Sony And Kodak In Landmark Deal To Certify Cinema Screens

19-Dec-00

Audiences flocking to see ""Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"" are experiencing all of the nuances in sound and images that director Ang Lee wove into the fabric of this fantasy martial arts film about a quest for a missing jade sword. In a special arrangement with Sony Pictures Classics, the Kodak ScreenCheckô program certified eight premiere theatres in New York, after ensuring that they satisfied the highest standards for projection and audio quality. The prominently visual film opened December 8 in New York and three Canadian cities on 16 screens, taking in $686,657, which is more than $42,000 per theatre. It was the biggest opening ever for a Sony Pictures Classics movie.""This action-adventure thriller is about poetry in motion,"" says Sony Pictures Classics Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Production Dylan Leiner. ""There are subtleties in the images and stereo digital sound which complement breathtaking performances by Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh. We believe it is important for the public to experience this film the way it is meant to be seen and heard.""Sony Pictures Classics has designated 50 screens in 45 houses for certification by Kodak ScreenCheck where ""Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"" opens in 11 cities during the next several weeks.Critics are already raving about ""Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"" using words ranging from ""rousing"" to ""soulful."" It was produced in China and directed by Lee, whose credits include such landmark independent features as ""The Wedding Banquet,"" ""The Ice Storm"" and ""Sense And Sensibility.""""Sony Pictures Classics deserves to be applauded,"" says Don Lane, Kodak ScreenCheck manager, Entertainment Imaging division. ""It shows their commitment to supporting the creative community. This is the first time a motion picture distributor has taken this step to ensure that the director's vision is presented to audiences the way he intended.""The Kodak ScreenCheck program was introduced in 1999. Kodak established more than 100 parameters for evaluating screens based on SMPTE standards. These range from lines of sight to screen size, image brightness and audio quality. Up until now, the program has been a cooperative venture between Kodak and exhibitors. As the program continues to grow, Kodak ScreenCheck will be available to studios for use in checking theaters for premieres, first run films and special event screenings. Kodak technicians evaluate screens and, if necessary, they make recommendations for enhancements before certification. Lane estimates that nearly 1,000 screens have been certified around the world. ""We believe it makes a big difference in how audiences become involved with films when they can see and hear all subtle details in images and sound,"" Lane says. ""It helps pull them deeper into the story.""""Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"" opened in Los Angeles on December 15. The film opens in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Denver, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Washington, D.C. on December 22.

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