Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World (Apr-Jun 1930)

EXHIBITORS HERALD-WORLD II 4ay 24, 1930 New Market Conditions Playing Big Part in Distribution Plans " Assault Launched in Canada9 s Parliament On Sale of Famous (Special to the Herald-World) OTTAWA, May 20. — A sensation was reated in the house of commons when the iffairs of Famous Players Canadian Corporaion and the proposal by Paramount Publix to ;ain control of the Canadian chain of 200 heatres through exchange of shares were liscussed late yesterday. The excitement bejan when Peter Heenan, minister of labor, innounced that Famous was being investigated under the Combines act, and also that he question of the sale of the Canadian com>any was being examined by the department >f labor to ascertain if the situation created >y the sale violated the Canadian statutes. The subject was considered of such imjortance that Prime Minister King, R. B. 3ennett, leader of the opposition, and other mominent members of the Canadian parlianent, spoke regarding the developments. 3remier King read into the records a docunent prepared by the under-secretary of state, mtlining the structure of Famous and giving he list of directors. In doing so, the prime ninister declared, “If any of the provisions )f the Companies act have not been complied with, any relief consequent upon such a dotation will be afforded by the courts.” Bennett urged that the Companies act be imended to provide especially for motion picure corporations. “The third question,” Bennett said, “is to letermine what policy this country should oursue in view of the fact that it is alleged hat the producers, exhibitors and distributors ire the same people, all resident in a foreign :®untry. Some action should be taken to safeguard what is an interprovincial and a national business.” (Special to the Herald-World) MONTREAL, May 20. — With the time imit set for May 25, for the depositing of shares to be exchanged for Paramount-Pubix common in the ratio of five to four, only 17,000 shares of Famous Players Canadian Corporation had been placed in the hands of he Montreal Trust Company for acceptance iy ordinary shareholders, it was stated yesterday. There are 328,395 common shares outstanding. Burns Detective Agency Will Check Percentages On Universal9 s Pictures (Special to the Herald-World) NEW YORK, May 20. — Checking of per:entage engagements on Universal pictures will be handled in the future by the William I. Bums Detective Agency, Carl Laemmle announced today. Laemmle declared that the move was for the protection of the exhibitor as well as Universal. Universal’s president pointed out that “no exhibitor need fear his business secrets will be divulged” by the Burns men, and added that the detective work safeguards the [theatre man from the depredation of unprincipled employes. Prince or Princess Vidor? HOLLYWOOD. — For the next few weeks, King Vidor will do his scenes at the studio instead of out on location, as there is a question as to whether it will it will be a boy or $ girl. The Vidors have one child, Antonio, aged two. 9,000 Wired Houses Require An Extensive Effort in Field Independent Sales Are as Important as Big Circuit Bookings, Declares Film Executive (Special to the Herald-World.) NEW YORK, May 20. — With nearly nine thousand theatres in the United States and Canada wired for sound and in the market for sound pictures during the coming season, distributing companies are facing a decidedly different situation from that which has existed during the past two years. During the past two seasons leading distributors obtained a very high percentage of their total income from rentals from a comparatively limited number of theatres. This season, however, presents a different problem. Sales Organizations Expanded In order to meet this problem sales organizations, for the first time in many years, are being expanded. The branch offices personnels are being increased and smaller blocks of territory are being allotted to salesmen, thus creating the necessity for additions to the sales forces. The practical situation facing the distributor is that for the coming season he has a bigger market to cover than he has had during the past two years. While a substantial part of the income from the theatre market will be yielded by the producer-oiuned chains, there still remains a vast field of individual accounts to be looked after which must be sold if anything like thorough distribution on a program is to be obtained. It is now being estimated that there are in the neighborhood of 7,500 individual accounts to be sold during the coming season outside of the business to be negotiated through the big circuit offices in New York. One leading sales executive discusses the situation as follows: “The idea that a big part of the necessary gros3 on a program can be obtained by selling a few New York executives is pure bunk. The circuiting of theatres as a topic for conversation has been so much in the limelight during the past few years that the impression exists in certain quarters that after the big circuits are sold there is nothing much left for a distributor. “This is absolutely untrue and the distributors who take this position show little knowledge of motion picture market conditions. Producer Theatres Comparatively Few “One leading sales executive recently made the remark that now that his company’s sales convention was over he would set about selling the company’s product for the year by seeing a few New York theatre executives. This man is allowing trade conversation to obscure the facts of the situation. “As a matter of fact the total number of producer-owned and controlled theatres is small alongside of the whole motion picture market. While the number is small, yet they are tremendously important both because of the volume of rentals they pay and also because of the key locations of their theatres with the important publicity which showings in their theatres give to a program. “But there is not a distributor in the business who would not be ready for a call from the sheriff’s office within a single year if he did not make substantial progress in the selling of accounts which are entirely independent of all producer-distributor affiliations. “An adequate field selling force is more essential today than at any time during recent years in the industry. Our sales prospectus calls for the selling of at least 7,500 accounts during the coming season which are entirely independent and must be reached by our field force. Of course, we are not going to sell this whole number but we are going to come a whole lot nearer selling that number than companies which are laboring under the misunderstanding that the real possibilities of the theatre market are exhausted after the big circuits are sold.”