Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Enclosed Trailers -- Who Decides?

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Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 07-26-2001, 03:32 PM:

An interesting discussion started in Feature Info and Trailer Attachments Forum regarding trailers attached to or enclosed with a feature. On "Planet of the Apes" Brad Miller received the following (Title, Distributor, Release Date):

Attached: Shallow Hal (Fox, 11/9/2001))
Loose: From Hell (Fox, 10/19/2001))
Don't Say a Word
Time Machine (Dreamworks 12/25/2001)
The One (Columbia 11/2/2001)
American Pie 2 (Universal 8/10/2001)
Rock Star (Warner Bros. 9/14/2001)
Bandits (MGM/UA 10/12/2001)

I wonder who decides which trailers are sent "loose"? Do all theatres get the same titles enclosed with a given
feature, or is it random? Since the loose trailers are added to the case at the film exchange, is there a different
selection process between TES and ETS?

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Posted by Michael Goucher (Member # 199) on 07-26-2001, 04:08 PM:

Thanks, John, for bringing this up and I'm following the thread over to this new page.
Working in a studio screening room, almost all of my preview prints are without trailers. Toward the release date, though, I will usually get two or three "standby" prints to use as replacements if there is some theatre mishap and their machinery chews a print. When I get those emergency prints from the depot, I see the trailer assortment and it is quite puzzling from a programming point of view. (In today's business vernacular, I think some studios or distributors have a "strategic alliance" with the depot and their trailers are jammed into every box.)
A few years back, when I was still working theatres I would receive trailers with a suggestion letter from the studio's trailer department indicating that the trailer might be a good programming fit with this or that film now showing. Nowadays it is hard to tell what the line of reasoning is from the programming standpoint.
Bottom line, though, I think by sending trailers out with prints the studios are saving postage or shipping costs by lumping it all in with the feature's shipping costs. That seems to be the practical side of it all, and let the programming considerations come as they may.

Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 07-26-2001, 05:19 PM:

Hi John!

What happened at our theater was the following:

Our trailer placements were dictated by the distributor and the home office.

We did not use interlocks, so we had multiple prints of the same film.

The trailer placements on each print were usually different, with the exception being the attached trailer.

The trailer placements were in order of presidence from theater size.

The studios/distributors usually sent in "spy" checkers to look at if we were running the correct trailers on the correct screen, as well as their condition.

If we did not have the trailer that was called for, then it would be immediatly ordered. Until it was ordered, a temp. replacement trailer may have been added. This trailer of course was from the proper studio and suitable for that particular audience.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 07-26-2001, 07:00 PM:

For us...we never have loose trailers, just attached or the normal versions that simply come with the courier.

Two notes for the distributors though...

1. It would be nice if there was some form of identification (a note?) in the box to say that there are attached trailers on the print. It's quite annoying after you've made up the ad/trailer block to get to the print and there is another trailer sitting on it.

2. When attaching trailers, please remember to keep the black between the trailer and the feature just that...black. There have been several lately with a nasty white line down the RHS of picture. Looks very messy. Normally I'll cut these out, but on Final Fantasy there's sound with it so it's not possible.

Fox have now taken to adding a synopsis to the label of their trailer boxes which also includes the trailer running time, the censorship status, who's in it, copy number, ratio and sound formats. This is incredibly helpful and I hope it catches on with the other distributors.

Well done, Fox...(Now just turn up your fanfares and you'll be perfect!)

Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 07-26-2001, 08:51 PM:

Hi John:

To answer part of your original question, we received three prints of Planet of the Apes from the ETS depot in Elizabeth, NJ. Interestingly enough, all the enclosed trailers were exactly the same as those listed by Brad Miller, for each one of the prints.

This would lead one to conclued that the enclosed trailers are the same for all the prints, and possibly nationwide as well, since Brad gets his prints from the Dallas depot.

Perhaps others out there can either confirm this or offer evidence to the contrary.

I too am curious to know who decides to inundate us all with these trailers shipped loose in the can, a fair share of which are received in a damaged condition. I can state that TES trailers sustain damage in far greater numbers than the ETS ones.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 07-27-2001, 03:28 AM:

I think it's John Pytlak who decides the trailers. He is the 'Film God' after all.

He's just strted this topic to try and throw us all off the scent.

Posted by Aaron Mehocic (Member # 15) on 07-27-2001, 10:47 AM:

Oh, come on . . . "Jimmy Neutron" loose with "Tomb Raider"? John is smarter than that.

Posted by Michael Hunt (Member # 772) on 07-27-2001, 11:06 AM:

Being a small independant British Arthouse, I've not really encountered this problem, I order the trailers that I require for the features that I will be screening over the next few months, and decide myself what I'm going to trailer before each feature...

Occasionally I will receive a trailer attached to the print, which I will usually leave on, and then convince my assistant that he has to return this with the feature and not remove it...

If I'm screening a print second or third run and it has a trailer attached for a feature that I've already shown I will remove it, and reattach it to the head of reel one when returning the print, otherwise I can end up confusing my customers....

------------------
Uncle to JEDI Hunt,
honest!

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 07-27-2001, 11:56 AM:

Aaron said: "Oh, come on . . . "Jimmy Neutron" loose with "Tomb Raider"? John is smarter than that."

Sorry, even "Film Gods" can have a mental lapse.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-29-2001, 10:05 PM:

What I'd like to know is, since every film has its trailers shipped out with just about every other film, why is it so damn hard to get trailers from NSS or TES? We can't get America's Sweethearts, Jurassic III, Osmosis Jones, or American Outlaws at the moment.

Also, regarding Planet of the Apes, we have a policy by which we don't play R-rated trailers with any film that's likely to attract alot of kids, so several of the trailers that came with Apes are still sitting here on the shelf. Why won't they learn about the R-rating?

Posted by Paul Powers (Member # 332) on 07-31-2001, 05:31 AM:

Our trailer placement is decided by the same people who do the dealings to book the films. Our print of Apes had all the same trailers included. Plus one specially shipped. Jay and Silent bob...

I have seen the people comming in to check on what trailers are running on a few opening nights. They seem to be important enough to someone somewhere.