CYPRESS, CA —Aug 10, 2005
CINEMARK SELECTS CHRISTIE PROJECTORS TO SHOWCASE PRE-SHOW ENTERTAINMENT ACROSS ENTIRE NORTH AMERICAN CIRCUIT
Christie Exclusive Projector Partner in Major Contract Covering Nearly 2,400 Cinema Screens in 33 States, Reaching Over 107 Million Patrons in the U.S.
Christie announced today that it has entered
into an exclusive contract with Cinemark USA, Inc., one of North America’s
largest exhibitors, to outfit the majority of its nearly 2,400 screens with
Christie LCD projectors. The Christie projectors will be used for a digital
pre-show that will be shown prior to the “coming soon” trailers and feature
presentation beginning January 1, 2006 in Cinemark Theatres across the United
States. The pre-show content will be provided by National CineMedia L.L.C.,
owned jointly by AMC Entertainment, Inc., Regal Entertainment Group and Cinemark.
Installation of the projectors is scheduled to begin in mid-August 2005.
The contract between Christe and Cinemark also calls for Cinemark to purchase
Christie’s projector networking technology, ChristieNET(tm), with every
projector. ChristieNET, a hardware and software solution, enables each projector
to be IP addressable via a WAN and remotely monitored and controlled from a
network operations center. Cinemark chose Christie’s highest performing
wide-screen projectors, the LW25 and the LW40, considered among the world's
brightest native 16:9 projectors.
According to the Cinema Advertising Council, pre-show entertainment continues to
be the cinema category growth leader, posting record revenues of nearly half a
billion dollars in 2004. With the deal, Christie further solidifies its success
in the exhibition industry, providing projection systems to some of the largest
in-theater networks in the world.
“We chose Christie projection solutions because of their power, reliability and
versatility that have made them the industry performance standard,” said
Cinemark president, Alan Stock. “Christie also brings an exceptionally strong
relationship with exhibitors that spans over 75 years. As a result, we know they
offer value for today, but also for tomorrow, an important consideration as
exhibitors convert to new technologies.”
“Christie is pleased to be the exclusive provider of pre-show projection systems
and services to Cinemark in this major industry initiative,” remarked Vice
President of Christie’s Entertainment Solutions group, Craig Sholder.
“Exhibitors have come to trust Christie as the most experienced provider of
projection technology, often standardizing on Christie projection and networking
solutions to guarantee the utmost compatibility and upgrade-ability. Through
Cinemark, Christie is pleased to help exhibitors tap into a rapidly expanding
market that offers them another important source of revenue.”