SURREY COMPANY DONATES $500,000 DIGITAL THEATRE TO SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY’S SURREY CAMPUS.
Surrey, British Columbia – March 4, 2010
Lightyear Digital Theatre (Canada) Ltd. has donated a world-class “showcase” high-definition digital and 3D demonstration research and development theatre to Simon Fraser University (“SFU”) in Surrey, British Columbia. This $500,000 donation is in the form of a complete retrofit to SFU’s existing 200-seat Westminster Savings Credit Union theatre located on the university campus.
The theatre will be opened at 7.30 pm on Friday March 5, 2010 by Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts, SFU President Michael Stevenson, Lightyear’s President & CEO Robert Dominick and Lightyear’s Founder David Hosler. There is a “Hollywood” theme evening being held in SFU’s Dale B. Regehr Grand Hall commencing at 7.00 pm, with some 200 invited guests from all levels of government, educators and executives from the motion picture industry throughout North America attending. An ensemble from the Surrey Orchestra will play during the reception and RCMP will attend in red serge dress uniform. From 7.30 to 8.45 guests will be treated to a display of exceptional high-definition and 3D material. There is a special media preview from 5.30 to 6.30.
Lightyear is proud to be launching its roll-out of unique high-definition and 3D digital theatres from Surrey, British Columbia. These theatres, in tandem with Lightyear’s dedicated digital broadcast platform, will open up North America to a whole new world of exceptional quality entertainment, education, information, arts and culture.
Lightyear’s business model, Compact Interactive Theatre (“CIT”), is a blend of live events, theatre, screened media and digital technology. With stunning high-definition audio visual and 3D presentation these streamlined, economical and versatile theatres, through connectivity to digital broadcasting, are immediately responsive to changes in programming. The total audio visual effect is spectacular to experience and audience perception is changed forever as a “Window to Reality” environment is created.
One function of a CIT is to create the ultimate classroom environment. From interactive distance learning to sharing thousands of the world’s finest lectures, tuition will be brilliantly enhanced by the dynamic images and immersive virtual sound. The benefit of a CIT is its adaptability to any environment, whether a 50-seat theatre in a remote community or the most elaborate 1,800 seat concert hall, everyone will experience the same amazing consistent quality.
Another function of CIT’s is to take high-definition audio visual content, with studio quality, to small communities and suburban areas. Lightyear will apply special emphasis to community theatres and create in them an environment that can seldom be found even in large urban centres. A CIT will become an integral part of any community, enabling state-of-the-industry entertainment, cultural and educational programming to be enjoyed in the thousands of small towns and remote communities throughout North America. An extremely affordable community theatre digital retrofit can bring new life to each town, dramatically increasing revenue streams for the exhibitor and significantly lowering their operating costs.
Lightyear’s “showcase” at SFU is a prototypical CIT and will be used by SFU, the School of Interactive Arts and Technology and the School of Contemporary Arts. The Lightyear “team” comprises of some of the most respected and well known names in the manufacturing and installation of motion picture and digital theatres. Lightyear’s “showcase” theatre in SFU will rank amongst the finest in North America and the CIT launch will ensure that the spotlight of the industry remains firmly on the City of Surrey for a considerable time.
Lightyear has committed to distance learning being one of the primary functions of its CIT program and distribution network. This is enhanced by the opportunity for Lightyear to work with the students of the cutting-edge SIAT, where they have programs such as Media Arts. This program involves the creation, analysis and understanding of digital media. The SIAT digital film studios, close to the theatre, are used to explore new forms of digital videography, video games, immersive virtual reality and sound synthesis. The SIAT design studios work with new media and interactive applications. The students from these programs now have the opportunity to work with a world-class digital theatre. The main focus of SIAT is concentrated on how people use technology in their lives to create better interactions exactly the philosophy of a CIT.