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Streaming services have revolutionized the way we consume media. Viewers can sit back, scroll through countless titles, and find a movie worth watching or a TV show worth binging. It is pure simplicity and convenience, right?

Everything you want to watch is right there, whenever you want it.

Until, of course, it isn’t.

Despite the number of videos available on a variety of streaming services (and the number of services is growing every day), the truth is that most movies are not available most of the time.

The simple truth is that no one has unlimited space to continue hosting movies and shows that a comparatively few people will watch. And, on top of that, there are often strange and complex licensing agreements that could run out or be cancelled at any time.

Electronic House recently featured one of our recently completed theaters as their "Home of The Week". We created this theater, as part of the Bel Air Circuit, for Hollywood icon Jerry Bruckheimer. The theater features incredible art deco design by Thierry Despont and was part of a complete historical renovation of a classic Beverly Hills estate.

Featuring a Barco 4k D-Cinema Projector and Barco Auro 3-D Sound, this room is perhaps the most cutting edge screening room in a private residence today. The goal was to create an immersive audio experience worthy of an action-packed Bruckheimer production with crystal clear video. Audio duties were handled by JBL Synthesis audio gear and video by Barco, The room is fully equipped for the Bel Air Circuit so that films can be screened the day they are released in theaters.

Big thanks to many of our partners who worked together to make this top screening room a huge success - Barco, JBL Synthesis, Ryan Brown and Sam Cavitt of Paradise, Rick and Matt of Richard Holz Construction, Gideon Perry of Fantastic, and Beth Cowan of Beth Cowan Project Management.

Read the article by Lisa Montgomery here... http://www.electronichouse.com/daily/home-of-the-week/jerry-bruckheimers-star-studded-home-theater/

We have completed hundreds of custom home theater systems and screening rooms over our history often to demanding Hollywood professionals from Malibu to Montecito. Along the way we have worked with dozens of great general contractors from very large firms to single owner-operators. Since GC's may go a year or two without doing a build for a top home theater, they always need a little hand-holding in order to deliver a great product to their clients.

I thought I would assemble a list that addresses the top items that every general contractor should know about a home theater build.

1. Quietrock is not enough! I often hear a super say, "we will soundproof with some Quietrock". Quietrock can help sound transmission, but is not enough to do serious home theater sound control. Too many clients have basement theaters that can be heard on the top level. To get proper sound isolation you need to mechanically decouple the room surfaces from the main house structure. Otherwise, sound will just travel throughout the home like crazy. Think of sound like water. You need to plug the leaks. This can be done using room within a room construction, resilient (or hat) channel, isolation clips, etc. There are a lot of techniques that require a lot more time to explain. Feel free to reach out to my email below for additional info.

2. Don't build a riser until you know the exact screen size! Too many GC's are anxious to keep the project moving and start framing out risers based on the architectural drawings. Sightlines are critical and the homeowners typically expect to see the whole screen without obstructions. It is imperative that the screen size and height off the floor is locked down before you start riser construction.

3. Projector location - Today's screening room projector's have the ability to be put very far back from the screen. There is no reason to hang an unsightly projector in the middle of the room. A small projector that does not give off much heat (typically used with smaller screens) can be installed in a soffit. You can even install larger projectors in the soffit but it takes some very careful planning to make sure noise is abated and cooling is addressed. The best place for a projector is in a room or area behind the room shooting through an opening (preferably with port glass). This gets the heat and fan noise out of the room and takes care of having an unattractive unit in the room. My strong suggestion is to find a way to shoot the image through the back wall of the theater.