Shopping Centers Today

APR 2017

Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)

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42 S C T / A P R I L 2 0 1 7 V irtual reality, meet actual shoppers. This is the hope behind a startup backed by Steven Spielberg, several big media companies, a venture capital fund and Westfield Corp. If the idea catches on, it will make today's video arcade look like ancient history. The new company, called Dreamscape Immersive, has raised $11 million so far and is planning to unveil its first storefront venue at the reopening of Westfield Corp.'s Century City mall, in Los Angeles, this fall. A spokesman for Westfield calls the new project "part of [the firm's] vision to rewrite the rules of retail," but otherwise deferred to Dreamscape Immersive grew by nearly 10 percent to $3.2 billion year over year. Aron says that full-year revenue for 2017 will exceed $5 billion. As Aron embarks on his second year as president and CEO, SCT asked him to reflect on his accomplishments so far, opine on changes in the movie business and discuss the firm's growth strategy. In January you celebrated your first full year as CEO of AMC. What priorities did you set when you took the helm of the company, and where do those stand today? When I came to AMC, my career previously included having sold millions and millions of tickets to consumers in other industries — from airline tickets to ski-lift tickets to sport- VIRTUAL REALITY, REAL MALL ing-event tickets. I've been a marketer for a very long time, and I set out from day one to sell more movie tickets too. I immediately began to work with our marketing depart- ment to redesign and deliver a more robust loyalty rewards program [AMC Stubs], a more engaging website and more user-friendly smartphone apps. In the last half of 2016, AMC rolled out all three to real success. We've crossed the 6 million AMC Stubs members mark, more than doubling the member- ship year over year. Our new website and mobile app have seen a huge surge in digital ticketing. I also set out to make AMC the biggest and best theater chain in the world. In less than 12 months, through the acquisition of Carmike Cinemas in the United States and come up with unique VR experiences or link some up to future movie releases. The retail location would reportedly feature multiple pods so viewers could interact with each other as well as with physical objects. The so-called motion-capture technology, developed by Artanim, a Geneva, Switzerland–based foundation that develops and promotes this technology, employs roughly a dozen cameras and sensors on the users' hands and feet so that they can freely walk around without being tethered to a computer. Previously, Artanim had done innovative work on medical imaging and body mechanics. Besides Spielberg and Westfield, the investors are Bold Capital Partners, Imax Corp., Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer, 21st Century Fox and Warner Bros. Another round of funding is already being raised, according to Dreamscape Immersive COO Aaron Grosky. That this type of multiple VR experience has Hollywood appeal seems clear enough. Describing the venture to an audience of executives and entrepreneurs at a for further details about the project. For the cost of $15 to $20 per ticket, viewers get to share a virtual-reality experience lasting about 10 minutes. The offerings would be original creations as well as those tied to major film franchises, according to Dreamscape Immersive Co-Chairman Walter Parkes, a former DreamWorks movie chief and producer. The production costs are estimated to be about $1 million per creation. "Studios and shopping centers have the same challenge: to create experiences that draw people in," Parkes told The Wall Street Journal. Dreamscape Immersive could work with Hollywood directors, he says, to conference in Beverly Hills in February, Peter Diamandis, a Bold Capital investor, called it "the future of entertainment." Dreamscape Immersive CEO Bruce Vaughn was formerly chief creative officer of Walt Disney Imagineering, the Disney Co. arm responsible for the company's theme-park attractions. "What's similar is that we're creating shared experiences and transporting people to worlds that otherwise only exist in their imaginations," Vaughn told the Journal. "What's different is, we're not building bricks-and-mortar and walls that you can't change your mind about." Indeed, the company seems to be building much more. "Today audiences can see movies in theaters in three formats: 2-D, 3-D and Imax," said Dreamscape Immersive Co-Chairman Kevin Wall, an Emmy Award– winning producer, in a press release. "Dreamscape establishes the fourth platform: VR. Now audiences will have the ability to purchase a ticket, step inside of the story and experience it personally in a way never before imagined." — Spencer Rumsey

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