During the 2022 edition of We Are French Touch, Elisha Karmitz, CEO of mk2 presented a masterclass entitled "Inventing new uses around cinema: the case of the Hotel Paradiso". Back in six points on this unprecedented experience which gives a second wind to the 7th art.

1- Cinema Paradiso, the genesis of the project

• 2013 – The “Cinéma Paradiso” brand is born at the Grand Palais. A private hybrid event bringing together cinema, gastronomy, music, contemporary art...
• 2015 – For the 40th anniversary of mk2, “Cinéma Paradiso” returns as “the largest pop-up cinema in the world”. For 11 days at the Grand Palais, 80 visitors will enjoy two gigantic cinemas, the screening of 000 films, a gourmet restaurant run by Jean Imbert or a bowling alley, etc. “Le Jardin Paradiso”, one of the first luxury private rooms in Paris, also sees the light of day.
• 2019/2020 – “Cinéma Paradiso” moves to the Carré du Louvre courtyard transformed into a village square.
• 2021 – Opening of Hotel Paradiso

2- Combine hotel and cinema

The Paradiso concept translates into a building that has a cinema on the ground floor and a hotel on its upper floors. The choice of location matters: the mk2 Nation is a historical group cinema. It is also, in the district, a cinema open for more than 100 years. Above, take place 37 rooms, a café, a rooftop with an open-air cinema, a karaoke room, event spaces...

3- Gather a collective of artists

Collaborate with inspiring friends or people to create a unique experience. This idea guided the creation of the Hotel Paradiso. Among them the decorator Alix Thomsen, the musician Woodkid and the artist JR who created a collage seventeen meters high opposite the rooms of the hotel,… Each in his field will be invited to translate his vision of cinema -hotel and cinema as a way of life : enough to guarantee that this place comes to life.

4- Create a unique place

Avoid the pitfall of a standard cinema-hotel. For this, from the style of the furniture or the format of the "directory" in the rooms, each detail has been thought out with reference to the codes of the cinema. A comfortable place in which to curl up to watch a film, but also an inspiring space where film buffs meet.

5- Invent an experience

Certainly the most difficult stage since it was necessary to respond to the promise to offer a cinema in each room. From the architecture of the building to the furniture, each room has been designed to promote this experience. All have bow windows three meters wide that turn into a screen. It is the symbol of cinema as a window open to the world. The heart of the experience happens in bed. This means that in terms of sound and image technologies, everything has been thought out, with mk2's technical teams and a supplier partner, so that the bed becomes the best place to watch a film. Technology and equipment (sound, projector, screen, light) disappear in favor of the experience: nothing is seen. The Paradiso is ultimately a hotel where you don't come to sleep.

6- Define the course of the experience and its variations

In order for the tour to be as complete and fluid as possible, and for the viewer to be able to go to the end of a film without being disturbed, it was necessary to design a 100% digital solution which gives access to the selection of films and series ( as well on Cinetek as Netflix or Carlotta, OCS, etc.), to films on display (only in the two suites), but also to music, concierge services, a VTC offer, meal delivery in the room -service… Mk2 has therefore designed, with the help of a French start-up, a digital tablet to control these different contents.
Another experience offered by the Hotel Paradiso is access to one of the mk2 Nation movie theaters via a "dressing room" separated from the large room by a window, where it is possible to attend the screening in premium.

Today, this hotel-cinema is a diversification activity that is intended to be reproduced. Mk2 is considering other openings, in Paris and elsewhere.

Photo: ©mk2