3D Entertainment Summit Wraps as Industry Reports Rapid Growth Amid a Down Economy

The 3D Entertainment Summit in association with Variety, co-produced by Bob Dowling and Unicomm LLC, and presented by The Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) @ USC announced today attendance and sponsorship of the 2009 show doubled last year’s tally. This year’s event, which was held at the Hilton Los Angeles in Universal City September 16 and 17, attracted more than 500 attendees representing the "who’s who” in 3D from top brands and all aspects of the entertainment community, while drawing international media coverage. Major sponsors included Sony Digital, Sony Electronics, RealD, 3ality, DreamWorks, Panasonic and IMAX.

Summit Co-Producer, Conference Chairman and former Editor-in-Chief of The Hollywood Reporter Bob Dowling opened the 3D Entertainment Summit, highlighting the tremendous growth realized by the 3D industry since the last Summit was held this past November. Dowling provided perspective on the international growth of 3D as well, having just returned from South Korea where Mr. Dowling also spoke about the 3D industry.

"The common theme among attendees this year is that the 3D industry has grown at a rapid pace and will continue to grow amid a very trying time for most businesses and industries,” said Bob Dowling. "We are looking forward to the future as the credit markets open and continue to support this record-breaking growth.”

Wednesday’s keynote was a discussion between David Cohen, Features Editor, Daily Variety, Director and Screenwriter Henry Selick and Academy Award-winning Visual Effects Supervisor Brian Van’t Hul for the LAIKA/Focus Features 2009 breakout 3D animated hit film Coraline. The trio focused their discussion on the creative side of 3D. Day two featured a conversation between Mr. Dowling and Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chief Executive Officer & Director of DreamWorks Animation SKG. Mr. Katzenberg highlighted to Dowling the tremendous opportunity 3D continues to present the entertainment community.

Other highlights at the show include:

• RealD announced the availability of designer 3D glasses in select markets prior to the opening of the 3D film Avatar
• TrioScopics3D President and CEO John Lowry premiered his 3D system, which requires no investment in equipment from exhibitors, and also works with today's DVD/Blu-ray players
• IMAX announced Tron: Legacy will be released to theatres in IMAX 3D
• 3ality Digital partnered with Nagravision to introduce the Nagra Media Guide for 3D, which was developed for set top boxes to enable the 3D at-home viewing experience
• During "The Business Case for 3D" panel, Screen Digest Senior Analyst Charlotte Jones illustrated that 3D remains a strong revenue driver for features, especially for this summer's pics. "Without 3D premium pricing, the summer would not have registered as positive"
• Cinedigm Entertainment and 3ality Digital announced an agreement to bring a minimum of 8 live 3D alternative entertainment events to cinemas over the next two years
• Technicolor leveraged the 3D Summit to announce to the industry the organization’s celluloid 3D solution

"One of the strongest indicators that the 3D market continues to grow from our own perspective is our attendance and sponsorship levels, which both doubled from last year,” stated John Golicz, CEO of Unicomm, the event’s producer. "This enthusiasm for the 3D industry will drive Unicomm to schedule an additional show focused solely on the 3D video game industry next year.”

For more information, visit www.3d-summit.com or contact slally@unicomm.org.

About Unicomm, LLC

Unicomm LLC is an independent business-to-business communications company specializing in conceiving and managing trade shows and conferences in nascent markets.

Unicomm’s management team has been responsible for some of the industry’s most successful trade shows and conferences. Unicomm currently produces the largest series of travel events in the United States, the Adventures in Travel Expo. In addition Unicomm has developed leading events in the Bio-Technology, Research & Development and Mechanical Engineering, Human Resources, Transportation and other markets.

The company’s "value-added" resources are the intellectual capital of its people and proprietary business practices. These attributes, coupled with an intense customer centric philosophy, combine to deliver world-class events.

About Bob Dowling and The Bob Dowling Group

For the last 17 years through 2007, Bob Dowling was editor-in-chief and publisher of The Hollywood Reporter and president of the VNU Business Media Film and Performing Arts Group.

During Dowling's tenure, The Reporter launched numerous new products, including the HollywoodReporter.com Web site, e-mail edition, weekly edition, THR East, Literary Hollywood, Festival de Cannes dailies and the Oscar Screening Guide, as well as many annual events such as the Women in Entertainment Power 100 stand-alone issue and its related breakfast event, the Next Generation ranking of prominent young executives, the Film and TV Music Conference and the reorganized Key Art Awards.

Dowling recently started his own information and consulting firm, the Bob Dowling Group, to serve clients looking to navigate the converging worlds of entertainment and technology, with the 3D Entertainment Summit as a lead project.

About The Variety Group

Variety is the leading publication for entertainment news, recognized and respected throughout the world of show business. The Variety Group – Daily Variety, Daily Variety Gotham, Weekly Variety, Variety.com, Video Business, Tradeshow Week, LA 411, Variety 411 – are all owned by Reed Business Information (RBI), the largest business publisher in the U.S. RBI is a member of the Reed Elsevier Group plc (NYSE: RUK and ENL)

About the Entertainment Technology Center @ USC

The Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) @ USC, founded in 1993 with the help of George Lucas, brings together senior executives from the entertainment, consumer electronics, and technology industries to collaborate on issues related to the creation, distribution, and consumption of entertainment content. The ETC studies how technology impacts the next-generation consumer, and works with member companies to improve the consumer experience and uncover new revenue streams for entertainment-related products. Current ETC members include Disney, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, Lucasfilm, TATA Consultancy Services, Thomson, Dolby, LG Electronics, Singapore IDA, and Volkswagen of America.