Motion Picture News (Apr-Jun 1917)

4052 OTION PICTUKE NEWS Vol. 15. No. f( Speaking Editorially: Exhibitors, Take Notice THE Vaudeville Theatres of tlie United States raise annually a fund of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. They raise this fund out of their own boxoffices, with no outside help. The assessment, we believe, is five dollars per week for each theatre member of the Association. Exhibitors please take serious notice I It would seem that the picture theatres of the country, more than ten times as many, ought to raise at least onetenth of this sum. Such an amount will pay the expenses of an active, permanent organization. It will provide headquarters and pay the salaries of executives able to look after the interests of the exhibitor members. And these executives, in our opinion, should be men, if necessary outside of the exhibiting business, fully able through training and experience to cope with the legal and business problems of any national organization. The time lias come for exhibitors to declare their financial independence. The time has also come, that is plain as daylight, for the certain and proper financing of an organization worthy of the name, one that will command the respect of the membership and give value received to every worth-while exhibitor in this country. Surely such an organization is worth the comparatively small individual assessment necessary to its maintenance. Otherwise, in what way do picture theatres differ so greatly from vaudeville houses? Why are their interests so materially less? Varner for President IT was but to be expected that H. B. Varner's vigorous eflorts on behalf of exhibitors in the recent Washington tussle, should have brought him to the front as a candidate for the presidency of the National League. With the League in its present woeful state exhibitors have reason to look with longing on the prospect of a leader so well belitted as H. li. X'arner. Southern exhibitors, we are told, are " fighting mad " at the fiasco made by the accredited League officials in Washington. They promise to " clean house " at Chicago in July. More power to them. They have started well in unfurling the banner of H. B. X'arner. Your Competitor THAT exiiibitors are prone to give more thought t( their competitor's business than to their own anc that this is a mighty poor business policy are fore gone conclusions. " Straight Dope," the Progressive Motion Picture Com pany's house-organ offers the following sensible advice " The first step should be to ascertain, as nearly as possible, what portion of the total motion picture patronage of the community is controlled by your competitor or competitors. Your own is easily determined. Say for instance you have one competitor and you each have 25 per cent., which leaves 50 per cent, that is available for the one who has sufficient showmanship or salesmanship ability to bring it to his theatre. The logical thing to do in this instance is to concentrate your efforts on the remaining 50 per cent. Let your competitor have his 25 per cent.— he is bound to get a certain portion anyhow — ^your " line of least resistance " is to conduct a campaign among the patronage that is neither yours nor your competitor's. Your opportunities for securing results from this source are far greater than they will be from any scheme you may devise for attracting them away from your competitor. " Possibly you think this is a difficult problem or that it does not apply to your own particular case, but the fact remains that there is a certain amount of possible patronage in your community divided between you, your competitor and those who do not regularly patronize any theatre. Some theatre will ultimately secure this latter portion. Why not you ? " Is Pennsylvania JFar-Crazed? PENNSYLVANIA exchanges are now paying a tax on every bit of machinery— the word is abused to include rewinders, etc.— in their establishments. They face corporation and income taxes. Federal and State, of fifty-seven varieties. And now it seems that the political steam roller will drive through a one cent tax on every foot of fUm— new and old — in use within tlie State. Has the war driven Pennsylvania's legislators tax crazy' Or is tlie war just a convenient excuse for the rolling of the familiar pork barrel? The Power of Advertising JUST recently a prominent New York picture theat booked a famous star picture and played to week capacity. The following week the same theatre book' a good picture with a lesser star, put the money sav into advertising — and played to the same full capacity. There are some exhibitors who .advertise only wn they have a big star attraction. They skimp on tli< other pictures to do this. . Why not make the same effort occasionally on the otn pictures? Try it and see what good advertising can do. The Eye on the Box-Office (Continued from Preceding Page J Don't take things at their face value. Don't swallow chatter of the business. Don't be afraid to be revoluui ary in your thoughts. tl ry in your thoughts. This business is going to make some mighty big w and changes within the next few years. It may be our whole business map will be changed. These cnau are bound to involve you and your business ^u,, | you won't see them coming if you never look over tne of your box-office sheet.