Take One (Oct 1976)

ee ee and varied forms more favorable to distribution have emerged. One of the most significant of these is the “house deal” whereby an exhibitor receives his so-called house expense and a modest override. (frequently 10%) of the gross in excess thereof. This is the socalled 90-10 deal. Distributor usually pays for advertising and will take 90% of the theatre gross in excess of the agreed theatre operating expenses. To illustrate, if a theater's cost including rent, staff, maintenance, etc. is $5,000 and a film’s gross for the week is $30,000, the exhibitor receives his $5,000 first and 10% of the $25,000 balance, or a total of $7,500. The distributor's share is 90% of $25,000 or $22,500. This type of arrangement is now commonplace for major first run houses in metropolitan or suburban areas. Keep in mind that the distributor usually pays for all or nearly all advertising which in today’s circumstances eats up a healthy proportion of his share. For important films, a new gimmick has been developed in the form of a floor below which the distributor's share will not. sink. Over and above the 90-10 split described above, a percentage arrangement is frequently added to the agreement. For a major film, this might be 70% of the gross for the first two weeks of the engagement; 60% for the next two weeks and 50% thereafter. The operator agrees that the distributor shall receive either this agreed percentage of the gross or the 90% figure over house expenses, whichever is higher. This places a floor on the distributor’s share ‘so that if 90-10 does not work out advantageously, he will secure at least a substantial chunk of the theater’s weekly gross. A major company’s form agreement is now likely to contain the following clause: “The film rental terms provided herein shall not be reviewed or adjusted.” This is contrary to the practice of negotiation we have previously described. It is even likely to be enforced. Distributors’ terms have toughened in another respect. For important films, there is a provision for the exhibitor to pay in advance a minimum guaranty against the distributor’s shares which can range from a modest sum to many thousands of dollars. This guaranty money, in theory at least, is not returnable in any event regardless of whether it is earned as a result of the engagement. Similarly, there may well be a clause calling for an advance against the distributor’s share as well. This differs from the guaranty in that the distributor agrees to repay to the exhibitor any amount by which the advance exceeds the film rental actually earned. But it is still cash out of an exhibitor’s pocket “up front” for which he has no doubt other uses. Due to the shortage of important films, the exhibitor may nonetheless pay both guaranty and advance to secure playing time for what he thinks is an “epic”. While these agreements seem harsh, ordinarily the exhibitor can increase his “house expenses” to a figure somewhat higher than normal and earn 10% of the gross in excess thereof, and the 70% alternative rental will usually only apply to the initial weeks of an engagement. While the possibilities of a theater owner’s “windfall” DISH NIGHT WALDO LY DECKER PUTTING IT ON: During New York’s August dog days, Warner Brothers threw a big bash for the opening of The Ritz at the Four Seasons. The music was provided by an orchestra half-submerged in the Season's pool, in keeping with the picture’s wet motif. Extroverted star Rita Moreno stopped talking about what it’s like to live with a man who survived a heart attack long enough to dance all night, but drew the line at diving into the pool when they requested it. Onlooking: Cliff Robertson, Bianca Jagger and the Warhol gang, Jon Peters, and Warners top brass Steve Ross, with his steady Amanda Burden, Bill and Babe Paley’s little girl. RIVETTE ROCKETTES: The New York Film Festival will open with the new Truffaut which, along with Ophuls’ The Memory of Justice and a new one by Rivette, are the only films that have been scheduled at press time. Since Philharmonic Hall is being acoustically revamped, the N.Y..Film Society is mulling over using the Radio City Music Hall for the opening and closing nights of the festival, if the financially shaky movie palace can stay open that long. TANGO TWO: Lina Wertmuller has a new script about a couple who go to see Last Tango in Paris and never get over it. Lina’s omnipresent Giancarlo Gianinni may be joined in it by none other than Mrs. Steve McQueen, in her long-awaited return to the screen. Steve, meanwhile, is brushing up his Ibsen for a go at An Enemy of the People at Warners. ANOTHER EPISODE IN THE LIFE OF: Everybody’s favorite onagain/off-again duo, Jack Nicholson and Angelica Huston, are taking separate vacations again. The month before last, Jack gave a big birthday blowout for Walter Huston’s grand-daughter at their Hollywood digs, but last month found him on board Sam Spiegel’s yacht at St. Tropez sans Angelica. THERE’S A LIMIT TO EVERYTHING: Alice Cooper will sing and dance with Mae West in Mae’s comeback feature Sextette. KEEPING UP WITH LIZ: This summer, the ex-Mrs. Burton a) fell off a motorbike and showed up at President Jerry’s White House with her leg in a cast, b) did the Hamptons scene at Montauk, Cc) was seen all over New York with rich Iranians and d) had Robert 32 Stephens fired from A Little Night Music. THE HARTMAN GANG: Nessa Hyams, who directed a lot of last season’s Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman episodes is, in private life, the wife of Paramount prez David Picker. And Tom Eyen, who wrote The Dirtiest Show in Town and Pink Flamingoes’ Divine’s off-Broadway vehicle Women Behind Bars, has been called in to script a few for Mary and Co. next season. SO NICE THEY MADE IT TWICE: Dino DeLaurentiis is taking the original King Kong out of circulation for awhile, in case it should conflict with his remake, which stars Jessica Lange as Fay Wray and the World Trade Center as the Empire State Building. But Kong One will have one last go-round at your local movie house sometime this month. WHAT'S A COLUMN WITHOUT A LIZA STORY?: Liza Minnelli tore herself away from her mother’s old dressing room on the Metro lot (where she’s doing New York, New York) to go to the Hollywood opening of A Chorus Line, setting in motion rumours that she will star in Universal’s movie version, for which they paid five million clams (but got Michael Bennett thrown in). ROMANS-A-CLEF: Everyone’s writing them. Joyce Haber is threatening to steal Truman Capote’s thunder as the Marcel Proust of the seventies with her Hollywood exposé The Users (to be published by Delacorte), which has characters who are like (but not exactly) Bob Evans and Ali McGraw, Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden, and Denise Minnelli Hale. Marie Brenner, who used to be a story editor at Paramount has a book called Tell Me Everything which Dutton is bringing out, and which will tell us everything about being young, rich, in the movie biz, and living at the Dakota. DISH FROM THE PAST: In 1971, Sammy Davis, Jr. announced that he would play Lenny. DISHED OUT: Do we really want to hear one more speculation on what Woody Allen’s new movie is about or one more story about how quickly Bobby DeNiro learned to play the saxophone for New York, New York? | didn’t think so. |