Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1957)

Motion Picture Daily 3 Approve 11-Point Business-Building Program Stellings Says Company Heads, Sales Managers 'Enthusiastic' About Plan for financing In countering objections to his scheme for financing the business-building program at the meeting Wednesday night, Ernest Stellings, president of TOA, explained that his plan called for the addition to all film invoices of a sum equivalent to 4/10 of 1 per cent of the invoice, the minimum addition being 25 cents. He made it plain that he had talked to most of the company presidents and sales managers and that his plan had been received enthusiastically. Only one sales manager, he said, questioned the practicability of his idea for collecting the money from exhibitors and when he explained that his campaign would carry a minimum charge of 25 cents this objection, Stellings said, was withdrawn. Stellings also said he had talked to film company and circuit lawyers and that they foresaw no legal obstacles. Stellings agreed, that independent producers might present a problem, but the meeting appeared to be optimistic that when the collection system was properly explained the independent producers would interpose no objections. ^ill Make Use 3f All Media 7or Promotion ( Continued from page 1 ) risdiction of the COMPO triumvite which will have complete control the program's expenditures. 1 The program will have to be ratified I the COMPO executive committee. ! Presided over by Harry Mandel, lairman of the COMPO press relays committee, the business-building oup's meeting completed its delib lations and the hearing of reports in le and one-half hours. Projects approved are the follow g; 1. Academy Award Sweepstakes, ready in operation. : 2. Audience Awards, which will be ■Id next fall. 3. A community reel, a short subX which will be produced to show local merchants, service clubs, lurches, schools and other civic oups that the local movie theatre is e best source of entertainment and at it has the additional merit of rving the community by bringing ;ople out of their homes into contact ith other retail businesses and by •lping churches, schools, clubs and larities. 4. Product trailer. While it was :emed impracticable to have a trailshowing advance scenes from all the mpanies' coming pictures, it was vealed at the meeting that several mpanies plan to produce trailers |Owing parts of some of their coming ctures, and' that these trailers would ;complish the same results which it d been hoped would result from an <er-all trailer. 5. Industry radio program. An in rim part of this program is already operation. This means that all comnies producing radio transcriptions 3 including an institutional spot as jit of every platter. Copy for these ititutional spots comprises variations dustry Group Lauds 'ade Press Support The joint industry business-buildg committee yesterday presented J industry trade press with "grate! acknowledgement of the support /en to the various committees and ojects involved" in the businessjiilding program. {The committee said that "this supi rt can only be considered as ref cting the longing of the entire inIfstry for a comprehensive program rut will restore our business to the fisition it deserves in the American onomy and in American life." of a dialogue between a man and his wife to the general effect that people should get out of their homes more and go to the movies for entertainment. The radio program also calls for nation-wide use of disc jockeys in a campaign with a tentative cost estimate of $319,697.33. Before this campaign is inaugurated, however, it was decided to conduct test campaigns of eight weeks each in Denver and possibly three other cities to determine the most effective methods of using radio, including the kind of copy to use in the national campaign later. As now outlined, the national campaign calls for use of disc jockeys in 80 cities over a period of 13 weeks. Added up, the radio messages would total 16,800 and, it is estimated, would reach 80,039,600 homes. 6. Personality tours. This project has two phases. The first is an extension of the personal appearance tours now being made by film personalities and the use by the personalities, in their press and radio interviews, of material aimed at spreading the news that the business has turned the corner and is now markedly on the upgrade. The second phase calls for making available for visits to those exhibitors who will bear the expense production personalities such as writers, producers, directors, costume and scene designers. Such visits, it was pointed out, could be arranged by Clarke H. Wales of the Association of Motion Picture Producers in Hollywood. The report expressed hope that meetings may be held with the Hollywood Studio Publicity Directors Committee and the heads of the Producers, Screen Writers and Directors Guild with a view to obtaining their cooperation. 7. National Advertising Campaign for Theatres. The report stated that, "while the joint working committee agreed in principle that such an advertising campaign aimed at selling the motion picture theatre as the best source of entertainment was 'desirable', it was agreed that no action should be taken pending a market survey report and development of a copy approach acceptable to the committee." In the meantime company advertising in magazines and in press books is carrying lines expressing the thought that "only on the motion picture theatre screen can you see the brand new pictures." 8. Visits to editors and publishers. This project entails the presentation of the industry's story, in a businesslike, across^the-table manner, to editors and publishers, but only in those cities where the presentation is asked for by local exhibitors. It was explained that the plan would be tried out first in three or four cities, which have not yet been selected. 9. Reduction of advertising billings. Long denounced by film company advertising men as a serious obstacle to good advertising, the company advertising billings will be the subject of a presentation that is now being prepared. This presentation will be taken shortly to Hollywood in an effort to get the billing requirements reduced. 10. Market survey. This is now being conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation of Princeton, N. J., the sum of $75,000 having been appropriated for the job by the MPAA. 11. Implementation of the program. Emphasizing that formulation of the program will have been a waste of time unless machinery is set up for its execution as a continuing activity, the report adopted by the committee calls for establishment of a five-man operating committee, to work in New York under the overall direction of the COMPO top management; appointment of permanent committees in each of the exchange cities and establishment of a liaison body in Hollywood that will have the approval and cooperation of Hollywood production personnel and studio publicity directors. In all the discussions of the report it was repeatedly emphasized by spokesmen of all the groups involved that the projects in the report consti Is Called Start Of a Growing B.O. Campaign tuted "only the first chapter" of the campaign as envisaged by the joint committee, and that the campaign itself would grow with additional projects and would probably continue for several years. The program, it is stated in the approved report, has "but one objective —the increase of attendance at motion picture theatres." The report also states that "to be of any use, the program must be a continuing, longrange effort." The third principle of the program, as set forth in the report, is that the campaign shall be conducted through COMPO. Sees No Change in Contracts In explaining his plans for financing the enterprise, Stellings declared it involved no change either in distribution or film rental contracts and would apply only to exhibitors who had definitely pledged themselves to contribute to the business-building fund. A brief report on the progress of the Academy Award Sweepstakes was made by Alec Moss of the COMPO staff. Oscar A. Doob, former Loew's Theatres advertising and publicity veteran, who has been engaged by COMPO as consultant on the campaign, made a brief talk suggesting ways in which the campaign could be developed. Others attending the meeting were Joseph Alterman, Sid Blumenstock, Rodney Bush, Ernest Emerling, Philip Gerard, Harry Goldberg, Herman Levy, Charles E. McCarthy, Taylor Mills, D. John Phillips, Sam Rosen, Al Tamarin, Dan Terrell and Charles Cohen. Program Will Be Given To MPA Board in April Roger H. Lewis, chairman of the MPAA advertising and publicity directors committee, indicated Wednesday night that the business-building program as amended and approved would be presented first to the MPAA Business-Building Coordinating Committee headed by Spyros Skouras, and later to the MPAA board of directors. Lewis said he hoped that the MPAA directors could meet early in April to discuss the Stellings proposal to match the exhibitors' contributions dollar for dollar. In the meantime, the committee directed Robert W. Coyne to seek indorsement of the program by the Metropolitan Motion Picture Theatres Association and the Independent Theatre Owners Association of N. Y.