Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Technicolor stupidity with Freaky Friday

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Posted by George Roher (Member # 91) on 07-19-2003, 12:10 AM:

Wanna hear something painfully stupid?

My theatre had a sneak of "Freaky Friday" Thursday night, and another tonight. When the print came in Thursday afternoon, it had combination locks on the cans. My manager had to phone TES to find out how to open the cans. On top of this, Technicolor decided they wanted the print back after the Thursday screening and they sent us another print for tonight's (Friday) screening. The second print was delivered Thursday night when they picked up the first one.

Neither one of these prints was a show print or anything special. This is just more stupidity from TES combined with paranoia over bootlegging. It was already a very difficult Thursday for our booth, we didn't need this crap!

Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 07-19-2003, 12:16 AM:

I have some bolt cutters to open those kind of shipments.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 07-19-2003, 01:26 AM:

This is becoming VERY commomplace nowadays and to put it nicely is really pissing off the projectionists who have to deal with this crap. No doubt this is due to Valenti's constant bitching and moaning about piracy, when most of it is coming from the studio screeners, not theaters.

Make sure when you send those back you put on a set of very thick padlocks that they do not know the combination to. We wouldn't want the depot or someone at the studio bootlegging the movie either, you know.

Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 07-19-2003, 01:53 AM:

I feel this idea of TES is silly too. I remember back in March, we lost Gangs of NY, and picked it up again a few days later for one more week. Then, maybe no more than two weeks later, we got it again for just one show a day. Each time we had it (three in all) each was a different print. What is the point of this? Not only can it be a pain when one is building and breaking down other things, but it wears on the print more than needed. Those prints of Gangs of NY could have sat quietly with our beautiful dust covers, just waiting for another show.

As for Freeky Friday, that is just nonsense. Why break a film down that you are showing the next day?! And for the love of God, it's only FREEKY FRIDAY! I mean it isn't Star Wars or Lord of the Rings...it's Jamie Lee Curtis in a Disney movie.

I second the idea about those padlocks Brad. [Big Grin]

AJG

Posted by Peter Kerchinsky (Member # 1098) on 07-19-2003, 03:43 AM:

Hey Brad
We should make a film called REVENGE OF THE PROJECTIONISTS.
We could use your idea about padlocking the film cans so the depot can't open them.
Boy, I thought I was mean when it comes to revenge.
Thanks.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 07-19-2003, 10:12 AM:

You can buy plasma cutters at Lowes or Home Depot for some incredibly cheap price like $199.95 Keep one of THOSE on hand for opening those stubborn cans! [evil]

While you're at it, for just a couple more clams, you can get a cutter/welder. Why not seal the can back up again when you're done with it? That would REALLY prevent piracy! [evil]

Just be REALLY careful! You don't want to melt the film inside the can! [Eek!]

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 07-19-2003, 10:44 AM:

If it's a Master 175 or 177 combination lock you can reset the combination before returning the print. Just need the reset tool or an adequate substitute. Make them call you for the new combo!

From Master's site:

quote:
Open lock with the factory set or previously set combination. NOTE: the shackle must be in the open position to reset the combination.
Insert reset tool (enclosed in package) in hole on side of lock.
Push reset tool in and turn 90 degrees (in either direction). Reset tool automatically stays in this position.
Set wheels to desired combination.
Turn and remove reset tool. Lock is now set to new combination

Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 07-19-2003, 01:59 PM:

And...How about you're on vacation for a week when they call? [Wink]

Posted by Nicholas Roznovsky (Member # 861) on 07-19-2003, 02:34 PM:

What?!? Technicolor doing something stupid and inconvenient? Perish the thought! [Big Grin]

Just return the print locked up with one of those $8-$10 round heavy locks you can get at storage places. Those things are just about darn impossible to get past without the key.

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 07-19-2003, 02:34 PM:

Theatres need to charge the studios and or Technicolor $100 for each, unnecessary build-up of a print.

Technicolor also needs to be charged $100 every time a print is delivered or picked up, outside of their established delivery window.

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 07-19-2003, 03:54 PM:

This insanity is almost certainly on orders from the studio, and the lab/distributor is probably just as annoyed as the theatre people.
I happened to experience the security arrangements for the negative and test prints of a recent "blockbuster" at the printing lab. Total overblown paranoia.
Nothing surprises me except that someone thinks "freeky friday" is a treasure worth protecting that way.

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 07-19-2003, 07:02 PM:

Aaron, the situation you describe is likely the fault of your booker and/or the studio, not TES. Imagine all the money it costs them to mess around with shipping prints back and forth.

I am usually inclined to believe that the studies are behind this BS when I hear about it because I have been in the booth for four years now and not ONCE have I ran into a sitaion with TES anywhere near as ridiculous as what I read about on F-T.

Posted by Nicholas Roznovsky (Member # 861) on 07-19-2003, 07:49 PM:

quote:
Aaron, the situation you describe is likely the fault of your booker and/or the studio, not TES. Imagine all the money it costs them to mess around with shipping prints back and forth.

Whoa - when's the last time TES or a studio paid for shipping a print? [Confused]

I seem to get billed for shipping on every single one, which is great because some bonehead at TES has decided that I need to switch prints between a Thursday sneak preview and the Friday regular engagement.

I'm sure that TES is locking cans on orders of studio execs with too much time on their hands, but as far as print movement goes I doubt the studios have very much to do about it. In the end, the same theaters end up getting prints of the same film. Why would they get some perverse pleasure out of making us switch prints for no discernable reason?

Bookers only care about individual prints when a particular theater hasn't returned one of theirs on time and the studio is breathing down their necks about it. I doubt they're the ones sitting there with a giant map, pushing the little film can markers around to different theaters like war strategists and giggling with delight.

TES, on the other hand, gets to tell everyone that they handled 12 billion print movements last year, when only maybe half of them were necessary. I'm tired of building up and breaking down prints of the same film in the same day so TES can carry out their evil agenda of inefficiency.

Yeah, it does cost a lot to get a print and then send it out two days later only to get the same darn film the day after that. I wish TES would pay for that, then maybe they wouldn't be so inclined to move prints around unnecessarily.

Posted by Paul Salley (Member # 740) on 07-19-2003, 07:59 PM:

Instead of tearing down your print of "Freaky Friday" you should have just took the new shipment and switched cans. [thumbsup]

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 07-19-2003, 08:03 PM:

I imagine there are more costs to shipping a print to and from warehouses than merely the Airborne bill.

In any event it is still a fact that not have I EVER had to tear down a print from a Thursday sneak and build up a new one for a Friday opening. Hell, we almost always get to keep our prints from the sneak even when it was a week before the regular opening. Placing the blame for this nonesense on bookers is actually something I recall seeing on Film-Tech. I'm no expert on bookings but I imagine if a booker handled the sneak and the regular opening as two seperate 'bookings' with the studio TES would be ordered to drop off two seperate prints.

TES doesn't just 'know' when you end a print. They are informed by the studio as to what movies are ending and thus should be picked up and which are opening and need to be dropped off. To my knowledge TES doesn't pick up a single reel of film that they haven't been instructed to pick up by the studios.

Perhaps I'm completely off in my thinking here but this is what I have gathered from reading these forums and talking to different people in the industry in the few years I've been in the booth.

Posted by Tim Turner (Member # 1109) on 07-19-2003, 08:29 PM:

I just want to know what TES stands for? [Confused]

Are they associated with Technicolor?

Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 07-19-2003, 08:45 PM:

Technicolor Entertainment Services

Posted by Nicholas Roznovsky (Member # 861) on 07-19-2003, 09:20 PM:

Of course, TES is told to pick up and drop off prints by the studios. This does make sense, since the studios are contracting the delivery of their prints through them. However, I'm sure that they are given a list of theaters which are supposed to get X number of prints by the studios and the studios leave the details to them.

I have had several conversations with the folks at TES and asked about the moving of prints. Their response was that their responsibility was to provide each theater with the necessary number of prints and that it was up to their own discretion as to how to do that.

Sometimes, TES prints will sit there for weeks between a sneak and an engagement. And sometimes, we'll have to switch prints when the window is less than 24 hours. There's no consistency.

And as for the shipping costs, I'm pretty sure the shipping bill I pay both ways on the print covers the cost of moving the print. Sure, TES has some guy at the warehouse taking them from the truck to their place on the shelf, but I doubt he makes so much that I should feel sorry for TES.

On the whole, I will admit that the TES system works pretty well, but every once in a while it becomes very obvious that the whole operation is run entirely by computers and without any shred of common sense whatsoever. I am reminded of this pretty much every week when I break down a print to be shipped off and get another print of the same film to make up at the discount theater across the street. Okay, sure they're done as separate bookings, whatever. They are still 150 feet away from each other. Can't someone at TES figure out that Airborne isn't needed for this major undertaking? And forget trying to explain that to anyone there - everything MUST be shipped through Airborne, even when the trip to the delivery truck is further than the distance to the next theater. More than once, I've seen my local Airborne guy Jerry load my print in the truck, drive fifty feet, and deliver it to the theater across the street. And that grand journey cost me $32-40 depending on the print, half for shipping it from the first-run and half for shipping it to the sub-run. That sucks.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-19-2003, 10:19 PM:

Whenever a print can be delivered locally by theater personnel, we usually just call TES and tell them that's how we're gonna do it, and don't give them a chance to respond. They never call back and Airbourne/Sky Courier never come. The print remains built, everyone is a bit happier, and corporate is EXTREMELY happy because we get to clock out earlier. Trust me, when the projectionist makes more money than the theater brings in a week, every bit counts!

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 07-19-2003, 10:32 PM:

It's the film companies - they are the evil ones taking control of EVERYTHING.

This whole piracy thing has me off my rocker. I wish the studios would realize 99% of the time it is one of their employees pirating the films. The guy who put "The Hulk" out on the 'net worked at the CGI animation studio that helped make the film. At least he is doing 10 years now.......

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-19-2003, 10:39 PM:

10 years seems like an awful lot for pirating a movie. There are murderers who get less than that. Of course people in the industry would have us believe that pirating a movie is worse than murder (money is far more important than life, after all). I think 5 years would be appropriate. It would certainly be enough to teach the individual a lesson.

Posted by George Roher (Member # 91) on 07-20-2003, 12:58 AM:

I have this silly picture in my head of Mr. Valenti running around an auditorium poking people's eyes out with a stick while singing "Singing In The Rain." [evil]

Another employee here told me there were guards at the Thursday screening who were using portable metal detectors on our patrons. I didn't see this myself, but he didn't sound like he was joking. Of course some pirates might still slip by. They'd have to do full body cavity searches to catch the guys who bring in sphincter-cams.

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 07-20-2003, 01:06 AM:

Actually I read in an article, I think it was on imdb, that the person responsible for letting Hulk out was given the tape by someone who knew someone at the advertising agency or something like that.

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 07-20-2003, 01:12 AM:

think about it. Who's the easiest to blame for pirating? The general public that's who. Just shows that they, the studios, do not have the abillity to prevent bootlegging in their own back yards.

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 07-20-2003, 07:21 PM:

Freaky Friday had a public sneak preview this past Friday but doesn't open till 8/6. Why did Disney want the prints back? Is the Mouse House planning to pull another Kate & Leopold?

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 07-20-2003, 08:12 PM:

I am with Ian on this, theatres need to get more assertive. Refuse to pay for shipping when those idiotic "take it away so it can be returned the next day" situations arise and then charge the studio for the extra man-hours involved with an unnecessary break-down and make-up cycle.

But come on, this is not brain surgery. Have the parties ever sat down at the same table to work this thing out? Seems like the MPAA and NATO can hash out a more reasonable way of scheduling (did any of them ever hear of a computer scheduling program?) Sneaks and openings without treating them as two separate events at the same theatre. Hey, if they put a computer scheduling program in place, they can say their scheduling of prints is now done DIGITALLY!....that should make them all wet their pants.

I would think that the carrier is the one entity that really profits from unnecessary print shipping, so whatever motives exist at the studio level (their obsession with security) could be resolved by NATO being more forceful than it has been, if indeed it has ever even address this issue with the studios.

Then again, maybe there's as simple a solution as Joe's....just call TES up and TELL them when to pick up a print (or NOT). Could it be this easy? How many have ever tried it?

Frank

PS -- guys running change-over on 2000ft reels never have to worry about this kind of thing. [Wink]

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 07-20-2003, 09:08 PM:

quote:
PS -- guys running change-over on 2000ft reels never have to worry about this kind of thing.

Yes they do. They still need to inspect two prints instead of one. It's not quite as time-consuming, but it is unnecessary labor and unnecessary wear and tear on the film.

Posted by Aldo Baez (Member # 790) on 07-21-2003, 12:34 AM:

Charles I don't think Disney wants the prints back. We snuck it and the film is covered and ready to go for 8/6... if they want it back sorry I've already called our booker to verify we are getting it.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 07-21-2003, 10:54 AM:

Locking the film cases is an attempt to protect the print from a pirate "borrowing" it and copying it while IN TRANSIT to the theatre. As many here have noted, pirating often occurs upstream of the theatre.

But it is a sad fact that many pirated videos DO get shot in theatres, and preview or "sneak" prints are especially valuable to pirates, and therefore vulnerable.

BTW, the June 28 LA Times reported that Jack Valenti is 81 and is contemplating retirement. Several people from outside the MPAA have been named as a possible successor.

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 07-21-2003, 11:26 AM:

I also doubt the piracy problem resides at the trade screening level... at least not in my area.

Most screenings are sparsely attended (some not at all). Even the "biggies" aren't likely to draw more than 25.

Generally, I see the same faces, even if I don't know where they all come from. We don't have a lot of booking agents here, but those we do have are regulars. A booker with one agency runs one of the screening rooms himself. The rest are like me... mainly independents from within roughly 75 miles of Seattle.

I can't imagine there's a single person within that group, who would endanger his relationship with the studios (and the resultant effect on his business) by pulling a stunt like that.

On the other hand, [dlp]

George allowed some kind of promotion that resulted in about 600 screaming middle-schoolers attending the "EP1" screening. The "guards" were more interested in making sure there weren't any concealed cameras in the Soundfold than whether anyone in that crowd might have brought in a recorder...

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 07-21-2003, 02:27 PM:

The original situation is easily explained .... it is ridiculous though.

My guess is that you had some sort of radio promo/word-of-mouth screening Thursday night. The shipping for these types of screenings are paid by the STUDIOS. I never once have been billed for one of these prints.

Then Friday, was the national sneak w/ Finding Nemo. These bookings were made at different times ... so they have separate entries in the TES computer. Often, simply pointing this out to TES rep over the phone will correct the situation. They probably needed the print for an early-morning trade somewhere else ... but sometimes arrangements can be made ... otherwise ... let's not forget ... the prints are the property of the studios ... so we're kind of at their mercy.

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 07-21-2003, 07:32 PM:

Mr. Pytlak sayeth:

quote:
BTW, the June 28 LA Times reported that Jack Valenti is 81 and is contemplating retirement. Several people from outside the MPAA have been named as a possible successor.

I think Joe Redifer is the ideal person for the job.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-21-2003, 07:35 PM:

Count me in! Elect me for president of the MPAA!

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 07-21-2003, 08:17 PM:

Hell, I would just use a crowbar to open the cans. The cans are so damn cheap anyway. Or, just use a hack saw to saw your way through that fruitcake hasp they have on the cans. Or, just simply use a tin snips or a can opener. Another way is to use a hammer and a chisel to pop the worthless rivets that half-assed secure the hinges. [Big Grin]

Besides, by looking at that shit I project on the screen, I don't think any of that crap is worth the time or effort to bootleg to begin with! It is all [bs]