Television digest with electronics reports (Jan-Dec 1959)

VOL. 15; No. 47 11 Film & Tape CANADIAN TELEFILM UPSURGE: A large -scale boom in co-production telefilm deals north of the U.S. border is in the making, film executives told us in N.Y. last week. Primarily it’s the result of a Canadian governmental edict that 55% of programming telecast by the forthcoming new crop of TV outlets in Canada’s major cities be Canadian-produced. There is no quota until April 1961 when 45% will be imposed; 55%, in April 1962. (For other Canadian TV news, see pp. 1 & 4.) Screen Gems is one of the first to form a Canadian production subsidiary (it already has a Canadian sales branch) designed to produce TV films & tape shows eligible as “Canadian” under the new quota system. The Screen Gems offshoot will be largely Canadian-controlled & operated, but will draw on the U.S. parent’s talent & production resources. An additional long-term Canadian distribution deal has also been made between Screen Gems and Sovereign Film Distributors Ltd. of Toronto. MGM-TV, purely by chance, has had a Canadian coproduction deal in the works for some time with Robert Maxwell Productions for a filmed-in-Canada 30-min. series based on the MGM feature film “National Velvet.” The N.Y. office of MGM-TV tells us it’s holding a firm option from Rexall on the show for U.S. telecasting, and that plans are afoot to launch the series in Canadian syndication as soon as possible. Filmways, N.Y. commercial film firm active in the tape & film program field (it produced the 21 Beacon St. series starring Dennis Morgan this summer) is also scouting coproduction program deals to be based in such Canadian markets as Toronto & Montreal. Through a facilities-exchange deal, Filmways has link with Warner Bros. TV. Apart from these early starters, individual producers who plan to distribute through United Artists TV and Paramount TV are also reportedly blueprinting Canadian telefilm properties, and others like CBS Films, Ziv, ITC and NTA are reported “interested” in Canadian telefilm. The production boom is no surprise to the telefilm industry. Many of the firms mentioned above have gained considerable experience in making end-runs around film quota systems in other foreign markets (notably Great Britain, which allows only 14% of its commercial or BBCTV film shows to be non-British in origin). Such co-production deals generally shape up like this: The deal is basically between an American producer or producer-distributor and a foreign film studio. The American group provides the basic property (idea, scripts, etc.) actors for key roles and top production talent (director, unit mgr., film editors, etc.), and possibly partial financing. The foreign studio provides studio space, facilities, crew, local cast, and most below-the-line items. The U.S. firm holds distribution rights for America and most of the foreign market. The foreign studio distributes in the country where the show is filmed. The advantages of such deals are obvious — provided the show manages the not-so-easy trick of maintaining an international TV appeal. A sale within the Canadian quota might produce some $5,000 weekly for a show technically Canadian. Since it would also qualify under the British quota, a major sale there might bring another $5,000-$7,500 weekly. Other worldwide sales could total another $10,000 or so weekly. This means that a 30-min. film series, with a Canadian locale but with American stars, might be sold in U.S. for $15-20,000 weekly and still show a profit. New Look At 20th: A sweeping reorganization of 20th Century-Fox TV is under way, with its principal feature a decentralization of authority of the post of TV production chief. After Martin Manulis leaves to produce movies for 20th-Fox, his successor will be an executive who will coordinate policy and act as liaison between 20th-Fox TV pres. Peter Levathes and the various TV production units. New executive producers will be added to the 20th TV roster, and some may be dropped. Levathes, who last week signed William Self, CBS executive, as an exec, producer, informed us he envisions 4 units, each headed by an exec, producer. Asked if exec, producers Herbert Swope Jr. and Dominick Dunne would be included in the realignment, he replied, “For the time being.” Levathes will be administrative chief not only of 20thTV in N.Y., but of the production operation at the studio. He is remaining at the studio longer than he had planned because “it’s impossible to do the job from remote positions.” Levathes points out that he and 20th-Fox Pres. Spyros Skouras are busy working on plans for acquisition of TV stations, so he can’t devote all his time to studio production. That’s why he’s seeking the liaison executive. “I feel that with 4 different production units we can do a more efficient job,” Levathes said. Buddy Adler, 20thFox production chief will continue to serve in an advisory capacity to TV, he added. Production Chief? Not for TV: The movie-studio production pattern (in which a single individual — the production chief— headed all producing units) was, quite naturally, imitated by TV film. But TV now appears to be questioning the wisdom of this arrangement because of its special complexities and volume demands. MGM-TV has already quietly taken steps away from single authority by giving Richard Maibaum, who was originally signed as production chief, the status of executive producer of a limited number of properties. Henceforth there will be more diversification of authority. Explaining the move, Loew’s Inc. TV vp George Shupert said, “This is no reflection on Dick. This is too damned much work for one man. The head of a movie studio production would supervise 20 to 25 pictures a year, but in TV you turn out 7 or more hours of entertainment a week. I don’t think a production chief is necessary in TV. No one man is good enough to ride herd on more than 3 or 4 properties — it’s just too much work. We are therefore bringing in producers such as Jaime del Valle, Richard Bare and Collier Young. Our approach is different. We get the property we like first and then the producer.” It’s no secret that Martin Manulis chafed considerably in his job as production chief at 20th-Fox TV because he felt the administrative duties kept him from creative work. Studio sources tell us Manulis’s successor will be an administrator, with the creative production work left to the individual producers. (See 20th-TV story above.) Further evidence of the heavy burden carried by a TV production chief may perhaps be illustrated by Warner Bros., where William T. Orr holds that position. When he supervised only a few series last season, the studio was most successful. But with 10 series to look after this year, Orr is having quality & rating difficulties with several. Revue Productions, TV’s No. 1 film company, may have the answer to the problem. It has administrators at the helm, with a large number of producers & creators working with the executives. This system is also pretty much that followed by Screen Gems and Four Star Films.