On 7 February, UNIC took part in the first in-person European Digital Cinema Forum (EDCF) get together since 2019, at Cinecittá in Nuremberg.
The conference started with a welcome speech by EDCF President, Cathy Huis in ’t Veld Esser. This was followed by an industry update presented by David Hancock - Chief Analyst, Media and Entertainment, Omdia - and Laura Houlgatte - UNIC CEO.
After the general industry update, progress reports were given from Associations. Steve Llamb gave an update on the Inter-Society Digital Cinema Forum (ISDCF), Jan Runge gave an update on the International Cinema Technology Association (ICTA), Tom Bert gave an update on the Laser Illuminated Projector Association (LIPA) and Julian Pinn gave an update on the Global Cinema Advertising Association (SAWA).
After the round of progress reports, a presentation dedicated to the Green Deal and the right of repair as a challenge for the digital cinema ecosystem was given by Radoslav Markov.
A panel discussion followed on “How and which new upcoming technologies can improve business for all industry players and moviegoers?” with Benjamin Dauhrer (Cinecittá), Wout van der Elst (CinemaNext), Jan Harmsen (Kinopolis), Marc Schütrumpf (Neox film), Tom Bert (Barco) and moderated by Patrick von Sychowski.
The day ended with an update from the German cinema association, HDF Kino.
The next day started off with a series of quickfire soapboxes “à la EDCF” (meaning short presentations up to 5 minutes, followed by a quick Q&A) moderated by Julian Pinn. The first quickfire soapbox was on the status on LED in cinemas with Tom Bert (Barco) giving the manufacturers’ view and Wout van der Elst (Cinemanext) giving the integrators’ view. Then the energy efficiency of the new Laser Optical System was presented by Chris Connett (Christie Digital). The soapbox session ended on the topic of a “new clean and appropriate screen for your projector” given by Bernard Collard (Strong MDI).
This was followed by a panel debate on “Avatar: The Way of Water, what challenges were overcome, and lessons learned?” with Andreas Stier (Eikona), Renate Scheliga (MACCS/Numero), Paul Huis in ’t Veld Esser (Gofilex), Marcus Decke (Gofilex), Susanne Flaexl (Cineplexx) and Carly Brown (Disney – remote). Patrick von Sychowsky and Julian Pinn moderated the debate.
After the debate, UNIC’s CEO Laura Houlgatte presented training tools, and technical documents that can be used by industry professionals in Europe and globally on HR in cinemas and related challenges.
The final debate of the conference was dedicated to sustainability in film and cinema with Benjamin Dauhrer (Cinecittá), Harry Schusterov (Gofilex), Tom Bert (Barco), Bas van Heek (cinionic) and moderated by David Hancock. The conference closed with a wrap-up by EDCF President Cathy Huis in ’t Veld Esser and David Hancock.
The full program of the conference can be found here.
We look forward to the next edition!