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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Topic: non-theatrical 35mm
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John Hawkinson
Film God
Posts: 2273
From: Cambridge, MA, USA
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 11-08-2003 12:41 AM
Aileen, you definitely need to talk to the people with whom you book films (i.e. your representative at Swank and/or Criterion, the non-theatrical agents for the major studios, excluding Univeral). I would hypothesize that a simple error was made, but you'll need to followup with them to find out. Are you the person who handles booking yourself, or is there someone else who manages that relationship?
Jack is correct, Josh is a bit off here. ETS and TES don't handle booking, and they don't handle 16mm either.
It's not rare for booking errors to happen, and to happen persistently. Rigorous followup and verification of confirmations is necessary.
Rest assured non-theatrical availability of major titles in 35mm has not changed. Here at MIT we run a full schedule with two titles/weekend. We don't have problems.
If you have specific titles you'd like to inquire about availability of, etc., feel free to ask.
As for c), we'd need to know something about your venue size and your budget. But quality does not come cheap.
Bill, for the major studios, print availability is simply not an issue in 35mm for current titles. Have you seen differently?
--jhawk
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Aileen D'Esposito
Film Handler
Posts: 11
From: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Registered: Oct 2003
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posted 11-08-2003 04:23 AM
this is in reply mainly to John:
No, I am not the person who contacts swank and criterion, i merely run one out of the 5 nights of titles that we show at carnegie mellon. Most of the films we show do come in on 35mm, it's only mostly mine that have had the tendency to be on 16mm this semester. And i stress this semester. For example, last semester i showed clerks, which came in on 35mm, but this semester i showed mallrats and it came in on 16mm (to which i got a response of "why didn't you just show it on video?" but of course the following week when i take the advice and show my choice on video i get, "why didn't you show the film" i can't win)
You did say to ask, so ....this week i have "The Professional" lined up, and my swank contact person just informed me that it was coming in on 16mm (but of course "the Last Unicorn" that's lined up for next sunday is coming in on 35mm...arg). Needless to say, for about the 8th time this semester i was furious at her (so i assume she's done everything she can....and i do stress assume) So, any idea where i can get a 35mm print of it on short notice? I really love this film, but hate subjecting the audience and myself to the horrendous visual and audio quality of the 16mm, or the equally crappy image quality of the video
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John Hawkinson
Film God
Posts: 2273
From: Cambridge, MA, USA
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 11-08-2003 09:19 AM
Ah, your issue is with older titles (repertory). That's a larger can of worms, I'm afraid.
In these cases, print availability in 35mm is often extremely limitted. Perhaps the best you can do is expect it to be bad, let Swank know that 16mm is not an acceptable substitute. I would also not take "No," for an answer, but push for a very firm clear reason ("the last print was destroyed 1 week after you booked it";"I screwed up, you can show another film for free this month";"The studio made a booking error and now it is unfixable"; etc.).
In this case, their response is just weird. Professional is Columbia/Sony, who has been handling their reportory division very well, and they even have an availability database online (www.sonypicturesrepertory.com).
Is your problem one of changing answers? With this sort of thing, it's critical to have availability discussions with Swank before you book anyhow, since many older titles just aren't available at all. You should stress the 35mm requirement at this stage.
Another strange issue is that with some studios and some particular titles (popular ones, or ones that a customer has paid them to strike), Swank and Criterion do have their own print libraries in 35mm (this is quite limitted; they have extensive 16mm libraries). In general you'll never get one of these for a current release (except maybe Swank/WB). If for some reason this resource is exhausted/unavailable, it may be necessary for Swank to request a studio print, and they may be somehow reluctant (not clear why). All I can advise is to ask hard questions (but politely). Remember that if you don't get good answers, you can escalate within Swank's organization.
Good luck! You should at least be able to get better answers and more advance notice, even if your problem is not 100% solvable.
--jhawk
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Joe Beres
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 606
From: Minneapolis, MN, USA
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 11-08-2003 09:22 AM
I don't mean to sound like an ass, but did you ask if it was available in 35mm? Swank probably has access to a 35mm print. Perhaps it wasn't available. If this is something that is happening consitently, I tend to think it is an issue with the person booking the films through Swank for you. I have had some problems with Swank over the years, but there was only one case in which I received a 16mm instead of a 35mm print, and that was because of a shipping problem with the 35.
If Swank does not have a 35mm print available (often, Swank only has access to a single print of any given title), does your booker just book the 16mm print? If that is the case, perhaps you should inform them that it is a priority to get a 35mm print. Perhaps give them alternate titles, so that if a 35mm print of The Professional is not available, rather than booking a 16mm, they check on the availability of another title in 35mm.
Also, 16mm can look quite nice, especially compared to video. Often, I would rather look at a DVD than a pan and scan 16mm print, but for older academy ratio films, 16mm can be beautiful. As John asked, what is the size of your auditorium and image? What kind of projector do you currently have? A 16mm Xenon, especially a pedestal model, would be an investment, but perhaps worthwhile if you run a fair amount of 16mm.
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Vernon Cramer
Film Handler
Posts: 16
From: Virginia Beach, VA, USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 11-08-2003 11:06 AM
We've been running 35mm prints for the last two years in two different auditoriums for non-theatrical showings (community college). Prior to that we had dabbled in an occasional 16mm screening of a foreign film (normally fairly recent titles). Of the 16mm prints we ran, I can't say that we ever received one that wasn't a disappointment (usually color that was more than a little off). Now we only will show 16mm if we absolutely can't get a 35mm print (for example, the recent documentary Bonhoffer is only available on 16mm or video).
Most of the films we book are recent titles (normally first date they are available for non-theatrical), but we have booked a few older reperatory titles. Only once have we really had a print of an older 35mm title that we couldn't run (Lion in Winter with advanced VS) but knew we were taking a chance when we booked it. Generally, our experiences with older titles to date have all been satisfactory (and even a worn 35mm print will still look better than a worn 16mm).
The key is to work very closely with your reps at Swank, Criterion, etc, when it comes to older titles. I have a good relationship with these folks but I also stay in frequent contact. The only real incident we've had was when we got a print of Matrix Reloaded out of the Washington DC ETS depot that arrived without reel #1. A couple of phone calls and I was able to pick up another print from an area theater. But this was not Swank's fault.
Also, if you're looking for a specific title, check here on Film-Tech to see if anyone has played that title and what shape the print was in (and if it was a good print, ask for the print number). While both Swank and Criterion have their own 35mm prints on some older titles, they can book some studio prints when necessary. I have also requested specific print numbers when I knew the print was good. And if there is something that I really want to book, I don't take the first "it's not available" as an answer. I try to be a pleasant pest until I get what I want.
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Aileen D'Esposito
Film Handler
Posts: 11
From: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Registered: Oct 2003
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posted 11-08-2003 12:09 PM
Ok...to start with, a reply to joe about me and my relationship with the person who actually talks to swank: I went off for a good half an hour on her at the beginning of the semester when she told me about my first 16mm print. In the end, i told her, that if she had merely informed me that under no circumstances could she get a 35mm print of my request, to simply ask me for a replacement, and i would gladly give it to her...i have plenty. She must have drowned me out though, because out of the 10 films i personally have shown this semester, only two (oddly enough one of these 2 films was originally on 16mm, go figure) of them have come in on 35mm, and not once did she ask me for a replacement choice. I thought i was completely clear with her over my 35mm preference (i think i mentioned killing her dog if i ended up with more 16mm prints or some such rantings in voicing my opinion...what can i say, i was not happy.) I will confront her again, this time with a nice sweet smile, and find out exactly what measures she has taken attempting to procure 35mm prints for me.
As for 16mm looking nice, the last 16mm film i showed was so dark the picture was barely seen, and the sound so garbled, words could barely be made out. I wouldn't call that nice...but i guess it could happen. (the projector is a hokushin x-600...i don't know much else about it. seating is max 435, been looking for numbers on image size to no avail)
On to responding to some of vernon's ramblings: yes, most of the stuff we show is recent as soon as we can get it for non-theatrical and of course that comes in on 35mm (and i do get jealous of the people running those nights.) I probably just either got unlucky, or my booker is on swank's shit list, i don't know. She does talk to them enough though...with 5 films a week she definitely keeps up constant contact.
You mentioned older 35mm...which reminded me of the time we got Wild Strawberries....the can opened up smelling like vinegar, and the entire print was so warped that it couldn't stay flat in the gate...the image kept undulating, up and down, in and out of focus. Boy was that fun. Anyway, i'll try to convince my booker to be a "pleasant pest" as you so eloquently put, so thanks.
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Aileen D'Esposito
Film Handler
Posts: 11
From: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Registered: Oct 2003
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posted 11-08-2003 09:10 PM
Brad...i don't think it was so much of a missing the point, as not realizing what my booker was doing in time (aka taking no for an answer?)...as i said before, i did tell my booker that 16mm was unacceptable, i guess she just didn't pass that along. It could also be that, the other person who gets 16mm at times really doesn't care, and will show it anyway. So she goes ahead and keeps it on, and i just end up on here ranting.
On the brightside, she's using my misfortune to try to get money to buy a new 16mm projector. If that is where all this ends up, i suppose taht could be ok, because there are times when things can only come in on 16mm
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