US Cine Uses Christie Managed Services For Digital Signage

Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief

Rave Motion Pictures, the fifth largest chain of movie theaters in the US, a longtime user of Christie projectors, has inked an alliance with Christie Managed Services (CMS) to service its entire Lobby Entertainment Network (LEN).

“As a large and decentralized operation, we were having a hard time finding a good outsourced provider for our digital signage needs,” said Brad Wardlow, vice president of operations for Rave Motion Pictures.

Christie Managed Services Centre

“We have 61 locations in 21 states, and all too often outages resulted in inoperable displays in the common areas of our lobby and concession spaces, with the resultant repairs being expensive and taking a long time to complete. We needed find a worry-free solution so we could concentrate on our business, which is to deliver a total theater experience to our movie-patron customers.”

In addition to movie projectors, Rave provides a Lobby Entertainment Network (LEN) air show display over concession areas, more than 500 digital menu boards, LED way-finder signage, and extensive LED signage in its box offices. A previous provider had often used distant, non-local technicians, causing high travel and accommodation costs and longer time frames to service and support these products. In contrast, CMS created a one-stop, manageable strategy that addresses ongoing preventive maintenance as well as immediate attention to any problems.

“This solution makes total sense for us operationally, financially and aesthetically,” said Wardlow. “The only question we have been asking ourselves is ‘why did we take so long to make the decision?’ We’re getting faster service, more preventative/proactive management of our signage program, and all at lower costs.”

“Christie and Rave collaborated to identify sites, create inventories of assets and to develop a more planned, life-cycle approach to managing these assets, versus a reactive approach to emergencies,” said Sean James, vice president, Christie Managed Services. “The CMS approach is to provide a support strategy which minimizes the amount of down time and expense associated with deploying the technology cinema owners want to use. By leveraging our technology and national networks of people and parts, we are able to significantly improve the availability of displays and projection systems.”


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