Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: DIGITAL kills off 16mm in NSW

This is topic DIGITAL kills off 16mm in NSW in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Peter Berrett (Member # 672) on 08-22-2002, 10:01 PM:

Hi all

I'm sure all you DIGITAL fans out there (aren't we all) will be pleased to read about the demise of 16mm in regional cinemas in NSW.

Here's the article (see Regional Cinemas Update)
http://www.fto.nsw.gov.au/sysfiles/attachment/mar_02.pdf

Essentially the article talks about the fact that Roadshow Non-theatrical is no longer going to be supporting 16mm releases of new films. I am sure that you will also be pleased to read that regional cinemas are likely to move towards DIGITAL formats such as video or DVD.

DIGITAL is here. Happy, happy, happy joy, happy joy....

cheers Peter

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 08-22-2002, 11:37 PM:

Peter,

I was not able to open the link to read the article. Please check it to make sure that it is correct.

-Claude

Posted by Peter Berrett (Member # 672) on 08-23-2002, 02:37 AM:

Its a pdf file Claude. Maybe if you try opening it in a new window or saving it and opening it in acrobat it will work.

cheers Peter

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-23-2002, 03:21 AM:

Here is the text from the article.

quote:
16MM DISTRIBUTION
Many smaller regional groups have based their community cinema operation on the ‘nontheatrical’ 16 millimetre (mm) format, as a more affordable, more mobile and less complicated alternative to 35mm and other forms of projection. Up until recently, 16mm prints of many new release films have been made available for commercial exhibition through two companies—16mm Australia (that deals exclusively with Columbia Tristar) and Reel Movies (a division of Roadshow Movies Distributors). Roadshow distributed titles from a range of distributors, including Fox and Disney. In February 2002, Roadshow announced that they will no longer be importing and distributing 16mm prints of new release films. Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone and Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring are likely to be the last new release films to be made available through Roadshow. The company will continue to supply their back catalogue of 16mm prints for the foreseeable future. 16mm Australia will continue to supply new Columbia Tristar titles in the 16mm format. Many volunteer-run community cinemas across NSW use 16mm as their screening format. Clearly, with the loss of the range of titles offered by Roadshow, their choices will be considerably limited. The FTO is examining options for regional community cinemas currently using 16mm, such as the viability of a shift towards video or DVD projection. The FTO will keep the regional cinema network updated as this process continues.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 08-26-2002, 06:51 AM:

This happened in the UK about 5-6 years ago. The British Film Institute was the first major distributor to announce that it was no longer striking 16mm prints of new titles. A few years before that the BFI had taken over Glenbuck, which at the time was one of the two main companies distributing 16mm titles to nontheatrical outlets. Glenbuck concentrated on arthouse titles (hence the merger with the BFI): the other company, Filmbank, distributed 16mm on behalf of the main American distributors. I don't know whether Filmbank still exists, but I do know that apart from the odd archival screening, 16mm has virtually gone even from arthouse venues and film societies.

I think the main factor that was responsible for the decline of 16mm from the early 90s onwards was the growth of multiplexes. This had two effects. Firstly a much larger amount of 35mm equipment was being manufactured, installed and serviced. Therefore it was easier and cheaper for smaller venues, arts centres and non-profit film societies to purchase, operate and maintain 35mm. Secondly, because much larger numbers of 35mm prints were being made, the economies of scale changed so that it was no cheaper to strike a 16mm print of a feature than it was a 35mm. If you look at lab rate cards today, then (assuming you are starting with a 35mm interneg), it will actually be a lot more expensive to strike a 16mm print, not least because a 16mm mono track neg will need to be made first.

Working for an archive which needs to have 16mm elements duped regularly for preservation, this situation is hitting us especially hard. But from the point of view of cinema presentation, I can't say I'm sorry that 16mm is history. The tiny minority of venues that for whatever reason cannot go to 35mm will probably end up showing DVDs through video projectors, and if the alternative is a heavily worn and scratched 16mm, I think I'd prefer that.