Emerging Pictures is a theatrical exhibition company, founded in 2002 by Giovanni Cozzi, Ira Deutchman

Ira Deutchman

Ira Deutchman, best known as a producer, distributor and marketer of independent films, is currently Managing Partner of Emerging Pictures , a New York-based digital exhibition company...

 and Barry Rebo. The stated mission of the company is to create a national alternative theatrical network out of independent venues such as art house theaters, museums and performing arts centers, connected through the use of digital technology. Emerging Pictures specializes in independent film

Independent film

An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...

, documentaries

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

, foreign language films and broadcasts of cultural programming, such as opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

, ballet

Ballet

Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...

, and Shakespeare plays

Play (theatre)

A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...

.

Technology

Emerging installs its proprietary server technology into the projection booths of these theaters and delivers the films to the theaters through a dedicated data line. The company calls its technology “i-Cinema,” named for independent and international films, and to differentiate it from Hollywood’s d-Cinema

Digital cinema

Digital cinema refers to the use of digital technology to distribute and project motion pictures. A movie can be distributed via hard drives, optical disks or satellite and projected using a digital projector instead of a conventional film projector...

 standard. Emerging’s network is currently 70 venues, and is spread out all over the U.S. It has also begun to expand into other countries and has servers in use in Latvia and Australia. Emerging’s platform provides a cost-effective way to distribute films nationally by removing the cost of making or shipping 35mm prints

35 mm film

35 mm film is the film gauge most commonly used for chemical still photography and motion pictures. The name of the gauge refers to the width of the photographic film, which consists of strips 35 millimeters in width...

. Emerging’s digital network allows for more flexibility of programming by removing the physical element and thus allowing theaters to program more like a television network with different types of programming in different day parts.

Films

First-run films are provided by all the independent distributors in the U.S. including IFC Films

IFC Films

IFC Films is an American film distribution company based in New York, owned by AMC Networks. It distributes independent films and documentaries under the IFC Films, Sundance Selects and IFC Midnight. It operates the IFC Center....

, Sony Pictures Classics

Sony Pictures Classics

Sony Pictures Classics is an art-house film division of Sony Pictures Entertainment founded in December 1991 that distributes, produces and acquires specialty films from the United States and around the world. Its co-presidents are Michael Barker and Tom Bernard...

, Magnolia Pictures

Magnolia Pictures

Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor, and is a holding of 2929 Entertainment, owned by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films....

, Kino/Lorber Films, Zeitgeist Films

Zeitgeist Films

Zeitgeist Films is an American independent film distributor based in New York City founded in 1988 by co-Presidents Nancy Gerstman and Emily Russo. Films distributed by Zeitgeist are strongly auteur-driven by directors such as Christopher Nolan, Guy Maddin, Atom Egoyan, Todd Haynes, Nuri Bilge...

 and others. Older repertory titles are provided by Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures

-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...

 and Janus Films

Janus Films

Janus Films is a film distribution company. It was one of the first distributors to bring what are now regarded as masterpieces of world cinema to the United States...

.

Cultural Programming

Among the most successful content in its network are cultural programs that are shown live and near-live. Its “Opera in Cinema” program features operas from La Scala

La Scala

La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...

 (Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

), the Gran Teatre del Liceu

Liceu

The Gran Teatre del Liceu , or simply Liceu in Catalan and Liceo in Spanish, is an opera house on La Rambla in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain...

 (Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

), the Salzburg Festival

Salzburg Festival

The Salzburg Festival is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer within the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...

 and the Royal Opera House

Royal Opera House

The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...

 (London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

). “Ballet in Cinema” includes ballets from the Bolshoi

Bolshoi Theatre

The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...

 (Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

), the Mariinsky Ballet

Mariinsky Ballet

The Mariinsky Ballet is a classical ballet company based at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's leading ballet companies...

 (Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

) and the Royal Opera House. “Shakespeare in Cinema” features plays from Shakespeare's Globe

Shakespeare's Globe

Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse in the London Borough of Southwark, located on the south bank of the River Thames, but destroyed by fire in 1613, rebuilt 1614 then demolished in 1644. The modern reconstruction is an academic best guess, based...

 (London). The “Opera in Cinema” series is considered to be the only major competition for the Met in HD broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera

Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

 in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. Emerging Pictures receives its content from a number of content holders: RAI Trade

RAI

RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...

, Opus Arte, Bel Air Media, C Major, and directly from the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

Distribution

In its early years, the company also used to provide marketing, distribution and exhibition services for filmmakers in the theatrical, television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 and home video

Home video

Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...

markets. The company closed its distribution operation in 2009 to focus on building the theatrical network. The only content for which Emerging currently acts as distributor is the cultural content. Much of that content is distributed by Emerging on a worldwide basis.

External links

• Emerging Pictures Official website
• Opera in Cinema official website
• YouTube Page
• Indie films Get a Screen of their own Palm Beach Post article
• "Opera's Unlikely Embrace of the Telecast" New York Times article
• "Divas on the Big Screen" Wall Street Journal article
• "Opera broadcasts from La Scala, Barcelona returning to local cinemas" LA Times blog article
• "Emerging Pictures and Opus Arte Form Agreement" Broadway World article
• "A Vacation to Australia As Close As Your Local Theater" IFC.com article
• "More Opera Coming to a Movie Theater Near You" New York Times ArtsBeat article
• "Opera Indies" Opera News article