The Los Angeles Times calls it “a place of limitless possibility.” Variety calls it “the best small screening room in town.” For industry clout, you can’t beat the location; The Wilshire Screening Room and Art Gallery at 8670 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, www.studioscreenings.com is just down the street from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Third-generation Guild Projectionist and President of Screening Group Services, Michael S. Hall, has owned and run the Wilshire Screening Room with Screening Services Group since 2003.
The theater contains plush velvet seats and has 44 seats, with an ample six feet between rows. Mr. Hall began his career, amazingly, at the age of eleven, as a projectionist at a 3-screen, 1,500 car drive-in theater, and he’s been in love with the technical side of the business ever since, investing every spare penny back into his business.
Hollywood Sentinel: What is the screening room used for?
Screening Services Group: While the general population sees movies in a big commercial theater (or at home on Blu-Ray or DVD), the Hollywood elite, such as producers and distributors, members of the press, and voting members of the Academy, attend private screenings for film festival selection, to view Academy Award nominated films, to look for distribution and to introduce smaller, independent films to the public via press screenings.
The Wilshire Screening Room, owned by Screening Services Group, hosted screenings for the 2014 Academy Awards, and is an official provider of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. The Sundance Film Festival is the most prestigious film festival in the United States. At the Wilshire Screening Room, individually wrapped candy is on the house! The Wilshire Screening room also offers DCP and Blu-Ray creation.
Hollywood Sentinel: What is DCP creation?
Screening Services Group: A Digital Cinema Package (DCP) is a collection of digital files used to store and convey Digital cinema (DC) audio, image, and data streams. Most film producers and distributors rely on digital cinema encoding facilities to produce and quality control check a digital cinema package before release. Our expert facilities follow strict guidelines set out in the DCI recommendations to ensure compatibility with all digital cinema equipment. The Wilshire Screening Room uses Clipster DCP Creator, a top of the line, $150,000 hardware system. DCP customers call our staff “filmmaker-friendly and very quality conscious.”
Hollywood Sentinel: How do guests find the Wilshire Screening Room?
Screening Services Group: The Wilshire Screening Room is located on the lobby floor of the brown marble building at the southwest corner of Willaman Drive. The building is located at the traffic signal between Robertson and La Cienega Boulevard. The screening room can be found in Suite 112.
Hollywood Sentinel: Will you please tell us about the Art Gallery you also run?
Screening Services Group: For a post-screening soiree, we also have an upscale art gallery available for rent next door in suite 114. The gallery; AD Gallery is directed by Amy Delaporte, who spent ten years establishing a national and international client base with BGH Gallery, formerly located at the prestigious Bergamot Station Art Center in Santa Monica. Amy has also served as the Associate Director role at the highly regarded ACE Gallery, also in Beverly Hills.
Hollywood Sentinel: The most important and powerful groups in motion picture work with you. That is impressive. We read that The Wilshire Screening room is on the short list of recommendations from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (producers of the Golden Globes).
Screening Services Group: Yes. And for larger screenings, Screening Group Services also handles the booking, billing and projection of the iconic Crest Theatre in Westwood, which holds 275 seats, and can accommodate as many as 450 with advanced notice.
Hollywood Sentinel: It seems pretty apparent, when one has a film to screen, who to call!
Screening Services Group: Thank you! Screening Services Group can be reached at 310-701-8925, or e-mail [email protected]. And be sure to visit the official website at: www.studioscreenings.com.
