Enterprise Broadcasting Corporation Digital Cinema Network Event Centers

 DIGITAL CINEMA

Enterprise Broadcasting Corporation is opening digital/commerce theaters across the country and around the world. These theaters, called Network Event Centers, will be equipped with seat terminals that are linked to the EBC fiber/satellite network and synchronized with the broadcast center. Each one has a 23' High-Definition Screen, approximately 50 luxurious seats, plenty of isle room and Dolby 8.0 sound. Their partners include; Sony, JVC, Dolby, Grass Valley, Ernst & Young, and World Class HD Production Companies. A prototype have been built in Scotts Valley, Northern California. They have been releasing information about ebc slowly as this project has been under wraps for the last five years. The first series opens in April of next year with 1,000+ planned over the next three years. EBC is now speaking with HD producers and production companies that will serve as resources for sponsors.


EXTREME RETAILING


EBC's D-cinema, extreme retailing sites will start opening across the country in 2001.



A Market No One Expected

An Up Close Look At Extreme Retailing

By Scott Lehane

Content creators today are scouring the trade shows, conferences, the trade press and newslists in search of the elusive 'new revenue stream.' They are honing their street wits to expand into streaming media, high definition, e-commerce and interactivity, or even just repurpose existing content to increase revenues. Meanwhile, advertisers are craving something more tangible than traditional ratings; they want hits and click-throughs, and a depth of demographic information inconceivable just 10 years ago - with, of course, all of it leading up to a sale.

According to Tom Wade, president/CEO of Enterprise Broadcast Corp. (EBC), "TV has had a difficult time carrying complex messages to the public. It is best suited to consumer goods, and upscale products really don't work well on TV." EBC is in the process of building out its broadcast cinema platform - a network of 50-seat, high-definition digital cinemas for extreme retailing that will be installed in shopping malls across the

Tom Wade, CEO

country - all fed by satellite and fiber optic cable and controlled from EBC's head end in Scott's Valley, Ca.Tom Wade, president/CEO Initially, 15-30 theaters will open in the first quarter of 2001, with some 700-1000 scheduled to open by 2004. The theaters will be built with plenty of leg room and comfortable seating, designed to convey the idea "luxury" to consumers.


Given the demographics, location and the hard reality of bricks-and-mortar retailing, the type of content people will see on EBC will be unlike cinema, the Internet or broadcast. "We represent a major new opportunity for commercial producers," said Wade. "It's those who quickly move into the digital side - digital acquisition and digital post - that will have a new venue for their services - not in short format and also not in long format but more a middle ground that is equally artistic but not box-office oriented. Unlike TV, where commercials are seen as an intrusion, when people go into the marketplace, they are in search of new ideas and new products. So content that you might not find very favorable at home becomes very appropriate in the market."

"If ABC, CBS and NBC could start over and redesign themselves, I think they would design us," added Wade. But don't expect to see high definition infomercials in the malls. What Wade envisions for his theater network is a whole new approach to advertising, where the sales pitch is virtually unrecognizable, the aesthetic is based on familiar storytelling techniques, and the beauty of high definition images alone is enough to drive consumers into the stores.


"How many times have you looked at a movie and thought what a great apartment or what a great room," explained Wade. "Now, maybe you will see a couple of people climbing mount McKinley. When you hit your touch pad you are going to be able to buy the clothes, or the equipment, or book a trip if you want. If you aren't interested, sit back and enjoy the show. When HD is shot, not to have the film look, but the true high def look, it has a very magnetic appeal. It has the ability to imprint the mind with the imagery that you're showing."
Tom Wade, president/CEO



"For instance, a trip to the Serengeti is something that you are not going to see on TV, but you will see on our screen. So you would take someone out to the Serengeti with some beautiful high-definition shots that really capture the romanticism, and create the desire and aspiration to visit the Serengeti," said Wade. "You don't even have to talk about any products or services. What you have done is you have challenged the pursuit. You have laid out something that is hot in their minds. Once someone goes on a pursuit they have to be outfitted for it, which now creates that wonderful opportunity to sell all those things necessary to the pursuit."


Wade explained that with its location in malls, free for consumers to walk in, the content broadcast will have to be engaging and tell a story that can keep consumers in their chairs rather than just a straight sales pitch.


"The value of this is the fact that you can put products in context," said Wade. "So for instance, a ski company

Richard McCudden, EBC chief of corporate development

would probably take you down the slopes at Aspen and talk with master skiers about techniques. It becomes quite a learning experience. But all of that value is then conveyed back into the ski itself," said Wade.


"If people see something beautiful they pursue it. And HD is the first time we have ever had the ability to put that kind of eye candy in front of the public. You don't need a pitch because it's the most incredible environment to sell into. The wonderment of HD on a big screen does its own selling."
Wade reported that the company is concurrently launching the Broadcast Cinema Association which will work with Indie producers and ad agencies to teach the new aesthetic and educate advertisers about new revenue models.


"Our trade association is going to be explaining a lot of the subtleties about how you produce for this. You don't produce the same as you would for TV. TV is an attention media and it's very important to do quick cuts, pans and all of that rapid movement, which is completely different. This is more of a theatrical type of shooting," said Wade.


For Wade, it is important that consumers who aren't interested in a particular product or service can simply sit back and enjoy the show. "Essentially we are going to be putting into the marketplace a blank 23-foot canvas with certain aesthetic rules and certain limitations, to make sure that what they are doing on that screen is socially constructive," said Wade. "Artists, writers, and producers will have a brand new venue to move their trade onto - one that is actually going to be much more liberating and give them much more artistic freedom then they have ever had trying to cram a television commercial together. Now they actually can create a wonderful story. This is going to be a brand new medium. We think this is really going be a boost to the industry."


And while the demographic in malls is largely skewered toward women, Wade sees this as an opportunity to market to men. He described his theaters as a place where "a man can sit while his wife or girlfriend is out shopping."


"It's often said that men don't like to shop, which is poppycock. The truth is we are not interested in the things in a mall which are mostly for women. This brings a whole array of new things for men to the mall," he explained.


Similarly, Wade believes that by broadcasting special events like concerts, his theaters could draw people to the mall who might not normally go, or bring in customers during the slow hours.

The theaters will all be linked back to EBC's broadcast control center, and each seat will equipped with a touch-screen display enabling consumers to bookmark any particular scene in the movie, and have more information sent to them later via e-mail. Consumers will have a smart card to identify themselves to system. EBC, which has Ernst & Young as a vested partner, has technology partnerships with the Grass Valley Group, Sony, Dolby, JVC and JBL. Most of the theatres will be equipped JVC's D-ILA (1365 x 1024) projectors and 23-foot screens, although Wade reported that there may be some venues where the Texas Instruments DLP technology would be more appropriate.


"This is a market materializing that they never expected. High-definition technology is misunderstood. For TV, it's just an improvement, but we really believe that in the realm of commerce, HD is going to create a revolution."


EBC recently purchased seven of Grass Valley Group's Profile XP Media Platforms (the HD Profile PVS 2024) to drive its Scott's Valley, Ca. broadcast cinema head end. With the Profile XP's multi-channel HD video inputs and outputs, EBC can collect media from multiple sources, and feed different programs to different EBC Network Event Centers.


"We have the ability from here to change the programming to suit the audience, because the Grass Valley Group, which is one of our technology partners, has done a terrific job with their Profile Media Platform. That allows us to do a bunch of stuff that has never been done before," said Richard McCudden, EBC's chief of corporate development.


"We can literally sit here and change things around to match up with the audience better."From its central facility, EBC will also have control over lighting, heating and room conditions in all of its theaters.

"If somebody gets out of their chair and is doing something wrong, we can even ask them sit down. We can monitor absolutely everything from a central location," said McCudden "And whatever is showing on the big screen, we are recording the fact that you have seen the show."


But what does the creative community have to do to get ready for extreme retailing?


"They really need to move to HD cameras and HD post. This is pure digital," said Wade. "It is something that is designed to use this technology to bring beautiful ideas to people's minds through imagery. If I take you to the south of France with some beautiful shots of France, that is going to stimulate your imagination as a viewer. Without pitching it or interrupting it with a commercial, just taking you there on location is what drives your aspirations and desires. And we are entering an era where people have the money to take on these kinds of things.


"We are letting the imagery and the story behind the product or ideas do their own selling. That's what we are going to harness with the power of high definition on a big screen."


The company is also looking forward to applications in the field, distance learning, auctions, or even movie premiers, and, according to Wade, short features sponsored by companies that, "would like to transfer the feel-good story on to their own brand."


"Manufacturers know that they need to be able to tell their story in their own way in order to add some intrinsic value to their product," said McCudden, "Prior to this they've had those stories in a can; they just haven't had any venue to show them short of trade shows or conventions. Now, we give them a presence in the marketplace, directly to the consumers where, they can transact business and have the ability to tell their story, their way. There is nothing in between - no inventory, no people, no lease. It allows a lot of players to come into the marketplace that really can't afford to be in the mall. We give them a mall within a mall."


"But ours is a commercial free network," stressed Wade, "because we feel so strongly about the power and the stickiness of the HD portrayal that you don't need to pitch it. All you have to do is show people wonderful options that they can pursue."


October 2000 FILM & VIDEO