Great idea for a thread. It seem worthwhile to watch what
he's doing.
Here's a recent article that highlights the playful public-
service side of his investment style. Note that even though
Vulcan Northwest bought and remodeled the movie theater,
nobody there is saying they did it for the immediate investment value.
So what's the real deal with Paul Allen's Cinerama venture?
seattleweekly.com
SO THE QUESTION IS, if Paul Allen is not in this for
the money, what is he in it for? To which Hunke ripostes,
"The rescue and restoration effort is a labor of love,"
part of Allen's interest in "saving a piece of Seattle's
cultural history."
Well, history is undeniably evident in the painstaking
retro-'60s restoration job (check out that wallpaper!).
But it is more likely that Allen's Cinerama is intended
as a futuristic technology showcase and laboratory. "One
of Paul's mandates was that it had to be the best
experience--period" for moviegoers, Hunke says.
That "experience" includes Vulcan's patented, plasma-
screen "active movie posters" and the latest digital
sound system (augmented by the groovy waved ceiling). A
classic old Norelco projector was refurbished for its
vaunted 70mm optics, while a 90-foot-wide curved
Cinerama screen lurks behind the flat, everyday 68-foot
model. Captioning for the deaf is projected onto small,
unobtrusive seat-mounted reflective screens, while FM
signals transmit headphone narration to the blind.
It would appear that this is where the value of his
investment lies for Allen. Hunke's observation that
Vulcan "can use the Cinerama to showcase electronic
cinema products" suggests that the theater may be
undergoing an almost constant state of renovation, to
keep up with and demonstrate advances in entertainment
technology. For Allen, the return on his $3.75 million
(and counting) investment may not come until years from
now, when one of his companies is marketing descendants
of movie-display technology first deployed at the
Cinerama. |
