Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1930)

Msfflsm SftsaaD© wi^s Vol. XLII NEW YORK CITY, OCTOBER 4, 1930 No. 14 SWITCHING THE MOTOR AND THE GAS TANK TIME was when a director of advertising in this industry would launch his campaign on a picture as soon as the Coast had dispatched reams of hooey that it fondly considered publicity, fit for all purposes, and a bunch of stills. Playdates were pressing and he had to rush the job. With this material to work with, he got busy and often had completed the task and forgotten it before he saw the picture. Then he would emit a series of yowls. If he had known that such and such a thing were in the production it would have given him great ammunition and altered his entire plans. The heavy brains in the production end had not given him a thought. Their job was to turn out pictures; they had no time to bother with the advertising man's pleas for cooperation. But how they would raise hell with him if their names didn't get the proper percentage in billings ! THE time changes to the present and the scene to the RKO home office. Because of the tremendous drawing power of Amos 'n' Andy the powers-that-be decided to star the radio team in a picture. It was a brilliant idea; a natural. But the nut would be terrific and in consequence the conferences held to discuss the matter of a vehicle and kindred problems were serious ones. The plans had to be air-tight and fool-proof. Behind the scenes, however, a young man was devoting 24 hours a day to the problem. He wore out typewriter ribbons and pencils: the furrows on his brow threatened to become permanent. BECAUSE he was a merchandising expert, he knew the value of the names he had to sell, and began to pound home that message to the business. Misgivings concerning the venture upon which the company had embarked were turned into enthusiasm by this copy. The studio's job now was to make a picture which would live up to the advance notices. A realization of this gave the entire production unit a mark to shoot at. The spontaneity of the studio's enthusiasm was contagious, permeating the entire force not only on the Coast but throughout the whole organization, a good deal of whose future hung on the outcome. AND now the tension has lifted, and the industry has seen a picture's course moulded by the merchandising treatment to which it was subjected — in advance of production. How many others not now doing so could benefit by the use of the available merchandising brains of their advertising force in incorporating real selling angles into pictures before and while they are being made. Give a hand to Hy Daab! AX intimate check-up reveals a state of chaos regarding re-entry of the American industry into the foreign fields which were lost to a considerable extent with the innovation of talkers. It develops that nearly every big company is nursing a pet plan of its own, with the majority differing to such a radical extent as to create an extremely unhealthy condition for the industry as a whole. A comparative few are proceeding along more or less intelligent lines. Some are at a standstill, while still others refuse to accept seriously the possibilities of building up business in nonEnglish speaking countries. Before talkers, foreign grosses represented a nice portion of the annual sales intake of most distributors. Now that the technical aspect of sound and foreign versions has clarified itself, some distributors once again are turning to lands across the Atlantic where they expect to stabilize business. PROCEEDING on the theory that '•injury to one is the concern of all," it strikes us as being sensible for all companies to organize their foreign managers into a round-table confab where intelligent discussion of the entire foreign problem will eventually establish the proper modus operandi. With this solution obtained, and a definite policy for re-entry adopted, the old shillalahs could again be lifted in the battle of competitive sales arguments. This added revenue derived from markets which have been more or less dormant for two years would aid materially to boost earnings, spreading grosses over a wider area, thereby offering possibilities of slightly lower rentals all around. And the burdens of producer, distributor and exhibitor unquestionably would be lightened greatly. KANN