ORLANDO -- Director M. Night Shyamalan threw down the gauntlet Thursday night at ShowEast, appearing at the exhibitors convention to speak out against shrinking theatrical windows and rejecting the notion of simultaneous day-and-date releases of new films in theaters and on home video, cable and video-on-demand.

In an interview before his speech, Shyamalan said he planned to ask theater owners at ShowEast's Final Night Banquet and Award Ceremony "for zero tolerance on this -- to say, 'If you're gonna release a movie in another medium, then you're not going to get into our theaters' -- because at the end of the day, they hold all the cards."

Speaking from his Philadelphia-area office shortly before leaving for Orlando, the director said: "I'm going to stop making movies if they end the cinema experience. If there's a last film that's released only theatrically, it'll have my name on it. This is life or death to me.

"If you tell audiences there's no difference between a theatrical experience and a DVD, then that's it, game's over, and that whole art form is going to go away slowly," Shyamalan added. "Movies will end up being this esoteric art form, where only singular people will put films out in a small group of theaters."

While such chains as Regal Entertainment Group, AMC Theatres, Loews Cineplex and Cinemark USA already have adopted a "zero-tolerance" stance, while companies including 2929 Entertainment and Rainbow Media Holdings have begun to experiment with simultaneous releases on various platforms, Shyamalan also hoped to take his message to mom-and-pop theater owners, and, indirectly, to the studios as well.

He planned to set forth a two-pronged argument.

First, Shyamalan said, "Story is king. Storytelling is an ancient art form that has always been told to a group, and the reason is that we need to see the story through each others' point of view, like sitting next to someone whose sense of humor is different than yours. That's the way we grow. We can't disregard the effect we have on each other when we see a movie. I make them for a room full of 500 strangers, not a singular individual who only has a life experience like mine. That would be asinine."

Second, he proposed an economic motivation. "I'm out to prove that not only is it the morally right thing to do, but it's the financially right thing to do," he said. "Even if you didn't go see a film, and I went and told you about it, you now benefit from my group experience. Films have to exist in the world in their ideal form before you can exploit them ... (so) if chewing gum with a movie's logo makes more money than the movie, don't get seduced by the chewing gum."

Although he has made most of his films for Walt Disney Studios, Shyamalan is completing "Lady in the Water" for Warner Bros. But he attributed the studio shift to creative differences that occurred before Disney CEO Robert Iger proposed, in an analysts' call in August, releasing DVDs during the theatrical window.

Shyamalan said such suggestions are "totally misguided and ridiculous. If you had 12 great stories to tell, you would be cherishing those four months (during which a movie screens theatrically). ... Rather than the studios' mandate being, 'We shouldn't go into a $200 million production when we don't have a screenplay,' it's, 'Let's cut the theatrical experience.' That's crazy."

Shyamalan first took up the cause of preserving current exhibition patterns at the annual DGA Feature Directors Night dinner in June in New York, attended by more than 50 helmers.

"I heard this idea (of collapsing windows) being promoted, and it really, really upset me," he said. "I felt such an apathy (in the room), like, 'Oh, it's inevitable.' No, it's not. If it were, then a penguin documentary ('March of the Penguins') wouldn't make $75 million in theaters.

"We have these business guys coming in, many of whom haven't been part of the industry, saying, 'This is how it's gonna be.' And then you had a few (directors') voices in support of the experiment. And I went 'whoa, whoa, whoa -- this is sacred to me. I'm not gonna let the theatrical experience just go away like this.' I made it clear that night that we're all losing faith and that we don't have to stand by and let this art form be rolled over."

His stance has pitted him against Steven Soderbergh, who has committed to making six films for 2929 Entertainment for simultaneous release on various platforms. The directors spoke privately at the DGA dinner, and, Shyamalan said, "We both love cinema. I love that guy; he was very gracious during our conversation, and it was very eye-opening to have it. I don't know if he thinks I'm naive about my position. I just feel this idea of releasing everything at the same time is gonna kill us."

Soderbergh, who's filming "The Good German" for Warners, was unavailable for comment.

Although advocates of shrinking windows have argued that it will help to cut down piracy, Shyamalan predicted that it would have the opposite effect "by giving pirates a perfect copy of a film in stores at 9 a.m. on the day it opens." Comparing theatrical showings to music concerts, he added, "The theatrical experience is the only thing that can't be pirated or duplicated, and it's different every single time."

He also speculated that some artists might be warming to the idea of simultaneous releases because they think it will lead to an new infusion of capital, but he said "the theory that there would be more money to go around ... is of no importance to me whatsoever. And no one will claim it's important to them, but that's one of the real factors."

Shyamalan has found support for his position at Warners. Said president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman: "The downturn in boxoffice is not related entirely to video release dates. Boxoffice is historically content-driven, and as an industry we fell short this year as a result." But, he noted, simultaneous theatrical/DVD release dates "are not going to happen at Warner Bros."

The director originally planned to join John Fithian, National Association of Theatre Owners president, onstage Tuesday but was forced to delay his appearance when Hurricane Wilma interrupted air service. Beyond making his appeal to exhibitors, Shyamalan said he has no plans to work in concert with NATO on the issue.

But as a measure of his commitment to the cause, he added, "I just finished shooting ('Lady in the Water' on Friday). I'm exhausted. My family hasn't seen me. I hate flying -- I feel like I'm gonna die when I get on a plane -- but I'm flying down to Orlando. It's that important to me."

After explaining his theory of the "collective soul" that can be found among a movie audience, he said, "The ideal form is the movie theatrical experience. If they try to convince us otherwise, they are lying." Acknowledging that he had benefited from DVDs, he added, " 'The Sixth Sense' DVD bought my house. You know what? Take my house," a remark that drew a big cheer from the crowd.

"I don't believe this is inevitable," he said to the exhibitors of the threat of shrinking windows, but, he warned, "If this goes through, you know theaters are closing down. It's going to crush you guys."

At the end of his speech, the audience rose and gave Shyamalan a standing ovation.