Monday News: Slow Going for Biggest Digital Cinema Group ... United Artists Reborn ... YouTube's Second Silent Era ... More

- The organization responsible for deploying digital cinema equipment to the biggest group of US theaters -- those owned by Regal Entertainment, AMC, and Cinemark -- has adopted a new name and announced a timeframe for conversion. The new name is Digital Cinema Implementation Partners, according to Variety, and thep plan is to start converting theaters in 2008. Ben Fritz writes, "That will put it two years behind competitors Christie/AIX and Technicolor, which already have started deploying d-cinema systems, primarily in smaller and independent exhib chains."

DCIP is now independent from National CineMedia, the public company that it was once part of. It's jointly owned by Regal, AMC, and Cinemark. Seems like a big focus for DCIP will be finding a way to allow studios to deliver movies to a theater via a number of different channels: hard drive, satellite, secure land-line, etc.

The AP also has coverage.

- MGM clearly has a PR person working overtime. The LA Times has a profile of CEO Harry Sloan, and the NY Times had a story yesterday about Paula Wagner and Tom Cruise's efforts to revive United Artists, part of MGM.

- The Wall Street Journal has a piece about silent movies getting new life on YouTube. Camille Rickets writes:

On YouTube, one user has rescored the 1902 French film "Le Voyage Dans la Lune" by Georges Méliès -- considered by many to be the first science-fiction film -- with an electronica soundtrack. A synthesized, thumping beat and keyboards accompany the story of a fantastical trip to the moon. The contemporary techno music -- which seems particularly well suited for a century-old film that imagines the future -- gives the work the feel of an abstract art piece or music video.

"Nosferatu," the 1922 Muranu vampire classic, is one of the most frequently re-scored by professionals and amateurs alike. The most interesting amateur "Nosferatu" rescoring on YouTube is a series that adds sound effects -- footfalls, a creaking coffin lid -- and a modern-classical score that includes synthesizers and the occasional electric-guitar chord. The result prompts viewers to watch the clips as they would a modern horror movie.

Here's a rescored 'A Trip to the Moon' and 'Nosferatu'.

- The LA Times calls iFilm an edited YouTube, and offers a look at how the Viacom-owned site operates.