Motion Picture Herald (May-Jun 1946)

Republic's Final Sales Parley Is Held in New York Republic's third and final regional sales convention was held Monday through Wednesday at the New York Athletic Club, with James R. Grainger, executive vicepresident and general sales manager, conducting meetings with district managers, branch managers and salesmen of the eastern. New England and central sales districts. Monday's session was devoted to screenings of the company's latest product, while Tuesday and Wednesday were given over to business meetings. Herbert J. Yates, president, told Tuesday's meeting the company's production plans, the three-point expansion program covering studio construction, development of personalities and quality of production. Earlier he announced the company would double its advertising budget during the coming year, saying experience had shown advertising was essential to the maintenance of a consistant increase in business. Mr. Yates also predicted the next 12 months would mark a period of greater prosperity for the industry than it has enjoyed since the beginning of the war. This will be due, he said, to the lack of new automobiles and other luxury items which affect box office receipts. Mr. Yates also pointed out that the company was now in a position to produce "big" pictures, with stories and stars to match those of any company in the business. The promotion of Frank P. Dervin to Republic New England district manager was announced last weekend by Mr. Grainger along with the appointment of Thomas Duane as Boston branch sales manager. Prior to the New York meeting, Mr. Yates and Mr. Grainger attended company meetings at the North Hollywood studios, May 20 through 22, and in Chicago last Friday through Sunday. Attending the New York meeting, in addition to Mr. Yales and Mr. Grainger, were : Maxwell Gillis, eastern district sales manager, and the following branch managers : William P. Murphy, New York ; Joseph Engel, Philadelphia ; Jake Flax, Washington. The salesmen attending were: Rubin Perlman, Dave Black, Anthony Ricci, Robert J. Fannon, Richard Yates, New York; Joseph Schaeffer, William C. Karrar, Norman Silverman, William U. Bethel, Philadelphia: Edward J. Martin, William M. Madden, Sanrael Tabor, Washington. Those attending from the New England territory were : Mr. Dervin, Arthur Newman. Leon Herman, Jerome Lewis, Mr. Duane, Richard Struwe, George Miller, Michael A. Jusko, Jules Livingston, John J. Martin, A. J. Fecke, John J. Jennings and Walter G. Dyer. The Central area was represented by Sam Seplowin, district sales manager ; William Feld, George H. Kirby, Irwin H. Pollard, Lew Lefton, Frank Dana, F. Klingensmith, Thomas C. Alley, Walter E. Boyle, Paul C. Krieger, Sam Haber, James A. Curren, Willard J. Emback, William Sturgess and Bert G. Tighe. Also present were: A. W. Perry, president and general sales manager of Empire Republic Films, Ltd., distributors of Republic product in AS REPUBLIC opened its three-day sales meeting in New York Monday: James R. Grainger, seated, executive vice-president and general sales manager, discusses plans with Leon Herman, Buffalo, and Arthur Newman, Albany. Canada ; M. J. Isman, assistant sales manager, and F. L. Vaughan, Toronto branch manager. Company executives present included : Allen Wilson, studio vice-president; William Saal, executive assistant to Mr. Yates ; Edward L. Walton, vice-president and assistant general sales manager ; Walter L. Titus, Jr., vice-president in charge of branch operations ; Herbert J. Yates, Jr., Richard W. Altschuler, Steve Edwards, Douglas T. Yates, John Petrauskas, Jr., Edward Seifert, Albert E. Schiller, John Curtin, Stephen Dorsey, Fred Franke, David O'Connell, William Nesbit and Henry Owens. MGM's19Points (Continued from opposite page) individual merit and be priced accordingly. There will be revisions upwards or down, depending upon the situation involved, and precedent is not the determining factor. Present-day conditions only should govern. Under no circumstances will we tolerate, much less sanction, the leasing of feature attractions as a condition of buying either one or all of these units. We repeat, each unit must be offered and negotiated for independent of the other and in no way made part of any negotiations for any other product. Weekly payment plans are not acceptable. XVI. Proposed New Theatres are not to be given assurance of any specific availability, and we will not negotiate for representation in such theatres until they become a reality, and then only for such run and product as is then available. XVII. Ever Effort Possible is to be made to avoid arbitration and by "effort" we mean, as you have previously been advised, that you are to try your level best to adjudicate differences before they reach the arbitration stage. District and sales managers' aid is to be requested by branch managers where needed and, if necessary, the matter should be brought to the attention of the general sales manager. XVIII. Runs Or Accounts are not to be changed, nor applications even signed, until after complete facts are first submitted to the general sales manager through the district and sales manager, and then such proposed changes are not to be acted upon until proper authority to do so has been received from the general sales manager. XIX. Complete Support is to be given to our Government in all its undertakings in behalf of the reestablishment of peace. Such participation, including furnishing gratis pictures must have home office approval. Paramount Sales Campaign Starts Paramount's "34th and Greatest Year Campaign" got under way in three key cities in the past week. Last Thursday the Minneapolis staff heard J. J. Donohue, central division manager, who after an analysis of product introduced Hugh Braly, district manager of the Denver area. Mr. Braly emphasized the importance of teamwork. Other speakers at the meeting were Allen Usher, Chicago district manager, and Ben Blotcky, Minneapolis branch manager. Last weekend in Des Moines a meeting was held by George A. Smith, western division manager, at which Harry Hamburg, Des Moines branch manager, appointed Ralph Hayden, office manager, and John Murano, head shipper, co-captains for the drive. At the same time in Detroit salesmen and bookers pledged support to the campaign after hearing talks by Earle M. Sweigert, mid-eastern division manager, and Claude Lee, who is the director of Paramount public relations. Morgan Says Short Subject Rentals Must Increase Although theatre grosses have soared to peaks beyond anything ever known in the industry, short subjects unit rentals generally have remained static for years, Oscar A. Morgan, short subjects and Paramount News sales manager, told the tenth and concluding regional meeting of the company's short subjects department in San Francisco last Friday. "This condition is accentuated by the fact that the costs of production and distribution have increased considerably. . . . Therefore, it becomes essential that we increase our rentals in proportion to the increase of our costs," Mr. Morgan concluded. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE I. 1946