DVD Entertainment 2000


	DVD Entertainment 2000 Conference


	by Guido Henkel


	The DVD Entertainment Conference opened its doors for the third time this year to bring together industry people and give them an opportunity to share thoughts, ideas and perspectives on the format. What started three years ago with a group of small people, the industry’s early adopters, this year around has become an important conference that has been embraced my many industry people. The International Recording Media Association (IRMA) and Miller Freeman have once again created a forum for everyone involved in which you can get a good perspective on the developments in the field - not from a consumer’s point of view, but from the content providers’.



	The Marketing panel hosted by fellow webmaster Bill Hunt from The Digital Bits featured Image’s Garret Lee, Columbia’s Janet Wheeler, Universal’s Ken Graffeo, New L:ine’s Matty Lasorsa and Fox’s Peter Staddon

The Conference opened with a keynote by Paul Culberg, VM Labs’ new Executive VP and as such new spokesperson for NUON. After his brief welcome note, film historian and director Peter Bogdanovich took over for the keynote of the conference, in which he was discussing how DVD has managed to change the way filmmakers approach their profession.

After this opening, a series of panels kicked off covering all sorts of issues. From a panel in which Marketing representatives of various studios talked about their visions of DVD and how they approach the format, to watermarking and copyright issues, the panels always offered interesting insight. But also authoring issues, localization polemics, replication issues and a take on DVD-Audio were topics for some of the panels and discussions, giving the day a well-rounded balance.


	Apart from these panels, the conference also featured a small expo area called the “Technology Showcase” in which many manufacturers showed their latest developments. You could find Sonic Solutions there, showing their latest version of DVD authoring systems, as well as packaging specialists putting their latest custom DVD cases on display. Dolby Laboratories had a suite where they treated people to newly done surround mixes of Deep Purple’s “Highway Star” and other music, while the folks

from DTS had set aside a small booth to show off some of the hottest upcoming DVD titles to feature DTS audio tracks. From 20^th Century Fox Home Entertainment’s “Titan A.E.” to “Terminator 2” and other titles, their set-up sounded fantastic, and when I got to see the T-Rex attack from “Jurassic Park” and felt like I was sitting right there in the rain, expecting a downpour to hit my head any second - honestly.

After the panels were over, things got busy as preparations got under way for the DiVi Awards. As you know, we at DVD Review have been preparing much of the back end for the DiVi Awards, such as the preparation and solicitation of the title submissions, selecting the jury for the awards, tallying the results and so forth, while IRMA and the DVD Entertainment Group created the “front end” so to say. And what a front end it was. I have been to a great many Awards ceremonies from the video industry to countless awards ceremonies

in the Computer Games industry, but the show they put up last night was one of the most entertaining. Featuring a full-blown big band, courtesy of 5.1 Entertainment, the Awards opened with a small reception with snacks and drinks, followed by the actual Awards ceremony. Film critic Leonard Maltin hosted the Awards and he hit just the right note. Entertaining and insightful he managed to take the 250 assembled guests through the ceremonies at just the right pace. It was never boring and you never had the impression that things were moving along too fast either. There was time for photos and a trailer for all winning titles, and I think everyone in attendance was very pleased with the ceremony and the opportunity to mingle before and afterwards.

Here are some impressions from the conference and the DiVi Awards for you!





	Leonard Maltin hosts the DiVi Awards


	Sony Music is honored for “Pink Floyd: The Wall”


	DiVi Award for Universal Home Video’s “Dracula”


	And a DiVi Award for Warner Home Video


	Rick Rhoades (20th Century Fox) , Guido Henkel, Leslie Haas (Sony Pictures) and Don Eklund (Sony Pictures)





	20th Century Fox’s Peter Staddon accepts the DiVi Awards


	The DVD Power Rangers, Van Ling and Michelle Friedman


	Anchor Bay got the trophpy for “Repo Man’s” tin packaging


	Questar convinced the jury with “Rome: Power and Glory”


	Mike Mulvihill (New Line) , Matt Lasorsa (New Line), Guido Henkel, and Rick Rhoades (20th Century Fox)

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