Digital Cinema Packages

Despite the fact that the industry adopted an internationally ratified SMPTE DCP standard nearly a decade ago, there remains widespread confusion and disagreement about what constitutes a universally accepted digital cinema package. If that sentence makes no sense to you, you’re not alone. For months the European Digital Cinema Forum with sponsorship from the International Union of Cinemas has been developing a web portal to address this problem. Their mission statement is, “To act as an informational resource for the industry on the SMPTE DCP and its operational use, and to provide a point of reference of on-boarding for those individuals/organizations willing to aid in the transitional process on a territory by territory basis.”

Arts Alliance Media first opened its doors in London June 17, 2003. In those very early days of digital cinema, the new company and its ten employees carved out a space in technology and what was then called alternative content. The company divested itself of the alternative content business a few years ago to focus on what has long been its core strength: cinema technology. AAM launched its first theatre management system in 2007 and, in 2008, completed the first virtual print fee rollout in Europe with French chain CGR. Today AAM has more than 140 employees spread over three offices in London, Amsterdam, and Guangzhou, China. I recently spoke via email with AAM’s chief executive officer Patrick Foley, and chief technology officer Richard Phillips about those early days of the company and, more importantly, to get their thoughts about the future of digital cinema technology.