by Larry Richman
October 4, 2006 1:37 PM

"Day-and-date" refers to the practice of releasing a DVD and/or showing a film on cable simultaneously (or close to) a film's release in theaters. Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner are the chief champions of this practice, through an umbrella company called 2929 Entertainment. They own HDNet Films (producer), Magnolia Pictures (distributor), Landmark Theaters (exhibitor), and HDNet cable (TV). It's also called vertical integration.

2929 is actually very controversial. Mark Cuban is one of the most talked about businessmen in the industry, and he has his detractors by the thousands. It seems that the only people who really support what he is doing are those who want to adopt a similar business model and those whose films he is financing. He is certainly reviled by the association of theater owners.

But I shed no tears for the theater owners. The issue of why people are or aren't going to theaters, and whether or not they even deserve our hard earned cash, is easily the most hotly debated topic in the industry right now and there are many many articles on it in all the major trade papers and publications. I generally tend to side with the filmmakers who feel that the theatergoing experience simply does not lend itself to enjoyment of their work. This basically applies to most theaters in the US.

Despite what I've said about being "on the side" of the filmmakers, it's actually out of a love of going to the cinema that I feel that way. It's not that I want the theaters shut down -- just the opposite. I want the theater owners to improve the cinema experience, so that people can enjoy films the way they are meant to be experienced -- big picture, big sound, another world that wraps around you and takes you away. Nothing compares.

The trend here has been for some theater owners to try raising the bar with more concert-type setups, with reserved seating and other amenities. Some have valet parking, a coat check, and food & beverage service at your seat. I actually attended several screenings at the SXSW Film Festival which were in theaters with a long wooden "table" (a bar, really) in front of each row. Servers would come around and take orders for food and drinks.

As it turns out, these experiments have been wildly successful. Despite what critics have said about theater prices being the reason people are staying away, they are actually willing to spend even more if they can have an experience like this.