Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: 16mm Booking

This is topic 16mm Booking in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Joshua Lott (Member # 240) on 11-18-2002, 05:02 PM:

Looking to see what companies there are to book theatrical releases for 16mm.

I am looking for second run stuff.

Thanks,

Posted by Joe Beres (Member # 678) on 11-18-2002, 05:06 PM:

For 16mm, Swank Motion Pictures is a great place to start. Swank

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 11-18-2002, 05:57 PM:

Also try Criterion Pictures and New Yorker Films. I don't believe either has a web site. Kino has a nice selection of silents and other goodies; web site http://www.kino.com/ Biograph also has some interesting stuff (mostly older foreign films and silents).

This all applies to the US only; rights issues will differ in other countries.

Posted by Tao Yue (Member # 836) on 11-18-2002, 08:40 PM:

Criterion and New Yorker do in fact have web sites, both of which are more accurate than Swank's. Criterion's is actually fed from a relatively up-to-date database, and New Yorker has a pretty complete list with prices.

http://www.criterionpicusa.com/

http://www.newyorkerfilms.com/

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 11-20-2002, 01:45 AM:

Don't know if I mentioned this before, but a staffer at Swank said that the studios have begun to cut back on the number of features they are printing in 16mm. Seems they are only printing the biggest blockbusters because the 16mm non-theatrical market keeps shrinking. Of course making less titles available only helps drive more nails in the coffin.

There are fewer and fewer 16mm "theatre" setups in colleges like there were years ago. The many formal cinema settings in colleges of years past have given way to informal settings in dorm and student unions using projection TVs and DVD or even VHS video. Serious film watching has been taken over by movie "parties" where movies happen to be playing amoungst the drinking and shenanagans. It's a different setting with very different viewing patterns.

Try getting college students to watch a subtitled movie or anything longer than 90 minutes, except perhaps TITANIC -- not exactly the Everest of intellectual cinema, that.

Sometime in the late 70s, I ran Fellini's SATYRICON in our 2500 seat theatre. I got a call before the end of the first reel -- the general manager was telling me not to make the change-over but to bring up the house lights. They had to clear the kids sitting in the isles -- we were filled beyond capacity! Those were the days, my friends.

So, as sad as it is, 16mm may very well give way to Deeee-Cinema before 35mm does.

Frank

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 11-20-2002, 09:12 AM:

I would expect that 16mm prints will be available of most mainstream titles for at least a few more years. It provides a way for the nontheatrical distributors to release the titles in advance of the general video release date to non-35mm venues with less risk of piracy than if they sent out videotapes or DVDs.

Having said that, the nontheatrical market seems to be slowly fragmenting at this time. The "serious" organizations already have 35mm or can acquire good used equipment for about the same price as new 16mm xenon equipment, thanks to the many recent theatre closings. Meanwhile, the organizations which never cared much anyway probably already have access to video projection equipment--most colleges and institutions already have the capability for other purposes--and likely don't want to deal with film anyway and probably always had crappy presentations when they did run film.

I occasionally run 16mm at a local college. They have a great theatre built only a few years ago, primarily for live productions, but also film, lectures, etc. They have all sorts of nifty equipment: computerized lighting board, counterweight fly system, great sound booth, video projection, big screen, etc., but they have only 16mm projection capability, using a nearly-new pair of Eiki 1kw machines, complete with CinemaScope lenses. I can't help but wonder why they did that, since they could have easily put in a pair of rebuilt Simplexes or Centurys for about the same price and gotten much more for their money as far as picture and sound quality. They don't run anything that isn't also available in 35mm, so that's not the reason. There's no training issue, either, since they hire experienced projectionists to run film there, anyway. I don't get it.

As much as I hate to say it, I'd rather watch DVD or decent quality videotape, like Beta SP on a high-end video projector (DLP or similar) than a beat-up 16mm print run by morons who don't understand basic concepts like "focus" and "changeover." I do believe that 16mm is a great camera format for 35mm blowup or TV broadcast, but it is often abused as an exhibition format, unfortunately.

As a side note, another local college where I have run film has one of the best film screening rooms in the area (2x 35mm Kinotons with ISCO lenses for all formats, 1x 16mm Eiki xenon machine, CP500, etc.), but usually just runs VHS tape on a DLP projector. The nontheatrical market is just weird.