Universal Weekly (1923-1925)

18 Universal Weekly August 16, 1924 Universal to Create Short Products Sales Chiefs UNIVERSAL has taken a new step in the marketing of its Short Product. With the contemplated increase in important Short Subject releases scheduled by Universal for the coming season, it has been decided to establish a Short Product Manager in a number of the important Exchange territories. These managers will coordinate and direct the work of the Short Product salesmen in the various exchanges and also will handle many of the big first run accounts for Universal themselves. "This is Universal's an Deserving Salesmen Promoted to Fill New Positions — Signals a Drive on Universal New Short Product Features — Dempsey Pictures, The Gump Comedies and Duncan Serials Included swer to the question of Short Product importance," asserts Fred C. Quimby, General Short Product Sales Manager for the Universal organization, and the right-hand jTian of Al. Lichtman, General Sales Manager, in the planning and distribution of Short Product. "We are makins: better Short Product today than ever before, and we mean to see that it is properly marketed," Quimby explained. "We are putting as much care and thought into Short Product production as we put into features. It is only right that we should be just as careful in placing them on the screen. "We are confident our product has no equal. The Jack Dempsey 'Fight and Win' series alone would put us at the top. But we are also putting out a remarkable series of 'Gump' Comedies — two-reelers — and a series of one-reel Hysterical History comedies that hid fair to be a sensation this Fall. There also are a series of Bert Roach comedies and a string of new idea Century Comedies on the way, snappy two-reelers, many of them featuring Wanda Wiley, a new comedy find, and the Century Follies of 1924 Beauties. "As an illustration I want to state that 'Wolves of the North,' our new William Duncan serials, is the best thing in chaptered entertainment I have ever seen, and I have been selling serials for many years. Our new Short Product Managers will personally supervise the booking of this serial and I can frankly say that I expect the picture to play big first runs all over the country. It is different and it has class and high entertainment value. "In selecting men to fill the newly created positions of Short Product Man UNIVERSAL CHIEF AT OLYMPIC GAMES Ca7-l Laemmle, accompanied by his son and daughter, as well as members of his staff, evidenced great interest in the international sports tourney at Columbes, France. agers, we have followed Mr. Carl Laemmle's oftannounced policy of promoting deserving Universal employes. In this case we have promoted topnotch salesmen in the various exchanges. So far the following promotions to Short Product Manager have been made: "New York — N. Goldberg. "Detroit— H. Hondorf. "Los Angeles — D. S. Mitchell. "Pittsburgh — R. R. Reece. "St. Louis — J. Flannery. "San Francisco — Hugh Bennett. "Philadelphia — Carl Sonin. "In a few days I will be in a position to announce the promotion of salesmen to Short Product Managerships in the Chicago, Cincinnati and Cleveland Exchanges. "The men taking the new executive positions under this arrangement know their product and know their territory. Each has been selling Universal Short Product in the very territory he now commands. He knows just what picture should go in the various houses of his territory and thus will be able to work with and advise the exhibitors of that territory." Scenario Competition Stimulates Interest in Dempsey Pictures ANN McCURDY, exploiting Universal productions out in Milwaukee, interested the youngsters and consequently the elders, in the showing at Ascher's Merrill Theatre of the Dempsey "Fight and Win" series of two-reelers, by inaugurating a scenario contest with the Wisconsin News and Evening Sentinel. The newspaper became enthused over the idea and got behind it with all their guns. The opening shot was a half-colunan story announcing the contest and running a telegram from Dempsey in which he authorized them to give the boys of Milwaukee a chance to make some money or win other valuable prizes by writing stories for his series of pictures. Only boys under seventeen were eligible to enter the contest and the prizes totaled fifty dollars in cash and several autographed photos of the camp. Scenarios were limited to five hundred words and had to be in the editor's hands ten days after the announcement. The manager of the theatre, Roy C. McMullen, and the editor of the newspaper were the judges. Every day of the ten the contest lasted, the newspaper ran half -column stories on it mentioning the Merrill Theatre and the "Fight and Win" series in each one. Manager McMullen was greatly pleased with the results obtained.