The Hollywood Reporter
March 16, 2005
Cyan dye soundtracks sound like eco-future
By Sheigh Crabtree

LAS VEGAS -- Five studio heads of distribution are in the process of cleaning up their acts, but the others are lagging behind. So far, Miramax, DreamWorks, MGM and Buena Vista Pictures have made the commitment to use more environmentally friendly release printing processes.

Today at Showest, David Tuckerman, New Line Cinema's head of distribution, is expected to announce his studio's participation in the movement to use eco-friendly cyan dye soundtracks on release prints.

"New Line is considering a title for our first cyan release in September," Tuckerman says. "If that goes well, New Line will consider continuing to release in cyan."

The cyan movement has been in the works for more than seven years. Labs around the world have been manufacturing soundtracks on 35mm release prints using environmentally unfriendly chemical processes for decades. Environmentalists have charged that the lab procedures waste water, pollute the air, produce manufacturing waste and introduce an array of caustic chemicals into the environment.

Answering the call to change all that was Dolby Laboratories' Ioan Allen, who suggested eliminating the use of silver on soundtracks and instead using a new process that substitutes pure-dye cyan. The catch was that exhibitors had to install special red-light readers in all of their projectors to play the new soundtrack. Ultimately, the changeover has required a concerted effort from theater owners, film laboratories and movie distributors.

The coordination of efforts across industries spurred Allen to form the Dye Tack Committee -- a Hollywood-based group of engineers and technologists that has worked behind the scenes to raise awareness about the issue among studio distribution and exhibition execs.

Working in tandem with Allen is one of the committee's most dedicated evangelists: Ted Costas. He is Dolby's director of production services and president of the Intersociety for the Enhancement of Theatrical Presentation.

"I think we're halfway there," Costas says. "Once we have one more big studio on board, we'll turn the tide. When we have five studios, the others will fall in behind."

This year the Walt Disney Co.'s "Pooh's Heffalump Movie" became the first worldwide cyan day-and-date release, and Disney's "The Pacifier" was the first cyan title to reach No. 1 at the boxoffice.

"We've had zero problems," Costas says. "Major releases are going out successfully in cyan, which is good news to the other studios that have been considering making the move."

What exactly is holding up "the other studios": 20th Century Fox, Universal, Warner Bros. and Columbia Pictures?

"The biggest obstacle is getting international distribution up to domestic distribution's level," Costas says. "What's holding everyone up internationally is the reused print issue. Red-light readers have to go up in theaters internationally. Nobody wants dual inventory (both cyan and silver-applicated prints). But we're halfway there, and that's pretty fast."

The next widely released title to go out with a cyan soundtracks is DreamWorks Animation's "Madagascar" on May 27.

****

Cyan titles released to date:
2001
Miramax's "Get Over It" and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back"

2003
DreamWorks' "Anything Else"

2004
MGM's "Soul Plane," "Wicker Park" and "Hotel Rwanda"; the Walt Disney Co.'s "Mr. 3000"; and DreamWorks' "Surviving Christmas"

2005 Disney's "Pooh's Heffalump Movie" and "The Pacifier"; Miramax's "Cursed"; and MGM's "Be Cool"

Upcoming titles in cyan for 2005:
Disney's "Ice Princess," "Chicken Little," "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy," "Herbie: Fully Loaded" and "A Lot Like Love"; DreamWorks' "The Ring Two," "Madagascar," "The Island" and "The Wallace & Gromit Movie"; MGM's "Beauty Shop," "The Amityville Horror," "The Pink Panther" and "Into The Blue"; and Miramax's "Sin City," "The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3-D" and "The Brothers Grimm"