BlueRay Technologies Inc.s plant in downtown Spokane still is at least a few weeks away from beginning full-fledged production, but already has gotten what its top executive describes as a welcome lift.


Toshiba Corp.s decision last month to discontinue its competing HD DVD format ended a fierce battle over high-definition DVDs, and likely will accelerate demand for the Blu-ray discs that the plant here will produce mostly, says CEO Erick Hansen.


I think its a major milestone, Hansen says.


He says, though, that the plant could get a more substantial and immediate lift if his ongoing negotiations with some major movie studios prove successful. The company has said previously that it hopes to employ 120 to 150 people at its plant here eventually, but the signing of some sizable contracts could boost its total work force to 450 workers, Hansen says.


He was in Los Angeles last week to meet with executives of several big studios, but declines to identify them or to talk about whether or how soon he expects contracts to result from any of those visits.


Were getting some yeahs, but I cant really say anything more, Hansen says.


BlueRay Technologies, which claims to be the first U.S.-owned-and-operated producer of Blu-ray discs, bought the 40,000-square-foot Commercial Building, at 1119 W. First, last June and opened its $12 million plant there a couple of months later. The plant has been operating on a limited basis since then, but Hansen says he expects it to begin running a regular eight-hour shift within the next 30 days, depending on orders.


The plant is expected to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week eventually, but Hansen says it probably will start out with just a daytime shift and 10 to 20 workers and expand from there as orders grow and the company fine-tunes the exacting production process. He says hed like to see the operation grow to 120 employees, spread over three shifts and producing more than 100,000 discs a day, within three to six months.


It all depends on orders and backlog, he says.


Along with Blu-ray discs, which are its main focus, the facility here was set up to produce HD DVDs, standard DVDs, and compact discs, but the company has been reconfiguring some of its equipment since Toshibas announcement that it will abandon the HD DVD format, Hansen says.


We are retooling right now and ramping up, and have more equipment that will be coming in, he says.


BlueRay Technologies has said previously that it expects the plant to cater heavily to mini-major and independent studios, TV companies, and record labels that have to compete with the major studios for access to Blu-ray disc production, much of which is done in Asian plants. Hansen emphasizes, though, that the company also will be seeking to negotiate contracts with some of the big studios.


Of Toshibas decision to drop the HD DVD format, he says, This will be a boon for the industry once people realize there is going to be one superior format. The confusion was hurting the marketplace.


As Blu-ray disc sales grow and manufacturing volume rises in the absence of competition, economies of scale will cause disc prices to fall, which will be good for consumers, Hansen predicts. He bemoans the fact, though, that a lot of the disc production is occurring overseas, and he portrays BlueRay Technologies as a domestic alternative that more prospective clients should consider, for the health of the U.S. economy, even if it costs them a couple of cents extra per disc.


As a nation, he contends, Were driving Chinas economy, to Americas detriment, and its taking away American kids future, not to mention rampant video piracy concerns in some overseas markets.


Hansen, a DVD industry veteran, and John Daly, an award-winning movie producer, last year formed Edge of Light, an independent distribution and manufacturing company created to release programming in the Blu-ray format.


Edge of Light is a joint venture between BlueRay Technologies, which Hansen founded, and Film & Music Entertainment Inc., a Los Angeles-based company that Daly heads. Daly has produced movies such as The Terminator, Platoon, and The Last Emperor, and has won 13 Oscars and been nominated for Oscars 21 times. He also has won numerous Golden Globes and awards at the Cannes Film Festival.


Hansen says the new high-definition technology will provide the next boom to film companies of all sizes, as occurred earlier when VHS videocassette tapes and then DVDs came to market, creating new revenue streams. He predicts that the high-definition TV boom in U.S. households will drive a growing number of consumers to replace their standard DVDs with high-definition discs over time. Research suggests that 70 percent of U.S. homes will have large-screen HD TVs by 2010.


Independents have to follow the majors in providing their content in next-gen formats, Hansen says. Blu-ray lets producers sell their content all over again.


Toshibas decision to scrap its HD DVD technology, though welcomed, didnt come as a surprise to Hansen. He had said in a press release about seven months ago that, The competition is over. Blu-ray won.


Many consumers, though, have been sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the format battle to be decided before purchasing a high-definition DVD player, and Hansen says a lot of them likely now will be more motivated to make such a purchase.


Blu-ray discs are so named because of the blue-violet laser beam used to read from or write data to the discs. The laser has a shorter wavelength than the red laser used in standard DVD players, which allows for a higher recording density since the laser can be focused more precisely, allowing data to be packed more tightly and stored in less space. Blu-ray discs have five times greater storage capacity than standard DVDsup to 50 gigabytes on a dual-layer discwhich enables them to hold not only a data-intensive, high-definition movie but also more special features.


They also, though, are considerably more expensive than standard DVDs. In addition, they require a Blu-ray player and a high-definition television for viewing, and the least expensive Blu-ray players still are around $400.


Nevertheless, an industry expert predicted in a Wall Street Journal article last month that U.S. consumers will spend about $1.1 billion on high-definition movies this year. Thats up sharply from $280 million last year, and compares with the $1.4 billion spent on regular DVDs in 1999, their third year on the market, the article said.


Hansen is excited not only about the potential for BlueRay Technologies plant here to see strong growth, but also about some of the environmentally friendly technologies that have been or are to be integrated into the building that houses the plant. They include a rainwater-recycling system and a rooftop solar grid for providing needed electrical power and even recharging employees electric cars.


Hansen has said he expects the company to have first-year revenues of $25 million to $30 million.


Contact Kim Crompton at (509) 344-1263 or via e-mail at kimc@spokanejournal.com.