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6 HARVARD BUSINESS REPORTS
reasoning has been resorted to. It is probable that in this, as in some other problems, the assertions made by some producers are largely defensive in character rather than substantiated by close reasoning and data.
The distribution of pictures is ordinarily in the hands of the sales division of the company. Early in the history of the industry a large number of producers relied upon independent distributors to sell their pictures for them. Usually a producer would grant to some selling company the exclusive right, upon mutually satisfactory terms, to sell one or more of his pictures in certain definitely limited territories. In more recent times, these " state right" distributors, as they came to be known, have become of distinctly minor importance, a fact due largely to the integration between producers and distributors. This integration movement has been largely the result of economic forces, although other influences have undoubtedly played their part. Consolidations between producers and distributors came as a consequence of the generally unsatisfactory results which ensued from reliance upon state right organizations for the distribution of individual distinctive feature pictures and because of the necessity of obtaining a wider distribution throughout the country than such organizations could give.
The actual task of selling pictures to theaters has, with the growth of large chain theaters, come to be broken down into two somewhat distinct phases. Sales to the large-scale theater operators are likely to be made through the general manager in charge of distribution himself, or at least through the home office. Smaller chains, on the other hand, are approached by local exchange managers, while the individual theaters are canvassed by salesmen operating under the supervision of the manager of the local exchange. The selling season for all distributors opens upon a date agreed upon in conference with the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, Incorporated, and commonly falls in May or June. It is customary for an exhibitor to contract in advance for enough pictures to insure him a supply for the coming year, although the actual dates are seldom determined until later in the year. This policy is due to the common practice of granting
Obviously, however, this right has no practical value unless the exhibitor has access to a positive print of the licensed picture. Therefore, the distributor, having sold the license, subject to certain restrictions, "lends the necessary positive prints to the exhibitor to enable him to exercise such license."