During the recently concluded Paris Olympics, a joint initiative by CCTV and China Film Technology, “Watching the Olympics in Theaters: Live Broadcast of the 2024 Paris Olympics TV Programs,” showcased the opening ceremony, several high-profile events, and the closing ceremony in cinemas. This effort achieved a cross-industry fusion of the Olympic spectacle and cinema functions, allowing audiences to experience the grandeur of the ceremonies and the intense competition on the big screen, providing a novel cultural consumption experience.

On August 9, citizens of Chongqing watch the Olympic men's table tennis team final in a theater. Photo credit: He Penglei, China News Service

What other possibilities could cinemas explore beyond just showing films?

Recently, “China Film Technology” made an appearance at the Beijing International Radio, Film, and Television Exhibition, showcasing its strategic layout of the film technology industry chain based on the integration of China Film’s core technological resources. It introduced a full range of film equipment and technical services from film shooting and production to cinema screening. On this occasion, The Paper also interviewed Zhang Yu, the General Manager of China Film Technology.

Zhang Yu during the interview

China Film Technology was established in 1951, and from that year, it began operations in film technology and product-related businesses.

“With the start of the 21st century, global cinema transitioned from the film era to the digital age. In 2009, China Film Technology proposed a shift in its primary focus from being a trading company to a technology-driven enterprise,” Zhang Yu explained.

In 2021, China Film Group consolidated its business structure into six major sectors, including the technology sector, which marked the inception and development of the technology division. By the end of 2023, it restructured and was established as China Film Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “China Film Technology”).

“On August 21, 2024, the China Film Technology brand will be officially launched. This brand comprises six subsidiary companies, including the China Film CINITY and the China Film Comprehensive Business Service Platform. In the future, China Film will leverage its accumulated technological expertise to make China Film Technology the largest and most diverse supplier of film technology products and services in the country,” Zhang Yu stated. “In our planning, China Film Technology will provide more than just equipment or services to the market. For instance, we’re not merely selling CINITY LED movie screens to theaters; we also aim to offer technical service solutions for various business needs and diverse program content for cinema operations.”

China Film Technology

During the interview, Zhang Yu also introduced the subsidiaries under China Film Technology.

The most recognizable among them is the China Film CINITY movie system, officially launched in August 2019, which currently serves as the high-end screening brand of China Film Technology. It creatively integrates seven advanced technologies in film projection, including 4K, 3D, high brightness, high frame rate, high dynamic range, wide color gamut, and immersive sound, making the film images clearer and the colors more vibrant.

On August 21, “China Film Technology” showcased its core business segments, innovative technologies, and exhibit services at the 31st Beijing International Radio, Film, and Television Exhibition, centered around the CINITY LED cinema display system and featuring various innovative products including CINITY science, CINITY AMR, CINITY cameras, and CINITY care.

“China Film Technology” at the 31st Beijing International Radio, Film, and Television Exhibition

Among the highlights, the “CINITY LED cinema display system” was officially launched in 2023 and attracted significant attention as the world’s first LED projection system supporting 4K/120 frames.

Regarding the innovations and technological advantages of the CINITY LED movie screen, Zhang Yu reflected: “The direct LED display technology has unique advantages in brightness, contrast, and color. Our CINITY LED currently offers exclusive content supply and high frame rate capabilities, which is the key strength of CINITY LED. Up until now, only CINITY cinemas globally can provide 4K120 frame displays. Furthermore, LED enables bright field projection without the light pillar of traditional projectors, offering a viewing experience with high clarity and high color fidelity.”

“It’s worth noting that CINITY LED has completely realized chip-level localization. The LED field in China is very mature, and market demand meets the needs of research and development. Now, CINITY LED is entirely domestically produced, with all core components manufactured within China,” Zhang Yu added.

As of now, 75 cities across the country have established a total of 180 CINITY cinemas, with 12 of them featuring CINITY LED. Zhang Yu noted that the global expansion of CINITY is also accelerating, with 10 CINITY cinemas already established overseas and another 14 under construction.

During the exhibition, visitors also had the chance to explore one of the professional projection solution providers under China Film Technology's subsidiaries, China Film Barco. Since its founding in 2011, China Film Barco has supplied nearly 50 generations of projectors ranging from xenon to laser to the Chinese market over the past 13 years, continuously leading the projection technology revolution in China through ongoing generational innovations. To date, the installation of Barco projectors in China has reached 50,000 units, with a stable market share exceeding 50%.

Speaking about CINITY's operations, Zhang Yu explained: “We originally had two main sectors: one for equipment integration, sales, and services, and the other for content production. Now we also have a third area of focus, which is exploring the integration of other content and business models, such as live broadcasting and introducing content types like the BBC documentary 'The Polar.' This sector is still in the exploratory phase.”

In terms of other business developments, Zhang Yu introduced the China Film Comprehensive Business Service Platform, designed to enrich cinema screening content and operational methods through information technology, continually expanding and extending the film projection industry chain. The China Film Reservation Program actively develops diverse consumption modes in theaters, having already conducted live broadcasts of concerts and sporting events across cinemas nationwide, with plans to further diversify quality content for different audience groups in the future.

“China Film Technology will continue to actively engage in artificial intelligence, utilizing AI technology to achieve the integration of film production and the AI era, enriching the formats of high-tech films and their applications in diverse scenarios. Additionally, China Film Financing addresses pain points in the film industry chain, such as the generally large investment amounts and prolonged return periods for cinema investment projects, along with insufficient funding sources during early project construction and operation, which have severely limited large-scale development for cinema projects. Therefore, China Film Financing deeply engages from the early stages of project construction to tailor financing lease service solutions,” Zhang Yu concluded.