Belgium—Jul 7, 2010
XDC/FTT and Kinopolis Cinema Group Basically Agreed To Deploy 123 Digital Screens in Germany
Kinopolis, a renowned German
exhibitor, XDC, the n°1 digital cinema service company in Europe and FTT, the
leading digital cinema service provider in Germany, have basically agreed on
the terms for a deployment of 123 digital cinema systems at 15 cinemas.
Dr. Gregory Theile, Managing
Partner of Kinopolis, said: “We
are delighted to have found in XDC/FTT a competent, experienced and reliable
partner for the conversion of our cinemas to digital cinema. The model offered
by XDC represents the best solution in the market as far as our particular requirements
are concerned and so we explicitly opted for this long-standing partnership. As
the first cinema circuit in Germany,
we are setting the course for the digital future of the cinema by consistently
equipping our cinemas with digital projection systems. The installations will
already start this year and will be completed by the end of next year.“
Serge Plasch, XDC’s Chief Executive Officer said: “After Kieft Group, having
this second major VPF deal in Germany
is for XDC a very important milestone, since Germany has always been a key
market in our strategy. Kinopolis is a much respected exhibition circuit and we
are very proud to have been selected for their digital roll out plan. This agreement
also demonstrates the solidity of our business model which is the only one able
to offer agreement with all the 6 majors US studios, easy available financing
and advanced knowledge in digital cinema technology. Moreover, this new deal results of the
perfect integration and cooperation with FTT which has now the most comprehensive
experience in digital cinema in Germany.’’.
Egon Gräfen, FTT’s Managing Director added: “Kinopolis has already been among
our major customers for a long time. We are therefore very proud that they have
chosen us as their technical integrator and that we will also be able to
continue our longstanding business relationship in the digital era.”
Under
the terms of the agreement with XDC, Kinopolis will exclusively install Series
2 DCI-compliant digital projection systems. Kinopolis will also implement a
fully integrated and networked solution in each complex, thanks to XDC’s
advanced Theatre Management System and Central Library, the XDC’s CineStore®
Plaza. A content delivery network will also be implemented by XDC in order to
allow distributors to deliver films directly by satellite and/or broadband
connection to the cinemas, as well as to give the opportunity to Kinopolis to
perform live 2D and 3D transmissions.
All
the systems will be connected to the XDC’s NOC (Network Operations Centre)
which will perform the hotline support and the preventative remote maintenance.
Thanks to the sophisticated XDC’s CineStore Data web-based application, the
frontline support (with the possibility to have a full remote monitoring of the
digital systems) will be directly managed by FTT, which will also take care of
the installations and maintenance.