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I had a print of In the Bedroom playing at my theater. On the Tuesday before it was slated to be shipped out, Technicolor gave us a call, and asked us when we could have the print ready for pickup, and they were told around 12:30AM, Friday. (The last show ended before midnight, but not much before.)
After I arrived on that Thursday, I found out that the print was going from my booth, to our nearest 'competitor'. They're in a different city, but about 4.2 miles away from us. The assistant manager and I discussed that it would just be ridiculous for Technicolor to send a courier to pick the print, to drive 15 minutes with it, and drop it off, when she would have to drive in that general direction anyway, and could drop it off there, possibly still assembled (and clamped, of course!), or at least only broken down onto 6000' reels...
So, she called Technicolor, and asked them about it, only to find out that they had been told by Miramax to have us send the print over there ourselves! And of course, they never thought to call us, or the other theater, with that info.
...silly pimp fairy bastards.

Yeah, it all went okay, but that had nothing to do with TES!

~GLB

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But keep in mind: They are frequently working with a limited number of prints. The individual distributors are responsible for determining how many final prints are in distribution...TES is charged with shuffling them around so that no one is dark. I can imagine it to be a rather difficult thing sometimes.

ALSO, and I cannot stress this enough (and i'm not saying it's right that it's this way) but Airborne Express service varies in quality DRASTICALLY from one area to another...I have much firsthand experience with this. This explains some cases of drivers coming outside of their windows and being late with deliveries.

**Funny Story told for no reason(or is it funny)** Last year I watched the Airborne van drive up on the curb in front of one of my theatres and come to rest against a column out front. Upon investigation I found the driver slumped over the steering wheel. I thought he might be in trouble, but no, he was just passed out drunk. I called the police and complained about him to his supervisors several times, but he was our driver for a month more! When I asked TES about it a week or so later they had no idea what I was talking about (even though I told them about it that night).

As for the paper bands: I used to think some of you guys were silly for complaining about the way they were fastened with the sticker, but GEEZ! I have had nearly every reel for months come in with the sticker placed in the worst positions. Now, I tear them off and throw them way. I think they are useless anyway.

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It looks like i've been jinxed! No sooner do I marvel at the fact that i seem to be in the minority on never having a problem with Technicolor, Airborne looses one of the "Rookie" shipping cans that i need for tomorrow. Granted, thats an Airborn Express problem, but we'll see if my luck holds out and if Technicolor can come through for me again! (fingers crossed)

Please don't misunderstand. I don't wish bad luck on anyone, and I really hope that TES comes through for you on your print of The Rookie. In fact, they probably will. I have found that they are generally good at helping you out when you are truely in a bind.

I guess that some of my wrath is directed at the things that occur when people know better. For instance, we were shipping out only one print today- Big Trouble. Our Airbourne guy, who by the way is top notch, says he has not only Big Trouble, but also Frailty for pickup on his list. When I told him that Frailty is still running, he didn't bat an eye and simply said "See you next week." He knows the score- not his problem. Simply put, there are communication problems at Technicolor.

Another issue is one Brad brings up. How the hell they are able to mount prints on some of the reels they send out defies belief. It just blows my mind to see new prints mounted on trash.

I will be the first to accommodate any other theater that needs a print at the end of our run. Just give us notice and we will have the print broken down and ready for transport ASAP, professionally done. However, please don't jerk us around by demanding that a print be ready early Friday morning and then never being picked up.

Adam, I'd love for you to have one of our prints of "The Rookie". They are four weeks into the run and look as good as the day they arrived. Unfortunately, we're going to keep them at least one more week.

Anyway, hang in there and don't get discouraged.

Also, I really wish we could transfer prints from specific locations instead on relying on the shipping depots to distribute them around. It would do wonders for the condition of the prints as the so-called "film-handlers" who don't give a rats behind about presentation got blacklisted from the rest of the community. I remember getting "Black Hawk Down" from the Navy theater here in town after they had a pre-release screening. They had one show, and the print looked like it had been tied to the bumper of a hum-vee and dragged to our theater for the wide release. I'd blacklist that theater in a second.

Anyway, i don't really think i was jinxed. Just wierd timing.