Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1954)

CAPITAL FILM LABS, INC. Formerly McGeary -Smith 1905 Fairview Ave., N.E., Washington 2, D.C. ures for the first half of 1953 show 397 days of tv entertainment film and 289 days of tv film commercial work, against 196 days in theatrical motion picture production. Other film employment rose from 401 days during the second six months of 1953 to 429 days in JanuaryJune 1954. The trend toward more tv film work is reversed among higher paid actors in Hollywood, the survey shows. In the group earning from $7,500 to $15,000 annually, after elimination of 22 replies reporting no film work during the 18 months, the remaining 1 1 1 answers reveal 774 days of employment on tv entertainment films and 70 days on tv film commercials during the first half of 1954. During the first half of 1953, employment reached 918 days in tv entertainment film and 96 days of tv film commercial work. Theatrical feature work also declined, from 2,667 days in the first half of 1953 to 1,144 days during the like 1954 period, while other film work in this income grouping increased from 62 days to 79 days. Despite the decline in hours worked, the percentage of tv hours rose from 27% during the first half of 1953 to 33% in the first six months of 1954 in this SAG income bracket. Among members earning from $15,000 to $25,000 annually, tv film provides only 24% of working days in Hollywood, with an even more rapid decline among actors earning over $25,000 annually. This data does not indicate a general rise in tv film acting income, Screen Actors Guild cautions. While the survey did not touch on dollar earnings, from personal conversations with members, Guild executives find the average actor earns less in tv motion pictures than while working on theatrical features. SAG attributes this to several reasons. While Guild minimums are identical in both tv and theatrical film, actors who can demand above-scale compensation in theatrical pictures will accept the Guild minimum, or, at any rate, a lesser sum than their feature film demands, in tv entertainment films, union spokesmen state. Also, "radio thinking" has invaded the tv field and is responsible, in large part, for lower income levels among video actors, SAG feels. In radio, the Guild points out, minimum pay scales set by the American Federation of Tv & Radio Artists tend to become maximums. SAG hopes to establish "sliding scales" in future negotiations with tv film producers to counter this tendency. These proposed scales would set at least three categories of minimums for tv entertainment films with compensation for actors based on the number of lines spoken and the importance of the part. While the Guild notes that actors in tv entertainment film earn comparatively less money than in theatrical motion pictures, they add that in the lucrative field of filmed tv commercials, most income is concentrated among singers and announcers, also SAG members. At present, residual payments do not take up the slack between tv film earnings and higher compensation from theatrical feature employment, SAG states, although admitting the additional payment program has been in effect only 10 months. However, in forthcoming tv film negotiations with producers, the guild intends to press for rerun payments starting with the second re-run of the tv entertainment films, instead of with the third showing as the current contract provides, to augment income of the tv film actor. What figure will be asked for secondrun residuals has not been disclosed by Screen Actors Guild executives. film makei ONE movie fan who made his hobby pay off is Chester Howard Glassley. Starting in 1936 with an 8mm movie camera and projector with which to record vacation trips, he progressed to winning first prize from Amateur Camera League, New York, in 1 9 4 0. This marked the first time an 8mm movie ever received the prize. Much happened, however, before Chet Glassley joined Five Star Productions Inc., Hollywood, of which he has been president since May 1954. Born in South Whitley, Ind., April 7, 1906, he moved to Dallas at the age of 4 and lived there until 1942. After graduating from the U. of Texas in 1928 with a business administration major, he worked for a bank, Ford Motor and an electrical utility company as part of a geo-physical crew exploring for oil in East Texas. He joined Stanley W. Foran, Dallas advertising agency, in 1936 as head of production and space buyer. MR. GLASSLEY Four years later he produced his prizewinning "The Will and the Way." After a review described it as having "the Capra touch," Frank Capra, then at Warner Bros., wrote Mr. Glassley asking to see the film. Shortly thereafter, on a vacation, he showed his film to the producer who arranged to have it screened before the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences. In the audience was Arch Obler, who contacted Mr. Glassley for the film rights, intending to combine it with one of his radio scripts for a feature film. But, Pearl Harbor intervened. Early in 1942 Mr. Glassley joined the Navy. When the carrier, U.S.S. Shangri-La, put him ashore in California in February 1946, Lt. Glassley gave himself a year to make good. After making the rounds he met Harry Wayne McMahan, then Five Star president and now vice president of McCann-Erickson. Mr. Glassley joined Five Star as a script writer and production assistant in February 1947. Five Star numbers among its major accounts W. A. Sheaffer Pen Co., Maybelline Co., Pet Milk, Grand Prize beer, Del Monte foods, Tea Council, Standard Oil and Raleigh cigarettes. The firm has received many awards; latest: Sylvania Award for creative effort for commercials (Sheaffer Pen). Page 48 • December 13, 1954 Broadcasting • Telecasting