MUMBAI: Arts Alliance Media (AAM) has opened a French digital content services facility in Paris, to complement the end-to-end facility that already exists in London.

The lab, which opened for business last week, provides clients the same comprehensive mastering and distribution (including via satellite) services as the London base, which has been operating for 5 years, and has to date handled over 700 titles, and shipped over 15,000 digital prints.

The French facility, installed in AAM ‘s Paris office at the Cinema des Cineastes, also has access to two fully equipped digital cinema screens where AAM staff and clients can QC content, including 3D content.

Arts Alliance Media SVP digital cinema Gwendal Auffret said, "The opening of our digital content lab in Paris really opens up the European market for AAM. Now clients from across Europe can cut down on time and shipping costs, and can come and QC their content right on their doorstep. We are excited to provide an even better tailored service to distributors in France and across Europe as they undergo the switch to digital."

To manage periods of heavy demand, the French facility will work with the London office – content ingested in Paris can be worked on remotely in London, and sent back electronically to France for distribution on hard drive or satellite.

AAM already has an established relationship with both content owners and exhibitors in France, and since encoding and sending Europe’s first commercial feature by satellite last year, now routinely sends trailers and feature films to cinemas across France by satellite. Films transmitted this way include La Vida Loca, Cleopatra, Pierrot Le Fou, C’est Parti and Palme d’Or winner Entre Les Murs.