Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Warner Bros. print problem phone numbers

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-13-2000, 05:44 PM:

Just received a letter from Warner Bros. as follows. The letter pertains to the Western and Mid-Western divisions, no clue on if this is company wide. Here it is:

Dear Exhibitor,

In order to improve service for after hours print problems, we are replacing our current system of using pagers. Effective immediately, our sales assistants will carry a cell phone with them during after business hours and on weekends.

If you need to reach your sales assistant for the Western Division the cell phone number is 818-648-4059.

If you need to reach your sales assistant for the Mid-WEstern Division the cell phone number is 818-648-4057.

We believe the use of these cell phones will enable you to reach the sales assistants quickly and will allow them to solve print problems promptly.

Sincerely,
Kim DiMarco, Director

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 10-13-2000, 06:10 PM:

Well, I've said it a hundred times before, but I'll say it one more time. Get the prints to the theaters on Wednesdays and there will be plenty of time to fix problems!

That crock about preventing bootlegging has got to be the lamest excuse I've ever heard. Hey guys, if I was actually going to break the law and bootleg one of your movies, I'd just do it on Thursday night!

Duh!

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 10-13-2000, 09:50 PM:

I tend to agree with Brad.

I think the real reason is that the labs are simply not done printing all the reels.

Reminds me of the "just in time inventory" concept, which (unless you allow for bad parts) also sucks.

Posted by Steven Gorsky (Member # 603) on 10-14-2000, 12:29 AM:

Don't Warner Brothers prints already come on Wednesday? Remeber they are delivered by ETS NOT Technicolor.

Steven Gorsky

Posted by Gracia L. Babbidge (Member # 582) on 10-14-2000, 02:00 AM:

I've seen more Technicolor prints arrive on Wednesdays than ETS prints arriving on Wednesday.

...Come to think of it, all the Technicolor prints I've seen arrive on Wednesdays were from Dreamworks....hmmmmm
Everything else arrived on Thursdays. Technicolor usually has my prints delivered before 2PM (there have been exceptions *coughcoughNurseBettycoughDuetscoughcough*), whereas ETS rarely has my prints delivered before 7PM.
At least with ETS, I know that all the cans the prints will arrive.

~The Purple-Tressed Booth B*tch

------------------
In some cultures, what I do is considered normal.

Posted by Steven Gorsky (Member # 603) on 10-14-2000, 02:50 AM:

Maybe it's because my theatre is so close to the ETS depot in Landover, MD. There is probably only a 45 min to an hour drive.

Steven Gorsky

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 10-14-2000, 02:59 AM:

That's precisely it. Location, location, location. I know of no theater that regularly gets TES prints on Wednesdays, but if you aren't too far from an ETS depot, you'll have them on Wednesdays with PLENTY of time to correct a lab mistake.

(Now if we can just get Warner to junk that bad batch of reels that won't fit on the 5/16" shaft without a hammer.)

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 10-14-2000, 03:34 AM:

Hell, when I first got here - ETS delivered Thursday night/Friday morning! (It's delivered by the Twin Cities News, when they dump off the papers here in town). One quick call to my booker, and I get them now on Wednesday night/Thursday morning (not even sure when they drop, somewhere between 2 and 5 would be my guess). The only TES prints I have received on Wednesday WERE Dreamworks (maybe a connection) - they were What Lies Beneath and Gladiator.

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 10-14-2000, 01:49 PM:

We are in Santa Rosa, CA about 70 miles north of Oakland. ETS/Theatre Transit is in Oakland. They swing by our theatres regularly on Tuesday night after we have left. They have keys. If they have prints they bring them up. Nice

If they don't have them, we usually get them delivered in the middle of the night Thursday. Not Nice

Technicolor allways delivers on Thursday unless they are print for print. Then we get it Friday by noon.

This week we got everything on Wednesday thank God. We had 6 prints to buld up and 6 prints to tear down.

Here is the suprise. Technicolor is the cheapest. Because we live so far from the depot, we pay more for Theatre Transit.