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• "This is a dire predicament," said Tom and Lori Farber, owners of the Strand Theatre in Britton. "Since the theatre in Britton is only open on weekends, serves a very small market, and makes no money, we and the community at large are faced with a decision. Do we buy into keeping this small town icon alive, knowing that from a 'business sense' this makes no sense, but from a 'what makes a community viable' side it hits a homerun?"
• This technological crossroads has put theater owners and their communities into a soul-searching process: Is there enough support in these small towns for their movie theaters to make a leap of faith in to the digital future?
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• Reel retirement
• Hollywood studios have been advocating the transition to digital-format movies for at least a decade. The benefits for them are significant: Each movie printed on film and shipped to a theater costs a studio $3,000 to $4,000, while a digital version loaded onto a hard drive and shipped to a theater costs about $75. For a movie in wide release, a switch to digital will save the studios millions.
• Digital formats have advantages in quality, as images look sharper and brighter. The new equipment also makes it possible to show movies in 3-D, and the theater could also show live sporting events, concerts, or conferences. A small bit of extra revenue from such events isn't likely to be enough to pay for the upgrade, however.
• The Hollywood studios have recognized that this format change benefits them more than the theaters, so they have offered to do joint financing agreements--the theaters would receive a portion of the savings that the studios have from producing copies digitally instead of on film. Even with these agreements, however, the upfront cost of buying the equipment is the responsibility of the theater.
• As of this August, 3,447 out of 5,700 theaters had made the transition to digital, according to a representative of the National Association of Theatre Owners, as quoted in an article on the industry website TheWrap.com. John Fithian, president of the association, said there isn't much more time to ponder. "If you don't make the decision to get on the digital train soon, you will be making the decision to get out of business," he said in 2011.
• About 10 to 20 percent of theaters are expected to close because of the mandate, according to industry experts.
• Local theaters have responded in different ways to the digital mandate. No matter what they choose, the road ahead is a difficult one.
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