Kinopolis, a renowned German exhibitor, XDC, the n°1 digital cinema service company in Europe and FTT, the leading digital cinema service provider in Germany, have basically agreed on the terms for a deployment of 123 digital cinema systems at 15 cinemas.

Dr. Gregory Theile, Managing Partner of Kinopolis, said: “We are delighted to have found in XDC/FTT a competent, experienced and reliable partner for the conversion of our cinemas to digital cinema. The model offered by XDC represents the best solution in the market as far as our particular requirements are concerned and so we explicitly opted for this long-standing partnership. As the first cinema circuit in Germany, we are setting the course for the digital future of the cinema by consistently equipping our cinemas with digital projection systems. The installations will already start this year and will be completed by the end of next year.“

Serge Plasch, XDC’s Chief Executive Officer said: “After Kieft Group, having this second major VPF deal in Germany is for XDC a very important milestone, since Germany has always been a key market in our strategy. Kinopolis is a much respected exhibition circuit and we are very proud to have been selected for their digital roll out plan. This agreement also demonstrates the solidity of our business model which is the only one able to offer agreement with all the 6 majors US studios, easy available financing and advanced knowledge in digital cinema technology. Moreover, this new deal results of the perfect integration and cooperation with FTT which has now the most comprehensive experience in digital cinema in Germany.’’

Egon Gräfen, FTT’s Managing Director added: “Kinopolis has already been among our major customers for a long time. We are therefore very proud that they have chosen us as their technical integrator and that we will also be able to continue our longstanding business relationship in the digital era.”

Under the terms of the agreement with XDC, Kinopolis will exclusively install Series 2 DCI-compliant digital projection systems. Kinopolis will also implement a fully integrated and networked solution in each complex, thanks to XDC’s advanced Theatre Management System and Central Library, the XDC’s CineStore® Plaza. A content delivery network will also be implemented by XDC in order to allow distributors to deliver films directly by satellite and/or broadband connection to the cinemas, as well as to give the opportunity to Kinopolis to perform live 2D and 3D transmissions.

All the systems will be connected to the XDC’s NOC (Network Operations Centre) which will perform the hotline support and the preventative remote maintenance. Thanks to the sophisticated XDC’s CineStore Data webbased application, the frontline support (with the possibility to have a full remote monitoring of the digital systems) will be directly managed by FTT, which will also take care of the installations and maintenance.

About XDC International
XDC is the n°1 digital cinema company in Europe with more than 1,500 committed digital screens out of which 50% have already been deployed. XDC HQ is based in Liege (Belgium) and provides end-to-end digital cinema solutions including equipment supply, financing (VPF, leasing, …), training, installation and 24/7 maintenance, as well as content processing and delivery. The company is the first entity to have VPF digital cinema deployment agreements with all 6 major US studios Warner, Fox, Universal, Paramount, Sony and Disney for a total of 8,000 digital screens in 22 European countries. Besides its financing program with ING Lease, XDC has set up a global financing of 100 millions Euros with a bank consortium led by BNP Paribas Fortis to allow the VPF roll out of 2,000 digital screens for its European deployment program. XDC Digital Content Lab has been processing hundreds of different titles, and offers a full service including mastering, duplication, key management, 24/7 helpdesk, extranet tracking, physical/virtual delivery. Last but not least, XDC is also very active in Alternative Content by offering a full service from booking and promotion up to delivery, reporting and box office collection. The main shareholders are EVS Broadcast Equipment (Euronext Brussels: EVS, Bloomberg: EVS BB, Reuters: EVSB.BR) (www.evs-global.com), GIMV (Euronext Brussels: GIMB, Bloomberg: GIMB BB, Reuters: GIMV.BR) (www.gimv.com) and SRIW (www.sriw.be).
More info available at www.xdcinema.com.
XDC Marketing & Communication Department - Tel.: +32 4 364 12 00 - Email: marcom@xdcinema.com

About Kinopolis
Kinopolis is one of the leading German cinema circuits. The family-business which is meanwhile run in its 4th generation has been operating cinemas for 105 years and herewith ranges among the old-established cinema enterprises in Germany. In total, the group operates 123 screens at 15 sites. The scope of business of the Darmstadt-based company ranges from an award-winning arthouse cinema to the most frequented multiplex cinema in Germany, the Mathäser Filmpalast in Munich.
For further information see: www.kinopolis.de
Kinopolis Marketing & Communication Department: : - Tel: +49 89 51 56 53 53 - Email: kschalk@kinopolis.de

About Film Ton Technik (FTT)
FILM-TON-TECHNIK Hannsdieter Rüttgers GmbH (FTT) is based in Düsseldorf. As a cinema service provider with 50 years of experience FTT has already implemented a large number of projects for multiplexes and independent cinemas in Germany and abroad and has got subsidiaries in Austria, Hungary, Poland and the Netherlands. Apart from project planning as well as selling and installing traditional 35mm technology FTT has been active in the field of digital cinema and electronic advertising for more than 7 years and established itself as a system integrator.
For further information see www.ftt-online.de
FTT Marketing & Communication Department - Phone: +49 (0) 211 - 30 20 51 – 0 -Email: office@ftt-online.de