Digital Media Distribution Opportunities for the Film Industry

Computor technology with high speed broadband connection and proccessing power gives the public a new way to experience films. This therefore gives an oppertunity for film distributors to give their audience the films in a way that competes with DVDs in a home cinema system or pay per view on cable but also creates the problem of keeping them secure, "Already today some estimates say there are as many as 500,000 digital movies being exchanged illegally over the web.".

Windows media 9 is focused on 3rd generation of digital media online:
~"Fast Streaming" eliminates buffering delays for a more TV-like 'broadcasting' experience.
~Reduces internet congestion by optimising the video/audio quality for the users bandwith.
~Improved codecs increase video quality by 20% without increasing file size therfore film providers can either increase their quality or decrease their bandwith costs with the new codecs.

Distribution on CDs / DVDs
Most of the major DVD player manufactorers plan to make their players compatible with Windows Media Audio and Video rather than just the standard MPEG2 DVD format. Benefits of this will be the compression rates without loss of quality which will mean that more movies can be stored on one DVD (up to four) without loss of quality.
Some film distributors are selling films on single CDs, two hour movies compressed at around 700kbs fits easily and is a cheap way of distribution.
Digital rights management - users go online to aquire the liscense needed to play their content.

Theater Experiences
Technology can help theaters overcome some of the challenges that are losing profit in theater exhibition.

Some of those challenges include:
The Challenge High Distribution Costs – The cost of sending films out to theaters across the country and around the world is fixed today based on the cost of the film prints themselves, anywhere from $1200-2000 per theater.
No Security – Distributors have little control over a film once it leaves their facilities. They have to hope that it’s delivered safely to the appropriate theaters and doesn’t fall into the wrong hands or is damaged along the way.
Degradation Issues – As a movie is screened it becomes progressively more scratched and dirty, eventually demanding a replacement print.
Limited Programming Flexibility – Currently theater owners are only set up to receive 35 mm films. Since the cost of film production is so high there’s little content beyond major independent and studio movies that can afford to take advantage of a theater screening.
Inflexible Advertising – Advertisers love advertising in theaters because they have a captive audience. But today’s theater advertising is limited to slide shows and rarely a filmed ad. But again, given the costs of film distribution not many advertisers can afford to send a 35 mm reel to each theater and even if many advertisers did so, the theater owners aren’t equipped to switch from one ad reel to the next. The Solution Digital distribution and exhibition of content in tomorrow’s theaters will overcome many of these limitations.
Streamlined Distribution – The distribution process will no longer involve bulky expensive film reels. Films can be sent digitally over the IP network to targeted theaters without ever having to duplicate a 35 mm reel. This streamlined distribution will pave the way for new programming options including concerts, sporting events, distance learning and more. Theater owners can program content quickly and easily, moving content from one auditorium to many, meeting market demand in a way they are currently unable to.
Integrated Digital Rights Management – Digital theater content will be secured before it ever leaves the content owners facility. DRM will enable tracking and license serving so theaters and content owners know exactly when and where the content is accessed.
Digital Preservation – The one thousandth time a digital movie is screened provides the same quality as the first time. There is no breakdown in the digital file as there is with film.
Demographically targeted advertising – Digital ads can be served from one location and targeted to specific theaters based on content being shown in that theater to a particular demographic.

The benefits of moving to digital distribution to theaters are clear. The costs for theater owners have been historically very to purchase the digital projectors and other equipment but some smaller theaters are finding that they can begin to achieve some of the benefits of digital cinema with off the shelf hardware and software. Recently theaters in Seattle and Dallas completed digital screenings of the critically acclaimed independent film “Wendigo.” Using a standard Windows-based workstation, Windows Media for the encoding, deliver and playback, and a DLP projector, the theater owners delivered high quality screenings. Customers were unable to tell that they were not watching a 35 mm film print. Although a digital screening as described above isn’t something that would meet the requirements of a major blockbuster it is a great option for theaters interested in delivering independent and alternative content geared to specific audiences.