Film and TV Technician (1957)

May 1957 FILM & TV TECHNICIAN 71 methods of presentation such as an extensive use of world actualities." Turning to the question of competition from television Mr. Davis said that, from the point of view of the Film Industry, the public felt that they received from television a large quantity of free entertainment. This made it unattractive for the public to go and see average films when something similar to the average film could be obtained in the home, apparently free. Thus only important films of high entertainment value were of interest to the public. " Piped or Coin-in-the-Slot television will certainly come. I am convinced that it will be used in the foreseeable future. Will the industry use it? Surely the industry must and can harness it for its own benefit? ". Competition for Leisure People today had more leisure time and the more leisure they had the greater was the competition for it by all providers of entertainment, be it television, radio, the ballet, music, sport, motor-cars or films, and one of the greatest competitors for that leisure time was the motor-car. With this increased leisure the public would become more selective in its tastes and audiences would no longer be prepared to go to the cinema unless they were offered not only good entertainment but adequate facilities and comfort under which to see the programme. In Mr. Davis's view the facilities in many cinemas were not adequate today. " Theatres not in first-class condition must be closed or alternatively rebuilt to the latest and most modern standards of comfort and projection, etc." Rationalisation " But in my view ", Mr. Davis added, " nothing can stop a material contraction in the number of cinemas operating in the Western world. The present limited supply of pictures and the changing competitive conditions in the mass entertainment market will bring about the closing of many theatres; only those with good earning potential will be retained." While a most careful rationalisation in theatres was essential it was also necessary to overhaul the present methods of distribution which were obsolete and unnecessarily complicated. The Industry must materially reduce the cost of distribution which was far too high, not only in this country but world-wide. This must involve a common servicing organisation separate from any one company and divorced from selling, to handle the physical side of distribution. Scrambled TV Network Looking further ahead Mr. Davis believed the time would come when films would be distributed either through the medium of tape, wire or through a television scrambled network. No side of the industry could exist successfully without the success of all sides. It was essential to work out methods of increasing box-office returns. Producers must have the opportunity of earning maximum returns on important entertainment films. They, on their side, must use imagination to keep costs down and to make films which would satisfy the changing tastes of the public. " I have already intimated that, in my view, a contraction in the quantity of film must continue. The unanswered problem is the speed of this contraction. In addition there is already a permanent reduction in the supply of second features and other supporting film. Ultimately the programme will be reduced to single features which may lead to a change in present public tastes for the continuous programme." One Trade Organisation At the present time the Industry had over sixty trade associations with an annual operating cost in excess of £250,000. It should set up a combined trade organisation at the top of which there should be an executive council presided over by an independent chairman having no connection with any side of the Industry. Under this executive there should be committees representing each section of the industry. Such an organisation would facilitate the sorting out of the problem for the creation of the successful pattern of the future. " We must have rationalisation in our industry. The closure of the uneconomic unit will come, taking into account whether the unit is uneconomic because it is redundant or whether it is uneconomic because it is in poor condition." FRENCH TECHNICIANS' A.G.M. YV7E have received from the Syn" dicat des Techniciens de la Production Cinematographique, the French film technicians' Union, a copy of resolutions passed at their Annual General Meeting held on March 10th, 1957. A series of demands were made concerning the Social Service scheme. These included the adaptation of the scheme to the casual nature of film technicians' employment, a revision of the points-calculation for pensions, and an improvement in health and safety precautions in studios. The resolution stated that health standards in the industry had deteriorated alarmingly, partly as a result of the speed-up of production over recent years, and ended by demanding the resumption of discussions on the re-establishment of the 5-day working week. Separate Union French television technicians are organised in a separate union, the Syndicat des Techniciens du Spectacle Televise, but this, like the S.T.P.C., is affiliated to the National Entertainment-workers' Federation, and the two unions work together on matters of common policy. The last resolution of the S.T.P.C. meeting gave strong support both to their own Directors' Section and to S.T.S.T. in their defence of the moral rights of creative workers in the products of their labour and especially in opposing the "Producers' Charter" drawn up by the International Federation of Film Producers' Associations. Management Criticised The resolution further criticised the attitude of the management of French Radio Television to Trades Union agreements and protested against attempts by the same management to exclude film technicians from television production. On this latter subject, it instructed the Executive of S.T.P.C, in collaboration with S.T.S.T., to take all necessary action, including a publicity campaign, to further the possibilities for fruitful collaboration in the television field between technicians of the two unions. MAX ANDERSON.