Boxoffice-January.2000

heard
TECH
TALK
by Annlee Ellingson
p
acquisition attempt, net
from $2 4 mil .
iBlCTOR^BAUJWffYi^ HAfj TIMES
^
Ballantyne of Omaha, the nab on lea I'"S^gg 1^, below the range projected
reported third quarter fiscal results below ...^ ytar s levels September rose four
by Ballantyne management. Net revenue-.
^^XisaJu^e las. year, .ncluding
percent to $21.6 million compared to * 2( ^
?th I' unsuccessful
\ $400,000 pre-tax charge associated wth an ^
mcome for the third quarter was $1.6 million, or
SUPPLY SIDE
the company up for sale.
decided that in the current business environment,
TIVOLI ORDERS OUT FOR ITALIAN
Tivoli Industrie, has merged w.th Targett,
Sankey, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary
of the Italian lighting manufacturer
Each Tivoli stockholder will receive a cash assets, employees and industry position. optim istic this process will result in an
payment of $4.50 per share of common
stock, bringing the total proceed* to stockholders
to approximately $5.6 mil ion. T.vol
that allow us the ability to tweak a chair
-
chairman and CEO Terrence C. Walsh will prImieTc^ntractT
without adding any huge cost to the chair,
remain with the new firm as vice chairman Five-year-old Baltimore-based Premier
and CEO, and president Charles F. Kimmel Seating Company has secured prestigious he adds. "We almost refer to it as an erect0r
will retain his current position.
seating contracts with two major U.S.
-| think [quality seating is] one of the most
Kimmel tells BOXOFFICE that the merger exhibitors. Premier will install 5,000 of s
,
important aspects of moviegoing, Wenger
will be mutually beneficial. "Targetti is going new V I P model seats at the former Majestic
concludes. "I think it's absolutely vital and I
To benefit in the U.S. market by having an Theater on 42nd Street in New York City in
think that's why companies like AMC and
than,
even stronger presence they had wrth the heart of Times Square. AMC ,s transforming
the historic
General Cinema are working very hard to
the ioint venture company [Targetti USA|
develop what they consider to be the perfect
building into a multistory,
25-screen
he says. "And Tivoli is going to have a much
seat. They have not taken it for granted; nor
stronger presence in international markets
have we."
megaplex, slated to
where the Targett, company has been strong
from a sales and marketing standpoint over
open in March 2000.
The seating company VOTING IS EVERYTHING
the
also has been tapped
'OnTof the things that's industry specific
is that Targetti does see a very big opportunity
particularly in the European
by General Cinema to
design and
k>"
In an effort to reach the 30 million voters
who go to the movies each week, the
supply luxrnarket-
Sprite/NBA All-Star 2000 contest has
— ury seats for the
place'for multiplex activity," he conttnu«.
Y
installed balloting in 2,500 theatres in .he
The V.I.P.
exhibitor's "club" and
"We've had a big run here in the U.S., as
United States and Canada. Basketball fans
everybody knows, and it's just starting in he "premium" viewing areas premising in
can vote using the 24
European market, where the multiplex activity
is starting to pick up. Targett, sees that Premier VP and COO Paul Wenger says
select theatres throughout the country.
million ballots or the
2,000 balloting kiosks
opportunity, and Tivoli, as the leading vendonnto
that industry, should be able to take tor "That common denominator is that
that both deals have a common denomina-
located in participating
theatres or online
we're not a company that approaches things
at nba.com. In support
of the campaign,
advantage of that." . ,
Meanwhile, Tivoli has been recognized from the standpoint that 'This is.what we
by the Illumination Engineering Society of have,'" he tells BOXOFFICE. "We really
a pre-feature short
North America (IESNA) for its Tivoli Beacon approach things from the standpoint of
starring
Allar
and Tivoli Usher theatre lighting systems 'What would you like?
(see New Products, November 1999).
"We've adopted certain technologies
Houston, Glen Rice
Damon Stoudamire _
and Kerry Kittles start- R,
ed running on 17,000
(newproducts introduced two
At ShowEast, QSC Audio
uD nrM 7
new four-channel amplifiers,
the DCA 1644 and
the DCA 1824, designed
to offer more amplifier
channels in less rack
space. QSC also premiered
the newest models
of its Digital Cinema
Monitor Series in
designed for six-channel tri-amp or eight chanplays,
the AlphaVision FS series, a, ^naMSM
design that can
contemporary thin,
display up to 20 lines of information. A
corresponding software program,
Simply Theatre, programs the display
and posts all theatre communication.
Write 7840 N. 86th St., Milwaukee,
Wl 53224; call (800) 558-7022 or
(414) 357-2020; fax (414) 357-2029;
e-mail sales@ams-i.com; or logon at AlphaVision
www.ams-i.com.
i,:„i««
screens in November, and Sprite drinkers
can win "Movie Cash" in an under-the-cap
promotion.
SCREENCHECKING IN
The Movie Experience (formerly SoCal
Cinemas) has been certified by the Kodak
ScreenCheck program, which evaluates the
presentation quality in individual auditoriums.
"I thought this was a great program the
moment about it, says Movie
I
Experience president Bruce Sanborn. Our
family has always believed it is our obli
tion to provide a high-quality moviegoing
experience for the public This program
notifies our guests that they have been
[experiencing! and will continue to expertence
movies the way they are intended to be
|
seen and heard."
LED HIGH-TAILS IT TO NEVADA
I igl" ng & Electrical Design (LED) has
relocated to 141 Cassia Way, Units B and C
Henderson, NV 89104. The toll-tree phone
is still (800) 700-5483, and the toll-free tax
remains (888) 223-6599.
54 BOXOFFICE