my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Ground Level   » Contact Needed to Rent 35mm Films

Author Topic: Contact Needed to Rent 35mm Films Joshua Lott Expert Film Handler Posts: 246 From: Fairbanks, AK, USA Registered: Nov 1999 posted 03-05-2003 01:36 PM                        I am curious as to who I need to contact to see what the cost is to rent the following films: Romeo and Juliet, (1968), directed by Franco Zeffirelli Much Ado about Nothing, (1993), directed by Kenneth Branagh William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, (1996), starring Leonardo Di Caprio Twelfth Night, (1996), starring Helena Bonham Carter Shakespeare in Love, (1998), starring Gwyneth Paltrow Should I contact the studios directly? I have already contacted Swank to see what they have. Thanks in advance for you advice.  |  IP: Logged Robert E. Allen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1078 From: Checotah, Oklahoma Registered: Jul 2002 posted 03-05-2003 03:11 PM                     It has been reported to me that Swank offers lousy prints. Try Criterion (800 890-9494). I've heard they watch their prints closely. There's also Modern Sound Pictures (800 228-9584). Modern may be 16mm only. Good luck.  |  IP: Logged John Hawkinson Film God Posts: 2273 From: Cambridge, MA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 03-05-2003 04:55 PM                     It's not as if you get a choice. For a given classification (theatrical, non-theatrical) there is one distributor for each title. Do a search for Swank in these forums if you want to know about their quality, but in a nutshell, for 35mm, they don't keep their own prints and the quality of prints you book through them is about the same as anybody else. --jhawk  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-06-2003 08:20 AM                        What jhawk said. Swank has _some_ prints (which are shipped from TES with green labels and an inflated shipping charge), but mostly their 35mm prints come from the regular depots and from the same pool as the prints used for commercial/theatrical exhibition. As one might expect, quality is all over the map. It is not obvious to me why Swank has its own inventories of some prints and not others. I haven't dealt much with 35mm from Criterion, although the prints that I have gotten from them are Criterion prints, not regular prints. I haven't seen enough to generalize about print quality. There are also many smaller distributors who have their own print libraries (e.g. New Yorker Films) of variable quality. I've run quite a bit of 16mm from Swank, Criterion, and New Yorker Films; they all seem to have pretty good prints in general, though Swank seems to be the best.  |  IP: Logged Mike Olpin Chop Chop! Posts: 1852 From: Dallas, TX Registered: Jan 2002 posted 03-06-2003 01:02 PM                     Does Swank offer 16mm in DTS? What sound format is commonly used for swank 16mm prints?  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-06-2003 01:54 PM                        Swank's 16mm prints are regular optical mono. I've never heard of any 16mm rental prints being available with magnetic sound, though mag prints occasionally show up at festivals (particularly from Germany, which seems to be the only place where one can still get 16mm prints striped. The only time I've run into 16mm DTS (with sountrack on CD-R) was at a festival where we couldn't play it. We ended up showing the film on Beta SP video in glorious mono.  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 03-06-2003 02:00 PM                     When I was at Warner in the mid 80's, I saw a few mag 16mm prints . That were used for the 16mm rental.  |  IP: Logged Bill Carter Expert Film Handler Posts: 162 From: Minneapolis, Minnesota Registered: Sep 1999 posted 03-07-2003 08:36 PM                     Criterion often strikes their own prints of the titles they handle, rather than inheriting the old depot prints that went out for general release. Their quality can still be all over the map, however. They have only ONE print each of at least a few titles (example: The Girl Can't Help It), and will tell you when it becomes unplayable they simply plan to withdraw the title from distribution. Criterion also inherited some of Films Inc.'s prints, mainly of classic Fox titles, like Hollywood Cavalcade (which still had the Films Inc. logo spliced on). Some are good, some not so much.  |  IP: Logged Darryl Spicer Film God Posts: 3250 From: Lexington, KY, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 03-08-2003 06:51 PM                    does crieterian handle the first 2 Terminator films?  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.