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

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Digital Cinema Forum   » vaguely threatening letter from 20th Century Fox (Page 4)

This topic comprises 4 pages: 1  2  3  4

Author Topic: vaguely threatening letter from 20th Century Fox Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-16-2011 09:17 AM                     quote: Brian Guckian Since a side-effect of theatre closures would be more Unemployment, this should also have a bearing on the legal arguments, particularly in the current climate. LOL! You got to be kidding. Tell that to the thousand or more corporations that have laid off millions of working people around the world because the corporations complain about economic hardship. The conversion to D-Cinema is a speck on a gnat's ass comparatively speaking to the rest of whats going on. Mark  |  IP: Logged Martin McCaffery Film God Posts: 2481 From: Montgomery, AL Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-16-2011 12:34 PM                        Brian, of course, is in a different country, which much different laws as far as employment, corporations, etc. So, who knows, it may work. And, the Irish do deal with things different than we do: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndzKAaZ3prs  |  IP: Logged Scott Jentsch Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1061 From: New Berlin, WI, USA Registered: Apr 2003 posted 11-23-2011 12:22 PM                        quote: Scott Norwood What really needed (needs) to happen is for there to be a dramatic shift in "film" rental terms. This is the most salient point of all this. Rather than negotiate the terms of only the item that was changing (the media being delivered), perhaps more attention should have been paid to the opportunity to renegotiate the base terms of how movie theaters and studios work together.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-23-2011 06:39 PM                        It has been almost two weeks and Mr. Aronson has not yet answered my letter. Did anyone write to him and receive a response yet? (I do not seriously expect him to respond, but that expectation does not prevent me from considering him to be quite rude if he does not.)  |  IP: Logged Tony L. Hernandez Expert Film Handler Posts: 158 From: Windsor, CO, USA Registered: Dec 2005 posted 11-23-2011 11:57 PM                     I got the letter too and I am on the "nice of 'em to semi-clearly warn us" boat more than I am the "nasty threat" boat. I was also verbally warned by Warner Brothers back in July that "we will stop supporting 35mm film this time next year, perhaps as late as Fall 2012". To make things clear, I hate digital with a passion. I think the quality is terrible for the customer and the equipment is a financing and maintenence nightmare for theater owners, managers and staff... I always have felt that way and always will...that's my opinion and I will make no apology for that, ever. I also love film...the image and sound quality, the thrill of running it, the ease of trouble shooting...the list goes on and on. I also used to be one who said that 35mm will never end and if it does, there will be a class action lawsuit. Now we are at the end of 2011 and things have been changing rapidly, just over the past year. With all the screens that have already been converted, the film end of the business has already been devastated beyond repair and there's no turning back...death (or at very least semi-death)of 35mm is all we have to look forward to. Operators have already lost their existing jobs and were forced to learn a new trade (even if it is still in the theater business), 35mm projectors and all related accessories have been scrapped or send to the landfill, film depots have closed and been remodeled into new uses and suppliers have either gone tits up or shifted gear to cater to digital. Anyone is free to sue anyone for anything...that said, the chances of winning are very slim and even if you won, it will not bring 35mm back to what it was. The studios have shown me and many others I know that they do not give a damn about anything but their bank accounts. As much as I love small town, historic and mom 'n pop operations, the bottom line is that they have never made a fortune for the studios and therefore, the studios couldn't care less weather or not they cease or continue to be. I do fear that many of these gems will close forever but I also am from a state with lots of tiny towns and know that many of these residents will raise hell about their theater closing and raise funds and/or write for grants to purchase a digital system for their local theater, weather it is privately or publicly owned. I know I sound cheery but I am not...I am simply sitting back and letting nature take its course here, which it clearly is. For those like myself who are more worried about coming up with the money "right this minute" as opposed to the marginal benefits of VPFs, a game of "chicken" is not completely foolish; perhaps a limited amount of prints will continue to be struck for a good while. In the mean time, save up your nickels and dimes for the day they say "no more prints, ever!" This is also gonna be a nightmare for drive ins and for the sake of their future digital equipment. Every DI booth I have ever been in has gotten it's fair share of daily dirt. A building that was most likely built "cheap" (as is the case with most DIs) from day one + dirt lot=lots of dirt to tear up delicate DC equipment. DIs need time to upgrade/remodel/dust proof their booths AND the less time the soon-to-be required digital gear is exposed to that dirt, the better. I am quite leary of converting our DI until I have to since I don't want it getting all full of dirt while I can actually still get and run 35mm, which I might add is much easier to clean as is the equipment that projects and handles it. On the same "game of chicken" note, a friend of mine who owns a drive in recently pondered out loud that "maybe, the studios are trying to scare as many theaters as possible to convert so that in the end, they have to make far further prints to supply those who refuse to convert." I feel mostly like this is wishful thinking but part of me believes it deserves a good pondering. Here's my worry: do you think that existing "classics" library prints as well as some select newer arthouse and mainstream films that already exist on 35mm (not counting private collections) will ever cease to be? Although my arthouse theater has DC capabilities (although it would need a good overhaul if we were ever to rely on it full time), the theater is supported by true FILM lovers who I strongly believe will stop coming if we ever go all digital. In other words, I fear that if we ever see the day that we cannot get our hands on a 35mm (or at least 16mm) print of, say, "The French Connection" or play the occasional arthouse or avant garde release on 16/35mm, we are dead. And please don't say that "they don't care what it's running on", at that theater, I know my customers personally and well and know that they have no patience for digital, especially for classic and avant garde features...Any thoughts here?  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 11-24-2011 03:10 AM                     quote: Tony L. Hernandez do you think that existing "classics" library prints as well as some select newer arthouse and mainstream films that already exist on 35mm (not counting private collections) will ever cease to be? Nope...original negatives and digital stock are and will be stored in temp controlled vaults-to last for generations. Yet, I bet you go ask "Mr. Joe Customer" on how the digital movie was, and he'd prob say "It was good". Then mention to him that it was a movie presented digitally, and I'm sure that he'll also respond to, "it was?" ..this is where the studios are going to put their answers: the public isn't aware, or do care on HOW it was presented,they came to that certain venue and wanted to be entertained with a good movie. Sorry, right now and for a good long time, digital is here to stay.  |  IP: Logged Martin McCaffery Film God Posts: 2481 From: Montgomery, AL Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-24-2011 09:52 AM                        Gotta disagree. Lots of films 'cease to exist' already as rights shift and companies go out of business. This is particularly bad in the art/foreign/indie part of the biz. As for digital storage, a few years ago Variety ran a story on what a nightmare that was for the studios. Digital decay was found in as early as nine months. And they will have to keep upgrading every digital feature they have (and elements?) with every upgrade in software and technology. The ironic tag at the end of the story was the best and cheapest way the studios discovered to preserve prints was B&W separations to film. The studios can never be trusted to be preservationists of everything. Stuff will be lost. I'm hoping some sort of system can be developed in which they lease the rights to their older stuff to entities that want to make a limited number of circulating prints, somewhat like the arrangement Fox and Criterion have now, just expanded.  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 11-24-2011 10:40 AM                        Thank you, Tony. You have articulated my feelings exactly. I closed my shop when I found it harder and harder to obtain support from former 35mm factories who have fallen on hard times or have closed outright. Dwindling customer base, too, had an impact. Your analysis is almostly perfectly right. Louis  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 4 pages: 1  2  3  4

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

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.