Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Returning trailers

my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

»	Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE » Operations » Film Handlers' Forum » Returning trailers (Page 2)

This topic comprises 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5

Author

Topic: Returning trailers

Michael Gonzalez
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 790
From: Grand Island , NE USA
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 01-28-2002 09:29 PM

I got to keep the money. However you have to wait as long as it takes for a manufactures rebate to come back. Anyway, if I work for an independant second run theater and I see all these post about chain theaters throwing away old trailers, I would start thinking about making some new friends.

| IP: Logged

Jerry Chase
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1068
From: Margate, FL, USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 01-28-2002 10:16 PM

I used to get used trailers all the time from Velde. Anyone else remember them?

I'm aware of second run theatres that recycle not only trailers, but posters and mylars from friendly first run theatres. Makes sense to me.

| IP: Logged

Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 01-28-2002 10:47 PM

We used to get used trailers from NSS, but probably not for at least 5 years or more. I have never gotten a used trailer from anyone except the old NSS.

The whole trailer distribution system is a mess. I have to order the trailers I need, and about half the time can't get them. At the same time, some of you guys get more trailers than you can use.

| IP: Logged

Frank Angel
Film God

Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 01-28-2002 11:32 PM

John H., Heed the posts here -- no studio distributor has EVER made any trailers avaolable for second run or art house exhibitors. NEVER. Your best bet for getting trailers is to find those theatres with the basements full of old trailers, befriend the GM or projectionist and see if they will let you sift through their stuff -- you will have a better chance of finding titles that way than thinking the distribs will have trailers for the very films they are booking to you. Same goes with paper.

In the days of NSS, they kept trailers for decades and you could get stuff for most of the classics and older titles. Now that films have become the fast-food of the entertainment industry with re-releases being non-existant with the life of even the hottest titles no more than a few months, trailers are not kept. I have no idea what Paramount and Fox do with the trailers that are actually returned, but you can be sure it isn't storing them for guys like you and me running art houses and museum cinematheques.

The thing to do now is watch what's out there and order trailers and one-sheets from NSS for the films you know you will eventually want to run....and keep them.

Frank

PS -- anyone know if Donald Velde Inc, and Consolidated Poster are anywhere to be found? They used to deal with most of the independent titles. I always sent those trailers back because they did make them available over and over any time you wanted to book them. I lost track of them and their old phone numbers no longer work.

| IP: Logged

Brad Haven
Master Film Handler

Posts: 300
From: fremantle, West Australia
Registered: Aug 2001

posted 01-29-2002 05:22 AM

We alway's have to return our trailer's, if we dont, we get a call from head office asking us where they are.
We actually do get the occasional second run trailer's, we recieved some used "AMELIE" trailer's from britain, which even had a date of release printed on it which was august(?), the local distributer had to print up a new ending stating the australian date of release, and just recently we recieved some used mulholland drive trailer's, possibly from the states.
slightly off topic , we actually get more second hand print's(feature)than we do new print's, mostly to do with being an arthouse film and not having the budget for a mass striking of print's .most of these print's are run through that stinky film cleaning bath.
So please look after those arthouse print's as they might come down under to my cinema.

| IP: Logged

Tim Turner
Film Handler

Posts: 87
From: Chula Vista, CA, USA
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 01-29-2002 09:40 AM

I never return trailers. And who gets the $50 for the random drawing? I'm sure the projectionist would never see it at my theatre, the managers would pocket it before we even knew it was there.

| IP: Logged

Steve Anderson
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 168
From: Nashville, TN
Registered: Feb 2000

posted 01-29-2002 11:20 AM

At the Regal I worked at they would never retun trailers and we would toss outdated trailers into a huge box and then dump them when it got full. The box would hold around 75-85 trailers.

| IP: Logged

Tim Turner
Film Handler

Posts: 87
From: Chula Vista, CA, USA
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 01-29-2002 11:34 AM

Its the same deal here at Ultrastar.

| IP: Logged

Steven Privett
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 208
From: Pasadena, TX, USA
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 01-31-2002 03:10 PM

I've won Paramount's prize twice. I did all the trailer returns and on Paramounts, I put my home address. That's where the prize money came.
Then I met people that had second-run theatres and they picked them up from me every couple of weeks. I still don't see where it would hurt to ship them back if only to get them out of your booth, and city dump.

| IP: Logged

Tim Turner
Film Handler

Posts: 87
From: Chula Vista, CA, USA
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 01-31-2002 08:52 PM

When you return the trailers do you just put them in the can when you return a print?

| IP: Logged

Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 01-31-2002 09:11 PM

So what happens if you send a box of Fox trailers to Paramount? Are you still eligible for the prize?

(I'm willing to bet large sums of money that they wouldn't even notice.)

And what are these "prepaid shipping labels"? I've never seen them, save for a couple of special 20th Century Fox titles (Ep. 1, etc.)

| IP: Logged

Donna Sylvester
Film Handler

Posts: 33
From: Burney, CA, USA
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 01-31-2002 11:13 PM

All you guys that run first run all the time have no idea how difficult it is to get trailers. I show first run once in awhile and I see how many trailers you get in those cans. Maybe twice a year I will even get a movie with the "attached trailer" still attached. The little guys have to order every trailer they want to show be it from Technicolor or whoever. I made a call the other day and they had about six out of twenty or so trailers I wanted, in stock. They send the trailers and it cost me $35! (Technicolor can only send mail priority. They don't care--they don't have to pay the postage. Now I say ground, UPS, and get them two weeks later.) Technicolor asks do you want to back order the rest? Hell, no. If I do that they send one every few days or so at about $12 a pop and soon I can't buy that new speaker or whatever it is I need because I've exhausted my savings on trailers. I used to beg the local Cinemark for their extras and they would share; but they don't anymore. I think they think I am some kind of competitive threat now. YES--I like that! The jest of this rant is please return the trailers so us little guys can show them, too. And yes, I have received recycled trailers and yes, I did win Paramount's $50 once.

| IP: Logged

Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-01-2002 12:12 AM

If I had any reason to believe that the trailers returned to distributors would find their way into the hands of smaller theaters, I'd be all in favor of returning them. Since that doesn't appear to be the case (except maybe outside the US), it seems like a better way to recycle the trailers would be to make friends with the owner of a smaller theatre and let him come by periodically and take what he wants. This benefits the distributors (because their product gets more advertising) and the smaller exhibitors (because they get trailers without having to pay for shipping) without really harming the first-run house. Same for posters and other promotional stuff.

| IP: Logged

Paul Harnden
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 107
From: Chandler, AZ, USA
Registered: Oct 2001

posted 02-01-2002 01:05 AM

Never returned trailers, but never heard of the possible $50 prize. Oh well, even if I did get that back my ol' head projectionist would've prolly pocketed it. We usually kept the used ones just in case the distributor didn't send the required ones in the can or if we received a used print with all the trailers missing. When the movie would come out we'd store it in a box to be thrown out.

| IP: Logged

Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 02-01-2002 03:32 AM

The Paramount $50 prize is actually real. I've won it before, and from the looks of it, so have a few other people on this thread.

| IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5

Printer-friendly view of this topic

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.