Rainmaker Starts New Year With High Definition

Business Wire, Dec 13, 1999

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Dec. 13, 1999--

Rainmaker(TSE:RNK.)

Rainmaker Entertainment Group Ltd. ("Rainmaker" or the "Company"), operating in Vancouver as Rainmaker Digital Pictures ("RDP"), will welcome the Year 2000 in typically forward-looking fashion by introducing Western Canada's first high definition television post-production facility. In "Phase One" of an expansion into complete high definition ("HD") television services, RDP will add HD telecine, HD conversion and dubbing and HD tape to tape colour correction to its facility menu this January.

With HD implementation underway in the US, and Canadian broadcasters beginning to work with the new wide-screen higher definition format, industry demand is starting to build for HD programming, which leads in turn to a demand for HD production and post-production services. "I think our timing is perfect. We're currently bidding several HD jobs and I expect we'll have our first HD projects in-house very soon after opening the facility," says Rainmaker general manager Barry Chambers.

The cornerstone for RDP's transition to HD was laid last year when it installed Canada's first C-Reality, an advanced telecine designed to operate at higher resolutions required for both HD and film-resolution work. With a few modifications and some additional hardware, RDP's C-Reality will become fully HD capable, able to scan film images and transfer them to digital video at the prevalent 24P HD standard. (The C-Reality, which has been in full-time operation at RDP since mid-1999, will still be able to run in standard definition ("SD") television mode as well as HD.)

The HD-enhanced C-Reality will be complemented with a DaVinci 2K, the high resolution version of the popular and familiar DaVinci Renaissance colour correction system that is used in all of RDP's telecine and colour correction suites. Other components of the expansion include a pair of Sony HD-Cam WF500 high definition digital video recorders to handle the recording and playback functions, and a lengthy list of HD-capable peripherals: sync generators, test sets, scopes, converters and other equipment needed to tie the system together and interface it to RDP's current operations.

"The conversion to HD is not unlike the changeover to digital that our industry went through a decade or so ago," says company president Bob Scarabelli. "It's not a case of simply installing a machine or two - HD will involve rebuilding a whole new infrastructure for our facility, piece by piece, layer by layer."

Rainmaker intends to add additional HD services over the coming months; online editing and visual effects solutions are currently being assessed. Meantime, RDP will continue to offer its full menu of SD post services in addition to the new slate of HD offerings. "The market transition to HD will probably be a gradual one," Scarabelli said. "We expect to be operating in both SD and HD mode for the foreseeable future. But our clients know they need to start thinking about HD now, and we're ready to lead them step by step through the process."

The introduction of high-definition services is only one aspect of a wide-sweeping building program currently underway at the Company's West Second Avenue location. RDP recently acquired an additional 10,000 square feet of space on the main floor which is currently being renovated to house new production workspaces, engineering shop and other facilities, including a new screening theatre, which is due for completion in February. The theatre's plans hold a telling indication of Rainmaker's vision of the future. In addition to 16 and 35mm film projection and Dolby surround sound, the new theatre will feature a state of the art HD video projection system.

Rainmaker is one of North America's leading film and television post-production companies, headquartered in Vancouver BC. Established in 1979, RDP offers a complete range of post production services for film, television and new media including film processing, digital video post production, digital visual effects and DVD authoring.

This press release and any related attachments may contain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainty. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are market and general economic conditions and the risk factors detailed from time to time in the Company's periodic reports and documents filed with The Toronto Stock Exchange and other regulatory authorities. Forward-looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of management on the date the statements are made, and Rainmaker Entertainment Group Ltd. undertakes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements should there be a change in conditions, or in management's estimates or opinions.

The contents of this press release have neither been approved nor disapproved by any regulatory authority.