Interview with Lumma 4D Partner and Board Member, Rolando Rodriguez
In his latest venture as partner and board member of cinema technology provider Lumma 4D, Rolando Rodriguez is continuing his career-long campaign championing and advancing the cinema experience. The company is a leading provider of immersive seating technology in Latin America and has already made significant inroads, with key circuits in the United States and across Europe. Boxoffice Pro interviewed Rodriguez on the eve of CineEurope to get the latest on Lumma’s new lineup of immersive innovations coming to a theater near you.
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Could you provide us with some background information on Lumma as a company and some of the products they have developed for the cinema industry?
I’m very excited to have just joined them late last year as a partner and board member: It’s because I believe in them and what they’ve been doing. The organization has been in the business for over 18 years. They started in the amusement business and museums, and they’ve been in the theatrical business for over nine years. This is not a start-up; It is an organization with an incredible reputation associated with the product lines it represents. Our headquarters is located outside of Argentina, and we have manufacturing plants in Argentina and Uruguay, as well as a studio in California. We collaborate with all the studios to ensure that the products we represent and the synchronization that accompanies them are flawless. We’ve got a great organization that’s been recognized by the exhibitors that we serve as a best in class. We believe that as a best-in-class product in the marketplace, we are constantly innovating. We’re very excited about our new product, Magnify 8, but our 4D E-Motion has not failed in nine years, and we have not charged a customer for a spare part during the same period.
As we discuss these two concepts, let’s start with the legacy product, 4D E-Motion. Why should exhibitors consider Lumma 4D E-Motion seating?
You’re looking at the reliability of the product and, in particular, the technical aspects that are associated with it. Not only do we offer a failure-protected product that we’ve been providing for over nine years, but we also provide a great price-value relationship. We are very competitive in the marketplace. We see this product providing an incredible return on investment (ROI) for exhibitors during a time when consumers are looking for new and exciting products, and there is an appetite from a consumer point of view to pay a little more for an exceptional experience. We always talk about the things that exhibitors have been doing over the years—stadium seating, recliner seats, incredibly large screens, the Dolby sound system—but this product makes you feel the difference. You feel the difference in this one because you’re not only experiencing what’s on the screen, but you’re experiencing it through the emotions and the aspects associated with it that touch your body.
That’s part of this immersive seating trend that we’ve seen across the industry. There’s also a new product coming out that I’ve tested for a couple of years at CinemaCon at the Lumma booth. Every year I go in, it gets better. Magnify 8 is one of the most exciting innovations for exhibitors looking to allocate capital expenditure. Could you tell us about that concept and what the price-value relationship is between 4D E-Motion and Magnify 8?
Let’s start with 4D E-Motion. The consumer gets a more intense experience—air, water, the full movement aspect up and down, side to side. There are a lot of people who enjoy it because it’s like a ride as you watch the film on screen. We wanted to develop another product that caters to all consumers, pretty much across the board. This one is achieved by eight actuators, five of which are in the back of the seat and three of which are in the bottom of the seat. You’re feeling the motion through movement that’s happening on the back and the bottom of the seat without the intrusiveness of up and down, side to side. This fits very well in a couple of different aspects: It accommodates large-screen formats, and as people look into the large-screen format and elevate that next element, we’re able to introduce this product in the center of the auditorium. It could be an entire conversion of the auditorium, or it could be in the center of the auditorium. The cost of entry for this particular product is much lower, so it’s a fast ROI for exhibitors. By the way, it also fits in dine-in cinemas because, obviously, the 4D E-Motion is moving quite a bit, whereas this product fits in all different formats. Very similar to our 4D E-Motion, it’s perfectly synchronized with what’s happening on the screen. The feelings that the consumer experiences in the seat itself are what they visualize on the screen. It can be integrated into existing recliner seats or standard seats. It doesn’t require changing the seat or the structure of the auditorium. And in many cases, our executive friends are choosing that because it’s the look and feel of a brand-new seat. We fit it perfectly to the seat. Finally, we’re working with just about all the major seat manufacturers. If exhibitors are ordering these seats, this product can be installed in the manufacturing facility and delivered to an exhibitor’s existing theaters.
It’s the flexibility of Magnify 8 that makes it stand apart from every other premium format offering in the marketplace for exhibitors looking to make their first investment into premium large format (PLF). A lot of our colleagues are still trying to figure out how PLF can work for them. This is a great trial run to introduce a flexible, quick ROI solution to the marketplace. Magnify 8 is one of the most innovative products I’ve seen in the last five years in this industry. More theaters are saying, “Hey, let’s try this out. Let’s see how this can work for us.”
That’s the exciting portion of this, Daniel: seeing how many of our exhibitor partners who use 4D E-Motion are also recognizing that this is a differentiating product with a different price-value relationship. The bottom line is, you have a certain upcharge that you have on 4D E-Motion because, obviously, you must. It’s a more costly product line, but with a Magnify 8, that upcharge can be cut in half or even a third. From a price-value relationship for the consumer, it’s not only a different experience, but it’s a totally different entertainment environment. We’re seeing many of our exhibitors choose to have 4D E-Motion in one auditorium and Magnify 8 in others. We’re very proud of the fact that there is no competition for this product in the marketplace. This is part of what makes our team members at Lumma excited about what they’ve created. They’re constantly looking for new, innovative products that aren’t currently in the marketplace and exploring ways to help exhibitors drive additional attendance. That’s what we’re finding out when we’re installing both of these: the incremental attendance that’s being driven through the theaters because the consumers are looking for this experience, but also the incremental revenue and bottom-line profits that are very important to exhibitors as we continue to, obviously, J-curve out of this challenging situation that we’ve had over the past couple of years.
With Magnify 8, your auditoriums won’t be sealed off to accommodate their installation. You can still keep them operational and include that premium format without sacrificing play weeks.
Yeah, and that’s the key, because obviously, as we install the system, whether it’s in the existing seats, or we bring in the covers, or the seats come in automatically with Magnify 8 from the manufacturer, we’re not talking weeks. We’re actually talking about a couple of days, and we try to do it in off-theater times so that, basically, that auditorium remains functional for you. That’s one of the key components of Magnify 8: Structurally, your auditorium has not changed. It fits into the seat itself. When we do the seat covers, which I cannot encourage people enough to actually look into, many of our exhibitor partners, as they look at their auditoriums and try to remodel their theaters right now, are finding that the seats are now in their sixth, seventh, or eighth year, especially the recliner seats, and they need replacement. If you put this cover on, it will fit specifically to each seat. We actually have our technicians come and measure the seat itself to make sure it’s a perfect fit. Visually, to the consumer, it’s like you have an absolutely brand-new seat. Additionally, an ROI delivery is based on the upcharge for that experience.
Rolando, you spent most of your career working in this industry at all levels—the theater level, the theater manager level, the executive level, and the CEO and boardroom level. We’ve seen a transition in the way we market ourselves to the public, from marketing the movie to what we see today: marketing the movie at your theater. This is the sort of initiative and innovation that sets you apart, that lets people know, “Hey, you can watch this anywhere, but this is the sort of experience that only our theater can bring.” Can you speak about that evolution in marketing that we’ve seen as exhibitors reach out to consumers and tell them to embrace these new formats and these new moviegoing experiences?
I thank you for that question because, obviously, my passion, my heart, my soul, and my background are my love for this industry. I’ve been in this industry for 45 years, and there’s a big belief in the success and in the future of this industry. I’ve had the incredible pleasure and honor, as you well know, to serve as chairman of NATO, which is now Cinema United, for many years. I really got to know a lot of these incredible leaders in exhibition. First and foremost, we’re ensuring that we’re aligning with the consumers’ needs and wants. Secondly, with our partners, the film companies and the studios, we need to make sure that what we’re doing to enhance the experience of this incredible art that they’ve created and put on the screen is a match for what the consumer is also looking for, and it has the ability to not only create incremental attendance but, obviously, additional revenue and profitability for everyone involved. When you look at a product, whether it’s 4D E-Motion or the large-screen formats, with all of the films that are being made, for the most part, there’s a sensory component that’s associated with it. Whether it’s an action film, a horror film, an anime film, or a family film. They all have certain touches. That really aligns with our product. We want the consumer to feel that difference. On top of that, the consumer has spoken very loudly in all of the places that we’ve introduced these products by saying, “We love this type of product. We are willing to pay for that type of product.” It shows in the incremental attendance and the additional revenue. Our best references are our exhibitors and the customers who are actually visiting and experiencing our product right now.
You mentioned the importance of having studio support behind everything we do here in exhibition. What is the connection with film studios for 4D E-Motion and Magnify 8?
We love our studio partners and what they’re doing in partnership with us. For every film, we ensure that our technicians accurately match every movement on the screen with the corresponding motion in Magnify 8. We are one of the few that take it to that level of detail. It’s driven by what you’re seeing on the screen. We do this for every film that synchronizes with our product. Why is that important? Because every studio for every film that plays in 4D E-Motion and our Magnify 8 comes to our studio and watches the entire film, we appreciate their feedback and any improvements that may need to be made, and we implement them. We’re very proud of the fact that all of our studio partners have recognized us as best in class in working with them on this product. The award that they gave us at ShowEast honored us as a kind of best-in-class product in this area because we work with them, and we make sure that the art form matches the movements that are happening in our seats. They sign off on every film. In addition to that, many exhibitors ask if there are enough films that show in this format. All the major films, all the midsized films, and just about all the small films are playing in these formats. Over 70 films are being produced to play in these formats. There’s a film every week, in some cases multiple films. What we’re finding out now is that in many cases, the exhibitor has multiple auditoriums with our products: multiple 4D E-motion auditoriums and multiple Magnify 8 auditoriums to make sure that they service all the film that are playing in this format.
You’ve seen these products expand to more than 15 countries around the world. What has been the reaction to the immersive seating concept in these markets, particularly the way you approach it at Lumma? Has the public response differed in each of these markets?
We’re very proud of the fact that we’re doing business in 15 different countries. That tells you about our reach. We synchronize all of these components in different languages. It’s very important to our customers, and it’s very important to us to make sure that it works. That also tells you about the reliability of our product—it could be playing in Spain, France, Argentina, Ecuador, and in the U.S. There’s no downtime, and that’s critical forour exhibitors and from a consumer’s point of view. This is why we also innovated with the Magnify 8. The 4D E-Motion is what I would call the BMW of the car systems; It’s an incredible product that everyone should have. Additionally, we wanted to ensure that we were catering to an older consumer base. We’re catering to people who want to do one in a dine-in type of environment. Magnify 8 essentially caters to all genres and consumer bases, and so does the 4D E-Motion. We’re actually in the football museum in Spain, where the main attraction is our 4D E-Motion. You’d be surprised at how many older folks have had that football experience, which is incredible to young people worldwide. That auditorium, I can tell you, fills up every time that you’re there. If you’re in Spain and haven’t experienced it, please go see it, because it’s just really an amazing experience.
We also need to discuss the domestic market. What is the role that the United States plays in Lumma’s growth strategy?
It’s been interesting for our company because when you think about it, the acceptance of 4D E-Motion happened a lot faster in Central and South America and Europe. It’s almost like being introduced into the U.S. as something new and exciting. While there are certainly other competitors in the immersive seating field, we believe that our product stands on its own, along with our Magnify 8, which is not typically offered by others as a standard product. We’re very excited about our entry into the U.S., and, in particular, the reception we’re receiving from many exhibitors. Frankly, in the places that we’ve installed them so far, their success is matching the success that we’re seeing in both Latin America and Europe.
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