Take One (Mar-Apr 1970)

to view the latest 16mm films handled by Canadian distributors. For additional details, write: The Secretary, The Ontario Film Association, Box 521, Barrie, Ontario. Manitou-wabing Camp of Fine Arts, Parry Sound, Ontario, is a specialized Canadian summer camp for talented U.S. and Canadian students 12-17 years old. The Film Department is headed by Rick Hancox, former N.Y.U. graduate film student, now completing a Master of Fine Arts in Film at Ohio University. As. part of its recent expansion, the Film Department is offering 12 full and partial tuition scholarships to any student in the U.S. or Canada who can meet the entry qualifications and demonstrate exceptional film talent. Tuition scholarships range in valye from $200 to $800. All entries must be made on official scholarship application forms and post-marked not later than April 25th. Notification of award is made early in May. Applications and further information can be obtained by writing: ‘ Film Awards Program, Manitou-wabing Camp of Fine Arts, 821 Eglinton Avenue West, Toronto 349, Ontario. The ADAM AT 6A.M. dossier Through late December and early January, the following three items of correspondence crossed our cluttered desk. We thought our readers—particularly the filmmakers among them—might be Ce ee ee ate ky ok ote os Dear Mr. Lebensold, perenne a7 7970 Thanks very much for sending along your recent copy of Take One in which you printed our letter to Susan Rice (Vol. 2, No. 8). As we have said, the very good review in Take One meant a great deal to us. Happily, similar fine reviews by Judith Crist, Gene Shalit, Archer Winsten, William Wolf and others have made Adam at Six A.M. a proud effort. Unfortunately, Cinema Center Films and National General, who released the film, never believed in it and as a result we have had a terrible time with the release and promotion of the picture. The company would hardly spend any money to publicize the product in New York or Los Angeles nor did they take any care in regard to the theatres in which the film was booked. Therefore, we have ended up with a good film that hardly anyone has seen. We are sad because we are powerless to do anything with regard to how the picture was handled. However, what is even sadder to us is that just about nobody at the studio cares what has happened to Adam at Six A.M.... Sincerely, Rick Rosenberg Robert W. Christiansen Chris-Rose Productions North Hollywood, Calif. eeeeeeeaeeoeeveeoeeoeeeoeeeeoeeeeee ee 13 January 1971 Gordon Stulberg, President, Cinema Center Films, 4024 Radford Avenue, North Hollywood, Calif. 91604 Dear Mr. Stulberg: A few days ago, we received the enclosed [above] letter-to-the-editor from the producers of Adam at Six A.M. which we intend to print in the next up-coming issue of our film magazine. Before doing that, though, | thought | should give you, or someone on your staff, the opportunity to reply to some of the charges levelled against your firm. . . Yours truly, Peter Lebensold Editor & Publisher 6 Take One Magazine Montreal, Canada January 19, 1971 Dear Mr. Lebensold, We just had a meeting with Gordon Stulberg and discussed the letters that have passed between us regarding Adam at Six A.M. Mr. Stulberg suggested we answer your letter to him since were were all in agreement that we had, unfortunately, neglected to fill you in on all the facts in regard to this matter. Mr. Stulberg pointed out that Cinema Center Films and National General spent a lot of money opening our film in the mid-west and that we had certainly favoured opening the picture in that area since we believed it would do well at ‘the boxoffice there. Aside from the advertising campaign, which we objected to, the opening was handled very well. However, we opened in approximately two hundred theatres in the mid-west and did poor business in almost every situation. Adam was immediately labeled ‘‘a dog”. We all tried to guess why the film had failed in these situations. Mr. Stulberg points out that all boxoffice revenue was off about forty-four percent during that period and ours was but one picture among many to be hurt. Furthermore, we opened in the middle of September during the premiere week of the new television season and had to compete against first showings of The Dirty Dozen and The Cincinnati Kid on television. Also, school was just beginning and we felt that this was not to our advantage either. As a result of these initial bookings, and a few that followed, the company decided not to spend a great deal of money to open the picture in New York or Los Angeles which we were requesting as we believed that since our reviews had been good we had a chance to recover in these major cities. Mr. Stulberg said that if the picture had displayed any strength in one of its Situations, he would have acted differently with regard to our budget for opening the film in New York and Los Angeles. Although he personally liked the film, he attributed its failure at the boxoffice mainly due to a lack of a strong word of mouth and the presence of a magnetic Star. Our displeasure with certain aspects of how the picture was handled should have been pinpointed for you. For example, we had objected to all the advertising and material on the picture and these objections were largely ignored until Mr. Stulberg came to our aid. However, only one ad was changed for the Kansas City premiere date. We later found out that most of the theatres where the film played were huge barns. In St. Louis it was booked into three theatres, one of which seated over three thousand people. In Denver the house held around two thousand seats and in Dallas we were in a theatre where Space Odyssey had played. In San Francisco the picture opened in three houses on a double bill. Our unhappiness was further heightened when we read in Variety that the picture opened in Baltimore with no advance promotion. Since Adam at Six A.M. did not have a star to help sell it, we felt, after the initial dates, that the picture should be handled like Joe or Five Easy Pieces. Again Gordon Stulberg came to our aid when we requested a special publicity man be put on the picture for the New York and Los Angeles dates. A publicist was hired, but because of budget limitations and the inability to set a firm date for either opening, his efforts were not as effective as they might have been had he had more to work with. We asked that the film be booked*in Los Angeles and New York before or around Thanksgiving. We finally ended up with two and three week limited runs which started and ended right before Christmas. It is a dismal time to try and do business. Although we received very good reviews in both cities, we understand that National General is still having trouble booking the film. It is our belief that if the company had spent more money for the New York and Los Angeles openings and had opened the picture earlier we would have had a better chance. We thank you for your interest and should you have any additional questions, please get in touch with us. Sincerely, Rick Rosenberg Bob Christiansen Chris-Rose Productions North Hollywood, Calif. cc: Mr. Gordon Stulberg