Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. (NASDAQ: CIDM), the global leader in digital cinema, today announced the deployment of 16 Cinedigm-Certified™ screens at La Maison du Cinema, a leading independent cinema in Quebec, Canada.
The deal was jointly announced by Cinedigm and La Maison du Cinema owners husband and wife team Denis and Karen Hurtubise, and their two sons, Alexandre and Karl, who are respected film buyers through their company Services de Programmation DenHur Inc. and a digital cinema equipment dealer, through Karalex Cinema Services Inc.
“Denis and Karen are exceedingly well respected in the Quebec film industry and we are thrilled that after extensive research they have chosen Cinedigm as their digital partner,” said Gary Loffredo, President of Digital Cinema Services at Cinedigm. “We look forward to sharing the benefits of digital cinema with La Maison du Cinema’s customers, and enhancing the already magnificent cinematic experience that they offer.”
La Maison du Cinema joins a prestigious roster of Canadian theatrical partners that Cinedigm has signed in the past two years, among them Guzzo Cinemas, Les Cinemas Cine Entreprises, Cinemas RGFM, Cinema Carrefour du Nord, Cinema Beloeil, Cinema St-Hyacinthe and Cinema 9 Gatineau.
In the combined Phase One and Phase Two digital cinema deployment program, Cinedigm has:
· Signed 10,466 screens overall
· Installed 9,342 digital screens
· Signed digital screens deals with 206 exhibitors
Cinedigm digital theatres are fully networked, turnkey systems – simple and cost-efficient to operate.
The transition from 35mm film projection, which has been used for 110 years, to digital projection systems is a world-wide motion picture industry effort and the costs to deploy this new technology are covered primarily through the payment of virtual print fees (VPF) from studios to implementation companies. Cinedigm's Digital Cinema division facilitates the funding, installation and operations support, along with ongoing VPF administration, for the company's digital cinema rollout plans. Cinedigm has signed long-term VPF agreements with all the major studios and interim agreements with dozens of independent distributors.
Cinedigm is also the digital cinema integrator of choice for the CBG, a buying program of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) for small and independent theatre operators in United States and Canada.
