Publix Opinion (Oct 17, 1930)

STORY DEPARTMENT AIMS AT THEATRE BOX OFFICES IN RAW MATERIAL CHOICE FOR FILMS With the important role played by sheer story material in the successful picture of today as a with its usual perspicacity, finds of astute, well-trained, practical tion. Paramount’s Home Office Story department, headed by Miss Maude Kirk Miller, under the supervision of Mr. Wanger, has but one lode star in the acceptance or rejection of stories as possible picture subjects. That one, infallible guide is the box office of Publix theatres, as well as that of countless other theatres which exhibit Paramount pictures. Hard boiled Publix showmen with their noses constantly worn down by the grindstone of house cleaning checks, last minute booking changes, milk bottle tie-ups and other important details of theatre management often have peculiar notions of ‘‘these writing fellows’’ or those who pass on their work. .They have vague visions of wan, distraught, harebrained individuals of aesthetic mien, with the smudge of Greenwich Village garrets on their brow and rapturous glitter in the eye as they meditate some fanciful idyll on skimmed milk and moonlight. If it be of any comfort to Publix showmen to know it, Paramount Story Department is as innocent of this type of literary phoney as a three-day old babe of a sex complex. 5; Practical, box-office showmanship—that is the quality which, more than any other, characterizes » the personnel of that department. Naturally, they are abundantly endowed with technical literary proficiency, both from a creative writing and critical standpoint. But the one thing sought for, both in their original choice from a vast army of applicants and in their! subsequent training, is an unerring flair for what the public likes in entertainment and a sure capacity to detect that quality in the stories that are submitted for their inspection. Theatre in Mind With the theatre box-office in either eye as they scan the vast deluge of material which pours into the office from every corner of the globe, only those stories which pass the acid test of that strenuous requirement are given any consideration whatsoever by Miss Miller and her capable staff. As a result, Paramount is assured an ample supply of concentrated, carefully-sifted box-office material at the very source of a picture’s production. This selection is again painstakingly gone over by studio heads from which about sixty stories a year are finally selected result of the talkies, Paramount, itself prepared with a crack staff showmen to cope with the situa MAUDE K. MILLER Head of Home Office Story Department for production. The bulk of the story material comes from five major sources. They are: 1. Agents; 2. Published works; 3. Plays; 4. Foreign representatives; 5. Original manuscripts from staff writers. The first four of these sources all pass through Miss Miller’s department. From the various agents comes any unpublished material which, in the opinion of these experts, might be suitable for Paramount production purposes. Among this is included manuscripts, galley proofs, advance copies of novels and short stories, scripts of plays before produced on the stage, magazine serials before their publication is even announced and other first choice story, material. Eyer alert for unusual buys, and exercising the same ingenuity and resourcefulness which so consistently earns scoops for ‘Paramount .News,’”’ the story department often gets the first chance at novels appearing even in magazines affiliated with opposition producing companies. Reads All Fiction This unpublished story material is augmented by a careful perusal of everything that appears in print. The story department purchases every book of fiction that is published. It has on its racks every fiction magazine that is printed. Consequently, in the event that a good story is not submitted to the department before publication by the agents, it will FREE AND EFFECTIVE ‘AD’ ‘Publix Theatres’ was brought before the eyes of 20,000 New Englanders who recently viewed the annual whaleboat races. Ata cost of $10, Manager Morris Simms of the Olympia, New Bedford, Mass., equipped the New Bedford team, comprised of members of the local fire department. This sum of money was expended for the purchase and lettering of the seen below. sweatshirts worn by these inen, as 2 * & ; , WN ye puely Vous t Pla HUB Ley | gu elic | guatr, Vy SHEATE® AE ATF SEE NT NWEATAY | YHEATRY roe f 1, ’ ont fey y ‘i |g al U ‘erga he ‘ 1 — ey oe PUBLIX OPINION, WEEK OF OCTOBER 17tn, 1930 PARAMOUNT PICKS COIN STORIES ONLY! be picked up by Miss Miller’s readers after the book is printed. This insures Paramount a 100 per cent air tight selection in stories for its pictures. 7 Foreign Representatives In order to assure coverage of all story material abroad, Paramount has two representatives in Europe, one in London and one in Paris. The London representative serves as the clearing house for everything that is published or put on the stage in England. An example of the efficient and rapid control which Paramount has over foreign material is furnished by the opening of a successful Noel Coward play in London. On this occasion, the Paramount story department had the synopsis of this play from its English representative on the same day that the New York Times first carried a cable review of that play. The’ Paris representative acts in a similar capacity not only for Paris and France but also for Vienna, Berlin, Budapest and other continental capitals. The minute a novel is published or a play put on at any of these capitals, a comprehensive synopsis is mailed to the New York office of this prospective picture material. <A weekly bulletin on Italian plays and novels keeps the Home Office posted about what is going on in that country. Synopses Written All this formidable mass of story material is minutely gone over by the story department staff and synopses, the most favorable ones are collected in a bulletin which is sent to the Chief Editors at the two studios, Edward Montaigne, on the Coast, and D. A. Doran in Astoria. These concise reports are followed by longer and more capable synopses so that a better idea might be obtained of the picture possibilities of the individual stories. These synopses are then carefully gone over by the studio supervisors and directors. Their. final choice is finally submitted to Mr. Lasky, Mr. Schulberg or Mr. Wanger, and, if they approve them, the matter is turned over to the legal and purchasing department for acquisition. It is evident from the foregoing that the same principle of “two minds are better than one” which is so prevalent in Paramount Publix, also operates in the matter of story selection. No one man ever definitely decides upon any story. It is only when the ideas, opinions and criticisms of several responsible authorities have been obtained and a final concensus of opinion arrived at, that a final decision to produce any given story is made. “In selecting a story for boxoffice appeal,’ said Miss Miller, “the great mass of the general public must always be borne in mind. It is not enough to think only of the people of New York or of Kokomo, Indiana. A common meeting point must be found where the tastes of both New York .and Kokomo will merge. In other words, the story must not be so sophisticated that it will shock or bore Kokomo, nor, on the other hand, must it be so “hokey” as to insult the intelligence of .New York and other key centers. This convergence of the nation’s tastes is the box-office standard by which all stories must be weighed and not found wanting. Anticipate Trends “Tt must not be deduced from this that trite, routine formulae are used as models in the selection of stories. It is true that, because a certain type of story had a remarkable box-office success in the past, the temptation is great to select another one just like it. This temptation, however, is strenuously avoided. Only the basic box-office principles which contributed to that success are sought in its successor, and not its exact form.: “No business, no department can thrive if it limits its activities merely to a duplication of past efforts. In order to progress, it must constantly blaze new trails. For that reason, the efforts of the Story Department are always di —e To = ¥ eee te Here is a REAL NEWS feature story for which your Sunday feature editor will kiss you. Every town in the country has swarms of aspiring movie writers—from janitors to correspondence school graduates—and they'll eat this up. It’s a natural! At the same time, it’s a perfect institutional story that will sell Paramount pictures—your bread and butter—to your patrons. Re-write and localize the lead. Say that Manager Joe Doakes of the local Paramount Theatre has led a representative of the Daily Bugle behind the scenes of the greatest film company in the industry, and explained just how Paramount consistently picks its human appeal stories. Don’t forget to tack on a paragraph about the Paramount pictures which will play your theatre and when. rected toward anticipating the trend of public fancy in the field of motion picture entertainment.” Miss Miller’s background eminently fits her for the important post she holds with the company. A veteran newspaper woman, she brings to her position two vital attributes which are the life-blood of the picture business. They are an accurate professional knowledge of what constitutes public interest and an astute woman’s angle. Her twelve years experience with Paramount have taught her to harness these two valuable requisites to the theatre box-offices. Her flair for box-office material in the raw, as stories for pictures might well be considered, has weekly provided studio officials with a concentrated selection of ‘“‘money” stories from which to make their final choice for production. In this way, she has contributed not a little to Paramount’s world wide reputation as a producer of successful motion pictures from a box-office angle. Writing Staff The activities of the Reading Department as a provider of poten tial box-office stories is comple-, mented by the original work of a hand-picked staff of reputable writers. Each one of these has been chosen on the strength of a proven ability to successfully meet the tastes of the public in the field of fiction. <A roster of these writers includes some of the most brilliant names in American creative literature. Among them are: Zoe Akins, Ursula Parrott, Maric Baumer, Guy Bolton, Martin Brown, Bartlett Cormack, Lloyd Corrigan, Marion Dix, Ethel Doherty, Salisbury Field, Charles Furthmann, Paul Gangelin, Oliver H. P. Garrett, Zane Grey, Maurice Hanline, Percy Heath, Grover Jones, Vincent Lawrence, Agnes Brand Leahy, Louise Long, Herman Mankiewicz, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, George Marion, Jr., Wm. Slavens McNutt, Henry Myers, Edward Paramore, Jr., Jose CarnerRibalta, Daniel N. Rubin, Robt. Terry Shannon, Viola Brothers Shore, Austin Strong, Sam Spewack, Keene Thompson, John V. A. Weaver, Lajos Zilahy, Samuel Hoffenstein, Arthur Kober, Sam Mintz, Courtenay Terrett, Cornell Woolrich, Carmen Barnes. GIFT SAVE'THIS PABEL “The Dawn Patrol” Commie af AD Air Epon ws (MICH {RD BARTEILWESS SpOCeLen FAreaas ag, JR Paik BARICTON LYRIC—Mon.-Tues-Wed. “Tid Cader of Parade No L wil be cyeae Two toced Dax of Necati/s Auated Cantiog fra OL, 2 CY, arice 2 "Ua gi ce bal fonts Peake tha 2 weed gto Dee pate cf Payor Sik Diveern Maas ca bey la the hacky og be wat roc Whee Breet Sot CRAWFORD-GATLIN CO, RTE tataretia Su Box Printed Stationery Free ‘Tothe fioler of Paractite Ne 1 hoa’ HUB CITY PRINTING CO. SAM C WHITAKER eat Bahind the Sam Thee os TIVE CALLONS OF CASOLINE FALE To he finter ef Preach Na _Dhg yor percha tar ettion DIXIE OIL COMPANY 2 Rel 6 Teed pubceNe 5 Daeg Ui Yoo Panchce . HAYNES & WEAVER Co. ONT TACK Sweet Rove Flour pal ett esta RR. TAYLOR Bet be ine Soe Comedies NEW SLANT ON OLD STUNT! Exploiting Dawn Patrol, Manager J. H. McKenna of the Lyric Theatre, Jackson, Tenn., landed this full page co-op ad in the Jackson Sunday Sun, and had the entire population of Jackson congregated in the public square before the theatre on the afternoon the picture opened. Materials for the parachutes cost $1.80—ushers and cashiers made them. The plane cost $10, ‘chutes, dropped 2,000 heralds, promoted from a local printer. and in addition to dropping the WATCH FOR PARACHUTES ecm = Sa 2 ae Mk OR Be tw, BARTatinesy PCCELLS PALRBASKS, 25> ai gauztray LYRH—Mon-Tues-Wed. Awwathe filer cf Parte SAT. 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