Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1938)

4 %tdevendent EXHIBITORS FILM BULLETIN INDEPENDENT EXHIBITOR LEADERS NAME MOST OBJECTIONABLE TRADE PRACTICES /;/ an effort to obtain a consensus of opinion from independent exhibitor organization leaders on disputable trade practices, FILM BULLETIN addressed this question td a number of these men in various sections of the country: "Which Three Trade Practices Do You Regard As the Most Objectionable, and, briefly, why?" Following are the replies: EDWARD F. MAERTZ President, Independent Theatres Protective Association of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan "I believe that block booking and blind buying are perhaps the most objectionable practices in the industry today. That they promote monopoly and restrict the supply of product is evident to any exhibitor. Because of the strength inherent in these practices, many other objectionable trade practices have been promulgated. While outward acts oi coercion by distributors upon exhibitors are many, the backbone of all o: the distributor "compelling" forces rests in the compulsory block booking and blind selling policy. Deprive them of its effectiveness and then exhibitors will at least be in a much better position to resist unjust and unreasonable encroachments upon their rights. "I have chosen to discuss block booking and blind buying as one practice because elimination1 of one and not the other will be no cure. "Another objectionable practice is selling of pictures on a percentage basis and demanding preferred playing time. By these a distributor is made a partner in the theatre against the exhibitor's wishes. He is deprived of his right to operate his theatre on a policy most consistent with what his business and showmanship experience advises. Though the distributor dictates the policy, he does not share the losses in case of exercise of poor judgment. This is manifestly unfair and unwanted. "The switching of allocations also deprives an exhibitor of the right to operate his theatre in a sound economic way. By virtue of this practice, distributors enrich themselves clearly to the detriment of the exhibitor. The exhibitor holds the bag of substitute pictures; the distributor the bag of gold paid for better pictures. "Your inquiry confined this discussion to 3 objectionable trade practices and therefore I have refrained from discussing some other very important evils in the industry as for instance, affiliated theatre competition." * * * N. M. CAMPBELL Secretary, Associated Theatre Owners of Indiana "In reply to your inquiry of May 3rd, may we advise that our Board of Directors in session today has chosen the following trade practices as being most objectionable to independent theatre owners: "BLIND SELLING: Speaks for itself — nobody willingly goes blind at anytime or anything. "PREFERRED PLAYING TIME: Nobody knows as well as the exhibitor when and how he can get the most money for everybody concerned. "PERCENTAGES are getting extremely obnoxious because the Distributors do not apply percentages with any regularity or equity to the exhibitors and are constantly seeking higher rates than are justified from any angle of good business for the industry. "These practices are so well recognized by the exhibitors over the nation that it would seem useless to add more at this time." * * * RAY BRANCH President, Allied Theatres of Michigan "Personally I think selling features by numbers is getting to be a great evil, and too much depends upon the confidence shared by both parties to such contracts. While it is true that one or two Companies have kept faith with exhibitors under this plan of selling, yet this is overshadowed by some that have grossly abused the faith, and I fell that it is a practice that should be abolished, it allows to much flexibility in switching of allocations, and too often inferior pictures are moved up from lack of better ones released during a season. I doubt very much if withdrawing pictures for roadshowing, has to any appreciable extent damaged exhibitors at least not of late years. "The subject of blind selling might easily come under the above paragraph, for selling by numbers means the same thing, and has worked a distinct hardship on many exhibitors. Block booking as I see it now, is pretty well covered in the present Neely-Pettengill bill. "Preferred playing time is a subject that could very easily be worked out through a fair understanding between both parties, as it only applies in the case of percentage pictures, and I am quite positive that I have a solution to this probelm, whereby percentage contracts need not be so terrible and instead might prove desirable once an equitable arrangement is made on the entire product. "What we need badly is more give and take on both sides, and the courage to make an attempt to sit down and work out some of these problems together without the necessity of calling in all the legal talent in the land and digging up screwy ambiguous clauses that we know cannot be fulfilled by either party to the contract, and some that we have no intention of living up to, which do nothing more than arouse resentment and hatred for the other party instead of a desire to play the pictures on the days that will get the most money for both of us and share in the results that we each are entitled to receive. "I hope the day will come soon, when we can again sit across the table and arbitrate our difficulties as we did before someone said it was illegal to settle disputes outside of law," * * * LEO F. WOLCOTT President, Allied-Independent Theatre Owners of loua and Nebraska "Replying to your letter of May 3rd, you are advised that we consider the following three film trade practices as most objectionable: 1. Block Booking 2. Percentages 3. Preferred Playing Time "The objectionable features of Block Booking have been outlined too many times to need further comment here except to say that we believe this could be rectified by either the enactment of the Neely Bill or a sufficient cancellation privilege, say 33 1/3%. "Percentage pictures on preferred playing time are extremely objectionable to the majority of small town theatres who find that they are unable to gross enough money to pay the percentages demanded and their house overhead. If these practices are persisted in, it can only mean the closing of many small town theatres. "In addition to and support of the above three trade practices we find a very vicious custom of enforcing such sales through the promotion of the threat of competition unless the exhibitor buys at the terms laid down by the distributors' representative. "If these abuses could be eliminated, the motion picture industry would certainly be a much more pleasant one to be associated with." (Continued on page 21)