British Kinematography (1951)

'0 BRITISH KINEMATOGRAPHY Vol. 19, No. 1 Standardisation. — Members of the Society continue to give generously of their time and knowledge to serving on the main and technical committees of the British Standards Institution. The solid record of achievement of these committees is evidenced by the continuous forward motion of industrial standardisation, and a debt of gratitude is owed our members for the contribution they are making to industry and to the prestige of the Society. The Divisions. — Reports on the work of the three Divisions have been made by the individual Chairmen, and it is necessary therefore to make only a brief reference to them. The influence which the work carried out by the Divisions has on the policy of the Council has been frequently demonstrated in the past year. Steps may be taken through the choice of papers and method of presentation to improve the economic position in the industry, or experiments made to find out the most popular days and times for meetings. A decision may be taken to change the name of a Division, or to institute a time-absorbing investigation. Whatever the matter under review in the past twelve months, always it demonstrates a realistic and progressive outlook and redounds greatly to the credit and prestige of the Society. The Sections. — The progress of the Sections in Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle has been hampered in the past year by lack of support among the members. The Vice-President, Chairman of the Branches Committee and Mr. R. E. Pulman have, over a long period, made a careful study of the local conditions. It appears in each case that there is a nucleus of enthusiastic members who are anxious for some organised activity, but it remains for those stlwarts to encourage others to their ranks if the arrangement of programmes for the new Session is to be justified. The Staff. — I would like to place on record my gratitude for the support I have received from the staff in the past year. Miss Barlow is to be congratulated on maintaining the advertising revenue at so high a level, and Mr. Randall, the editorial assistant, on his general record of achievement, which should not be underestimated. We have been fortunate in securing the parttime secretarial services of Mrs. Mclnnes Smith and Mrs. Preston, whose efficiency and loyalty have made them very welcome and a pleasure to work with. Conclusion. — To conclude, there are two further matters to which I must refer. Mr. John Abbott is an old friend of the Society, but his enthusiasm for its activities and his cooperation in carryiing them out is always refreshing and of very high value to all of us. Another good friend, though not such an old one, is Mrs. Steele, the Secretary of the British Film Academy, whose offices are on the same floor as our own. Mrs. Steele has on countless occasions assisted us in the most generous manner. Hon. Treasurer's Report The Hon. Treasurer submitted his report as follows : — The accounts for the year ended December 31, 1950, show that the Society has weathered a very difficult year without being forced to restrict its activities. While some of the expenses are of a non-recurring nature, we shall nevertheless have to approach the coming year with extreme caution in view of the rapid increase of costs in all directions. Income. — The subscriptions show a decrease on the previous year of approximately £400. This decrease was not entirely unexpected, in view of the difficulties in the industry, but it is heartening to note the increase of almost £200 in the Patron Members' donations. It is particularly gratifying to know that our Patron Members have confidence in the Society, and show this confidence in a tangible way. With the interest on our investments and other small items, our total income amounts to £3,196 compared with £3,535 for the previous year. Expenditure. — It will be noted that the allocation of our expenditure has been modified slightly, and this accounts to some extent for the differences between some of this year's and last year's items. The main change we have made is to allocate salaries of those members of the staff who are directly associated with the journal to the Journal's expenses, and not, as in the past, to General Expenses. It will be seen that the salary figure for the year is £1,410 as compared with £1,839 for the previous year. This is balanced by the Journal deficit of £562 this year, as compared with £143. I would like to take this opportunity to refer to the Journal Account. The salary figure is £535, which is only a little less than the total deficit. This shows that, compared with the previous year, when salaries were not included in this account, the Journal deficit has been reduced, and this in spite of the increase in costs. I am afraid that it is unlikely that I will be able to say the same thing next year, because, as you have no doubt heard, the cost of newsprint has just been increased by about 40%, and this is going to be a serious problem which the new Council will have to face. I can, however, tell you, as Chairman of the Journal Sub-Committee, that every endeavour is being made to reduce the cost of the Journal without reducing its effective value to the members.