Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1963)

cost is too much for most TV outlets to lease footage. We make prices as low as we can for stations, but they still can't afford it." Though the trend is toward production by the newsreel companies themselves, officials noted that most organizations still will rent footage to outside producers. Exceptions are the Fox Movietone and Time Inc.'s March of Time libraries. The attitude of other organizations was summed up by one executive this way: "Important as stock footage may be to a producer who's looking for a particular sequence, what is more important is his skill at picking the right footage and assembling it. We don't worry about the competition; we know our job. We hope the competition knows his." Sherman Grinberg, a former film librarian, has moved up rapidly in the factual film production field. His company has 75 million feet of film. 20th Century's Plans ■ The organization which is plunging most vigorously in the factual TV film field is 20th Century-Fox Television and its subsidiary company, Fox Movietone. In association with producers Malvin Wald and Jesse Sandler, Fox is preparing in Hollywood two half-hour series, Comeback, centering around well-known personalities who make comebacks, and Day to Remember, depicting famous events in history. In New York, two other series are blueprinted — one concentrating in the field of humor and the other a background-to-the-news project. The company also plans to produce from its footage various special programs. Fox recently completed Anatomy of Crime, a one-hour show based on the revelations of convict Joe Valachi, and is in the process of producing a program on World War I. Fox Movietone has approximately 75 million feet of footage in New York and another 21 million feet in London. It no longer provides newsreels for theaters in the U. S. It has branches in Munich, London, Sydney, Johannesburg and Paris and supplies current newsreels to theaters outside the U. S. The company still produces short subjects for U. S. theaters. In October, Fox dropped its association with United Press International, under which Movietone produced newsfilms for TV stations for distribution by UPI. UPI has established its own newsfilm operation which services TV stations. Hearst's Distinction « Hearst Metrotone News has the distinction of being the only major organization in the U. S. that is still producing newsreels for theaters. It produces four newsreels each week: two for itself and two for Universal Newsreel, which handles its own distribution. Other newsreel producers have fallen by the wayside, attributable largely to the rise of newsfilm on TV. Hearst Metrotone has approximately 30 million feet of film dating back to 1919. It rents footage to networks, producers, stations and agencies. Hearst Metrotone recently completed 26 hour programs from its film library, titled Perspective on Greatness, biographies on leading world figures. A spokesman last week said another project is in the blueprint stage, but no other information could be released at this time. The Universal Newsreel also distributes two newsreels each week to theaters from production provided by Hearst Metrotone. Universal's library runs to about 15 million feet dating from 1929. It rents footage to outside television organizations, but a spokesman reported it has no plans to engage in TV production. Companies that control or have access to films of special interest also are flourishing in this era of the documentaries. Three such organizations are John E. Allen Inc., Filmvideo Releasing Corp. and Stratford International Films Searchers Inc. Rare Footage ■ John E. Allen Inc., Park Ridge, N. J., has a library of about seven million feet, whose strong point is "obscure things," such as street scenes of a given period, automobile styles, people doing things on farms and in factories, or living conditions of a particular period. It covers the period from about 1900 to 1930. The Allen organization is strictly a "family operation," headed by Mr. Allen, a giant-sized man of considerable energy. He is exclusively in the leasing business, and his clients are the networks, outside producers and, to a limited extent, advertising agencies ("they like some old-time slapstick or a love scene to move into a commercial," Mr. Allen commented). Mr. Allen has been collecting film Joe Valachi was the central figure in 'Anatomy of Crime,' an entry of Twentieth Century-Fox Television in the factual film field. for almost 40 years and has the reputation of "buying all the junk that comes along." He intends to remain in the period in which he specializes and he is constantly acquiring footage from individuals "who have it lying around." Mr. Allen supplied footage to CBSTV in connection with its recent coverage of the assassination of President Kennedy. The network ordered and received sequences on Presidents who had been assassinated or who had been wounded, and on President Harding's trip to Alaska. The Filmvideo Releasing Corp., headed by Maurice Zouary, holds rights to about 12 million feet of film. Mr. Zouary reported it consists largely of early newsfilm and early travelogues but has been supplemented with pur John E. Allen's 'family business' is supplying film memorabilia to television. His garage is crammed with photographs, scripts and film. 28 (LEAD STORY) BROADCASTING, December 9, 1963