Not If, But When and How: Digital Comes to the American Art House

This article examines the impact of digital cinema conversion on the business and programming models of art house theaters in the United States. While first-run commercial cinemas are utilizing studio-subsidized financing to install DCI-compliant digital projection, art houses by necessity and design are embracing a wider range of financing schemes and digital projection technology. As a case study of art houses in Miami illustrates, the end result is a two-tiered exhibition sector: DCI-compliant art cinemas able to screen studio fare and potentially compete with commercial multiplexes vs. non-DCI-compliant art cinemas that are unable to digitally screen studio-affiliated films and thus focus on more independent or alternative programming. Different tiers of exhibition may help the art house sector increase access to a wider range of films during the transition to digital, yet the long-term viability of two distinct digital distribution and exhibition systems remains unclear.