2019 is nearly over and we’re all still here, writes CTC president Richard Mitchell. Despite prophets of doom saying this would be the year that streaming killed cinema, it hasn’t. In fact, quite the opposite — and as we head into
the Chistmas season with a tranche of great releases, the predictions couldn’t be further from the truth. Ultimately, trying to compare cinema and streaming is impossible, the two are unsurprisingly completely different. Of course there’s a generation that’s growing up with streaming as a default entertainment medium and there is a convenience about watching a movie at home, however watching a theatrically released movie in a cinema environment with the technology the film-maker intended it to be shown on is the purest and best way to see that movie.
Rather than focus directly on technology in our cinemas — something it could be argued the consumer doesn’t really understand thanks to the bombardment of acronyms in the home cinema/consumer electronics market — there has to be a bigger focus on educating the consumer about the quality and diversity of the experiences we can provide and the role technology plays in these.
Education remains a central part of CTC’s vision to help cinemas create better outcomes for movie-goers and that starts with knowledge sharing-within our industry. Over the past few months we’ve sent members of the CTC team to various events and run training courses throughout Europe (even as far north as the Arctic circle), to Asia and Latin America sharing our knowledge and expertise of all things cinema technology (from projection to event cinema, marketing, esports, AR and VR and how these relate to the movie-going experience). Behind all we do is a passion for ensuring that cinema-goers have the best experience and that future generations grow up knowing that cinema is the only place to see movies designed for the big screen.
A Special Thank You
Finally, as we grow the presence of CTC throughout the world there is a need to acknowledge a member of our team who has decided the time is right to take a well-earned retirement. Our truly wonderful director and secretary Denis Kelly has been a part of CTC in its various guises for more than 40 years never shying away from responsibility and always rolling his sleeves up. Over the past two and half years as president, I have sought Denis’s counsel regularly and he has personally provided me with a level of unwavering support, encouragement, mentoring, guidance and friendship blended with his wonderful sense of humour. Denis is about as irreplaceable as it gets — and the entire CTC team wishes to thank him and wish him the very best in his well-earned retirement.
