Future of Film: Digital 3D is the next big thing in Hollywood

Authored by Jay Baage on March 21, 2007 - 10:41am.

From the Future of Film: Film is the next medium to be transformed by digital technology and new 3D theatres is something that industy insiders are particularly excited about. How and when digital 3D will really take off is a hot topic among industry insiders that met at Digital Media Wire’s Future of Film conference in Beverly Hills on Wednesday.

“William Goldman's saying that in the film business no one knows anything still holds, says Keith Fleer, Partner, Loeb & Loeb.

Keith Fleer’s comment was of course a joke, because there is certainly a lot of people in Hollywood that knows a lot. Some of those were gathered on the first panel called “What Does the Future Hold”. They included Anne Thompson, Deputy Editor, Variety.com, Jill Gwen, CFO & SVP Finance & Operations, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Keith Fleer and Scott Kirsner, Editor, CinemaTech.

The music and television industries have already accepted a future that is in the hands of the digital consumer. But what about movies? The first panel offered a number of possible scenarios.

“The film studios do not just compete with other movie studios about making the most popular films anymore, but they compete with all other forms of audio/visual entertainment”, said Keith Fleer.
Anne Thompson agreed, but pointed out that it is a matter of evolution, not revolution:
“Big studios are exploring the Internet future. But they are still very cautious”, she said.
Jill Gwen offered an explanation why the studios like Fox Searchlight are so cautious:
“If you have a good product, the theatre model works. That's what it still comes down to in Hollywood, a good screenplay, great acting etc”, she said.

Jill Gwen mentioned that she personally is a fan of YouTube, but not as a distribution platform for full length movies.
“Sometime our content in terms of trailers and so on find its way on there without our help. I don’t know what our official stand is on that, but I see it as free publicity”, she said.

When it comes to new opportunities for the film industry, no one on the panel mentioned blu-ray or HD DVD, but all of them spoke about the possibilities with digital 3D technologies.
“3D is a potential avenue for the theatres to go down when it comes to offering (an experience) that you can’t get at home”, says Jill Gwen.

Kevin Mayer, Head of Corporate Strategy, Business Development and Technology Group at Disney - who was the morning keynote, agreed:
“3D is a totally new experience and we believe that 3D-theaters will be all over fairly soon”, he said.

Joakim Baage