> From theatrical to streaming and physical media, chairman Richard  Lorber is one of the industry’s foremost champions of art-house cinema – just ask Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino.

Kino Lorber releases a lot of films on DVD. Why are you still betting on physical media?

> The physical media business is still an important part of our business, even if it’s in a transitional phase right now. When we entered, it was a $7 billion to $10 billion business; now it’s struggling to be a $1 billion business, but it’s still a $1 billion business. And we see opportunity there, particularly in a world where there’s a rapid deterioration of the availability of titles online. When Netflix had a rental-by-mail business, I did some of their first deals, back in the early [2000s]. Back then, there were about 100,000 titles available from Netflix for rental by mail. As of the latest report, there are probably 3,000 titles film titles available to stream on Netflix and probably, in total, no more than 7,000 or 8,000 to stream across all of the services.

> For collectors who love cinema, and I’m not just talking about the extreme cinephiles, I’m talking about film lovers who recognize the fact that physical media is a way for them to have the films that they love in the best possible versions — we release in 4K UHD — and have them forever. Those little plastic discs will probably outlive all of us. So we’ve cultivated those customers and they sustain our business, even as we recognize the deterioration of that business on a macro level. It’s a curated approach, a targeted approach, but there are many, many really good titles out there, even with the strictest curation standards. Films that really deserve to be made available again.

I’ve heard you say that DVD is the new vinyl, that physical media is set for a revival. Where do you see evidence of that?

> You’re using DVD generically, of course, but what we’re really talking about is the newest standard, which is 4K UHD. You won’t see anything in as good a quality as you can see on a 4K UHD copy now. And it allows for including a range of material beyond what you could put on a DVD or even a Blu-ray. It is going to become the collectible of record. People who really care about preserving their own cultural collections are going to be embracing 4K. We heard that at the Oscars. I had a great chat with Christopher Nolan, who has been a big champion of physical media. He loves our stuff and maybe we’ll do some things with him from his library, but he’s embraced the physical media business. [Quentin] Tarantino was certainly one of them who raves about the importance of preserving cinema culture in physical media. Whether the comparison with vinyl is exactly on target or not, it’s close enough.

I used this for years, from version 1.9 all the way to 5.x when I moved onto other software.

EDIT: Here is the full press release.

> Press Release- Inside information May 16, 2024 – 08:30 CEST Winamp has announced that it is opening up its source code to enable collaborative development of its legendary player for Windows. Winamp has announced that on 24 September 2024, the application's source code will be open to developers worldwide. Winamp will open up its code for the player used on Windows, enabling the entire community to participate in its development. This is an invitation to global collaboration, where developers worldwide can contribute their expertise, ideas, and passion to help this iconic software evolve. Winamp has become much more than just a music player. It embodies a unique digital culture, aesthetic, and user experience. With this initiative to open the source code, Winamp is taking the next step in its history, allowing its users to contribute directly to improving the product. "This is a decision that will delight millions of users around the world. Our focus will be on new mobile players and other platforms. We will be releasing a new mobile player at the beginning of July. Still, we don't want to forget the tens of millions of users who use the software on Windows and will benefit from thousands of developers' experience and creativity. Winamp will remain the owner of the software and will decide on the innovations made in the official version," explains Alexandre Saboundjian, CEO of Winamp. Interested developers can now make themselves known at the following address: about.winamp.com/free-llama

> The latest installment in George Miller's celebrated action franchise debuted Wednesday night.

I think the Cannes crowd are a strange bunch anyway. They gave Dial of Destiny a 5-minute standing ovation, so make of that what you will. (PS I though DoD was great but a standing ovation!?)

Well, we were discussing trailers that reveal too much yesterday. That's not happening here.

> Beloved British filmmaker Edgar Wright (“Hot Fuzz,” “Baby Driver”) is in talks to direct the new “Barbarella” at Sony Pictures. In addition, Jane Goldman and her daughter Honey Ross are also in talks to write the script for the project which is still in the early development stage. Jane Fonda famously played the iconic 41st-century […]

> “Death of the what? DVD is not dead, at all,” Kevin Costner said. “That’s what they’d have you believe. Maybe it’s not making the same amount of money, but just try to go ask for that from the studio. They won’t give that up. A lot of people that like my movies, they can’t get to a theater, and they’re waiting for that moment. You can’t make your film for the opening weekend. You have to make it for its life.“

> This year's Annecy International Animation Film Festival takes place June 9-15 in France.

> Recent trailers have revealed plot points that would normally be considered spoilers. Should studios stop doing this?

> Dave Bautista and Jeff Bridges lead a stacked cast which will flip the Beowulf story and presumably also feature a puppet or two in the mix.

Did you know, it was Roger Corman who told a young writer that if he could write a Mad Max rip off, he would let him direct it. The writer, Peter Radar, wanted to be a director and came back with a script he wrote called Waterworld. Corman liked the script but said, “Are you out of your mind? This would cost us three million dollars to make this movie!”

> A struggling actor with a partially paralyzed face and a speech impediment writes a script that a big movie studio wants to buy, but he refuses to sell it unless he gets to play the lead. Turning down an offer of life-changing money, he instead works for pennies to get the movie made with himself in the starring role. The movie becomes the biggest box office hit of 1976, notching ten Oscar nominations and winning Best Picture. The true story of the making of the iconic movie Rocky.