I went Bankrupt, by my choice to shut the buisness down in a hurry due to a nervous condition I developed, but after 18 years of it, work on over 35 feature films and installation of well over 300 booths! Not bad for a small shop is it? When you come down I'll show you the photo albums.
Mark

Here are the facts relating to MTS "Folding":

MTS is NOT going out of business, it is NOT leaving the film business or reducing its prominence there, it IS continuing to support D-Cinema technology and the SMPTE DC-28 standards effort. We are undergoing a significant management restructuring, due to the decision by some long time staffers to go on to new endeavors.

The decsisions by Mel Hopland, Phil Rafnson, and John Ayotte to move on is a personal one, and will not be reviewed here. The remaining team, including me, Jerry VanDeRydt, Mike Granger, Mark Collins, Paul Brenkus, Emil Poggi, Dan Eittreim, and the rest of the customer service, CAD, engineering, project management teams remain here. We are committed to continuing the MTS legacy of industry leadership.

We are reevaluating and, in some cases, reducing our contract service committments to allow local independents to compete for the business in the Twin Cities area. We continue to negotiate to provide similar services for certain clients. This reduction has caused us to notify certain technicians that layoffs were likely, and some have chosen to leave, while others are sticking it out to see what finally happens with our overall service effort.

Just like many other companies in this business, we have experienced some cash flow problems resulting from client bankruptcies, excessive overhead, and depressed margins. The new CEO, Charles Daugherty, has taken all of the necessary steps to fix this problem, and we are now leaner and healthier than in a long time. MTS intends to continue to lead this industry in film, digital, and any new technology that comes along.

We support Film-Tech and hope that readers will allow for the existence of some disgruntled individuals posting to this thread who have felt "ill treated" by MTS in the past. Any company in business for over 50 years will have some similar situations in its past - we wish those individuals the best, and hope that all of you will read our side of the story and make an objective decision about the future of the industry and MTS role in it.

Thank you, Brad for the opportunity to place our side of the story in front of your members.

P/S I hope this doesn't duplicate, as my laptop locked up on the first version of the post, if so, I apoligize.

Welcome! Hope that you and the others at MTS continue to participate in Film-Tech, especially in the frequent discussions of D-Cinema.

You didn't specifically mention Curt Behlmer. I assume he will continue as Chairman of the SMPTE DC28 Digital Cinema Technology Committee? Is he "officially" with MTS, or does he work out of Soundelux Entertainment corporate?

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: +1 585 477 5325 Cell: +1 585 781 4036 Fax: +1 585 722 7243
e-mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

I apologize for not mentioning Curt. He is, in fact, continuing in both his MTS/ATG role and as Chair of DC-28. Curt brings a dimension to this company that few others can. He has an enviable reputation in Hollywood, the creative/technology community, and among equipment vendors. Curt served as Senior VP of Post Production at Warner Bros. prior to coming to Soundelux/MTS. He has chosen to stay on in his capacity here at MTS and is the driving force behind our Advanced Technology Group and our D-Cinema efforts.

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Welcome aboard!

Thanks for the help, it was a great service in "calming" the waters so that my reply could be posted.

We here at MTS strongly support and utilize Film-Tech. If I or my staff can be of service, feel free to contact me via my E-Mail, which you have as part of my registration. We have access to a wide variety of industry sources, and will attempt to provide members with answers to difficult or unique questions. Unfortunately, my duties keep me from spending as much time as I might like on the forums, so if you find an appropriate issue, feel free to contact me via E-Mail.

Almost didn't recognize you in the suit...

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