Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Retired projectionist the "End of an era." -> OT to Non-theatrical exhibition

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Posted by Christian Volpi (Member # 2370) on 04-18-2005, 12:50 PM:

Fremont man enjoys collecting, showing films

Fremont man enjoys collecting, showing films

By Carolyn Gibbs/Tribune Correspondent

Darkened movie theaters and the smell of buttered popcorn have been a part of Larry Koski's life for 40 years.

Koski, who is from Fremont, has had an ongoing love for movies since high school in New Castle, Pa.

"When I was in high school, I worked at the town theater. When I joined the Air Force, I ran the air base theater in Lincoln for four years," Koski said.

He stayed in Nebraska after the military and ended up in Fremont.

His career started when he worked for the union at the Empress Theater in Fremont, as well as the drive-in theater in Fremont. He transferred to Omaha and throughout the years worked at all the drive-in theaters there.

"I just returned from the 20 Grand in Omaha three or four years ago," Koski said.

As a professional projectionist, Koski's name is synonymous with summer time fun in Fremont. He's probably best known for his movies at Christensen Field in June and July.

"We show films on the side of the arena where we have a 16-foot-wide, pull-down screen," Koski said.

Koski said 20 Fremont merchants sponsor the series of films. Each sponsor pays $35 for seven movies and Koski puts a 10-second ad on the screen for the merchant. Sponsors offset the film rental, which Koski said is a little expensive.

The movie rentals come from Modern Sound Pictures in Omaha.

"I used to run my own movies, but I've shown them so many times," Koski said.

This entertainment takes place under the auspices of the Fremont Park and Recreation Department.

"I do it for free," he added. "I don't get paid. It's just fun doing it."

A church group comes out to Christensen Field and sets up a snack bar for the event. Movie night is Monday, but if it rains, movies are shown on Tuesday night.

Koski shows old and new films, but the newest this year is "Toy Story." Some of the older ones this summer will be "Spencer's Mountain," "Sounder" and "Any Which Way But Loose."

He sets up his summer schedule well in advance to get the films he wants for the season, and the Omaha firm ships them to him. He said the films come in three and four reels, but Koski rewinds them onto one large reel so he doesn't have to stop and change reels. This allows him to run films for three hours continuously.

One movie is shown per event and Koski broadcasts the sound over FM Radio, 89.1.

"It's just like a drive-in movie and they can bring their own lawn chairs," he said.

He also has previews of all the upcoming movies and said the first two shows will be cartoons and comedies to get the people coming.

The rest of the season the movies are all family friendly. Fremont isn't the only recipient of Koski's love of film. He has traveled as far as Center, Nebraska, and into Iowa for celebrations and centennials.

"I do movies for churches, PTAs and schools. If anyone is interested in a free movie for entertainment, I'm available," he said.

Koski also treats the Fremont Senior Adult Center to movies once a month, and he does an end-of-the year movie for the students at Washington Elementary School in Fremont. The town of Uehling also has a summer series in June, July, and August, which includes a picnic and drawings for prizes.

One local event, which combines two activities, has proven especially popular. Dive-in movies combine swimming and a film. Koski does these in Omaha and in Fremont at Ronin Pool.

"Dive-in movies in Omaha are called ‘Flick and Floats.' It's the only time people are allowed to bring their inner tubes and rafts to the pools," Koski said.

When he shows pool movies, he amplifies the sound to offset the noise.

Koski shows silent movies at John C. Fremont Days under the big tent at the park. For these 10 minute movies, he tapes them ahead and gives them to Nick Semrad in advance, who puts the piano music to the movie.

"He is fantastic," Koski said.

Neighbors, too, have their own private theater thanks to Koski. Speakers line the roof on Koski's garage above the projector mounted inside the garage. He has a pull-down screen at the end of his yard and with popcorn, he offers an outdoor theater for anyone in the neighborhood.

Running movies is only one aspect of Koski's love of film. He has a personal film collection of 350 reel-to-reel films. Through trade magazines and the Internet, he has bought, sold, and traded films.

"One of the magazines, ‘The Big Reel,' sells all kinds of movie memorabilia, like posters, films, and projectors," he said.

Some places have trade shows, but not in this area according to Koski.

"The oldest film that I have I bought in 1965. It's ‘The Little Rascals,' and dates to the 1930s. I still have it and I still love it."

He also has a few silent films, some of which have musical tracks added.

"Black Hawk Films out of Davenport, Iowa, used to take all the old silent movies and add sound tracks and sound effects," Koski said. "One of my Laurel and Hardy silent films has a sound track of music."

Most of Koski's personal collection are black and white.

According to Koski, color back in the 1940s and '50s when Hollywood started a different process to save money, has led to many films fading and losing color.

"I have a copy of ‘The Sound of Music' that's totally red because the colors have faded."

He said Technicolor is best because it will never fade. One a film has faded, nothing can be done to restore it.

Koski doesn't have any recent movies. Everything he has is at least 40 years old. His basement is not only a movie buffs' delight, it includes and other private theater complete with movie theater seats and, of course, a bag of popcorn to make it complete.

He loves to entertain his grandchildren that way. His own personal favorite movie in his collection is "No Time For Sergeants."

Whether running movies for others entertainment, or collecting them personally Koski believes he is one of the few professional projectionists left.

"Everything has gone to DVD ( digital). Projecting films is kind of a lost art," he said. "The day will come when film will be gone, and there will be no more. I'm the end of an era."

[ 04-19-2005, 01:40 PM: Message edited by: Adam Martin ]

Posted by Jim Ziegler (Member # 86) on 04-18-2005, 12:57 PM:

quote: Christian Volpi
"I used to run my own movies, but I've shown them so many times," Koski said.

Ummmm... Was he paying for exhibition rights for the prints he has in his personal possession?

quote:
oski shows old and new films, but the newest this year is "Toy Story."

How did he get a print out of Disney? From what bookers have told me, getting a BV film for a rental is hard, but getting a Disney animated film for a rental requires an act of God.

Posted by Christian Volpi (Member # 2370) on 04-18-2005, 01:15 PM:

quote: Jim Ziegler
Ummmm... Was he paying for exhibition rights for the prints he has in his personal possession?

I'm assuming that since he doesn't charge admission and works for free that he doesn't have to. But what do I know? Every Saturday we run older films for free and we only have to pay the charge for the film rental which is about the same fee every time, $150 (approx.).

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 04-18-2005, 01:29 PM:

My suspicion is that he is running 16mm, and all of these titles are available for licensed non-theatrical exhibition via companies such as Swank.

Posted by Dan Lyons (Member # 1454) on 04-18-2005, 01:52 PM:

Correct, he does collect 16mm.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 04-18-2005, 02:13 PM:

It also says that he collects older films. Some of these are probably PD and can be shown legally without needing to rent them.

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 04-18-2005, 02:50 PM:

There was two companies that sold 16mm prints for home use / non-theatrical screenings. Blackhawk Films and Thunderbird Films had catalogs of 16mm prints that they sold in the pre-video days. There were full features and many different shorts from many of the studios. Many of the Laurel and Hardy films and Our Gang were available through them.

Posted by Jim Ziegler (Member # 86) on 04-18-2005, 05:37 PM:

Christian, yout $150 film rent is what you pay for the rights to show the picture.

Owning a 16mm or 35mm print gives you no more rights than owning the DVD. If you don't have the exhibition rights, then you can't show it to a group. Disney has gone after numerous day care centers for showing Disney films to thier kids without the proper licensing. I'm sure this guy had everything worked out with the distributors, but, the article almost makes it seems like he was showing his personal collection to avoid royalties to the studios.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-18-2005, 05:41 PM:

Jim, I don't think anyone is disagreeing with your very valid statement regarding licensing, but again remember, this IS the media reporting "facts" here and they almost always botch things up. I highly doubt this fellow could've gotten away for so many years doing public shows without getting the rights cleared on the applicable titles.

Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 04-18-2005, 06:21 PM:

quote: Christian Volpi
The movie rentals come from Modern Sound Pictures in Omaha.

I believe with 16mm the rental includes exhibition rights; terms of which are usually spelled out in the rental contract.

Posted by Bob Koch (Member # 1062) on 04-18-2005, 08:08 PM:

[Inappropriate post removed by moderator]

[ 04-19-2005, 01:42 PM: Message edited by: Adam Martin ]

Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 04-18-2005, 08:57 PM:

Rick is correct -- didn't you guys read the article? Modern does indeed rent 16mm (not 35mm), and they do indeed rent Disney. I have a vague recollection of some extra conditions involving whether admission was charged, etc., etc., but best to check with them.

--jhawk

Posted by Jim Ziegler (Member # 86) on 04-18-2005, 09:04 PM:

John, the question was on the mention that he was using film from his personal collection.

Why is it you can get 16mm Disney films but not 35mm?

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-18-2005, 09:31 PM:

Because that's the way the Mouse House works. No one ever said their policies made sense. [Confused]

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 04-18-2005, 09:50 PM:

[Inappropriate post removed by moderator]

[ 04-19-2005, 01:43 PM: Message edited by: Adam Martin ]

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 04-18-2005, 10:05 PM:

Hummmmm, I don't think so..... We still have one Union Operator that still projects full time here in SLC. There is no union left but the theatre has always retained him at his full union wage. He is worth every penny too [thumbsup]

.

Mark

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 04-19-2005, 04:35 AM:

Seems this misnomer persists and persists.

Just because a film is exhibited without charging any admittance fee does not impact whether or not infringement has occurred. If you haven't obtained an exhibition license, whether or not you charge admission matters not one iota.

It's like if someone steals your car, invites all his buddies to go for on a joy ride, and then expects you not to press charges because he let them ride for free!

The copyright owner's right to control the exhibition of his work exists regardless of whether you get paid for your infringement violation or not. He doen't relinquish it because you don't charge any admission. It is still infringement, and of all of them, Disney especially won't care it if is an 80yr old nun in an orphanage of starving kids --they'll sic the FBI dogs on her butt as fast as they will on a theatre owner trying to sneak in unreported shows to pocket extra cash. The fines may differ in the sentencing phase, but the infringement violation is not mitigated.

Non-profits are notorious for being oblivious about how lame the "but we didn't charge any money, Mr. FBI man" defense is. Sometimes I really believe that their apparant ignorance is just a ruse to get away with what they know is patently illegal. Either they think that if they ever get caught, this excuse will somehow save them, or they are just self-delusional and fooling themselves. Like all those films they show (in their ENTIRETY) in classrooms all over the country by teachers who never get tired of tout themselves as how much smarter they are than everyone else. Hmmmm....evidently they've never experienced that giant Disney mouse morphing into a giant rat, gnawing off its pound of flesh for copyright infringment of their product.

Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 04-19-2005, 12:48 PM:

Here in Manassas they have free outdoor movies during the Summer. The media is DVD and the rental agreement allows public exhibition. The kicker is they cannot mention the film's title in any advertising, only a vague plot description and the year of release.

If one were to exhibit PD films from their own collection they may also be in violation because, although the title may be in the public domain, music elements in the film may still be copyright protected.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 04-20-2005, 06:04 PM:

I know of a few collectors (including me) that know of the "private use" rules. We may take our films to the theatre that we work at watch them WAY after hours by ourselves and enjoy seeing these on the big screen, but will never tell anyone what we have done.

Or, to play it real safe, is to build our own "home theatres" like the ones in the picture section of FT. .... like the guy with those pair of modified Norelco AA-2's.

Now, that is some setup!

-Monte

Posted by Jim Ziegler (Member # 86) on 04-20-2005, 06:15 PM:

If you own say a DVD of a film, as well as a print, shouldn't the right to view it that you got from the DVD purchase also allow you to watch the print privately?

Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 04-21-2005, 04:52 PM:

I don't think anyone cares what you do privately. Its the unlicensed public exhibition of a title that get the copyright holders uptight.