Page 5 - CinemaRecord #11R.pdf

Satellite Cinemas by Fred Page

In 1992-93 considerable publicity was given to a company called Satellite Cinemas which hoped to set up
video theatres in population centres of 15,000 or more where there was not an existing conventional cinema.
Several were erected in country N.S.W. and there was a strong likelihood that Bacchus Marsh would be the
first in Victoria.

The company designed self-contained cinemas that could seat 24, 44, or 56 people. The cinema would be
delivered to the towns in pre-fabricated form, complete with curtains, carpets, seats, lights and reception/
display hardware.

After construction by a builder- "or do it yourself' - and installation of the satellite dish and video hardware, the
cinema was to be operable within three to four days. (The company had a 24-seat version for demonstration
purposes.) Day-to-day operation was said to be no more complicated than a domestic television set.

Distributors are said to have welcomed the proposal. "It's a completely new market for them ... and they won't
have 200 extra prints running around the country. Distributors will be paid on a percentage of the takings, which
reduces the financial burden on most licensees. In tourist resorts, such as Hamilton Island, the licensee will
most likely pay a set fee. We are only licensing towns or suburbs that are miles from existing cinemas, so there
is no conflict. There is no intention to compete with film projection cinemas, due to their larger size and superior
pictures. However, the latest video projectors from Sony are said to be close to film quality. The company has
used line-doubling technology to increase the resolution: in theory, it doubles the vertical resolution of the
three-metre wide screen. Each site will use an S-VHS recording system."

Diagram of a self-contained theatrette proposed by Satellite Cinemas

It now appears that none were built in Victoria and only a few in N.S.W. which have since been converted to
35mm film.

Satellite transmission during transponder down time was used to get the film to the cinema where it was
recorded for later screening. To avoid "hackers" receiving a watchable picture the image was compressed
"cinemascope" style in a 4:3 aspect ration and projected through an anamorphic lens to screen at a 16:9 aspect
ration. Screen width was three metres.

If any reader can supply photographs or personal opinions of satellite cinema experience they are invited to
submit them for future publication to provide for research at a later time.

The information on which this article is based appeared in March the 18th, 1993, issue of "Encore'' magazine.