Film and TV Technician (1957)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

46 FILM & TV TECHNICIAN March 1957 A.G.M. (Continued) now and would submit the new draft to the Executive, to a meeting of the Television Section, and then to the Programme Contractors for negotiation." Monopoly Trends As a matter of emergency the A.G.M. had before it a resolution in the name of the General Council expressing concern at continuing monopoly trends in the film industry, particularly the expansion of the major cinema circuits, the absorption into the largest monopoly group of Olympic Laboratories, and the newly-formed British Commonwealth International News Film Agency, and instructing the General Council to take such action as it deemed necessary. Labs Worried Alf Cooper, moving on behalf of the General Council, said that in the laboratories they were very worried at the concentration of the industry into the control of too few people fighting one another to the detriment of the employees. Terry O'Brien, seconding, said the immediate reaction of newsreel members to the newly-formed British Commonwealth News Film Agency was one of fear. The danger they saw lay in the tie-up with the B.B.C. and the Rank Organisation. They presumed the Rank outlet for news would be on closed circuit television. If other circuits were not so well equipped for this it meant all newsreels would be in the hands of Rank. The only other outlet they had for broadcasting TV news was I.T.N who, significantly enough, had not been invited to join this organisation. The contraction of outlet would obviously mean some contraction of work. The resolution was passed. Another emergency resolution, moved for the General Council by Ralph Bond and seconded by R. J. Minney, stressed the need for substantial alterations in the Quota provisions of the Cinematograph Films Act and protested against the decision of the Government to extend this section of the Act for a further ten years without alteration. It noted that, following pressure from the Unions and other trade bodies the President of the Board of Trade had now undertaken that later in the year he THE CROWN THEATRE Lessees FILM PRODUCTION SERVICES (Surrey) LTD. Provides Complete Studio Projection Service at Any Time to Suit Your Requirements DOUBLE HEAD PROJECTION MIXING PANELS FOR TRACKS also SUB-STANDARD PROJECTION SEATING FOR 70 PERSONS SOUND SYSTEM EDITING ROOMS FOR HIRE 86 WARDOUR ST., LONDON, W.l Tel: GERrard 5223 Editing Rooms GERrard 9309 would consult the Cinematograph Films Council and all sections of the industry about detailed amendments to the quota legislation. The resolution, which was carried, stressed the need of sufficient Parliamentary time being allowed for amending legislation before the present Cinematograph Films Act expired. The Government was called upon, in a resolution moved by Sam Napier-Bell, to revive the former policy of generous and imaginative sponsorship of documentary films. Artistic Standards Walter Lassally, seconded by Lindsay Anderson, succeeded in narrowly defeating the General Council on a resolution which he moved calling upon the incoming General Council to accept responsibility for promoting the highest professional and artistic standards in films, particularly when considering the encouragement of new talent into the industry, applications for temporary membership, applications for varying the established terms and conditions of employment for special projects, and exchanges with technicians of other countries. Demands for the establishment by the Government of a National Film Circuit in order to stimulate British production and for the setting up of a National Film Unit under a National Film Board were made in two resolutions put forward by the National Coal Board Technical Film Unit. Both these resolutions were passed. A resolution in the name of the Producer/ Directors' Section was passed calling on the General Council to investigate the possibilities of setting up international co-productions along the lines of those made by various combinations of European countries where the films produced were eligible for double quota. The incoming General Council was strongly urged, in a resolution moved by Bill Whittemore, to examine all means of bringing pressure to bear on Kodak with the object of achieving recognition of A.C.T.T. COVER STILL Cover still by Ian Jeayes is of Dirk Bogarde and Brigitte Bardot in Doctor at Large.