Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan-Mar 1956)

PERSONNEL RELATIONS FILM of the guild's negotiating committee. The pact provides minimum payments to writers on all tv films, divided into low budget and high budget categories and graduated on the basis of whether the films run 15, 30, 60 or 75 minutes or longer. High budget minimums range from $160 for a quarter-hour film story to $750 for 75 minutes; $520 to $2,300 for teleplays, and $600 to $2,750 for stories and teleplays. Low budget minimum for quarter-hour story is $145. Figures differentiating between high and low budget films are $16,500 for quarter-hour, $27,500 for half-hour and $52,250 for hour films. The guild meanwhile is negotiating a similar freelance agreement with the television networks and last week commenced talks with the Alliance of Television Film Producers. The three-year ATFP contract expired last week. Composers, Producers Confer NEGOTIATIONS began in Hollywood Thursday between Composers & Lyricists Guild of America and Assn. of Motion Picture Producers looking toward the first industry contract covering the film product of the major movie studios, including television. Heretofore composers have negotiated personally, according to Guild president Leith Stevens, representing 400 members in Hollywood and New York. Talks with the major radio-tv networks, scheduled earlier in the week, were postponed because of intervention pleadings before the NLRB by the Songwriters Protective Assn. $21 MILLION FILM SALE NEARLY SET LARGEST sale of a motion picture library to television appeared imminent last week as Associated Artist Productions, New York, continued negotiations with Warner Bros, for the acquisition by AAP of the studio's pre1949 library of 850 feature films and assorted cartoons and short subjects for an estimated $21 million. Though neither Warner Bros, nor AAP would comment on the transaction, B»T learned that both parties are in general agreement on terms of a proposed contract, with details still to be ironed out. An announcement of the transaction may be made this week. Eliot Hyman, AAP president, has had frequent conferences in the past few months with Warner Bros, officials, though he had tried to obtain tv rights to the feature films as far back as 1953. Associated with Mr. Hyman in the Warner Bros, project is Lou Chesler, a wealthy Canadian who reportedly has extensive mining interests. Lehman Bros., New York investment banking firm, has participated in discussions with Warner Bros, executives, and reportedly will arrange the financing of part of the transaction. Ben Kalmenson, executive vice president of Warner Bros., has been the chief negotiator for the studios. If completed, the transaction would overshadow the acquisition by C & C Super Corp. of the RKO Radio Pictures backlog of 650 feature films plus cartoons and short subjects, for $15.2 million [B»T, Jan. 6, 1956]. No. 2 Market in Illinois and EXPANDING in manufacturing and retailing areas AT AN ANNUAL RATE OF $25 MILLION WR0K- (No. 1 for over 30 years) H-R Nat'l. Reps. John J. Dixon, Gen. Mgr. SERVES THIS GREAT MARKET FULL TIME V On-the-spot news coverage (we're newspaper owned) V Play-by-play coverage of local sports V COMPLETE Merchandising support Page 44 • February 27, 1956 SIGNING of Rosemary Clooney to star in 39 half-hour tv films— to be sponsored in 52 key markets around the country by Foremost Dairies Inc.— took place at Miss Clooney's Beverly Hills, Calif., home. With Miss Clooney are Mickey Rockford (I), vice president of MCA, and Richard St. John, vice president of the Guild, Bascom & Bonfigli agency, San Francisco, who negotiated the sale. ABC Film Syndication To Back Stoloff Series ABC Film Syndication Inc., and Hollywood producer-director Victor Stoloff last week signed an agreement whereby ABC will provide through Bankers Trust Co. of New York 50% of the financing for 23 half-hour films based cn the plain clothes division of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The new series will be titled The Force. Mr. Stoloff is arranging the remaining financing with S & S Films Ltd., Canadian firm which last year backed color filming of three initial programs in the series starring Lloyd Bridges. Mr. Stoloff is executive president of S & S Films. Other directors include J. K. Sims, attorney, president; W. D. Butler, member of Canadian Parliament, and Frowde Seagram, president of Dominion Life Insurance Co. of Canada. Mr. Stoloff has taken an office at General Services Studios, Hollywood, and is preparing scripts for the remaining 23 shows to be filmed in the next six months. WOR-TV Pays $198,000 To NTA for Selznick Films PURCHASE of 10 David Selznick productions by WOR-TV New York from National Telefilm Assoc., New York, for $198,000 was announced last week by Gordon Gray, general manager of the station, and Ely Landau, president of NTA. Mr. Gray said the price per picture paid by WOR-TV for the Selznick films "exceeds by at least 50% previous prices paid by local stations anywhere." The station has obtained exclusive tv rights to the pictures in New York for two and one half years. The films, which will be shown on WOR-TV's Million Dollar Movie program, are "Since You Went Away," with Jennifer Jones, Claudette Colbert, Joseph Cotten, Lionel Barrymore Broadcasting • Telecasting