SM Cinema recently announced that the theaters in all the SM malls in the Philippines will be fully digitalized by September 14.

SM Cinema senior vice president Edgar Tejerero said that from that day on, SM theaters will use the Virtual Print Fee (VPF) program for its theaters. ‘It will signal, for…SM, the end of 35mm [film],’ he said.

VPF is a financing mechanism that funds the first purchase of digital cinema equipment, allowing theater owners and exhibitors to recoup a portion of equipment costs incurred by switching to digital.

SM Cinema’s move was done in partnership with the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP).

According to DCinema CEO Rey del Poso, digital conversion will help reduce the cost of the print and the distribution of films from one province to another.

‘So, ‘yong VPF program [will] favor the local production… we call it a ‘brand new print’ that will really give them a saving of at least 60 percent in the distribution. So this is a pro-local distribution of program,’ he said.

Furthermore, film producers will be able to showcase their films in other parts of the country at the same time as Metro Manila.

‘With the age of digital [cinema], we can guarantee that whatever is shown in Metro Manila can be shown in any part of the country,’ Tejerero stressed.

In addition, digital conversion’s tighter copy protection will help prevent the distribution of unauthorized copies before local and world premieres. — Mac Macapendeg/BM, GMA News