Cinema News and Property Gazette (1912)

26 THE CINEMA. April, 1912. A WELL ENGINEERED CAMPAIGN. MR. DICKSON, OF THE NEW CENTURY FILM SERVICE, TELLS HOW HE IS BOOMING A BIG FILM. EVERYONE in the Cinema world has either seen or heard of Selig's great historical film, " Christopher Columbus," the English rights of which have been acquired by the New Cen'ury Film Service Ltd. As the release date is now close at hand (April 8th), interest in the film grows apace, and in order to learn further details of the special publicity campaign upon which this enterprising firm has embarked to make known the exceptional character of the great "exclusive" they have secured, a'representative of The Cinema had a chat with Mr. H. Dickson, general manager of the New Century Film Service, Ltd., a few dajs ago at the London office of the Company in Rupert Street, on the occasion of one of his frequent flying visits t > the metropolis. A Novel Competition. "Special arrangements to boom ' Christopher Columbus ' ? We have been thinking of li' tie else this last lew weeks, and I think I can say we have organised as complete campaign to ensure the success of the film as could be desired. And the person who stands to benefit as much as anyone by these arrangements is the showman. "How? Well, in the first place we have completed negotiations with ' Tit Bits ' whereby that journal is offering /io a week in a compstition for the best postcard received each week giving an answer to the following question : — Which do you consider the best scene in 'Christopher Columbus,' and why ? " In order tha> the showman may derive the greatest benefit from this competition, it is arranged that everyone who enters for the prize must see the film. Answers have to be sent in upon official postcards, which we supply to each exhibitor who books the film. In addition to the /io prize every week, ' Tit Bits ' is offering /130 in prizes for the five best postcards received during the whole time the film is running. We anticipate that no less than one million entries will be made for the competition, and those people who enter should alone more than pay the cost of the film to each showman who books it. Going Strong. "How is the booking going? Strong — couldn't be better, in fact. In some places the competition to secure the film has been extraordinarily keen, and we have had as many as six wires in a morning from one town asking for the rights. It may interest you to know that we are publishing a ' M-inual of Instruction ' in connection with the film. We quite realise that to get the fullest benefit out of it an exhibitor would have to see "Christopher Columbus " several times in order to arrange the various effects he can use in conjunction with it. But as it is only possible for him to see it once — sometimes not at all — we are supplying in this ' Manual ' full directions as to choral and stage effects and music, and hints how best to approach the local Press, the education anthorities, the clergy, school masters, and others, with a view to interesting them in the film. This ought to be one of the best ways of booming so big an attraction, and no doubt showmen will be quick to act upon the suggestions thrown out in this little book." Mr. Dickson's Enthusiasm. Young in years and full of abounding energy and enthusiasm, MR. H. DICKSON Mr. Dickson carries one with him as he talks of the impression this wonderful film is -going to make upon the public. It is a distinct move upwards; it marks an epoch in the annals of the picture theatre ; and the thousands who see " Christopher Columbus " in this country, and marvel at its wonderful realism, its spectacular grandeur, an i its exceptional accuracy as regards historical detail will have to thank Mr. Dickson, and the company whos-; interests he serves so well, lor an intellectual treat which they will have reason to long remember. How the Exhibitor is Studied. " One thing the New Century Film Service recognised early in the campaign upon which they had embarked. Exhibitors only had to :ee the film and they would want to book it. The difficulty was to get them to see it We soon overcome that," said Mr. Dickson, with a laugh. " If the mountain cannot come to Mahomet, Mahomet must come to the mountain. So we decided to take the film on tour, visiting the chief centres, most getatable by the showman. During March we have visited nine of the leading cities in Great Britain, taking with us a company of founeen people, in order that the exhibitors whom we invited to see it might observe how best to show it in their own theatre. We visited London, Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds. Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and we took with us an orchestra, a choir, and a ecturer. The singers, by the way, were selected and trained by Dr. Terry, the choirmaster at Westminster Cathedral. ' ' The object of the tour was educational, if I might term it so, in order to demonstrate to the showman what a film service, which has its customers' interests at heart, can do by way of issuing a film in such a manner that the exhibitor who shows it may reap the maximum profit from his enterprise. The Question of " Exclusives." "Do I think the 'exclusive' will become an insiitu'ion in the business ? I certainly do. It is that already. But I consider that only films of superlative merit should be issued on the ' exclusive ' principle. No showman should, under any circumstances, book an ' exclusive ' film without first seeing it. It is part of our policy to give our customers every facility in this direction. We have a supply of ' exclusives' arranged for, which will enable us to make regular releases for many months to come, and some of the subjects we have secured will be, if possible, more popular and more profitable even than ' Christopher Columbus.' " Have I been long in the business ? Well, practically the whole of my business career worth talking about — but that does not extend over such a very long period, for I'm not exactly burdened with years, am I," said Mr. Dickson with a smile. "I learned the technical side of the business in Paris with one of the leading film houses. But technique did not appeal to me, and so I got on the business end, and three years ago joined Mr. S. H. Carter, of Bradford, one of the few large exhibitors in this country at that time, and established for him the New Century Film Sevice. " Yes, we have certainly gone ahead and acquired a big reputation, especially in the north of England, but I hope we shall go a long way further in the immediate future."