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Industry
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October 8, 2008
Indian film industry on strike
The Indian film industry is on strike as members of 22 unions representing 147,000 workers, including actors, technicians and directors, stayed home on Tuesday and continued to stay away.
Workers are looking for better pay, shorter hours and improvements in safety.
About 40 TV and movie shoots were affected.
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October 6, 2008
National Popcorn Month
October is National Popcorn Month and Classic Cinemas, which has 12 theaters and 88 screens in northern Illinois, will offer a free 46-ounce popcorn to people who sign up to receive their promotional emails. Refills will be free and Tuesdays will feature buckets for only 75 cents.
The promotion also coincides with the company celebrating its 30th anniversary.
The chain goes through three tons of popcorn a month and pops its popcorn fresh daily in $10,000 poppers.
You can read more in The Courier News.
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Wall Street financing massive digital conversion program
Wall Street will raise over $1 billion to help fund the conversion of 20,000 movie screens to digital projection in a deal announced Wednesday.
Blackstone Group LP and JPMorgan Chase & Co are arranging financing for Regal Entertainment Group, Cinemark Holdings Inc and AMC Entertainment Inc to install 3D digital projection for up to 20,000 movie screens.
The three theater chains have reached agreements with Lionsgate, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney and Universal Pictures where the studios will pay a “virtual print fee” each time a digital movie is shown. The fee will be used to pay off the cost of the equipment.
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October 3, 2008
Bond film makes history in India
MUMBAI, INDIA — For the first time in history, a Hollywood film will open in India before it plays the U.S..
The new James Bond film, “Quantum of Solace” will premiere in the UK on October 31st and then will open in India November 7th. It will be released in the US on November 14th to take advantage of the Thanksgiving holiday week.
You can read more at the Business of Cinema Website.
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October 2, 2008
Nepal Theaters protest cinema tax
NEPAL — Movie theaters across the country were closed last Monday to protest a tax the Chinese-backed government plans to placed on the film industry.
In the past, the tax had only been placed on foreign films being brought into Nepal for screening. But now the government wants to expand the tax to the entire community.
In addition, film producers and actors staged a one-hour sit-in protest in front of the Nepal Film Development Board. They warned of further protests if the decision is not rescinded.
You can read more at NepalNews.com.
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October 1, 2008
Indian multiplexes bringing diversity to film business
Indian single-screen theaters are being replaced by Amercan-style multiplexes. The Hindu has an article detailing how this move has brought diversity to the Indian film industry, crowding out local films.
The closing of all those grand old single-screen talkies marked the end of a certain kind of movie-going culture in India that existed up to the ‘90s. Going to a movie was a thrilling, singular experience then. Those were the days when you had to stand in a long queue to get a ticket. You came an hour and half before the show. Standing in the queue, you came across regulars. That was what was so cool about the whole thing: you stood there talking to a total stranger about a movie that both of you saw the last time you were here.
However, multiplexes have also allowed American films to gain a foothold.
Did you notice how all the English movies that play in these multiplexes now are only Hollywood? And the drama as a genre is mostly missing — what plays now is only action, romance, comedy, and horror.
You can read more at theHindu.
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September 30, 2008
Independent Films on life support
A recent article in The Australian pointed out that there have not been any breakout independent films this year. They claim that the major studios quickly getting into the indie film business and subsequently closing their indie divisions, has harmed the market.
The festival circuit this year has yet to identify an art-house or independent break-out hit. David Stratton describes last week’s Venice film festival as “the most disappointing program in many years”.
The upcoming Academy Award season seems bereft of “little films that could”, and studio specialty arms are closing: Time Warner has closed Picturehouse, Warner Independent and Paramount Vantage have been absorbed into their parents, and boutique distributor ThinkFilm is fending off creditors and lawyers.
You can read more at The Australian.
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September 25, 2008
Movies on Demand at the Movies
A Brazilian company wants to bring movies on demand to a theater near you.
On the MovieMobz website, people can ask other filmgoers if they want to see a certain picture at a certain theater. If enough people sign up, the theater is booked.
The number of people needed varies depending on the theater. For example, if a 120-seat cinema typically sells 30 tickets on a Monday night, it will only take 40 “MovieMobzters” to schedule the screening.
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CinemaSmith in Coolidge Corner is closing
The CinemaSmith, which is sort of an attachment to the Brookline Booksmith in Brookline’s Coolidge Corner, and located in the basement of the Brookline Booksmith, will be closing shortly. Many movies are on sale there.
When I asked the young woman working behind the counter at Brookline Booksmith why CinemaSmith was closing, she replied that Netflix and lots of DVD’s, on the long run, were causing CinemaSmith to make little to no money, so they decided it wasn’t worth it to stay in business any longer. Even though CinemaSmith isn’t a movie theatre, and though I very seldom used it, it was a little unsettling to learn of its closing.
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September 12, 2008
Wonderful Showman has passed away
Bill Hertz, former VP of operations at Mann Theatres and its preceding companies passed away in late August at the age of 84.
This isn’t really an obituary but a remembrance of a fine gentleman that shaped my career and my life. Anyone who has worked for Fox West Coast Theatres, National General Theatres or Mann Theatres will know him and share the sense of loss.
I met Mr. Hertz in 1962 while working a studio sneak preview at the Fox Theatre in Riverside, California. This man had a presence that stood out in a lobby full of posturing movie types. He was the consummate executive, with a 32 tooth smile and a firm handshake. He never inserted himself into the scene but controlled all theatrical elements with a finesse that made those who worked for him respond in the most direct and positive ways.
Over the years I had the good fortune to move up in the company and ultimately have a office just down the hall from Mr. Hertz. He continued to mentor us young pups and add a great deal of class to anything he choose to do.