Arts Alliance Media (AAM), the worldwide leader in digital cinema, and Grupo Sade, owners of three cinemas in San Sebastian which are host venues for the San Sebastian International Film Festival, have announced a VPF (Virtual Print Fee) agreement which will allow Grupo Sade to recover their existing investment in digital cinema equipment via AAM’s Exhibitor Finance VPF Model.
Grupo Sade has converted its three sites, Príncipe, Trueba and Antiguo Berri (20 screens in total), to digital during the course of the last year, reaching 100% digitisation this summer. Under the Exhibitor Finance VPF model, Grupo Sade will recoup the investment by means of the VPF agreements that AAM has with the Hollywood studios and with independent distributors.
Every cinema will install AAM's TMS (Theatre Management System) software ‘Screenwriter’, which will allow Sade to create and schedule its playlists, and manage all of its content in a fast, effective and automated way. The software will greatly help the scheduling and transferring of films during the San Sebastian Film Festival, a week during which more than 100 prints circulate among these three cinemas. In addition, AAM will install Arqiva satellite equipment for the receipt of content via satellite (film and trailer DCPs, advertising and live events).
Suministros Kelonik, Spain’s leading supplier of cinema technology services and AAM’s Spanish integration partner, has installed all Grupo Sade’s digital equipment and will also provide ongoing maintenance from their NOC (Network Operations Centre), in conjunction with AAM's London-based NOC.
Coro Odriozola, Manager of Grupo Sade, said "After the great investment we have put into digitalisation, it is great news that Sade could finally benefit from the Exhibitor Financed VPF model offered by AAM. In addition, with our cinemas now 100% digital, it was vital to be able to install the best TMS software, which will undoubtedly help us to manage the cinemas effectively, allowing us to do changes at the last moment, and to be able to offer the best programming and quality to our customers. "
Lorenzo García, Manager of Kelonik, said “We have collaborated with Sade for more than 25 years and we are very happy with this agreement that will allow Sade to benefit from all the software tools to provide first level maintenance, thanks to our NOC, which is connected 24/7 to all the equipment deployed in the cinemas."
Guillaume Thomine-Desmazures, Director of Arts Alliance Media Spain added "We are very happy that cinemas as prestigious as those of Grupo Sade trust in us for this great step. This agreement demonstrates once again the flexibility of digital cinema agreements, which benefit not only the big chains but also independent exhibitors, who can benefit from financing provided by AAM, or, as in this case, can recover a prior investment with the VPF model. "
