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I am looking for a 75+ screen. I would like for the screen to have 3D capabilities, so I would need a silverscreen. I was quoted by Stewart Filmscreens around $170k for engineering and installation. This is obviously way too high and someone on the forum mentioned a price around $30k for a complete screen. Does anyone know how to source a screen this large in the southwest region?

all serious tech companies work all over the USA. There is little left to "local" anymore. Especially when it comes to 75' wide.

I would be working with one company to spec the entire package.Sound-screen-project-etc.etc.

Is it possible that a screen can be too big? Personally I wouldn't want to view a screen where I have to crank my head from side-to-side to see what I could otherwise see by looking straight ahead and turning my eyeballs. Maybe that's why I never attend an IMAX or similar theatre.

Bob: Drive in screens are really big.
CGM

Boson wrote:
Sent you a private PM message.
I have no problem with big screens.
It is a clear differentiation from "home theater" and a reminder of why going to the movies is great.

-nooby

CGM wrote:
Duh! But cars are not as close to the screen as the front row in a large screen hard top.

revrobor wrote:
Mr. Allen, please accept my apology. I meant to say "Mr. Allen: Drive in screens are really big." We want to stay polite. We really do, it keeps it so much nicer. A digital picture on a BIG drive in screen really looks good.
CGM

I've tried to post this as a new topic with no luck. If this shows up twice, forgive me. CGM

OK, so we’ve had a little fun sniping and snarking. People are watching. Let’s ask a serious question.
When will we lose 35 mm film as a viable commercial entity?
The labs are closing. Depots have closed. The studios love the convenience of digital and the money savings.
SPECO, makers of the most durable platter in the world, is leaving the platter manufacture business.
A few 35 mm projectors were on the floor at CinemaCon. Who would buy them? For those who want 35 mm there are lots of late model machines that are damn cheap.
There are certainly lots of qualified techs and loads of NOS and nearly new parts.
Rufusjack said it many threads ago (allow a slight paraphrase) “why would the studios support 5% of the business?” VPF asked if we were ready to pay for prints if we wanted to run 35 mm. Are we?
Is this the way it was when sound was introduced? Sound starting hitting the marketplace, for real, in about 1927 and some theatres did not wire for sound until the (very) early thirties. Is that time already gone for those of us using 35 mm?
Is this closer to the days when CinemaScope entered the market? TV was tearing up the movie theatre business and suddenly theatres need much wider screens and new lenses. Most theatres were independent at the time or part of small chains since the Paramount Decree was several years before CinemaScope. It wasn’t just a new screen but it meant tearing up your vaudeville stage and curtain set up. I’ve seen old theatres with “new” screens stretched across the old curtains and stage.
Mr. Allen, you have said that you started in 1946. What happened during the TV/CinemaScope phase?
Is the digital just another evolution or a major setback? Are we any different now? Or is it just as scary?
Let’s hope that on the other side we all come out with a better, stronger, business.
God Bless All of You.
CGM

CGM wrote:
Actually when CinemaScope debuted in '53 the big chains were still in control. The four theatres in the town where I was working were owned by Fox West Coast Theatres (20th Century Fox). They also owned theatres in the surrounding towns.

CinemaScope and stereo sound was a big improvement over the 1:33x1 picture with mono sound we had been used to. Many small exhibitors were scared by TV and shut down, But after a few years people began to tire of the little screen especially when it couldn't present the same quality as 'scope.Digital is not an improvement that will be noticed by most of the public only the techno-geeks and experts. What will destroy a lot of theatres is the price of the digital equipment and the loss of film prints.

It seems like there are two differant threads going here so I thought I might chime in on both:

When will 35MM go away? - I don't think it will ever go completely away but I think the studios will start making us pay for the 35MM print within 5 years (probably closer to 3). Studios do not want to deal in 35MM any more and soon as the digital projector count gets high enough they will make there move. I am sure there will be plenty of lawsuits and unfortunaly a number of solid operators will not make it. I like most of the people on this forum broke into the business with 35MM and have a fondness for the format but...digital is a better product; it is a better picture, it last longer, it is teenage help screwup proof and give us a number of other options to use the facility for.

75' screen? I think 170K seems high but there are a number of good supply companies that will help you determain fair market value. But to revrobor's point, make sure the room is designed right for the screen. Please allow enough distance between the screen and the first row to not cripple people sitting in the first few rows. 75 foot screen means 80 foot wide by 40 foot tall by 100 foot (?) deep room - that is alot of lumber! Also this should create a seat count of over 500; do you need that many seats?

Just my simple thoughts.

I just received a quote for the screen. We are looking for a 40ftx72ft silver screen. An MDI screen purchase through SLAPS referral. I was quoted $30,294. Not bad. The problem is the shipping crate is apparently 47ft long. Not sure if we can bring it in and may have to structurally engineer it. Are there other alternate strategies for building the screen inside?