Keep It Quiet Up The Back, Please

Sydney Morning Herald

Wednesday August 16, 2006

Garry Maddox

IF YOU think disruptive patrons are a problem in cinemas, you are not alone.

The president of the American cinema owners' association, John Fithian, said yesterday that solving "rude patron behaviour" was crucial to improving ticket sales.

"In North America and Europe in particular, we are confronting the inevitable 15-year-old who won't shut off her cell phone, the BlackBerries and the strained conversations," he said.

"Today, it's not that kids tell each other about the movies the next day or even that night. They tell each other about the movies while they're watching them."

Fithian, who heads the National Association of Theatre Owners, said ushers and on-screen messages could minimise rude behaviour. "We need to continue to improve the cinema experience every way we can," he said at the Australian International Movie Convention on the Gold Coast.

Other measures included more attention to cleanliness in toilets - "things that make people feel more comfortable in a cinema environment" than they do at home.

While praising the quality of Australian cinemas, Fithian said operators everywhere needed to start introducing digital projection. "Digital cinema will be the biggest technological transition in this business since the advent of sound. And I would argue that it may well even be bigger than the advent of sound."

Digital technology was now better than film, Fithian said.

"It also lasts longer ... Film deteriorates over time ... Those prints get damaged with dozens of scratches. They have to be spliced, they get fingerprints. In a couple of days - certainly in a couple of weeks - they look nothing like they did when they first came out of the can."

Digital cinema would also allow low-cost distribution of small films on disc and a new generation of 3-D movies.

"I have watched several full-length major motion pictures in 3-D and it is a whole new experience ... Most importantly, this new technology cannot be replicated in the home."

Fithian said American cinemas were experimenting with screening rock concerts and sports and educational programming during down times.

"We had open-heart surgery performed in Europe and beamed live to a cinema in the United States so that medical students could sit in the audience and watch on the big screen new techniques."

Despite last year's box office downturn, Fithian described cinema as a growth business in the long term.

© 2006 Sydney Morning Herald

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