Business screen magazine (1959)

v;il;irl \ iclor"s Morris Siliudriz "jemonstnited prototype of optical oiirul slidefibn projector. Uakclite's Bill Connelly {leji. above) is introduced by proi^ram chairman Alan Yost (at rii;hl). t aicrpillar's Hob McCa.sUn (I), shares panel post with Frank Greenleaf of U. S. Steel (r). Improving Audio-Visual Techuicjues for Industry ■ iifluNlrial Aiidi»->'iMUiil Kxoculivos l,»»k lit >l<irc <'r<-:ilivil,v. ■(■•Il<>r Film .\i]ali<'n«M>s SIN .\NN«<-i:ili<>ii II»IiIn Friiilful Thr<'<>-Hav Full \VorkNlio|i .SfssiatiiK at PriiiOflwn. .>'..!. rHK Annual Fall workshop meeting of the Industrial Auiio-Visual Association was held his year at the Nassau Inn, 'rinceton. N. J., from October Uh through the 6th. The "workshop" designation 'or this meeting is apt. Fewer ;uest speakers are invited to take 3art here than in the spring annual session and members buckle down to long and serious intramural conferences on their respective problems. President Opens Fall Prosram Alan W. Morrison, of the So:ony Mobil Oil Company, and president of lAVA, greeted the 50 members in attendance by pointing out the greater responsijbility constantly being assumed jby audio-visual communicators in [their respective companies. He said it was this very fact that had prevented other active members from being able to attend the workshop. He also greeted three jnew members: John F. Breedon, Jr., of Ford Motor Company: Sheldon Nemeyer, of General Dynamics Corp.; and Kurt Roth of United States Steel Corp. Alan E. Yost, of Bethlehem Steel Corp., acted as program chairman of the meeting, aided by his Pennsylvania colleagues, Gordon Butler, of Dixie Cup Co., and Jack Borland, of Smith. Kline & French Laboratories. Typical of the broad range of topics occupying the time of the lAVA this month were "How to get creativity and imagination from writers and producers."" a discussion conducted by Ralph L. Hoy, of Alcoa. This subject moved on into a corollary: "How to judge what price to pay." led by Harvey Plants, of General Foods Corp., with an assisting panel of Gordon Hough (American Machine & Foundry Corp.), Peter Hickman (Smith, Kline & French Laboratories), and Tom Willard, until recently with .American Bosch Arma Corp. Four Steps to Better Films Mr. Hoy outlined his own procedures for getting creativity from his producers and writers: ( 1 ) know the subject thoroughly and decide on all objectives before the producer-script stage is reached; (2) sit down and look at as many films on similar subjects as is possible to obtain — before seeing the producer or writer — this will give a good background for judging how forward-thinking they are; ( 3 ) be sure to thoroughly orient the writer and producer on all sponsor facilities to be used in the production; (4) then — and only then — give the creative people a free-hand, encourage flexibility and resourcefulness. As a case in point, Mr. Hoy screened a new Alcoa picture for lAVA members" judgment. Titled Why They Buy. the film is ingenious, low-budgeted, and aimed at just seven baby food marketers. It tells of the merits of aluminum bottle tops in a fresh and different way. They Know Producer Problems Harvey Plants, Gordon Hough. Peter Hickman and Tom Willard can all speak with authority on film pricing problems for each has been "on the other side of the fence"" at one time as a producer. Mr. Plants remembers the oldtime joke of the producer who loved to make pictures for clients President Morrison exemplilics the spirit of lAVA . . . with tall smokestacks above their factories. "I'll pan real slow up that big old smokestack — and at $5 a foot, that's not hay." Smokestack pans are only a funny memory now, Mr. Plants said, and most producers are honestly trying to put as much value into films as they can. But no film can be budgeted correctly unless the specifications are clearly understood and the sponsor is prepared to provide the right props and the right technical authorities at the right time so as not to waste the producer's expensive time schedule. other Views on Film Bids Tom Willard told of a procedure he has favo;ed for getting itemized bids. Thus, certain scenes or certain technical considerations in the film could be purchased item by item if necessary. Mr. Willard explained that this method might not be applicable to many situations but had been useful in progress report productions. Gordon Hough said he thought competitive bids were seldom justified. Only so in the relatively New members pictured (/ to r): Kurt Roth (Steel}: John Breedon (Ford): Sheldon Nemeyer. rare cases where the job could be completely blue-printed and the creative factor would not be involved. Mr. Hough also urged his listeners to leave budget for promotion and distribution. He said a beautiful film in a can on the shelf is useless if no one will ever see it. Uses a Letter of .Agreement Peter Hickman said he prefers to write his own contracts — usually in letter form — rather than to just sign some papers the producer draws up. Mr. Hickman also advocated that the sponsor obtain and hold full negative rights — that producers be advised to quote prices based on production costs only — not on overoptimistic forecasts of possible future print profits. In this way, Mr. Hickman said, it was more likely to get honest prices for production and honest prices for prints, as well. He said this was not an endorsement of buying prints directly — far from it, for at a fair price the producer performs a very useful service in inspection of prints and maintenance of quality. Laurence K. Hamilton, vicepresident of Tecnifax Corp., presented a talk on "The Need for (continued on NFXr PAGE) Below: Gordon Butler (Dixie Cup Co.) .served on the hardworking program committee. NUMBER 6 • VOLUME 21 1960