Home Cinema Insight | Case Study
The pressure was
on when DSI Luxury
Technology took
on a project for
film producer Jerry
Bruckheimer
Pirates of the
Caribbean is
just one of Jerry
Bruckheimer’s
highly successful
franchises
A-List Cinema
Eric Thies, principal at DSI Luxury Technology, talks Alice Gustafson
through the LA install company’s latest high profile Barco project for
legendary Hollywood film producer, Jerry Bruckheimer.
It is not every day that an integration company works
with a client this high profile. Recognised as one of the
most successful producers of all time, Jerry earned the
nickname ‘Mr Blockbuster’ due to his unstoppable track
record of high-grossing films. Overall, his films have
grossed over $13 billion, not to mention launching the
careers of numerous actors and directors.
For those unfamiliar with his work, Jerry has enjoyed
a long career as a film and TV producer, responsible for
bringing us Beverly Hills Cop, Flashdance, Top Gun, The
Rock, Con Air, Armageddon, Bad Boys, Enemy of the State,
Black Hawk Down, Pearl Harbor, Pirates of the Caribbean
and The Lone Ranger. In July 2003, he was honoured
by Variety magazine as the first producer in Hollywood
history to produce the top two highest-grossing films of
a single weekend: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of
the Black Pearl and Bad Boys II.
And that’s just cherry picking the highlights from his
film career. Equally prolific in the world of TV, Jerry is
the man responsible for all your favourite crime thrillers,
namely CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI:
NY, Cold Case and this writer’s personal favourite, Without
a Trace. At one point, three of his TV series ranked among
the top 10 in the US ratings – a unique feat in television.
A close collaborator with Michael Bay having worked
together on Bad Boys, Bad Boys II, Armageddon and Pearl
Harbor, Jerry perhaps took note of the director’s choice
of home cinema projector – a Barco Ultra-Bright 4K DLP.
“Jerry wanted the best on the market,” Eric nods.
“He wanted something that was state-of-the-art, 4K, 3D,
reliable and able to play content directly from the studios.
We have a reputation for delivering stellar screening
room experiences for the Hollywood elite, so the build
team sought us out knowing they had a special client
to make happy. The screening room has been part
of this historical home for decades and decades. We
needed to bring it into the 21st century and amp up the
performance using the existing footprint.”
The producer’s Beverly Hills home is distinctive in
itself, representing a storied past as the site of many
a lavish party, as well as numerous movie screenings
hosting the Who’s Who of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Built
in 1927, it pays homage to the Roaring 20’s, sporting
checkerboard tiles in the main home with deep crimson
and rich gold velvet décor in the movie theatre. In a
nod toward nostalgia, Jerry displays two original 35mm
projectors, although he only uses his new Barco digital
projector to screen films.
When setting out to design the new theatre, the
producer wanted to create a unique space befitting the
grandeur of his home that went beyond the typical movie
house feel.
“Although Jerry downplayed the importance of the
room initially, nobody on our side was prepared to deliver
anything but a remarkable movie-watching experience,”
Eric states.
“We pushed pretty hard to make sure that the room
had good isolation and top-notch acoustic design. For
this, we brought in Ryan Brown and Sam Cavitt to do all
of the acoustical engineering and construction specs
for isolation. The end result is miles above the original
room performance.
September 2016 | 13
Case Study (2pp).indd 13
26/09/2016 16:42