Emerging Pictures was a theatrical exhibition company, founded in 2002 by Giovanni Cozzi,

Ira Deutchman Ira Deutchman is a producer, distributor and marketer of independent films. In 2000, he moved into film exhibition as co-founder and managing partner of Emerging Pictures, a New York-based digital exhibition company, which was sold in January 2 ...

and Barry Rebo. Rebo resigned from the company in May 2014. He is currently the Managing Partner of Eclair, USA. Emerging Pictures was acquired by 20 Year Media in 2015. The stated mission of the company was to create a national alternative theatrical network out of independent venues such as art house theaters, museums and performing arts centers, connected through the use of digital technology. Emerging Pictures specializes in

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in ter ...

, foreign language films and broadcasts of cultural programming, such as

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...

, and

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

plays Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

Technology

Emerging installs its proprietary server technology into the projection booths of these theaters and delivers the films to the theaters through a dedicated data line. The company calls its technology “i-Cinema,” named for independent and international films, and to differentiate it from Hollywood’s d-Cinema standard. Emerging’s network is currently 130 venues, and is spread out all over the U.S. It has also begun to expand into other countries and has servers in use in Latvia and Australia. Emerging’s platform provides a cost-effective way to distribute films nationally by removing the cost of making or shipping 35mm prints. Emerging’s digital network allows for more flexibility of programming by removing the physical element and thus allowing theaters to program more like a television network with different types of programming in different day parts.

Films

First-run films are provided by all the independent distributors in the U.S. including

IFC Films IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its Sun ...

Sony Pictures Classics Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an American film production and distribution company that is a division of Sony Pictures. It was founded in 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom. It distributes, produc ...

Magnolia Pictures Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor. It is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment 2929 Entertainment, LLC. is an American integrated media and entertainment company co-founded by billionaire entrepreneur ...

, Kino/Lorber Films,

Zeitgeist Films Zeitgeist Films is a New York-based distribution company founded in 1988 which acquires and distributes films from the U.S. and around the world. In 2017, Zeitgeist entered into a multi-year strategic alliance with film distributor Kino Lorber. ...

and others. Older repertory titles are provided by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

and

Janus Films Janus Films is an American film distribution company. The distributor is credited with introducing numerous films, now considered masterpieces of world cinema, to American audiences, including the films of Michelangelo Antonioni, Sergei Eisenstein ...

Cultural Programming

Among the most successful content in its network are cultural programs that are shown live and near-live. Its “Opera in Cinema” program features operas from La Scala (

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

), the Gran Teatre del Liceu (

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

), the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Ama ...

and the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal ...

(

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

). “Ballet in Cinema” includes ballets from the Bolshoi (

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

), the

Mariinsky Ballet The Mariinsky Ballet (russian: Балет Мариинского театра) is the resident classical ballet company of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russ ...

(

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

) and the Royal Opera House. “Shakespeare in Cinema” features plays from

Shakespeare's Globe Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse for which William Shakespeare wrote his plays, in the London Borough of Southwark, on the south bank of the River Thames. The original theatre was built in ...

(London). The “Opera in Cinema” series is considered to be the only major competition for the Met in HD broadcasts from the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. Emerging Pictures receives its content from a number of content holders:

RAI Trade RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

, Opus Arte, Bel Air Media, C Major, and directly from the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

Distribution

In its early years, the company also used to provide marketing, distribution and exhibition services for filmmakers in the theatrical,

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

and

home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming m ...

markets. The company closed its distribution operation in 2009 to focus on building the theatrical network. The only content for which Emerging currently acts as distributor is the cultural content. Much of that content is distributed by Emerging on a worldwide basis.

External links

* *
YouTube Page
''New York Times'' article * ttps://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704281204575003513050836460?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines/ "Divas on the Big Screen"''Wall Street Journal'' article
"Opera broadcasts from La Scala, Barcelona returning to local cinemas"
''LA Times'' blog article
"Emerging Pictures and Opus Arte Form Agreement"
''Broadway World'' article
"A Vacation to Australia As Close As Your Local Theater"
''IFC.com'' article
"More Opera Coming to a Movie Theater Near You"
''New York Times ArtsBeat'' article

''Opera News'' article

References

{{Cite web , last = Myers , first = Eric , title = Opera Indies , url = http://www.operanews.com/Opera_News_Magazine/2010/7/Features/Opera_Indies.html , accessdate = August 18, 2010 Film distributors