Motion Picture News (Jan-Feb 1922)

376 Motion Picture News Hoy Service Is Extended Throughout Country Complaints and Claims Between Exchanges and Exhibitors to Be Handled Under Hoy Plan AS a result of a series of conferences between the New York home office executives of most of the film distributing companies which have a national system of exchanges, the Hoy Reporting Sendee, that has worked out so successfully in New York, Boston and several other exchange centers, has been adopted throughout the country, declares a report from the National Association of the Motion Picture Industry. F.I.L.M Boards of Trade will be organized at once in all exchange centers east of Denver and north of Atlanta, according to the report, and the Hoy system put into immediate effect for the handling of all complaints and claims which arise between exchanges and theatres. To carry out the provisions of the plan, the country has been divided into four zones, it is explained. Zone i includes the following territories: New York City, Albany, Buffalo, New Haven, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburg and Washington, D. C. The headquarters of the Hoy Reporting Service in this zone are 719 Seventh Avenue, New York City. All complaints between exhibitors and exchanges in the exchange centers of this zone will be handled through the New York headquarters of the Hoy Service. Zone 2 includes the following territories: Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Detroit, Omaha, Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Des Moines. The headquarters of the Hoy Service in this zone will be opened immediately in Chicago and all complaints which arise between theatres and exchanges in the exchange centers of Zone 2 will be handled through the Chicago headquarters. This will mean an immediate reorganization of exchange managers’ associations in all the exchange centers of these two zones that are not at present using the Hoy Service, it is declared. In addition to New York City and Boston, the Hoy Service is already being used in Buffalo, Albany and New Haven. In all other exchange centers of Zones 1 and 2 F.I.L.M. Boards of Trade will be organized at once with a uniform set of rules and regulations. In these regulations an arbitration board is provided for to hear and determine disputes between exchange members and theatres. Theatre owners will be invited to serve on these arbitration boards. The joint boards will consist of three exhibitors, three members of the F.I.L.M. Board of Trade and the President of the F.I.L.M. Board of Trade, who will serve on the arbitration board in an ex-officio capacity and will be entitled to vote only the case of a deadlock. No member of the arbitration board, however, can sit in judgment on a case in which he is either plaintiff or defendant. In such instances any such member of the arbitration board will be relieved from duty and the group he represents will j choose another representative to serve in 1 his stead. Theatres have the same privi I lege as exchanges in filing claims with the I Hoy Reporting Service. On or before March 1, 1922, the Hoy I Service will be adopted in the territory I west of Omaha and the territory south oi jj Washington, D. C., it is announced. The West will be known as Zone 3. This. I zone will include San Francisco. Los An I, geles, Denver, Spokane, Butte, Seatttle l. and Salt Lake City. The headquarters I of this zone will be in San Francisco. The South will be known as Zone 4 and f will include the following exchange cen I ters: Dallas, Oklahoma, Atlanta, New I Orleans, Charlotte and Memphis. The headquarters of this zone will be in At I lanta. The distributing companies whose rep j resentatives have attended the series of j conferences which resulted in the nationalizing of the Hoy Service are : Goldwyn Distributing Corporation, Universal Film 1 Manufacturing Company, Pathe Ex-'J change, Inc., Fox Film Corporation, Wid Gunning, Inc., R-C Pictures Corporation, ! Educational Film Exchanges, Inc., MetroPictures Corporation, the Selznick Corporation, Vitagraph, Inc., Famous Play-* ers-Lasky Corporation, Pioneer Film Cor | poration and W. W. Hodkinson Corporation. “Why Is a Prologue ?” Asks Pat Dowling; Says Specialty Is Out of Place in Film Houses PAT DOWLING, publicity director of the Christie Film Company, in a letter to William A. Johnston, editor of Motion Picture News, brings up for discussion the question, “ Why Is a Prologue? ” Mr. Dowling frankly presents his views as a sponsor of the comedy and other subjects on a diversified program. But he also proposes the question from the angle of the feature film exploiter. He writes in part as follows: “ My point is this: Is it not foolish for distributing companies to urge exhibitors— assisted by the trade press — to spend large sums of money for prologue accompaniment to their pictures when it is not proven that the prologue helps the picture itself? In other words, what argument has the feature man for a price for his feature film rental when he is encouraging the exhibitor to spend more and more of his money for something in his show which is outside of the realm of pictures? “ Or can you say that a prologue will give in twenty minutes as much real entertainment and satisfaction to a large percentage of the audience that certain short subjects — secured cheaper — will give? This is the comedy angle. “The big fellow in the big city puts on a prologue. Perhaps it is good; perhaps it is not. The public accepts it passively. Immediately it is heralded as ‘ great ’ through the trade. The smaller fellow thinks he has to follow suit. The rival house manager thinks he has to do it also, just because someone else has done it; not because his clientele has requested it or even shown particular interest in it. “ Perhaps some of the public is kicking at admission prices. What would} they think if they knew that a large share of their fifty cents or their dollar is going for vaudeville — inferior vaudeville at that, and a small per cent of the money going for the payment for the pictures which they came to see. The public would have a real kick if they knew what some of these prologues cost to stage. “ It has been pretty thoroughly proven that vaudeville, put on by picture exhibitors — can not rank with the best vaudeville of the circuits. Does not the prologue come under the vaudeville class? It is not pictures. And pictures are what the public pays its money to see. “ These are only a few random thoughts. It seems to me that this subject should be looked at squarely by the trade press, if the trade press is to stand for honest advice to the exhibitors of America.” Wisconsin Exhibitors Vote Thanks to Nat* l Officers The Wisconsin Exhibitors’ Association extended a vote of thanks to the national officers of the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of America at the mid-winter convention of the organization, held in Milwaukee, December 15 and 16, at the Hotel Wisconsin. The resolution of thanks adopted reads as follows: “ Be it resolved that we the Wisconsin Exhibitors’ Association in convention assembled extend a vote of thanks to our National Officers for the efforts set forth in our behalf and which they have so ably handled, especially the repeal of the 5 per cent film rental tax. “Be it further resolved that copy of this resolution be sent to our National Officers.” Rome, N.Y., Wins Fight for Sunday Picture Shows Rome, N. Y., now has Sunday motion picture shows. Mayor G. Arthur Mickle has just signed an ordinance which will permit Sunday shows between 2 and 11 p. m. On December 5, the common council adopted by a vote of 4 to 2 a resolution favoring Sunday shows.