Val Morgan has announced that it has developed an in-house facility to create 3D enhancements to existing 2D cinema advertising.

According to the media company, in the past 12 months there has been a 10-fold growth in the number of 3D screens in Australia, fuelled by the big budget sci-fi release Avatar.

The cinema industry posted a record box office of $1.09 billion in 2009 – the highest grossing box office year in Australian film industry history. This was a 15% increase on 2008’s results with annual admissions increasing by 7% to 90.7 million according to the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia.

“This will be the first opportunity for advertisers in Australia to capitalize on the 3D boom with a 3D enhanced commercial,” Val Morgan CEO Graeme Yarwood said.

“This is a significant step for Val Morgan to offer advertisers the opportunity to become involved in the 3D cinema experience in a way they have never been able to before. We are committed to providing advertisers innovative opportunities and solutions and this is our latest demonstration of that commitment.”

The technology will be available from March 2010 with the 3D release of the Tim Burton film Alice in Wonderland.