Business screen magazine (1946)

the camera eye VIEWPOINT AND COMMENTARY BY O. H. COELLN ; se the "Expectation Gap?" s Prime Minister, Pierre lUcaii. has called it an "expecta l gap" which divides our societies. X-cemher. interviewed hy the New k Times" James Reston. he said, sically, societies need security: i to be reassured; they need to fee! everything is going to be all right. 1 It they can't get that feeling from etics that deliberately give them ons and choices, the consequence be that the free process of gov nent as we know it is going to ik down." "hink about it. Readers of this imn include top management peo in American and overseas industry, |le groups and governments. Ask ( rself, in that spot, whether or not I should be an activist in the cause \ riropcrly-iondiicicd free enterprise ( arc you and your group letting vism be the sole prerogative of alors, ill-informed do-gooders and iteur ecologists. Ve're just not seeing important, Jed informational films coming r> the field in both the number and ) lity so urgently needed. If truth I justice are truly on your side. I|jk up! ^ \iiif;lf national (and intermitionai) i rihutor of such sponsored motion ■ -s (Modern) made about a milid a half bookings last year, many of those subjects spoke up industry's viewpoints on pollulaw-and-order, citizenship, etc? >iothing excludes a responsible laorganization from "speaking up" what it believes its respective intry could be doing. 1. W. Abel, sident of the United Steelworkers .America, has the theme of such ilm in what he told delegates last Jitcmber at his Basic Steel Briefing (Inference: We have this great contract and ,it gains. This is our industry and h.ive a stake in it. We are faced T competition from Socialist and s isidized industries and we have got do everything possible to see that industry works efficiently." \bc, the steel companies have to ( K-nd on how much of that message to the rank and file through your egates. Why not make sure the n in the mills get the message early and completely? The steel )i industry's recently-created four-man joint union-industry committee could well afford to make this a priority project: 10-20 minutes of facts, figures and straight hard talk about steel productivity in America's economic future! Kodak Shows Cine Selection Rudos to Kodak. That Company's recent showings at its Manhattan Gallery Little Theater (1133 Avenue of the Americas) of selected, awardwinning Cine Golden Eagle Films, launched on January 1 1 th should inspire Bell & Howell to "go thou and do likewise" in Chicago; and any other sponsor (how about it Consolidated Labs?) to showcase the program at a suitable site in Los Angeles, etcetera. We believe you have to "show 'em to sell 'em" and these top-rated informational films merit places where potential sponsors and users can see the product! "Hard Sell' TV in '72 Looking at the "tube" down here in the Ozarks is the same as anywhere else. Today's TV commercials are hard-sell and no kidding around, except for Alka-Seltzer and two noteworthy "ecology-minded" sponsors: Shell and Texaco. Gonna be hard to pick those "cute" commercials for this year's prizes. As Variety's Carroll Carroll recently columned "as far as the viewer is concerned, commercials are better when business is good and worse when business is bad . . . when the economy is going well, they can be fey and cute." But like the man said, "which would you prefer, seeing an occasional stinking commercial or putting out x dollars a year in pay television for the privilege of looking at the same rot you're looking at for nothing now?" Your New Market: China? New market opening up? During the mid-1 960's, three British films, including a documentary, were bought by the People's Republic of China. Recently, China took on two more British films: the first Western films to be given any kind of theatrical dis ifch 'April, 1972 tribution there in more than two decades. Carrying any prints to Peking, Mr. Nixon? Tax-Break for Producers? You are a producer of "ready-made" motion pictures to inspire salesmen, (improve employee relations, lower accident death rates through safety education films, etc. Or you produce educational motion pictures for sale and rental to schools, industry, churches, etc. Better look into new Federal legislation on the investment tax credit which specifically applies to the "movies" and not just to studio purchases of cameras, sets, etc. on which it also applies. This recent move by the Nixon Administration is intended to help eniertainment film makers but who sits in judgment as to what's in a film production as to "entertainment" qualities or real usefulness? We believe the present Administration would also wish to encourage all relevant made-for-profit motion pictures. Worth looking into at IRS regional offices and in Washington, by film makers and their respective associations (NYFP, IFPA, etc.). Also, Barron's reported on January 24, "the Internal Revenue Service has changed its depreciation rules for motion pictures, providing for faster write-off of production costs." Don't know how that ruling might affect the maker of syndicated films but if you're in that category: check this this ruling, too. Guggenheim on McGovern Team Charles Guggenheim, famed for his Kennedy era documentaries and for some of the best in industrial films, has a rugged assignment this year. He's working to build the White House aspirations of Senator George McGovern. The Senator, according to syndicated columnist James Kilpatrick, has "created the most proficient campaign organization in the business" and "has attracted top professionals from the old Kennedy and McCarthy teams." Charles has a tough job ahead, with six months to Miami and his man running ice-cold as the New Hampmakers but who sits in judgement as shire primary looms. continued on page 43 15