Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Your policy on Slide advertisments

This is topic Your policy on Slide advertisments in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Joshua Burnham (Member # 1640) on 07-01-2004, 09:31 PM:

I work at an independant theater. I run Kodak ektagraphic AFT III slide projectors with 80 slide carousels. I am curious as to your policies concerning on screen advertising for example what are your responsibilitys involving slide placement and removal, or archiving removed slides. How long do you keep your slides on screen? I imagine theater chains are much different than independants as far as projectionists involvment. The inspiration for this query came when our advertisment supervisor expressed concern because we had lengthened the on screen time for 10 seconds to a full 30 with a fade in & out included. She had stated that we were obligated by our contract to ensure a full carousel rotation between showings. I am also curious if it is possible to cause more damage to a slide projector by having the cam stack rotate more frequently set at ten seconds rather than fewer rotations at 30 seconds. Thanks in advance.

Posted by David Favel (Member # 1125) on 07-01-2004, 11:45 PM:

1 - Probably most screen ads have sound and are therefore "pulsed" at a guess of 15 seconds per ad.
2 - I would say that if a replacement is sent, most ad companies would request the old one be thrown away, and they dictate the placement/order.
3 - Carousels go round, thats it. The difference between 10 & 30 seconds won't matter.

Posted by Jeff Carpenter (Member # 2514) on 07-02-2004, 12:58 AM:

Hi, first time post here. I'm just starting work for a new independent theater. The owners are planning to add slide advertisements between showings. They're new in the film presentation business (as I am) and wanted to know where to get the slides.

Since I'm a photographer I just figured I took take photos of local businesses, pop them in Photoshop, add any text, burn them to CDR and take them into a photolab for processing into slides. I'm wondering how more established theaters handle this. Do businesses usually provide the slides themselves? If not, who does? Any suggestions about where I could look for more information on this?

Thanks for any comments,

-Jeff

Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 07-02-2004, 01:37 AM:

Joshua:

Check with Daryl Lund at either one of his two independent theaters (Yardbirds Cinema 3 or Chehalis Theater) He runs slide projectors at 15 second intervals I believe. He may be able to answer some of your questions.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 07-02-2004, 04:59 AM:

quote: Jeff Carpenter
Since I'm a photographer I just figured I took take photos of local businesses, pop them in Photoshop, add any text, burn them to CDR and take them into a photolab for processing into slides.

You are making this sound like it's a half-hour little job. There's no "just" taking photos or just "popping" them into PhotoShop or just adding text. This all takes time, and plenty of it. Plus, you have to round up all this information....you can't just make up text, you have to track the client down (and actually find the person who really is in charge of the final decision on the copy), be sure of the text that they want, which they will invariably want changed at the very last minute. Then there's the invoicing and tracking who's paid for what and for how long.

Also, it sounds like you are planning to do this gratis for them. Me thinks you will quickly change your mind once you see how much work is involved. Photographers get pay well for doing this kind of work. Don't give your talent away for free or even for a nominal fee. Find out what a professional would charge for the same type of work, then use that as a reference. The theatre should pay you -- it's not in the job description of the projectionist.

Then there is the sale -- if you are doing this on your own, you will actually have to sell screen time, which by the way also takes plenty of legwork. Someone has to go from merchant to merchant trying to get them to commit to spending money -- not an easy task in itself. To do this effectively, you need to develop a marketing package and find a good salesman to go door to door. Then there is the tracking....you need to be able to supply the clients with proof of play, which is not easy either.

I guess I am sounding like I am raining on your parade, but really all I am saying is it sounds to me like you are going into this thinking there is a lot less work than there really is, especially if you want to do it right. You don't want your first foray into this to become a debacle that can damage your rep so that the next time you go a-knockin, they won't let you in the door.

The better approach, I think, would be to go with the commercial ad agencies and service companies that do all this professionally -- I am sure others here can direct you to companies who package screen advertising. Basically you run them, they pay you. Simple. You don't have to do leg work trying to sell the ads or create them. And they are selling regional advertisers which you couldn't do no matter how ambitions. My guess is, if theatres had to rely on their own management personnel to do this work, there would be no screen ads at all.....which would be just dandy for many of us.