Mumbai: The world’s first-ever festival embracing 3D technology in film and entertainment opened in Singapore on 19 November. The five day (19 – 23 November) festival brings together the world’s leading talent, thinkers, directors, producers and professionals in a showcase event that will demonstrate the latest in 3D film technology and a stunning line-up of 3D movies from all genres including Walt Disney’s new animated movie Bolt and New Line Cinema’s Journey to the Center of the Earth starring Brendan Fraser.
Organised by 3D Partners and hosted by the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) with support from the Singapore Tourism Board and Singapore Economic Development Board, the festival will feature industry and Hollywood heavyweights including Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, 20th Century Fox CEO Jim Gianopulos, Walt Disney Studios Motion group president Mark Zoradi, Motion Picture Association of America CEO and chairman Dan Glickman and IMAX president Greg Foster. Brendan Fraser is also in Singapore to attend the festival.
"3D is possibly the next biggest advancement in the entertainment industry since colour! Movies will simply be magical in 3D, games will take on a virtual dimension and advertisers can ‘literally’ reach out to their audience in 3D," declared 3DX Film and Technology Festival executive producer Jim Chabin. "With Hollywood executives in town to share their vision and plan at the festival, the 3D movie revolution in Asia is set to roll."
Said MDA CEO Dr Christopher Chia, "As the host of the 3DX Festival, we want to take an active role to shape the future of 3D in entertainment and other fields. 3D is poised to catalyze new revenue streams for digital entertainment and beyond with estimates of the global 3D market revenues hitting US$1 billion by 2010. This includes fields as diverse as medicine and education. Anchoring the Festival in Singapore will deepen our efforts in advancing innovation in digital media as well as showcase the exciting possibilities in the business, production and technology of 3D."
With Hollywood leading the 3D revolution, investing up to US one billion dollars (US$1 billion) for the conversion of cinemas in the United States and Canada, the future of 3D in films looks bright. This is even more so in Asia where the tradition of movie going and making is long established and entrenched. India spends about $2 billion yearly on movie tickets, a figure which is expected to increase 30% by 2012, and Singapore averages about 16 million cinema attendances annually, roughly 4 times the size of its population. With the rapid evolution of technology, movie studios and in fact audiences in Asia are more accepting of these developments, including special effects and computer generated imagery (CGI).
"The industry recognises the huge potential of Asia and the continuous growth opportunities this market will bring to the industry at large. In fact we are now seeing new talent and concepts unique to Asia making a name on a global stage. We felt that inaugurating this festival in Asia and bringing together some of the best minds in the business, would the ideal platform for the launch," explained Chabin.
The 3DX Film and Entertainment Technology Festival offers a wide range of 3D movies from all genres and will be available for the public at the Singapore Discovery Centre on 23 November. The list includes animation and documentary films such as Fly Me to the Moon, Dolphins & Whales 3D and also the world premiere of the family adventure tale Call of the Wild 3D starring Christopher Lloyd.
