SPOTLIGHT ON MEDIA SALLES CINEMA D’EUROPA
The MEDIA Salles Cinema d’Europa project, set up under the auspices of the European Union’s 1991 – 1995 MEDIA Programme, with the support of the Italian Government, addresses cinema exhibition throughout Europe, as well as the international promotion of European films. Its final aim is the promotion of cinemas as services for the local community, as the preferred places for viewing films and as means for circulating works of European origin. MEDIA Salles’ members are the national and international associations representing cinema exhibitors in Europe. The work carried out by MEDIA Salles under the MEDIA Plus Programme occurs in three main areas – training, information and promotion – which complement one another.
Cinema exhibition: training
MEDIA Salles has created training courses specifically addressing
exhibitors, with the aim of providing the tools needed for dealing with
the most important phenomena characterizing the cinema industry in these
times of important change.In particular, since 2004 MEDIA Salles has been
offering professional players in Europe constant updates on the advance
of digital projection in our continent by means of the course “DigiTraining
Plus: European Cinemas Experiencing New Technologies”.
After six editions in the UK and Belgium, the seventh edition of the “DigiTraining
Plus: European Cinemas Experiencing New Technologies” took place
in Helsinki, Finland, from 17 to 21 February 2010.
In addition to visits of some digital cinemas, lectures on burning issues
such as standard, business models, availability of alternative content
and the prospects for 3D were given by experts of worldwide renown.
The principal aim of the course is to offer professional players in the
world of the cinema, in particular exhibitors, the knowledge they need
to weigh up risks and opportunities in the transition to digital. Given
the relevance of those information, MEDIA Salles provides scholarships
to facilitate participation to the “DigiTraining Plus”.
In conceiving and setting up DigiTraining Plus, MEDIA Salles have taken
as their basis the experience acquired from training European exhibitors
in theatre management and marketing, as well as from the promotion of
European films through the course “European Cinema Exhibition: A
New Approach”. Set up in collaboration with EFC – European
Film College – and DB – Danske Biografer, after an experimental
phase and two editions held in Ebeltoft (DK) in 2002 and 2003, the course
was extended in 2003 to include the itinerant format which, after Rome
(I), was held in Budapest (HU) in 2004.
The cinema industry worldwide: information
MEDIA Salles offers a service providing information on European cinema
that is unique of its kind and can be accessed by companies and professional
players throughout the world. The “European Cinema Yearbook”
collects the results of the yearly survey on the audiovisual industry
in European countries both inside and outside the European Union, recording
the main trends throughout the continent, by means of over 40 statistical
indicators. Published for the first time in 1992, the “European
Cinema Yearbook” has become the reference point for gaining knowledge
of the audiovisual industry. The most recent edition, which is the eighteenth,
provides data on cinema-going in 34 countries of Western, Eastern and
Central Europe and the Mediterranean Rim, by means of numerous comparative
tables relating to the 1989-2008 period. The Yearbook can be accessed
directly over the Internet at the MEDIA Salles website http://www.mediasalles.it.
This tool is integrated by the Newsletter “European Cinema Journal”,
also present online and published specially for the promotional events
organized by MEDIA Salles, and the “Cinema Research Library”,
an on-line collection of essays and articles on topics such as: cinema
exhibition in Europe, multiplexes, the dissemination of European cinema
in America, the history of cinema exhibition, the advent of new technologies
for the promotion of films and theatrical distribution, young audiences.
The “DGT online informer” is the most recent information service.
This agile electronic Newsletter, launched in 2006 and available on the
MEDIA Salles’ website, provides, by means of interviews and brief
articles, a periodical update on new developments and novelties to come
in the field of digital projection.
Promotion of European films: the Focus on Europe events and the
Italian Cinema Worldwide initiative
MEDIA Salles is committed to the promotion of European films through work
specifically addressing all those involved in the fields of exhibition
and distribution. Thanks to the series of Focus on Europe events, the
Association created, in 1996, a launching pad for European audiovisual
products at the most important professional gatherings worldwide, both
in Europe and the United States. The programme offered by MEDIA Salles
envisages round-tables, pre-screenings of films and trailers, the distribution
of promotional material and on-line information, in order to increase
the opportunities for the worldwide circulation of new European films.
In 2001 a “special version” of the Focus on Europe events
has been introduced, entitled “Kidflix Special” with the collaboration
of International Festivals devoted to children’s films, such as
the ones held at “Castellinaria” (Bellinzona - Switzerland),
the “Giffoni Film Festival” (Giffoni, Salerno - Italy), the
“International Film Festival for Children and Youth” of Zlín
(Zlín - Czech Republic) and “BUFF - the International Children’s
and young People’s Film Festival” (Malmö - Sweden). This
work on the promotion of European films specifically addresses exhibitors
throughout Europe who offer special programming for children and schools.
In 2006, MEDIA Salles run Focus on Europe online on the occasion of Cinema
Expo International (Amsterdam). This tool, available on the MEDIA Salles’
website, contributes towards raising the visibility of European films,
offering, in particular, a calendar of Italian and European film releases
throughout the world.
In 2005, thanks to the support of the Italian Government, MEDIA Salles also ran Italian Cinema Worldwide, a completely new initiative aiming to place the latest Italian productions in the limelight at the main international meetings with cinema exhibitors, such as:
- Cinema Expo International for the Western European market;
- Kino Expo for those operating on the CIS and neighbouring markets;
- ShowEast for the market in the Americas;
- CineAsia for the Far East and the Pacific Rim.
For further information:
Elisabetta Brunella - Secretary General MEDIA Salles
Piazza Luigi di Savoia 24
20124 Milano - ITALY
Tel +39 0267397823
Fax +39 026690410
E-mail: infocinema@mediasalles.it