VARIETY MAGAZINE
Buzz builds for home 3-D
Digital Cinema Summit looks beyond glasses
By DAVID S. COHEN
LAS VEGAS -- Audiences are becoming interested in 3-D television, and
the industry must satisfy that demand for 3-D movies to thrive.
That was the message from a series of panels Sunday morning at the
Digital Cinema Summit held at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Phil Lelyveld, a strategy adviser for the Entertainment Technology
Center at USC, hailed the momentum behind 3-D movies but warned, "If
we don't show visible progress now (on 3-D in the home), this momentum
could die and move into a niche environment."
Lelyveld led a panel offering the studio perspective on home 3-D.
Others on the panel were Darcy Antonellis, Warner Bros. president of
technical operations; Real D co-founder Josh Greer; and Nandhu
Nandhakumar, senior VP of advanced technology at LG Electronics.
Antonellis said Warner has identified 40 titles in its library that
are candidates for conversion to 3-D. "We're working on both new
titles and on trying to revitalize our library," she said.
But that effort depends on being able to tap into homevideo revenues
that aren't available because 3-D TV is in its infancy, with multiple
incompatible formats and almost no penetration of the home market.
"We want to move it into more of a 'long tail' experience," Antonellis
said. "It changes the whole economic model."
At the corporate level, Warner has been somewhat reticent on 3-D as it
is still negotiating deals for virtual print fees, but the studio had
a surprise 3-D hit in "Journey to the Center of the Earth."
Antonellis and other panelists agreed it is essential that the
industry make buying a 3-D TV simple so that consumers know what they
need, understand what they'll get and enjoy the experience once they
have it.
"I need to be sure," Antonellis said, "and our marketing folks will
ask this: Will the experience be the same across all devices? Will the
features be the same across all devices? Those are reasonable
questions to ask."
She added that Warner expects to see "a fair amount of movement in
(the 3-D TV) space" in 2010.
For now, homevideo 3-D releases such as Warner's "Journey" are going
out in anaglyph format, similar to the old red/green glasses method
that almost everyone wants to put behind them.
"I would call anaglyph a necessary evil right now," said Greer. "For
people who've never seen 3-D, it's kind of like the gateway drug. It
lets you know there's a possibility." However, he added, many viewers
don't like it.
In an earlier presentation, Entertainment Technology Center executive
director David Wertheimer presented research showing that audience
interest in 3-D is growing and is strongest among people who've seen
3-D movies.
"I guarantee if you did this survey in the '50s or '70s and '80s,"
said Wertheimer, "you would have gotten the opposite response: 'I have
no interest in seeing another 3-D movie; I have no interest in having
it in my home,' because those earlier versions of 3-D were so
uncomfortable to watch."
For example, the ETC's statistics show that half of consumers overall
would pay extra for a 3-D television, but among people who've seen a
3-D movie in the last year, that number climbs to more than 60%, with
30% willing to pay $100 extra.
Moreover, ETC research shows consumers who've seen recent 3-D movies
are undeterred by the prospect of wearing glasses at home to watch
3-D.
The strongest interest in 3-D, said Wertheimer, is among the 18-29
demo, especially those with children in the home. It's unclear, he
said, whether that's because younger auds like 3-D or because so many
3-D releases have been aimed at children and families.
Wertheimer also said that consumer interest in 3-D is similar to the
response to high-def TV. Consumers were skeptical at first, but
"they'd see content in high-def and say, 'Wow, I've got to have that.'
The same thing is happening with 3-D."
There will be a separate 3-D Techzone at the 2010 Consumer Electronics
Show to display 3-D home electronics.
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