ARTS ALLIANCE MEDIA AND PARK CIRCUS
SIGN LONG-TERM DIGITAL CINEMA
CONTENT SERVICES AGREEMENT
LONDON, 18 July 2007 – Arts Alliance Media (AAM), Europe’s leading provider of digital film distribution services, has signed an exclusive agreement with Park Circus to provide digital cinema content services for their theatrical releases for three years. The agreement covers mastering (preparation of Digital Cinema masters, repackaging and versioning) and supply chain services (generation and distribution of digital prints, and secure key management services).
Founded in 2003, AAM has encoded and distributed over 140 titles in the last two years. This agreement is a long-term deal to provide preparation and distribution services for all of the distributor’s releases. Under the agreement, AAM will provide a complete in-house mastering service for all Park Circus digital releases from its secure, FACT approved, premises in London. Titles will be encoded, encrypted and packaged to create a DCI compliant digital cinema master, securely stored, and distributed to cinemas. AAM will also provide a complete key management service to manage digital shows, and secure web-based tracking and reporting to Park Circus, in addition to full technical support to cinemas.
Park Circus specialises in the acquisition and distribution of classic and back catalogue films for theatrical exhibition, and has been one of the leading users of the UK Film Council’s Digital Screen Network (DSN), the rollout of which was recently completed by AAM. To date, 14 Park Circus titles have been shown on the network, with Casablanca being one of the network’s biggest success stories, with 73 prints distributed across the UK.
Paul Chesney, AAM’s Director of Business Development, said of the deal, “We are delighted to sign this long term agreement for digital cinema content services with Park Circus, and think it is a great vote of confidence for AAM’s digital cinema expertise. We believe our experience as an established DC content service provider and integrator gives us an unparalleled understanding of digital cinema equipment and operations, and enables us to provide a seamless end-to-end service.”
Nick Varley, Managing Director, Park Circus, said "As the leading theatrical distributor of classic and back catalogue films, we have led the way, both in the UK and internationally, in the provision of digital versions of classic films. In 2007, we will be making some twenty titles available digitally, bringing our total to around thirty five. We are pleased to have concluded this agreement with Arts Alliance Media to service our D-Cinema requirements, and are confident their track record in providing quality and service will serve us well, as we continue to expand our digital cinema collections."
Park Circus is participating in the UK Film Council and BBC Two’s “Summer of British Film”, which will see classic titles shown theatrically in 136 cinemas across the UK this summer. Titles include Goldfinger, Brief Encounter, Henry V and Withnail & I – all of which will be encoded by AAM.
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Notes to Editors:
About Park Circus:
- Park Circus is the UK’s leading distributor of classic and back catalogue films for theatrical exhibition. The company currently represents over 7000 titles from Buena Vista International (UK), Granada International, MGM/UA and other film collections. Beyond its UK activities, Park Circus also has a significant presence in international territories, where it distributes titles both theatrically and non-theatrically.
About Arts Alliance Media:
- Arts Alliance Media (AAM), based in London, 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.
- For digital cinema, AAM provides end-to-end digital cinema solutions encompassing equipment selection, financing and integration, operator training, installation and support, and content management and delivery.
- AAM has signed long term Virtual Print Fee (VPF) agreements with Twentieth Century Fox and Universal Pictures International for digital cinema deployment across Europe, for close to 7000 screens over the next few years.
- AAM completed the UK Film Council digital cinema rollout of 240 screens on April 30th, 2007. The company is also participating in two digital cinema trials in Europe, one in the UK at the Odeon Surrey Quays multiplex, since February 2007, and the other in Norway, in various cinemas across the country, since April 2006.
- For European Download-to-Rent and Download-to-Own services, AAM provides ISPs, media companies and e-tailers with turn key solutions for acquiring rights and securely distributing digital video content over the internet to their audiences. A complete list of content and distribution partners can be seen at www.vizumi.com.
- AAM is the largest single shareholder of LOVEFiLM International, and provides the technology and content for their movie download service.
For further information, please contact:
John Letham - Park Circus
john@parkcircus.com / 0141 332 2175
Kate Pidgeon - Arts Alliance Media
kate@artsalliancemedia.com / 020 7751 7512
For further information on AAM’s Content Services, please contact:
Paul Chesney - Arts Alliance Media
paul.chesney@artsalliancemedia.com / 0207 751 7473