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Digital Cinema Update.
April 10, 2012 - We are happy to announce that with your generous support we have raised three-quarters of the $300,000 needed to purchase and install digital projectors at the Ambler. Thank you for your donations and help. We are now in the homestretch, but we still need your help to raise the final $75,000 needed to reach our goal.

The Digital Cinema Challenge. The Ambler Theater is facing a direct challenge to its existence: the movie industry is converting from film to Digital Cinema. If we want to stay open, we will have to convert as well.

Our plan. Our plan is to install Digital Cinema projectors in all three of our auditoriums at the same time by the end of 2012. This is a change. Before, we intended to convert one auditorium at a time, starting with one theater in June, 2012. Now, we see that converting all at once makes more sense.

Staying alive. The Ambler has shown movies on 35mm film projectors for over 70 years. But by 2013, all main releases will be available only in the Digital Cinema format (and not on film). So, if we want to show future movies comparable to The King’s Speech, The Descendants, and The Artist, we’ll have to show them on Digital Cinema projectors. We must convert or close our doors.

The expense. The main challenge of Digital Cinema is the expense. Installation of Digital Cinema projectors will cost at least $100,000 per screen.

Please contribute. Please contribute to our Digital Cinema Campaign and help us keep great movies on our screens. Your continued support will keep the Ambler Theater vibrant and exciting for years to come. For more information contact our office at 215-348-1878 x117 or jsanders@amblertheater.org.

Read More

Movie Studios are Abandoning 35mm Film by Gendy Alimurung, LA Weekly. April 12, 2012.

We're About to Lose 1,000 Small Theaters That Can't Convert to Digital. Does It Matter?
by Michael Hurley, IndieWire.com (Feb 23, 2012)

For Small Theaters, the Digital Future Is Dark by Nick Leiber, BusinessWeek.com (Feb 16, 2012)

The 35mm Battle Continues: 'Let's petition Ford to reopen the Model T production line' by Dana Harris, IndieWire.com (Nov 20, 2011)

The Sudden Death of Film by Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times (Nov 1, 2011)

CinemaCon 2011: Fithian Urges NATO Members To Begin Digital Transition by J. Sperling Reich, celluloidjunkie.com (March 30, 2011)