Interview – Mark Knox, Toshiba on HD DVD

Just around the corner is the long-awaited launch of the HD DVD, one of two competing high-definition formats for the DVD optical disk. The stakes could not be higher for the movie business, less so for the manufacturers, and a hair pulling nightmare for the one's asked to finally pay for it all – the consumers.

I interviewed Mark Knox last week. You will find the interview below my lead-in. Mark has the task of explaining to you, as well as to the motion picture industry, why the Toshiba-backed HD DVD is the right choice.

The current backdrop for this launch …
The movie business needs a smashing success using a new distribution format to restore expansion and youthful vigor to all parts of the business. They are presently plagued (in good economic times too) by sagging box office returns and a flat-to-declining packaged goods business. I will not speak of the gaming side of entertainment here, for while some ownership is common, it is not entirely integrated with the movie culture.

The "collapse" of the box office over the last three years appears more than just a low ebb in a business cycle. Those explaining it away claim with fading conviction that even with these declines there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the business. People still love movies just as much as they ever have and the sky is not falling. It is only a matter of getting back in synch with the public's mood. But 'sorry celluloid' has plagued the big screen before in the post-TV era without sending the box office so steeply into decline.

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