exhibitors are waiting for more content and the producers are waiting for a bigger installation base of digital projectors.
"All it takes is one or two people to break that chain."
While a digital projector is at least three times the cost of a film projector, $100,000 compared to $30,000, filmmakers such as George Lucas continue to do their best to drum up support for digital cinema among film studios and theater owners.
Lucas, along with James Cameron, will address digital cinema as the future of the movie industry in a ShoWest seminar Thursday afternoon.
Even with the support of top directors, many ShoWest exhibitors remain unconvinced of the immediate future of digital film.
"It just makes no sense," said Larry Shaw, president of Kinoton America, a Boston-based company that imports and sells film projectors from Germany.
"Some day it will, just not today."
Beyond the disparity in cost of digital and film projectors, Shaw said the new technology is also quickly obsolete, considerably more expensive to repair and doesn't hold up to the rigors of daily use as long.
Plus, he said, a digital image isn't any better than a film image from a 35 mm projector.
As for those who believe film is going the way of the floppy disk or cassette, he laughed.
"The year I was born, the projectionist union in Boston had an emergency training course in video for all projectionists," he said. "They felt within a year or two there would be no more film. That was 50 years ago."
"The fact is they've been promising something to replace film for 50 years, and it's still the same."
British businessman Brian Roe, president of Jack Roe Ltd., is so convinced of the continued prominence of film over digital, he opened a U.S. company, Jack Roe USA Inc., devoted entirely to manufacturing film accessories.
"I wouldn't have started a company in the U.S. with this range of products if we didn't feel it had a future," he said.
Roe said digital cinema has several political and economic hurdles to overcome among film studios, distributors and exhibitors before widespread implementation.
Meanwhile, standard film will enjoy a market for many years. "There's a lot of film in libraries, and even those people who will appreciate film," he said. "Even once film becomes a niche market, it will be around for a long time."
Still, critics of digital cinema concede the format will inevitably replace film.
"I think it's soon, the next five to seven years," said Chris Clements, an account executive with Neumade Products Corp., which manufactures film projectors and projection-booth equipment.
Clements said the Connecticut-based Neumade Products, which has been around since 1916, last year sold more film-projection devices than at any time in the company's history.
Nevertheless, Neumade Products is "dabbling" with in developing digital projection equipment.
"Hopefully, by the time it goes mainstream, we'll be there, too," he said.
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