Mr. Marty Shindler

GLG News by Mr. Marty Shindler, Chief Executive Officer

GLG News is now G+ Insights

G+ is a community for professionals, academics and entrepreneurs to connect through online discussions and in-person meetings. You will continue to see G+ Insights (formerly GLG News) here as well as on the G+ website, where you can share and discuss the G+ Insights you read.

3D Naysayers have faded away

April 6, 2009

Analysis of: 'Monsters vs. Aliens' in 3-D: Taking filmmaking to another dimension | www.latimes.com

Even though the average box office for 3D movies is 2 – 3 times the 2D version, failure to gain the necessary new digital and 3D theaters could result in fewer 3D movies being made and in turn could cause a continued drop in home entertainment revenues. This must be solved in the next 3 – 6 months in order to have an adequate base of theaters for the numerous projects that ar

Will 3D be the savior for IMAX?

December 7, 2007

Analysis of:IMAX makes screen play | www.variety.com

Lots of us considered IMAX down and out in recent years as the institutional theater market (museums, etc.) began to dry up and as IMAX and others failed to provide sufficient appropriate content to the commercial theater circuits to which the Company was selling systems. Now with 3D being one of the very HOT topics in Hollywood and due to the success of two opening weekends of Beowulf in Imax 3D, the time may be right for Imax.

But Will It Add More Subs and More Revenue?

September 27, 2007

Analysis of:DirecTV Expands HD Channels | www.twice.com

DirecTV has added 21 new HD Channels to their existing tier of 31 toward a goal of 100 by year end. This is great news for their subscribers and for those who understand and appreciate the big difference that viewing in HD can make. However, the question becomes whether this will add a significant number of new subscribers and/or cause existing customers to upgrade their service to the HD or premium packages. A Best Buy study released earlier this week notes that education is still required to insure that owners of HD TVs fully understand the need to add an HD service to their existing accounts from DirecTV, Dish, their local cable companies or even the nascent video delivery services from the telcos. The study released by Best Buy this week states that only 19% of HDTV owners indicate they fully understand HD. See http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/650274/ for more information on the study.

Will VOD Come In Under The Radar As The Next Gen Technology?

September 20, 2007

Analysis of:Time Warner Cable to Top 1B VOD Streams in 2007 | www.homemediamagazine.com

While the format wars in the next generation DVD systems continue to confuse customers clearly indicating that there is not going to be an obvious winner for some time, if at all, VOD may be sneaking under the radar. This is still a very nascent business. The studios in making their content available to Time Warner Cable and their counterparts for VOD, also must face the most important implication of all, angering some of their biggest customers, namely Wal Mart that accounts for ~ 40% of total home video sales. When Target, Best Buy, Amazon and a few others are added in, the total is well in excess of 50%.   And in allowing the cable companies to experiment with a day and date release on DVD and VOD, they must be careful not to shorten that time frame from theatrical release too much or they risk angering their other very large customers, the major exhibitors. In this arena, Regal, AMC and Cinemark comprise some 16 – 17,000 of the 39,000 screens in North America.

The Latest Skirmish

September 7, 2007

Analysis of:Toshiba Reaffirms HD Market Lead | www.homemediamagazine.com

I can hardly wait until tomorrow to find out what is the next news release in the next generation DVD format battle. The stats are nice in this nascent industry, but it is still lying with statistics, so to speak. Earlier this week, there was a story that Sony was in the lead and today this article appeared, stating that Toshiba is in the lead. This represents the latest salvo in the format war.

Battling it Out – Skirmishes Continuing

September 4, 2007

Analysis of:Sony Projects 1M Blu-ray Disc Sales by Q4 | www.homemediamagazine.com

Did you read How To Lie With Statistics in college? Do you practice it in your business? Do you own a high definition TV and also subscribe to a high definition service? Do you own an hd – next generation DVD player of either format?  If not, why not? Have you watched a standard definition (sd) DVD on your HD TV? Looks good, doesn’t it?? As reported in the article, 1 million units may seem like a lot, but that only represents an approximate $20 - $30 million dollars in an industry that generates a total of over $25 billion on an annual basis. There are many hurdles to be cleared before a winner can be declared, if ever that happens. Until then, declaring Blu-Ray the leader is lying with statistics.

Extending content availability for iPhones and PDAs

July 3, 2007

Analysis of:Startup taking 3-D mobile | www.hollywoodreporter.com

If there was ever a question as to whether the public is now aware that all sorts of content will be available on our mobile devices, the release of the iPhone last week has put that to rest. Over the next couple of years there will be continual and rapid growth in all manner of accessories and tools to make our use of mobile devices even more useful with add ons, software tools and other techniques to give us the anywhere any time access to what we want to see. Some of those products will succeed and a vast number will not. One product that does stand out is one announced through this article that can enable the owner to view content in 3D on their mobiles. The forthcoming wave of 3D content that is hitting the nations’ theaters will play a key role in pushing the Neovision product into the public spotlight. Randal Kleiser a noted director of Grease and other movies, is behind this product.

Europe Now Open for Digital Cinema

June 26, 2007

Analysis of:Expo hails groundbreaking deal | www.variety.com

The world will eventually move to digital cinema exhibition. It is a matter of when not if and how long it will take. At issue from the start of the transition has been who is going to pay. The exhibitors do not want to spend a lot of money just to save the distributors/studios their print costs. As such, the virtual print fee concept was created whereby, in general terms, for each digital theater showing a movie digitally, the studios would contribute $750 to the digital cinema financing effort. The $750 is approximately ½ the cost of a film print. This deal is for Fox and Universal only, but the others may follow suit. If the region’s cinemas agree to work with this virtual print fee concept, then the roll out of digital cinema on that continent will grow quickly.

The Indie and the Holy Grail of Digital Cinema

June 19, 2007

Analysis of:Giving the time of day to targeted audiences | www.latimes.com

Alternative content is a great concept for idle capacity in the nation’s movie theaters and is enabled due to the transition to digital cinema. It will be a while before this concept is proven or disproven. The reasons are simple: there has not been much alternative content and the theaters, used to having product marketed for them by the major studios and independent distributors, may not be in a position to market the product in a way that can be financially rewarding to all concerned. Different kinds of programming have been produced for this market from kids programming as discussed in this article to the Metropolitan Opera. There are a number of projects on the horizon that may click with consumers, including the broadcast of sporting events to the theaters. National Amusements has been doing this for a while with Red Sox games. Chances are this content, at least at the outset, will come from the independent producers, not from the studios.

Is this a blockbuster decision, or not?

June 18, 2007

Analysis of:Blockbuster: Blu-Ray All The Way | www.forbes.com

Blockbuster has announced that it will offer all new high definition DVDs in the Blu Ray format on an exclusive basis. Whether or not this is a blockbuster decision by Blockbuster as it relates to the Sony led format remains to be seen. And this will not necessarily spell the doom of the Toshiba led HD DVD system. Time will tell as the market decides. The reason that this may not be a fait accompli is due to the fact that it is still very early in this format war. This may be a battle won, but it is not a turning point in the war. Also, there are other major competitors to Blockbuster in terms of DVDs. What if, for example, Wal Mart, Target and Best Buy, the three market share leaders in the important sell through market, decide to carry both formats or if any one or all three offered only the HD DVD? What if Net Flix made a similar decision? Hollywood Video?

U2 may be one of the lesser names getting involved in 3D

June 5, 2007

Analysis of:U2 may be one of the lesser names getting involved in 3D | www.hollywoodreporter.com

By most standards, U2 is a leader in all aspects of the entertainment business, but when major players such as James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, Robert Zemeckis, Disney, DreamWorks and others are involved in 3D stereoscopic movies, U2 is just another name on the list. U2 was at Cannes to publicize the release of their U2-3D movie which if all goes well will be released this fall. I have been following 3D very closely and will be moderating a panel entitled The Arrival of 3D - Digital 3D Platform for Feature Films and Television on June 12 at Digital Hollywood. http://www.digitalhollywood.com/LASpring07Agenda.html. 3D is one of the hottest topics in Hollywood today with all of the major players and many others attempting to gain a foothold in the medium. The company list for my panel is formidable, with Dolby, DreamWorks, Kodak, Real D, Sony and Texas Instruments represented. Some 3D product will succeed and some will not. U2 has strong possibilities.

Fanning the Flames with a Burning Desire

September 27, 2006

Analysis of:CinemaNow burns Furious with DVD | www.videobusiness.com

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift has become the first movie to be released day and date on DVD and download to burn. CinemaNow is the only service offering this movie at this time on this basis. Other older titles are available on a download to burn basis, but that service did not start until after the movies were already out on DVD.

Cinema Now is the king of the download to burn industry, in fact for studio feature films, they are the only ones currently providing the service, even though MovieLink is moving in that direction.

The only thing holding MovieLink back at this time is for the studios to make some titles available in the CSS scrambling system that MovieLink has licensed and which is also used currently on packaged DVDs.

CinemaNow indicates that titles available on a download to burn basis outsell the same titles on a download to own basis by five to one.

With Universal’s move to allow this download to burn, it remains to be seen what Fox, Warner Bros. Paramount, Sony and the other major studios and the independents decide to do. They are careful to not irk their major packaged media customers Wal Mart, Target and Best Buy.

But, with everyone rushing to position themselves in the world of online content, this move by CinemaNow will be one to fan the fires.

Tooning in to China

September 20, 2006

Analysis of:China welcomes o'seas pic coin | www.variety.com

As with many other aspects of China’s economy, the country is looking to expand its movie and cartoon/animation production business.

This will be accomplished through investments from foreign entities and through the usual method of seeking work on an outsourced basis.

As testimony to this, the article points out that there are certain restrictions that have been lifted in terms of number of episodes allowed for a TV series, enabling Hong Kong investors to participate more fully in the industry in a variety of ways and in meeting their WTO goals of allowing more imported films to be exhibited in the country.

China is expected to produce 70,000 minutes of animation this year.

The Fat Lady and the Holy Grail

September 15, 2006

Analysis of:The Fat Lady Sings in Dolby | www.latimes.com

New York's Metropolitan Opera will begin to broadcast 6 operas this coming season to a number of movie theaters, taking advantage of the current rollout of digital cinema equipment.

The venture with National Cinemedia will initially be set up for 25 locations, a small percentage of the total number of theaters in the group. National Cinemedia is comprised of the three largest movie exhibition circuits, Regal Entertainment, AMC and Cinemark. These three companies have over one third of the total number of theaters in North America with 14,481 screens in nearly 1,200 sites.

Tickets for the Saturday morning PST time slot will initially cost $18, a reasonable price for an opera or, for that matter, for any high end, high profile live event.

This venture is yet one more indication that the ways that content is generated and distributed is changing rapidly and will continue to change for the foreseeable future.

Akamai, Not the Only Game in Town

September 13, 2006

Analysis of:Content Delivery Network Trends | www.variety.com

Akamai is not the only game in town. There are many companies that are jumping into the burgeoning business of online content such as CBS and their counterparts at the other networks and the major studios.

And there are a whole host of companies that are providing content delivery network services to support the industry. Akamai is but one of them, although it may currently be the best known. Limelight and Vital Stream have their high profile customers, but so do many others involved in this industry.

We are only at the tip of the iceberg in what is becoming a huge industry. We have yet to discover all of the ways that content will be delivered to the waiting customer.

3D on the Crest of HD to the Home

August 25, 2006

Analysis of:Fox Sports Conducting 3-D Tests | www.tvweek.com

HD is in the process of being rolled out to the marketplace, not withstanding the current reports on which I have commented that only about 1/3 of the US households with HDTVs have subscribed to an HD service.

This article discusses how Fox Sports, an innovator in every respect, has experimented with capturing an NFC Championship game, a Lakers game and a boxing match in 3D with HD cameras and has shown them internally on auto stereo monitors.

Auto stereo monitors do not require the use of 3D glasses in order to view the images in 3D.

Fox Sports is going to ride the wave of more HD sets going into the home, the number of movies being created and/or exhibited in 3D and the number of video games that are being developed in 3D stereo. David Hill, Chairman of Fox Sports went so far as to remark that HD is merely a stepping stone to 3D.

Fox is not alone in this, although, according to the article, ESPN, a leader in HD is reportedly “evaluating” 3D.

The Korean government announced its 3-D Vision 2010 initiative last year, an attempt to develop 3D technology that can become the worldwide standard by 2010.

The article acknowledges that there are still some skeptics on the subject of 3D, but that is likely a result of the problems with old 3D technology. It is possible that they may not have ever seen good 3D.

Impetus for HD Required – Is It Next Gen DVDs?

August 25, 2006

Analysis of:Number of HD households grows, but service still only available in a few countries | broadcastengineering.com

This article discusses the state of High Definition (HD) Households around the world based in large part on a recent study by In-Stat.

The number of HDTV households, defined as those with an HDTV and buying/receiving HD signals is expected to increase by nearly 1/3 from mid 2006 to the end of the year.

Not surprisingly the US and Japan lead the way with 91% of the total, with Canada, Australia and Korea following.

Europe is expected to open up big in the next few years, but does not make the top 5 at this time.

Most interestingly, and most importantly, the study indicates that fewer than 1/3 of the US HD households subscribe to an HD service.

Given that Toshiba and Sony are the two major players in developing the next generation of high definition DVD players, these statistics and predictions should be meaningful to both companies.

Funding Tom Cruise

August 24, 2006

Analysis of:It's a war of the words | www.variety.com

It has been a war of words as the article states about the announcement yesterday about Viacom/Paramount parting ways with Tom Cruise, his business partner Paula Wagner and their production company Cruise/Wagner.

Not only has it been a war of words between the two camps, with Chairman Sumner Redstone leading the brigade on the Viacom side, but it has been a bonanza of words for the entire talk show circuit, celebrity magazines, blogs, syndicated prime time access entertainment shows, etc.

In the end, Paramount will continue and maybe in better shape as they continue to change the way that the studio does business. This has been happening since Jon Dolgen and Sherry Lansing left and Tom Freston and Brad Grey took over.

Frankly, while the Dolgen/Lansing regime had some good years, the talk around town had continuously been how risk averse they were and how difficult it was to do business with them and Paramount.

While the studio had been in a state of turmoil as executives came and went, it seems that things have settled down and that there is a game plan to make more movies and to do them at a fair price.

The acquisition of DreamWorks and the decision to upgrade the status of MTV Films and Nickelodeon to full divisions should minimize any downsides to the departure of Cruise.

Movies, More Risk Than Glamour

August 22, 2006

Analysis of:Picture This: Warner Bros. Having a Rare Down Year | www.latimes.com

To those who go to the movies regularly, movies and the life surrounding them appears to be glamorous. Syndicated TV programs that cover celebrities add to the feeling as does the weekly Box Office Report on many news programs from Sunday noon to mid day Monday. Most people who hear the box office reports do not know the difference between box office and the film rental that is returned to the studio distributor. They are thus dealing with incomplete information.

For those who make the movies, such as Warner Bros. it is a very risky business. Glamour can fade quickly in the heat of battle for box office and raising money for future movies.

This year, Warner Bros. is going to lose a lot of money on movies such as the mega budget Poseidon, Ant Bully (dispelling the concept that CG animation is a sure fire winner), Lady in the Water and ATL. Superman Returns did significantly less business than expected for this very highly anticipated movie, but it will turn a profit.

Warner Bros. is in a bind. Besides losing money on many of its pictures and needing to satisfy both corporate managers and shareholders, it must satisfy the business partners who have invested equity in their WB movies.

The bottom line is: if equity investors do not see a return then they will not continue to invest once current long term agreements have expired. Sounds simple, but picking the movies in which to invest is tricky. If it was easy, more people would be doing it and doing it successfully.

Hollywood Studios Used To Be Financiers Only

August 15, 2006

Analysis of:Fox DVD, download dates in sync | www.hollywoodreporter.com

20^th Century Fox has announced through its Fox Interactive Media that beginning in October, it will sell downloads of its movies and select TV shows day and date with their DVD release for movies and the day after broadcast for TV shows.

This will give Apple’s iTunes some serious competition.

The content will be distributed across many of the Fox interactive sites such as MySpace, its robust, sticky, viral web site that is the most visited site on the web these days and has been a huge hit for Fox and its News Corp. parent since its purchase last year.

While the company has offered TV previously on iTunes, the new downloads will be Windows Media capable only. They will also be enabled for the Microsoft recently announced Zune player due out late this year.

The player, coupled with the popularity of the sites where the content will be available will be the source of the Apple iTunes competition.

The pricing for the movies is reported to be about $20, higher than the cost of a new DVD at Wal Mart, Target or Best Buy, the leading retailers for DVDs. TV shows are at the standard price of $1.99.

This move will increase the competition for making product available for download and will also prompt other studios to sell their product on Fox sites as well.

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