Athens—Jun 23, 2007
Kodak Brings Moviegoers in Greece ‘First Ever’ Opportunity To Enjoy Movies in Digital
3D Village Cinemas use Kodak system in two popular Athens multiplexes
Kodak announced today that its proven Kodak Digital Cinema Content Player
JMN3000 is bringing the magic and uniqueness of digital 3D to moviegoers in Greece,
in the first-ever digital installations in that country. ‘Meet The Robinsons’, the
latest 3D animated motion picture from the Walt Disney Company, was the first movie
shown on the two largest Village Cinemas screens in Athens, using the Kodak system.
“We like the unique cinema experience that digital 3D offers,” said Gregory Komninos,
operations manager, for Village Cinemas, “but any new digital system we install
has to be a workhorse, handling 2D digital presentations as well. When we saw Kodak’s
demonstration of their digital cinema system, and realized how easy and reliable
their equipment is, we began working on a plan to bring them into our cinemas.”
The plan took shape with the help of Spacevision, agent for both Kodak Digital Cinema
and Christie digital projectors in Greece. Spacevision put the system together using
components from each company, and brought in REAL D to add 3D capability. “These
are the first digital cinema installations in Greece,” said Pallas Elias, general
sales manager, Spacevision. “We know that the evolution to digital will involve
a long-term effort and it’s important for us to work with companies we know and
brands we trust. This is a first step; we’re confident of the reliability and support
of the Kodak system under the demanding conditions of two busy, working theatres.”
The Kodak Digital Cinema system handles 2D or 3D movies and automatically recognizes
the compression format used – JPEG or MPEG – and employs that for playback. In both
installations in Greece, it’s being used as a standalone unit for a single screen;
however, the content players can also be networked and driven by the Kodak Theatre
Management System for fully automated content handling and presentation. “We’ve
built Kodak’s extensive imaging capability into the system – and designed it to
serve as a building block for digital cinema as it evolves,” said Brian Kercher,
Kodak Digital Cinema General Manager for Europe. “It works seamlessly with all DCI-compliant
feature projectors, including the Christie units used in these two installations.
Audiences will enjoy a great motion picture experience.”
“At Village Cinemas, we take pride in creating that audience experience by doing
things first,” said Komninos. “We were one of the first with stadium seating and
the concepts we’ve introduced, such as Club Europa and Gold Class, were developed
to raise the standards of cinema entertainment. Now, digital projection continues
that tradition and we are pleased to be working with Kodak and our other partners
to bring this to moviegoers in Greece.”
Village Roadshow, parent company for Village Cinemas, operates in five countries
– Australia, Singapore, the Czech Republic, Italy, and Greece – with more than 145,000
seats in 699 screens in 71 sites. In Greece, Village Cinemas have 72 screens with
14,180 seats in 7 sites. Kodak’s system is being installed in the Village Faliro
and the Village Park 20, both in Athens.
“As Village Cinema’s business evolves, we will continue to advance our system to
keep pace with their needs,” said Kodak’s Kercher. “This is a new beginning, a new
opportunity, for us to work together, to learn together, and to grow with digital
cinema as this business develops.”
