British Kinematography (1948)

re At this point, I must mention that our Foreign Relations Committee, under the chairmanship of Mr. Cabirol, has made important contacts with technical bodies in fourteen countries. In the present state of the world, it is unlikely that the Foreign Relations Committee can go much farther than to maintain these contacts for the time being, but I am hopeful that the cordial relationship which has been established with the Association Franchise des Ingenieurs et Techniciens du Cinema, of France, will eventually lead to co-operation on the widest scale between the two Societies. In this connection I have great pleasure in welcoming Mr. J. Vivie, the Secretary of this French organisation, whom I ask to convey our cordial good wishes to his colleagues in France. Society of Motion Picture Engineers As a member of both the B.K.S. and the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, I have always wished to see a greater measure of co-operation between these two Societies. All things considered, the B.K.S. and S.M.P.E. have similar ideals and aspirations, and I have been awaiting an opportunity to open discussions with the S.M.P.E. on the means by which co-operation can be facilitated. Quite recently we were able to initiate these discussions, by the fortunate chance that Mr. A. G. D. West, our Past President, found sufficient time to attend the S.M.P.E. Autumn Convention in New York, where, in addition to reading two papers before the Convention, he had full discussions with the responsible officers of the S.M.P.E. on the question of closer co-operation between the two Societies. Mr. West's report on these meetings, which was considered at our last Council meeting, may represent an important milestone in the history of the two Societies. In the first place, it is clearly established that the S.M.P.E. are equally desirous of closer co-operation, and, secondly, that many of their problems are similar to those which face our Society. As a consequence of this meeting, a method of co-operation on some important matters has been agreed. It will I think be worthwhile to mention some of these matters tonight. It has been agreed that each Society shall have the right to publish a paper in full from the other Society immediately after that paper has appeared in the original Journal ; for example, the S.M.P.E. will study all papers appearing in British Kinematography upon its arrival in New York, and will if it wishes, publish the paper in the S.M.P.E. Journal, or alternatively give an abstract or reference. It is, of course, quite true that this practice may result in an appreciable interval between the appearance of a paper in the two Journals, but it is equally true that it avoids the risk of a prior publication in the wrong Journal. Under ideal circumstances, it has seemed to me that an arrangement might be made to ensure that each Active Member of the S.M.P.E. would receive British Kinematography and that each Corporate Member of the B.K.S. would receive the S.M.P.E. Journal. Unfortunately, such an arrangement is impracticable for the time being, due to paper shortage and the difficulties of sterling-dollar transactions. In his meetings with the Officers of the S.M.P.E., Mr. West suggested that as an interim procedure, an exchange of Journals between the officers of the two Societies should be arranged. This proposal is possible of immediate achievement, and it has been agreed that the Secretaries of the two Societies will in future send each other twelve copies of their Journal each month for distribution to the officers of the two Societies. We are sure that this will be a satisfactory way of bringing to the notice of each Society the activities of the opposite Society. J