Telstra and media asset management specialists Silver Trak Digital will use their 5G Cinema Direct content delivery service to bring audiences the first live broadcast event for The Australian Ballet.
The company’s Melbourne performance of Don Quixote on March 24 will be managed over Telstra’s Internet Delivery Network (IDN), with 5G technology used to show the content in cinemas via Telstra partner 5Stream Streaming Solutions.
The Australian Ballet and distributor Sharmill Films require Telstra, TBS, Silver Trak Digital and Cinema Direct to acquire, manage and guarantee delivery of a high definition 1080p / 2k stream (approximately 20 mbps), into multiple cinemas simultaneously, with little to no technical expertise required by the cinemas themselves.
Silver Trak Digital and Telstra will take the live production feed and distribute it to participating cinemas with the Cinema Direct technology installed in real time.
Silver Trak CEO Tim Creswell said the live event was the next step in Telstra and The Australian Ballet’s 30-year relationship.
“The Australian Ballet has been keen to take their live events to audiences in shared spaces such as movie theatres for some time and have now partnered with their long-time distributor Sharmill Films to bring their first truly live event to cinemas across Australia,” he said.
“The enabling technology is Telstra and Silver Trak Digital’s 5G Cinema Direct content delivery service.”
APAC Telstra Broadcast Services head Karen Clark said Silver Trak were the front-end organisers of the process.
“Telstra will take the feed directly from the production and deliver it to cinemas via our proprietary IDN and over our 5G wireless network,” she said.
“Delivering live events, in real time, over IDN technology and using a 5G wireless network to do this is truly ground-breaking.”
This live broadcast event comes after the launch of Cinema Direct at an industry summit hosted by Telstra last year, where partners 5Stream, Telstra Broadcast Services (TBS) and Silver Trak Digital proved it was possible to get professional-grade content of both niche and major events into any and all cinemas regardless of location over 5G.
Sharmill Films CEO, Katharine Thornton, said Cinema Direct was exciting in that it gave access to people who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to view the performance collectively.
“Live dance is designed to be viewed collectively as the performance has been created for a shared audience.
“By watching it in this way the cinema audience will also be embracing the true excitement and complete experience of watching The Australian Ballet. In terms of cost-effectiveness, by using Cinema Direct, we also have no need to book expensive satellite time.”
David Hallberg, artistic director of The Australian Ballet, says the nature of Don Quixote meant it was well suited to the broadcast.
“The cinematic nature of the production, with lavish new sets and costumes, makes it the ideal ballet to view on the big screen if you can’t make it to the theatre,” he said.
The Cinema Direct platform is in the process of being deployed by Telstra, TBS and Silver Trak Digital, with over 200 cinemas to be connected across Australia in the next two months.