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This topic comprises 4 pages: 1 2 3 4
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Topic: Movie about the end of Film
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Edward Havens
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 614
From: Los Angeles, CA
Registered: Mar 2008
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posted 12-07-2011 12:36 PM
When I read things like this from your site, I have severe doubts it will be fair or balanced...
"Revealing how Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp and the giants of Disney, Sony, and Fox are force-feeding cinematic exhibitors digital projection devices using hidden terms, manipulative incentives and 'inside job' strategies to rollout a mass conversion that helps them achieve a distribution monopoly"
Sounds like it's going to be an absolute snowjob, from someone on the outside of the industry who doesn't know the history of this industry. There have been a number of seismic shocks to the industry over the years, which each required theatre owners large and small to fork over serious cash to either stay in the game or get out. Sound in the 20s, a plethora of competing widescreen formats in the 50s, automation and stereo sound in the 70s, digital sound and stadium seating in the 90s, digital projection in the 00s.
In the mid 90s, I was operating an independent theatre in a small town in Central California. The theatre was one of the original Fox theatres, whose balcony was split in two in the late 80s, and the theatre did very good business. The main house still sat several hundred people, and during my tenure there, the theatre saw more business than it had seen in a long time. But the owner still wanted to build a new eight screen theatre down the road, because we were the only theatre in town and we were unable to play all the movies we wanted to play with just three screens. That second theatre got built, and for a number of years, both theatres were able to co-exist. But when the economy went south a couple years back, the owners had to make a tough choice: close the older theatre and upgrade the newer theatre, or keep operating both but be unable to upgrade to digital projection. So they made the hard choice to close the first theatre. They've only changed two theatres over to digital to date, and I know they regret closing their long-time baby.
I'd be willing to bet some independent, small-town theatre operators are going to use the digital revolution as an excuse to get out of the business. Their traffic wasn't all that great to begin with, and they don't think digital will be the thing that brings people back, so why lay out all that money for new equipment if you can't get people in the building in the first place? Maybe it's not the theatre, but the operator.
The main problem I have with the direction of this documentary, from the descriptions provided by you and your team, is that for all its greatness, nostalgia doesn't get patrons in the door. Nostalgia doesn't pay the bills and keep the doors open. Nor will just converting to digital. The issues are far more complex than your very limited scope, and limiting your scope is going to limit your audience. Maybe that's one of the reasons you are nowhere near your fundraising goal after nearly two months.
I'm not here to get you down or make you feel your project isn't worthy. I lost tens of thousands of dollars of my own money trying to make a movie that didn't happen, when I wore a younger man's clothes. It hurts to lose that much time and energy and effort and, yes, money. But sit down with your team and take a long hard look at your project. Maybe you're going at it from the wrong angle.
(To Sam... I just chose the first lefty and righty jingoistic "documentarians" that popped in to my head. I dislike them, and the political left and right, equally, for the same reasons: they spend too much time preaching to the converted and not enough time trying to get figure out real solutions to the issues they say they want to solve.)
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Aaron Mehocic
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 804
From: New Castle, PA, USA
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 12-07-2011 01:10 PM
I'm in favor of anyone who wishes to do their own independent projects regardless of how equal or one-sided they might be. Frankly, thats for me - the viewer - to make up my mind about, and, moreover, I'm a big boy.
However, Edward is right about one thing:
quote: Edward Havens
for all its greatness, nostalgia doesn't get patrons in the door
Perhaps your next documentary should be on how crappy many of these mega-cinema presentation has become because for the last 30+ years film presentation has suffered to the point where patrons are just accustomed to garbage. If presentations never suffered because of cheap CEO's, owners, service-techs, general managers, sloppy operators . . . the list goes on . . . then maybe the modern movie-goer would care about nostalgia. Perhaps your next documentary should shame those people who only care as long as an image is on the screen and something (might) be coming out of the speakers.
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