Take One (Jan 1979)

DEALING Blind Man's Bluff Bidding and booking in the dark Blind bidding sounds like it’s something Oedipus did for a new walking stick. It’s not. It’s what the owners or operators of some 2,000 firstrun theaters in the US do four to eight months prior to the peak release period of a film. It is also the source of a good deal of friction within the film industry. The process goes something like this: A major film distributor sends out a solicitation to exhibitors. Warner did it on August 8, setting out the terms of the proposed engagement of Superman for Christmas, beginning December 15. The letter promised a cosmically good film and the largest national TV ad campaign in Warner's history, as well as a mammoth merchandising tie-in. It asked upwards of $50,000 in advance (possibly $100,000 in some cities), without anyone ever getting to see the film. Moreover, although part of that upfront money is an advance against a high percentage split of the boxoffice, most of it is a guarantee. That means no matter how Superman flies—up or down—the guarantee money will be kept regardless of whether the film earns Warners’ share of the split. And the film must be kept for six weeks. The reasons for blind bidding are twofold, according to Jack Valenti, paid head of the MPAA (financed by nine dues-paying major film companies). “Making and distributing a motion picture is a very fragile enterprise. There is no certainty that creative people can finish a film on time,” says Valenti. Blind bidding also forces exhibitors to take a risk position along with the film’s producers in how well the film sells. Exhibitors say they too often take either all the risk or a disproportionate one without benefit of overseas sales, TV sales, pay cable TV sales or merchandising tie-ins to mitigate their risk position. ‘Blind bidding probably Harlan Jacobson writes for Variety. by Harlan Jacobson wouldn’t be that hot an issue if the film companies would review how a film performs the way they used to,” said one exhibitor, who requested anonymity out of fear of reprisal. “But since all the old line sales managers retired, forget it. We're dealing with conglomerates and computer printouts that tell them how much money they need and to hell with the exhibitors,” the theater owner said. Columbia got $22 million upfront on Close Encounters, which worked out happily. Joe. E. Levine chalked up $27 million upfront on A Bridge Too Far, Pierre Leduc which didn’t work out for exhibitors. Exorcist II, was the worst burn of late, screened only one day before it opened in June last year in New York. “It was like a funeral,” recalled the exhibitor. “We all looked at each other and knew we were going to die.” Proof of the pudding that no one knows how well a film will sell is Star Wars, which was not bid blind and has returned $130 million-plus in the US alone to 20th Century-Fox, who didn’t know what they had till the roof blew away. The question within the industry boils down to this: Can film companies continue doing business six months to a year in advance, often financing a film in advance (or collecting from the last one— exhibitors aren’t saints) without letting theater owners see a film before a costly deal? “All we want to do is have the chance to make fools of ourselves,” said the theater owner. “Let it be our choice.” “Impossible,’” maintains Valenti. Among other reasons is that money tied up in a film can is money not earning interest. Add to the cost of The Wiz at $30 million, $8,219.18 per day in lost interest. The major film companies have long thought of exhibitors—who once _integrated the industry to control productions for their nickelodeons—as polyclad real estate men who happened to own screens, something films need to be shown upon. And while organized exhibition cried about blind bidding, sales managers at the film companies knew that the very loudest criers were coming to them in private to make a deal for next Christmas sight unseen. So why listen? The Exorcist in 1974 revived a film business nearly destroyed by TV in the early ‘60s and Relevance in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. And while the film business escalated through Jaws to Star Wars, the stakes to get the winning picture each season kept climbing. Soon (continued on page 53) . TAKE ONE /JANUARY 1979 39