Motography (Jan-Jun 1918)

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64 MOTOGRAPHY Vol. XIX, No. 2. Brady Boosts New York Exposition PRESIDENT OF NATIONAL ASSOCIATION URGES ADVANTAGES OF EXHIBITING BY WILLIAM A. BRADY THERE are so many good reasons why the progressive producer of films and motion picture equipment will find it advantageous to exhibit at the Motion Picture Exposition in Grand Central Palace next February that it seems to be a point scarcely worth while arguing. Primarily those who exhibit will do so to increase their business and every concern at the exposition can increase its business if that concern will make the right sort of attack. Let it be aggressive — convey the idea that it is alive and able to deliver the goods and bigger business will result. Exposition Has Following Of course there are those who will attempt to tell you that exhibiting is not worth the effort — not worth the cost of floor space. They are the same ones who seem to think that cheap actors are as good as real artists — the same ones who will not engage a high-priced star for fear it will not pay. They seem to lose sight of the fact that the big star has a following that is worth big money and likewise as regards the exposition, they seem to forget that it will have its following of the biggest exhibitors and distributors in the industry, hundreds of whom will travel across the country to attend the exposition. Let the skeptical ones get it into their heads that in taking space they are not merely renting so much space as they might in a storage warehouse — no— they are securing space and also the privilege to display their goods to thousands of interested motion picture exhibitors who are in New York for a few days to look into what is new in profit-producing. It is a case of "catch 'em while they're hot." National Association Owns Show Now, if this exposition were merely some private promoter's scheme to make a "clean-up" for himself, as has been the case of some expositions in the past, I should not be as emphatically in favor of it. I should turn around and say, "Let the National Association run a show of its own," which is precisely what is being done in the case of coming exposition. It is under the joint auspices of the National Association of the Motion Picture Industry and the Motion Picture Exhibitors' League of America. That ought to be sufficient guarantee for anyone that the exposition will be thoroughly representative of what is best for the industry. The bigger and better it can be made the more business exhibitors will do. Once again the watchword "co-operation" becomes the keynote. By helping the industry as a whole we help ourselves. "Unity of action spells success." Chance to Learn Something Motion picture distributors and exhibitors can learn something new every day of their lives if they keep their eyes and ears open. There are none of us so familiar with everything used in connection with motion pictures that we can walk through Grand Central Palace when the exposition opens, and fail to find something new and advantageous to our business. The automobile and motor boat industries were built up principally through the exchange of ideas and signing of contracts for distribution at their annual expositions. Hundreds of thousands of the general public visited these expositions and became enthused over cars and boats. Last February the aeroplane manufacturers held an exposition in Grand Central Palace, and it was a very fortunate thing they did, too, for it resulted in many decided advances in the industry upon which we depend largely to win the war. The florists and horticulturists, the ■chemical industries, the electrical goods makers, the hotel men, all have their expositions and they pay the concerns who exhibit, as is evidenced by the fact that they exhibit year after year and that the expositions grow bigger each season. Create More Movie Fans Now the motion picture industry is wholly dependent upon the general public. The more movie "fans" we can create, the more business we can do. Fifteen years ago there were thousands of women who would not ride in an automobile. They were afraid of them. Today these same women not only ride in, but they drive their own cars. Fifteen years ago, the percentage of cultured, educated people who visited motion picture shows was an almost negligible quantity. Today there are millions. Tomorrow will see millions more. After the war there will be a tremendous boom the like of which the industry has never known and the concerns who cash in then will be the ones who attain and maintain prestige in the meantime. Will. Carry Lessons Home All the more reason why we should co-operate in every way to get more of the public interest in motion pictures. Thousands of visitors at the forthcoming exposition will go home and talk to their families and friends about what they saw of exceptional interest. The greatest advertising in the world is wordof-mouth recommendation and praise. That is what all printed advertising aims to inspire. It must be borne in mind that any big metropolitan exposition numbers visitors from many parts of the country, for a large percentage of New York's population is made up of visitors from other cities, and they go back home and talk of what they saw in Gotham. In short, news of an exposition like the forthcoming one goes all over the country and increases the prestige of the motion picture industry and makes more movie fans, in addition to making increased business for film people. Stewart Holmes and Norma Talmadge in "The Ghosts of Yesterday," a Select release. Edith Storey's Debut Edith Storey, one of the best known actresses of the screen, who affixed her name to a Metro contract several months ago, makes her debut under the parrot trade-mark in an unusual picture, "The Eyes of Mystery." Tod Browning directed the production from the scenario of June Mathis, which was based on the story "The House in the Mist," by Octavus Roy Cohan and J. U. Giesy.