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Update on Prima Cinema

Update: Theya re not offering The Hobbit for sale. They have Le Miserables and a number of other titles on deck for 2013 so far, as was explained to me.

Honestly, this thing looks killer. I just hope they can get EVERY new release: Superman, Ironman 3, second Hobbit, etc...
 
You know what- at first I thought this was way too expensive- now I just see it as expensive as compared to a typical BR player + plasma / LCD monitor, BUT, really as a compliment to a system like Kaleidescape, in the kinds of homes many K setups end up in, it really can make sense. I thought the going in price was more like 75k- not 35. 500 a pop is a little pricey- but if you consider the hassle factor etc- its not insanity.

I'd like to hear more about this.

I hope it does well!
 
Hey, guys. I know there hasn't been much news on PRIMA here lately, but thought I would give you a few things to read. To my knowledge, I am one of the few (if not only?) A/V reviewer to actually get to live with a PRIMA for a couple of weeks for a review. Think some folks here might enjoy my review/experience on the PRIMA.

Best!
John Sciacca

Prima Cinema “I’ve Beheld the Future”


My review at Residential Systems


My write-up at Digital Trends

And a blog, Why the PRIMA Cinema Model IS the Future
 
here is my two cents:

if you have young children, are unmistakably famous, or have a jam packed schedule but still want to enjoy a movie while it is current, this system makes absolute sense. and with home theater rooms costing upwards of hundreds of thousands at times, what better way to enjoy than with the latest new release? I bet people here have projectors costing as much. without content, the projector is useless.
 
I'm waiting for two more conditions to be met before inking the paperwork:

1. Participation by at least two more major studios.

and

2. A reasonable belief on my part that PC will be around for awhile, subjective I know, but with additional studios I'll be most of the way to that belief. (I don't need another $35K doorstop.)


Even if I'm "in," it will not affect my K usage in any way. The movies through PC are only available in the "box" while the film is actually in the theatre, then they drop out. I also don't envision watching a PC movie more than once while it's in the theatre, especially at $500 per viewing ($600 for 3D).


Jim
 
I can afford it. But I can't get my mind around it AT ALL. Here's the conditions that would have to be met for me to think ANYONE should bother with this:

1. All major studios signed up.
2. You love movies and already have a bad-ass theater.
3. You choose to live somewhere more than an hour drive to the closest *decent* real theater.

Otherwise? The pricing and limitations make no sense. I TOTALLY understand why they have to price it like they do, but I just can't see this working for enough people to matter. *I* would have to be able to watch it a few more times over a longer period of time -or- the per-movie price needs to be way less.

Also, they're missing a HUGE boat by not trying to *be* a Kscape setup, too. Even if your premium viewing is very limited, why not build the hardware to work like Kscape and give you the BR version of the movie once it releases THAT way, too? Or at least the option to buy it like Kscape?

My guess is they were only able to work out what they did *because* the hardware is SOOOO limited in what it even CAN do so that they don't have to worry about it getting hacked. But yikes, there just needs to be a lot more to it for the pricing to make sense, I think.


--Donnie
 
You all basically sum up my opinion as well.

Question- what studios are not currently on board with PC- I thought they all were.
 
The Residential Systems review linked above says "Universal (a major investor), Lionsgate, Focus Features, Cinedigm, and Magnolia" are the only studios.

I find it kind of crappy that PC's own website doesn't tell you the per-movie costs nor which studios are signed up.



--Donnie
 
I personally would love Kaleidescape to integrate this service into their systems...perhaps an M1000 player that would allow the security etc...that would be required - even if the player was $7k or even a bit more, it could then integrate the entire movie collection/system and we would all need to buy more memory...seems like a win/win without having to invest in the Prima Cinema hardware!
 
... The pricing and limitations make no sense. I TOTALLY understand why they have to price it like they do, but I just can't see this working for enough people to matter. *I* would have to be able to watch it a few more times over a longer period of time -or- the per-movie price needs to be way less.

I talked to one of the guys from Prima for about an hour after a demo at Audio Advice in Raleigh, and a lot of the conversation was about the business model, which made a lot more sense (from the perspectives of both the intended consumer and the studio) afterward. I was really surprised/impressed that he was willing to spend so much time talking to us (or to come demo his product in Raleigh, much less at a more-or-less public event).

An aside: the demo was on a 4k projector, and we were told that what we were watching was encoded at a resolution between 1080p and 4k, without being exact about what it was. I suspect it was double 1080p simply because that's convenient, but I don't know, and I don't know if that was an engineering test/demo, or something they intended to release in a product. Other than some Sony stuff at a simulation trade show, it was the best quality picture I've ever seen. I'm not a home-theater guy, though, so that observation may not mean much.​

Anyway, apparently if you're a Hollywood insider, you can already (before PC) get access to movies at home on the day they're released: the studio will send you a disc by courier--I guess back in the day, you had a 35mm projector at home. The studios have problems with this model--it's a pain in the ass, and apparently copies sometimes leak. Hence the encryption, fingerprinting, and watermarking.

So for the thousand or so people on this circuit, the money is insignificant and they like the convenience factor. Prima just expands the pool of potential consumers for whom this sort of service is available to people outside the movie business, but for whom the money is still pocket change. Even 40 or 50k customers is probably enough for Prima to do well.

So maybe Prima:Kaleidescape::Kaleidescape:AppleTV...
 
So for the thousand or so people on this circuit, the money is insignificant and they like the convenience factor. Prima just expands the pool of potential consumers for whom this sort of service is available to people outside the movie business, but for whom the money is still pocket change. Even 40 or 50k customers is probably enough for Prima to do well.

So maybe Prima:Kaleidescape::Kaleidescape:AppleTV...

Assuming they can sell that many, sure. I'm just not certain that they can, I guess. Just because there are that many people out there who *could* buy it doesn't mean they would. *shrug* But hey, they're obviously pretty smart if they've gotten this far, so I assume they've done the research and feel like it's solid, so maybe I'm wrong and it's a niche product and the niche is just big enough.


--Donnie
 
I think the niche is only big enough if you can get a better spread of content, and I think the writing is on the wall for that in any kind of nice timeframe. Universal being invested in PC is probably going to be their biggest problem - I mean, can you see the rest of Holywood queuing up to get content onto this system?

I was privy to this idea that PC are now looking like managing to bring to market back around 2009 - it was a different company (that went belly-up in the process) and I'm pretty sure that they were pally with Universal too. For sure, Universal seem to be more forward looking in these kind of endeavours than much of the rest of the industry, but I think studio-led attempts to open the markets are problematic because they're all out for themselves and the competition isn't someone you want to partner with if you can avoid it.

Movie & music stores would be pretty dull places without studios very far at arm's length.

I find Kal's entry to online interesting - Rotten Tomatoes (firstly on Ipad app) and then Warner (store) and Flixster (UV) - all the "same" company. How soon are they going to get other studios online with already a seeming "Warner" allegiance?

I don't get how these niche players will ever deliver useful enough store fronts on the kind of budgets they have. Point in case - Vudu - burnt through close to $100m to get 50,000 customers, and have survived by being absorbed into a mass-market player. Is that what the future holds for Kal / PC if they do manage to make a go of it?
 
What company are you talking about that went belly up in 2009? PC surely has to sign up many more studios
 
It actually IS $2mil, but my understanding is they will work to develop a less expensive version (but likely still $1 mil+.)


Jim
 
Hey guys, just a quick update. Weinstein Company just recently signed up with Prima Cinema. So that's in addition to Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Millennium Entertainment, Magnolia Pictures, Focus Features, Samuel Goldwyn Films, Cinedigm, RLJ/Image Entertainment and select Lionsgate titles.

I had a good lunch with the CEO and CFO of Prima a few weeks ago. It sounds like they are close to signing up a few more majors, and I wouldn't be surprised if they had most majors by the end of 2014 (my estimate, not theirs).

As it is, I had fun watching Ender's Game with a bunch of friends over Christmas (a movie I highly recommend, BTW).

Even with the limited title selection, this brings back the fun of having a home theater with being to able to see movies while in theatrical release.
 
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