Reel Life (1916-1917)

EXHIBITORS MUST CO-OPERATE Canadian editor talks to exhibitors on value of the Neivspaper space In this issue of Reel Life Will McLaughlin, well known photoplay editor of the Ottazva Evening Journal, Ottawa, Canada, gives to the exhibitor his ideas on the necessity for the exhibitor and the newspaper co¬ operating. Mr. McLaughlin has some very good advice for exhibitors. by will McLaughlin HE MUTUAL FILM CORPORATION is to be congratulated on its efforts to bring about, through the medium of “Reel Life,” a better understanding between the editors of photoplay departments of the press and the exhibitor. The topic is a live one. An open discussion of a question that so vitally affects the future of Motion Pictures cannot help but prove beneficial to the photoplay editor and particularly to the exhibitor. My one experience as photoplay editor of the Ottawa Evening Journal will no doubt correspond with the experience of photoplay editors in cities of an average popu¬ lation of 100,000 to 250,000 people. Prior to the inauguration of a Photoplay Department in the Journal, the exhibitors of this territory were receiving absolutely no publicity. The lack of interest shown by the exhibitors in my earlier efforts to stimulate a greater interest in motion pictures is none the less surprising than their latter attempts, through coercion and threats to discontinue their advertising, to force the paper to open its photoplay depart¬ ment and permit the use of the columns as an outlet for press matter coming from their own publicity agents. Any intelligent exhibitor will readily agree that a newspaper pub¬ lishing a motion picture department that caters to the in¬ terests of the motion picture patron is of infinitely more value to his theatre from an advertising point of view than a newspaper which permits its columns to be used as a “dumping ground” for the limpid and vapid press-dope of a “circus stunt” theatre publicity agent. Mr. Exhibitor, the newspaper in your territory publishing a motion picture department that makes a direct appeal to the people who patronize your theatre is deserving of your heartiest support and co-operation. In carrying your dis¬ plays in that paper’s motion picture pages you are reaching the very people upon whose patronage the success of your business depends. The American motion picture patron is not interested in what comes from you personally or in the effusive articles of your press agent. The average picture patron is more interested in what is doing in the world of photoplay. The picture-goer wants to know everything possible about his or her favorite player, stories of their home life, of their loves, likes and dislikes ; their adventures while on “location” work, how they rehearse, who their directors are, what pictures they are making at present and what they are going to do in the future. A photoplay department conducted on the above lines, a department full of “pep” and edited in a way that appeals to all classes of the motion picture patrons is deserving of the heartiest co-operation and assistance of the exhibitor. W. McLaughlin. The exhibitor can show his appreciation of the photoplay editor’s efforts to stimulate interest in motion pictures and at the same time add prestige and increase the attendance of his theatre by using the photoplay department as an advertis¬ ing medium. At the present time, with the censorship question looming on the horizon, threatening the very life of the industry, and the legitimate producers using every method to belittle this most wonderful form of amusement, the future of motion pictures depends upon the support of the press. Mr. Exhibitor! You can’t afford to antagonize the press of your territory because the photoplay department is not con¬ ducted to your personal satisfaction and in the interest of your particular theatre. REEL LIFE — Page Four