Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Get a free Film-Tech T shirt

This is topic Get a free Film-Tech T shirt - play the TES game! COMMENTS in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=001389

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 10-29-2002, 06:13 PM:

Interesting. There doesn't seem to be much faith in question #2.

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 10-29-2002, 06:28 PM:

That's because Mr. Carroll is personally taking Technicolor's G5 jet,
down to meet with you in Texas. And he is bring two brand new EK prints with him.

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 10-29-2002, 11:45 PM:

He might reply to your email, but the way yourself and others have described TES, I don't think it will be within three days. They seem to put things off, like shipping out film as late as possible.

I seem to like Victoria Film Services & Mavety Film Delivery more and more each day.

Posted by Daniel Boisson (Member # 1027) on 10-30-2002, 11:01 AM:

it's funny cause its true....

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 10-30-2002, 12:08 PM:

The sad thing is that it really wouldn't take much to improve TES sufficiently to stop most of the complaints on this forum. I've been pretty happy with the customer service people who answer the phone (which, unlike ETS, is answered 24/7) and their shipping costs are lower than what ETS charges for shipping via "Highway Films," "Film Transport," etc.

The biggest weak point seems to be the "integrity inspection" process (ha!). If the inspectors (monkeys?) would stop placing the reel stickers over the string catch on the reel bands, discard damaged reels and cans, and attach good reel flanges to the cores properly, most of us would be pretty happy. They would get bonus points for switching to ETS-style reels and better-quality reel bands.

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 10-30-2002, 12:41 PM:

Although I understand the game may have created a lot of busyness, is it possible to post feature info about "Frida" to see if the movie is in fact encoded in DTS? (So we know whether to expect DTS discs with the print or not in the first place!)

***EDIT: Nevermind! Right after submitting the post, I realized the pictures of the print clearly show a DTS track! MY BAD!***

=TMP=

Posted by Gracia L. Babbidge (Member # 582) on 10-30-2002, 02:49 PM:

Hmm ... I actually don't have any major gripes about Film Trans.

...Maybe the occasional irritation over having to take a reel apart & put it back together, aligned correctly, or once in a great while finding "attached" trailers single-sided spliced onto the print, out-of-frame (i.e. 'SW EpII' on "Ice Age", and 'Star Trek: Nemesis' on "Four Feathers"). But nothing that really pisses me off.

Technicolor, as most of us seem to be only too painfully aware of, is another beast entirely! Broken reels galore, reels missing a flange - just one, and I've seen a print arrive with two reels in that state! (And of course, they were two different types of reel, so I couldn't "borrow" the other solo-flange to make a whole reel out of either one! ) Missing leaders, prints all scratched to hell, prints delivered Saturday when they should have been there before noon on Friday, ...all the usual unprofessional poodoo. They suck!

*stops before a full-blown rants hits*

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 10-30-2002, 02:57 PM:

Gracia -- I don't really have any issues with ETS (at least the Salem, MA. and Landover, MD. locations), either. I was just making the point that their courier service costs the theatre owner more than shipping from Technicolor/Airborne. On the other hand, ETS will let theatre employees pick up prints at the depot to save shipping costs (although I have never done this personally).

In terms of packaging, I've been happiest with the Reel Easy depot (which ships Sony Pictures Classics releases); they use good plastic reels and proper reel bands. Unfortunately, they seem to have the worst cans.

I guess I just haven't seen many of the problems that others have with Technicolor. I usually only work at theatres on Thursday nights (and sometimes on weekends and for special shows), and I've never had any problem with TES prints arriving on time for first-run exhibition. Once in a while a print will arrive on Friday morning, but it will come at 10:00am before a 12:30 show or something, so there's no big issue there. Occasionally, TES will arrive to pick up a print while it is still on screen on Thursday night, but they never seem to object to waiting half an hour after the show ends for me to break the print down (oddly, they only seem to show up early at platter houses...).

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 10-30-2002, 03:06 PM:

Thomas Procyk Quote:
_____________________________________________________________________
Is it possible to post feature info on "Frida" to see if the movie is in fact encoded in DTS?
_____________________________________________________________________
If you do a title search in the Feature Info & Trailers section.
You may find that the feature info on "Frida" has been on the
Film-Tech site since August 22, 2002.

Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 10-30-2002, 03:43 PM:

Yeah, the lack of faith in Brad Carroll is disturbing. I mean, in order to get a free right answer, all you have to do is call up Brad when he gets back from vacation and give him some good incentive to email Brad within 3 days. How hard could it be? ;-)

--jhawk

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 10-30-2002, 07:29 PM:

Daryl Victoria Film Service and Mavety film delivery have been owned for some time by Technicolor

Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 10-30-2002, 09:07 PM:

In all fairness to Brad Carroll, he does respond to email. I received one from him on 9/24/01 in response to a complaint I had about a damaged print I had received from a theater in Pennsylvania. He thanked me for the information I provided, and explained that it is not TES policy to bill theaters for damaged prints. He said that TES will supply an assessment to the studio that includes a complete history of the print, and provided a telephone number to for me to call him if I had any further questions.

My guess is that he will respond to your email, Brad.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 10-31-2002, 02:43 PM:

Just a reminder, I will lock the game thread in a matter of hours tonight, so if you want a shot at a free T shirt, cast your ballot now.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-31-2002, 02:59 PM:

I have e-mailed Brad Carroll twice, and he has responded both times. The first time, I had an e-mailed response within four hours; and the second time, he called me on the phone at about 8:00 in the evening. This was about 90 minutes after I sent the email.

My emails to him were both about TES service in general, not about specific prints.

I think generally, if you write in a friendly, professional manner and don't send him "flames," he will respond. At least that's been my experience.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 10-31-2002, 03:44 PM:

Some people may call this professional, some may not. Friendly? Maybe, maybe not. A lot of it depends on the individual person reading as well as the mood they are in when they read it. Regardless, this is what I sent to Mr. Carroll.

quote:
Hello Brad,
You are probably well aware of the situation going on with Frida print #8. However you are probably not aware of the unnecessary nonsense happening with the replacement print.
I direct you to here
Click on "forums".
On the first page of the "Film Handler's Forum" there is a thread titled "Hey you, you suck! (AKA: Outing bad film handlers)".
Please read this discussion, paying particular attention to the first post on page 1 and the first post on page 4.
I hope you can see to it that whichever theater caused the damage to print #8 is properly billed and I hope you can do something about this nonsense in regards to the trailers and all this unnecessary film handling. This is not the first time things like this have happened and I'm sure it will not be the last. I understand TES is a huge company and many decisions must be arbitrarily dictated by a computer that cannot think through the logic in real-life situations. However it is an excellent example in regards to proper film handling on two separate issues that you can hopefully use in your position at Technicolor to better the overall services offered by TES for everyone.
I look forward to hearing your comments.
Sincerely,
Brad Miller

My comments "whichever theater" is in the event the Writer's Guild theater was not responsible for the damage and the use of "well aware" is because it is no secret that he lurks on the forums. Either the guy's hands are tied in regards to posting publicly, or he is afraid he will get slammed by the masses if his presence is made here. (I actually doubt that would happen. The history of these forums has shown that respect is given to companies whenever there is a representative on the forums that makes efforts to assist people as they ask questions and problems turn up.)

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-01-2002, 12:57 AM:

I don't see anything unfriendly or unprofessional about it. It's to the point and suggests a solution. I hope he responds.

Posted by Sam Hunter (Member # 1119) on 11-01-2002, 10:35 PM:

Too bad I have never dealt with shipping depots cause maybe I might have participated in the contest.
Although any and all answers may have been right but oh well, maybe next time.

------------------
Samual Hunter Sr.

KC5ZSL

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 11-04-2002, 11:21 AM:

So what are the results? Who is the winner? How did the print arrive? When will we know? Is it Monday already? Am I asking too many questions? Is it annoying?

=TMP=

Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 11-06-2002, 12:16 AM:

?

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 11-06-2002, 01:04 AM:

Coming soon. Still have to wait to hear from Brad Caroll to decide the winner.

Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 11-06-2002, 11:40 PM:

Who are the finalists?

Posted by Joe Beres (Member # 678) on 11-11-2002, 12:06 PM:

SO how long are we going to wait for Mr. Carroll? Is he still on vacation? Must be rough

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 11-11-2002, 03:34 PM:

Mr. Carroll returned to work today.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 01-17-2003, 05:11 PM:

Although it's been two months, I heard from Mr. Carroll today and thought I would report to the masses. He was married and has taken some time off from work. Congratulations to him.

We had a very nice conversation and I tried to pass on all the points made here as well as explaining the reasonings as best as I could. He was indeed very eager to try and improve TES's distribution in any way possible and they are currently entertaining some new ideas which look promising for improving the quality control of their prints as related to packaging and at the theater level. [Smile]

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 01-18-2003, 12:38 AM:

What a coincidence! I just got my t-shirt too! [Big Grin]

j/k Thanks Brad.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 01-20-2003, 08:47 AM:

Brad Carroll, TES Manager of Exhibitor Relations, attended last week's Inter-Society Meeting after the ITEA Seminar Series in Los Angeles. He outlined several of the projects TES is working on to improve packaging and shipping of prints. The shipping reel survey TES conducted last year was inconclusive, with some preferring the current design, and others the new "two prong" design.

Mr. Carroll can be reached at 818-562-8372 or brad_carroll@technicolor.com

Documentation of shipping problems (e.g., photos of shipping damage) will help TES address problems.

Posted by Gracia L. Babbidge (Member # 582) on 01-20-2003, 01:53 PM:

I remember hearing about that survey from TES, but I don't recall ever seeing a copy of it at my theatre!

If one of those surveys was sent to my theater, odds are that the manager that 'discovered' it, didn't think it was important enough to bring to the attention of the person at the theatre most affected by the manner in which TES ships prints (me)! [Frown]

If only I could properly educate my 'management team' on all matters related to projection... *sigh* [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 01-20-2003, 03:38 PM:

Did I win? If I did it's a fix...I never entered. [Cool]

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 01-20-2003, 03:48 PM:

Bob, your entry was automatic. YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY WON ONE MILLION FILM-TECH JOKES! No purchase necessary. Not valid in Puerto Rico.

What TES should do is set up an online survey form. There are ways of ensuring that entries are legitimate and singular.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 01-20-2003, 04:28 PM:

If they want, we could set that up here with the registered members. I think it's safe to say that *most* of the people who will be in this business for awhile and care enough about the profession are represented here to get a good idea of what people would prefer. We could release the results publicly on this site as to the "final numbers", but Brad Carroll could be sent a confidential list of which members voted for what options for validity reasons.