Business screen magazine (1947)

(icnriiil Mills jnixlmls phiy n sirllar rule in I hi < mn piiny's liilesl nnniiiil repoH pic Inn General Mills Takes Facts to the People fOl'RTH ANNUAL REPORT IS SHOWN AT NATIONWIDE .SERIES OF ST()C;KHOLI)ER MEETINGS FOR I HE FOIRIH I IMK in ikvcii Mais, slotkhoUltis dI (•ciuial Mills. liK. arc \ic\ving a filincd viisioii of ihcii tonipaiiy's annual rcpoii. This year's liliii. General .\tills Today, a filkiiiniinulc color motion ])iclurc produced by RKO I'ailic, Inc., was .shown at a scries of regional storkholdeis meetings throughoul ihc <oinitry this niomli. ■J'he main purpose ol ihc film is to interpret the figures of the fniaiKial report in an in Icresling way by means of |)icliires and i)lain. iindcrst.mdable language. For this purpose, li\e photography, animation, and stopinf)lion as well as narration were all used. Iln siory is told partly by oil-screen narration and p.iitly ill live sound by [ames V. Bell, louiidei ol the (onipany, Leslie N. I'errin. piesidenl. .iiid Harry .\. iSullis, (hairman ol the board. .\ltliough the report is the main leaiuie ol ■ he production, the liliii iiuliitles a piciiiir parade of Cieneral .Mills produds in the mill' ing and household appliance lields as well as exteriors and interiors of new plants, facioiies, <pialit\ control setups and research laboratories HncKs A Ltss<)\ In Cood Riiaiions .Actually, the him is iiioic than just a claiilicatioii of a hnancial report. It is also a prool ol the company's integrity and a lesson in .American economics. IJy allowing the stock holders and the public to view an iiiiderslanclablc report on its earnings and oi^'rations. (General Mills shows it has nothing to hide. Ill lad, coMipanv olhtials feel that it is one nl llu (liiel responsibilities of business corpora lions to help educate their stockholders and ilie public in business procedure. .A thorough understanding of the U.S. capitalistic s\stem. they believe, would definitely cut down strife and Iriciion in our economic siriiciiiie. C.enridl MilU Today is an importaiii cUnuni in ihe coiiipaiix's pic>gressi\e pio^i.iin ol eco noiiiic ediicaiioii. In liiii with this i chicalioiial piogiam. (>eii iral .Mills was one of the first to initiate a nationwide series of regional ineelings that leatiiied a filmed annual report for slcKkholders. .Mr. IJell, then chairman ol the board. used lanlern slides to help explain the company s liiiancial status to stocklioldei^i in the 1939 series of meetings. Next year a motion picture supplanted the lanlern slides. The liliii. The Year's ll'orA, used a combination ol animation and live acticjn photogiaphv to co\er the figures of the annual report. In HMI. the leature of the nieetings was a com|iletelv aniinaled iilm. Anolhet Year's Work. Plans lor the 1942 meetings were cancelled because of the war. But in HHti the meetings were again picked up, and once more iliey were built around an annual leport film, Operation '46. This film added color to live action photograjjliv and animation in an ellort to make more meaningful the figuies ol the financial ie|)ort. 1 his year's film, General Milts Today, covers ilie fiscal \ear, 19-17-1948. .Although shorter BoAKl) eUAIRMAX H ARRV A. Bii.i.is (rtf^htj l^els liis me from an RKOI'atlie director durinji jihiiinj^ of "General Mills Today." Company fealiired the new film in a series o\ letent national niaiiaiine color ads. Capacity audiences like this San Francisco stoc kholder group attended General .Milh meetimis. 28 BUSINESS SCREEN MAGAZINE