ARTS ALLIANCE MEDIA ANNOUNCE THE OUTFIT
OF YELMO'S NEW SITE 'ISLA AZUL'IN MADRID
WITH 5 DIGITAL CINEMA PROJECTION SYSTEMS
Paris, France – 19 June, 2008 – Signifying its first move into the Spanish exhibition market, Arts Alliance Media (AAM), Europe’s leading provider of digital cinema technology, content and deployment, have announced a deal with Yelmo Cines, one of Spain’s largest exhibition chains, and Suministros Kelonik, Spain’s leading equipment installer, to fully outfit Yelmo’s new “Isla Azul” 5-plex site in Madrid with digital cinema projection systems. 5 screens will be installed in time for the complex’s opening in July. Yelmo Cines currently operates 351 screens in 31 sites.
The deal is the first stage in an ongoing relationship between Yelmo and AAM, and the “Isla Azul” installation will allow both parties to gain a better knowledge of the equipment and workflows involved in digitisation. The first 5 screens will be equipped with Christie 2K projectors, Doremi servers and Doremi’s Theatre Management System (TMS).
Currently, there are 34 digital screens in Spain, of which approximately 50% are equipped with 2K DCI-compliant systems.
Gwendal Auffret, SVP Digital Cinema at AAM commented “We are delighted to have reached this agreement with Yelmo to install the first of our digital screens in Spain, and are looking forward to being a part of Yelmo’s ground breaking innovative new site and bringing the increased efficiency of digital cinema to the Spanish market. We hope this will be the first step of a more extended collaboration with Yelmo Cines in the future.”
Fernando Evole, CEO of Yelmo Cines added “The Isla Azul cinema is full of cutting edge technology, so naturally we wanted to test digital cinema as a part of it. This is the very beginning of the digitisation of our screens, and we want to start working in a digital environment to learn about the advantages and the challenges that this new technology will bring to our theatres.”
Arts Alliance Media has installed 326 screens to date, in the UK, Norway and France, and has signed agreements for European digital cinema deployment with five Hollywood studios (Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Pictures International, Paramount Pictures International, Sony Pictures Releasing International and Walt Disney Studios International). The company is in negotiations with other exhibitors and distributors for further digital cinema deployments.
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Notes to Editors:
About Yelmo Cines:
Yelmo Cines is one of the leading exhibition companies in Spain, operating 351 screens in 31 sites. With more than 12 million patrons every year, Yelmo Cines is recognised for the quality of the Theatre Multiplexes, offering stadium style seating auditoriums, digital surround sound systems, comfortable and wide seating, spectacular foyers with attractive concession stands, and multiple first class services like Print at Home Advance Selling Systems or CinExpress (Tickets and Popcorn in a non-queue Vip Service). Yelmo Cines innovation within the exhibition industry, its enhanced customer service, and the development of Alternative Content Programs, among others has served to be recognised as “International Exhibitor of the Year 2006” at the Cinema Expo International Congress held in Amsterdam.
About Arts Alliance Media:
Arts Alliance Media, based in London and Paris, is Europe's leading provider of digital film distribution services, dedicated to building a European digital network to deliver film to the cinema, to the home and between industry players. AAM provides end-to-end digital cinema solutions encompassing equipment selection, financing and integration, operator training, installation and support, and content management and delivery. To date, AAM’s in-house digital cinema lab has encoded over 270 digital cinema titles and shipped over 5900 digital prints. AAM has signed digital cinema deployment agreements with Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Pictures International, Paramount Pictures International, Sony Pictures Releasing International and Walt Disney Studios International, and signed its first exhibitor agreement in November 2007, with CGR Cinemas in France, to digitise 100% of its 400 screens. AAM also source, manage and actively promote ‘Alternative Content’ programming for cinemas. AAM was founded in 2003 by Thomas C. Hoegh who serves as Chairman of the Board. Further information can be found at www.artsalliancemedia.com
For more information, please contact:
Yelmo Cines:
Monica Sardina: monica_sardina@yelmocpx.com / +34 91 7589600
Arts Alliance Media:
Gemma Richardson: gemma@artsalliancemedia.com / +44 (0) 20 7751 7466