| September 04, 2002 / Microsoft and BMW Bring BMW Films Digital Cinema Series to Theaters Across the U.S. Powered by Windows Media 9 Series |
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Microsoft and BMW Bring BMW Films Digital Cinema Series to Theaters Across the U.S. Powered by Windows Media 9 Series
BMW Digital Cinema Series to Open With Theatrical Feature from Artisan Entertainment and new bmwfilms.com Short Films from Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, John Woo, and Joe Carnahan
HOLLYWOOD, CA, SEPTEMBER 4, 2000... Microsoft Corp. and BMW of North America today announced that they are working together to create the BMW Films Digital Cinema Series. The series is a digital cinema program that will present full-length independent feature films projected digitally in commercial theaters nationwide throughout the coming year. In addition, The Hire, the highly anticipated second series of bmwfilms.com short films, will be exhibited in theaters in conjunction with the full-length film presentations. All of the feature films and short films will be screened in theaters using Windows Media Audio and Video 9 Series. This evening in Hollywood, Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates unveiled the BMW Films Digital Cinema Series onstage at the beta launch of the Windows Media 9 Series platform.
Beginning November 15, the first of the feature-length films chosen for the BMW Films Digital Cinema Series is Artisan Entertainment's Standing in the Shadows of Motown. The inspiring music documentary tells the story of the Funk Brothers, the unheralded studio musicians who backed classic Motown Artists such as Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and the Supremes. The film will be digitally projected in at least 25 theaters nationwide and will be paired with one of the new bmwfilms.com shorts in the critically acclaimed The Hire series.
"The BMW Films Digital Cinema Series will provide great independent films for theatergoers, and Windows Media 9 Series will deliver the high quality video and surround sound that audiences demand in today's theaters," said Dave Fester, general manager of the Windows Digital Media Division. "This is a great example of how Windows Media 9 Series enables independent distributors and exhibitors to take advantage of the cost savings made possible with digital technologies."
"We are proud to be part of a program that will make accessible the work of emerging filmmakers who push boundaries, take risks and challenge us to see a subject in an entirely new light," said Jim McDowell, Vice President of Marketing for BMW of North America, LLC.
In association with Digital Cinema Solutions, which will facilitate the physical distribution and exhibition of the films, 25 theaters will be equipped with digital projection equipment. Microsoft and BMW will work with a range of companies, such as Artisan Entertainment, to select new films to be screened digitally in the venues participating in this program. The features may also open in other conventional theaters in each market in accordance with the distributor's general release plans for each movie.
About bmwfilms.com
Hailed by critics across the country as "groundbreaking," with a "cinema connoisseur's dream team of directors," The Hire Internet film series received international acclaim when it premiered in 2001 with original short films directed by five of Hollywood's most noted directors.
More than 13 million film views were registered on the digital-quality streaming video website last year for the first five films of The Hire series directed by John Frankenheimer, Ang Lee, Wong Kar-Wai, Guy Ritchie and Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu.
This fall, The Hire returns with three new short films executive produced by Ridley and Tony Scott and directed by John Woo, Joe Carnahan and Tony Scott. The constant in each short film is star Clive Owen, the mysterious and unnamed Driver-For-Hire around whom all the films revolve. The film series can be seen online at www.bmwfilms.com. Press questions about The Hire, can be directed to Lisa Mortman at (212) 843-8280.
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Text Source - BMW Press Club
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