IMAX Chief Richard Gelfond Helps Answer Your FAQ About 3-D TV

How much was the decision to move forward with this gamble motivated by Avatar's success? This is certainly the most popular IMAX movie. Most of the movie's audience don't want to see it unless it is playing at an IMAX theater.

I'd say that this might be the third film that people felt they had to see on IMAX. The first was Polar Express and the second was The Dark Knight. During this week, IMAX has been doing about 25% of the Avatar domestic box office on only 180 of our screens.

Do you foresee a day when all television channels and all movies are show in 3-D?

I don't foresee a day when all movies are IMAX. I think for certain kinds of pictures with real scope and breadth and where the IMAX experience really enhances it, like Avatar, audiences will go see it but I still think there will be many regular theaters that work for a different -- for example, I don't think Alvin and the Chipmunks would really benefit from being in an IMAX theater.

Is there one kind of demographic that you think the 3-D channel will especially be successful with?

No, I think it's going to be more of a general audience but I think that again, we are going to try to create a premium brand, so that means, both how the content looks and the kind of content. If you really want to endure, you really need a special niche and we want to make sure that our 3-D is going to look really good and live up to the brand promise of not only IMAX but Sony and Discovery. So I would think the first audience would really be consistent with the first adapters who look for quality out of the box.

Do you feel like the IMAX brand was tarnished at all by some moviegoers' complaints that they paid extra to watch a movie on a screen that was misleadingly and incorrectly advertised as being IMAX.

I think that the real complaint was that people did not know, whether it was a multiplex IMAX experience or kind of a traditional IMAX experience -- I don't think people really complained about the experience. It was just knowing what they were in for, and we responded by trying to be much more transparent by posting it on our website and handing out cards when they go to the theater. It really has not been a significant issue during Avatar.

How long do you anticipate it taking for 3-D television to really catch on?

I think it's going to take several years before it catches on in a material way like any new technology. It takes awhile and the price points have to change and things like that. I think the forces that are likely to lead to the change are strong and they include all the new 3-D content coming online. At the same time, you have all the 3-D televisions coming online. You have lots of big companies and consumer electronics in Hollywood really pushing in this direction and then you have clear consumer demand, as evidenced by not only Avatar but the twenty 3-D films that will be released next year.

If the channel launches as a pay channel, do you think it would benefit having a spokesperson to really push the crossover, like Howard Stern did for Sirius Radio? Say, someone like James Cameron?

It's too early to say. Jim Cameron certainly knows a lot about 3-D as well as, if not better than, anyone in the world so anyway we could work with him would be great but I have no idea what any formal role would be.

· Discovery, Sony and Imax see TV through 3D glasses [USA Today]

· TV Makers Bet Big on 3D, Payoff Uncertain [Reuters]

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