Exhibitors Herald (Jun-Dec 1917)

Published Weekly by EXHIBITORS HERALD CO. at 203 South Dearborn Street. Chicago Tel., Harrison 7355 MARTIN J. QUIGLEY . Editor NEW YORK OFFICE [■] 1480 Broadway Tel.. Bryant 5 1 1 1 James Beecroft, Manager Subscription Price $1.00 Yearly Member Audit Bureau of Circulations AU editorial copy and correspondence, and advertising copy should be addressed to the Chicago Office. Forms close at 6 p. m. on Monday of each week ENTERED AS SECOND CLASS MATTER AT THE POST OFFICE AT CHICAGO. ILL.. UNDER THE ACT OF MARCH 3. 1879 Volume V NOVEMBER 24, 1917 Number 22 Exhibitors Herald Service in State Rights Distribution ONE of the most noteworthy developments of the past year is the extension and expansion of the state rights methods of distribution. By this method of marketing pictures of exceptional worth can be distributed at a minimum of cost through the avoidance of sharing in the expense of handling productions of lesser merit. There has come into the field a number of strong combinations who are obtaining pictures for sale on the state rights basis. There are also in the field a number of combinations engaged in similar work which are neither strong nor trustworthy. The former class should be met with encouragement and recognition and the latter class should be accorded identical treatment with that extended to the scheming and dishonest in any business: they should be quickly labeled and kicked out. The necessary complement to the strong state rights organization engaged in the original purchase of productions is the strong aggressive local organization, given over to a policy of intensive distribution in a selected territory. Unfortunately, strong local organizations of the right sort have been slow in forming, but several already have come into one field in various localities and there are reports of several new limited territory distributors that are planning to launch activities. For the benefit of local distributors the EXHIBITORS HERALD is accumulating considerable data on state rights distributors which will be supplied upon request to interested parties. It is aimed to catalogue the various state rights agents as to their records and connections together with detailed information on the various pictures which they are offering for state rights sale. In cases where the information is available the stated value placed upon the United States and Canada rights will be indicated and from this the price asked for the various territorial sub-divisions may be arrived at on the percentage basis. The EXHIBITORS HERALD believes that a great portion of the film business of the future is to be done on pictures issued independently. This means a big advantage for the exhibitor, because it will place within his reach better-than-average productions without the necessity of submitting to advance deposits and other objectionable restrictions. The EXHIBITORS HERALD plans to lend every assistance in this work both to the local distributing organization seeking pictures of real merit and to the state righter who has a valuable product and who is aiming to dispose of it at a figure which will allow the distributor a legitimate margin of profit. An essential feature of this promotional work in the sale and purchase of state rights pictures is the EXHIBITORS HERALD review department which has established a reputation of expressing an intelligent and an honest opinion of current film publications. As has been our practice for some time particular attention will be given to state 13