Variety (October 1954)

Wednesday, October 20, 1954 TV-FILMS 35 RERUN PIE: TOO MANY SLICES »• For the first time, a telefilm syndication house , finds itself in the position' of having to. turn down top national and regional sponsors bidding for a show simply because the program is virtually sold out. Firm is Guild Films, and the program is “Liborace,” which via its 217-station lineup is now available in only about dozen markets, all of them small ones. There are some 255 television markets on the air today, but only about 225-230 of them; can be sold for syndication because of the overlap problem. Those last dozen aren’t represented in the “Liberace” lineup because of size, their UHF situation, etc. Only .thing-Guild has left .to sell on the show are-about five bo-sponsorship or alternate-week sponsorship availabilities in scat- tered; markets. In some markets, the series has been sold to sponsors for several months but isn’t on the air because the key stations haven't been able to clear time for it. . % , First telefilm production deal-f with - the Japanese* under which I a Tokyo-based firm will supply a film series for American television, was worked out in New York last week by Television Corp. of Japan and Flamingo Films. Under a five- year deal which involves exchange, of programs as well as new prodr uct, TCJ will supply a. series of 52 quarter-hour fully animated car- toons to Flamingo, for American tele distribution. Deal not only marks, the first time the Japanese will produce film for American television con- sumption, but also marks the first cartoon series produced directly for television to be offered for syn- dication. Under the terms of the production ^ deal, TCJ’s animators, who employ a Disney-type tech- nique, will do the animation and filming in. Tokyo, with Flamingo supplying story format and sound- track in N. Y. Japanese, incidental- ly, will supply their own sound- tracks for local consumption. Total cost of the films, in which Flamingo and TCJ ate partnered, comes .to $1,500,000, all of which Will be forwarded in dollars to Japan: Agreement, under which Flamingo has named TCJ its sell- ing agent in Japan for its own product, runs five , years with op- tions to cancel at the end of three, and Calls for an annual expenditure by Flamingo in subsequent years of at least $1,000,000. Films, in- cidentally, will have central character and a continuity cur-* rently being worked out by Fla- mingo. They’re being done in 35m Eastman color, with delivery of the. first films slated .for April 15 and a September release date assigned. Flamingo is working out details) under which the cartoons would be distributed theatrically outside the U. S. and Japan. Deal was negotiated by Fla- mingo’s Sy Weintraub and .TCJ’s (Continued on page 38) On Inside Story’ * Charles E. Skinner Productions, N. Y. telefilm outfit headed, by one- time “Big Story" director-adapter Skinner, has begun shooting on a new detective series titled “Inside Story.” Scripts of the new series are based on files of such various groups as the American .Medical Assn., the Better Business Bureaus and leading; detective agencies and governmental bureau^, but the ac- cent on the show is away from violence with emphasis on detec- tion and investigation, Skinner has already completed three half-hours, shooting in N. Y., and has begun production on two tnore. He’s dickering a national deal on the series, but will put them into syndication if no net- work deal jells.. Skinner himself is producing-directlrig the films, With Allan Sloane having scripted the first three. Skinner Produc- tions, a four-year-old firm,, has been concentrating largely in the field of industrial films in the past, but has turned out two vidfilms for the Freedoms Foundation and put “Greatest Story Ever Told" on celluloid a couple of years ago. Hollywood, Oct.. 19. Frank Tuttle has been picked as director of Alan Ladd’s initial tele- film, to be made this week for the GE series, . Vidpictiire will be shot under the banner oif Ladd’s own Jaguar Pro- ductions. Russell Hughes scripted, and John Seitz is cameraman, Cugat’s Tinted MCA-TV is planning a series of 39 half hours starring Xavier Cugat as the firm’s first "tint proj- ect. Contract details between the bandleader and MCA are being Worked out now, with Cugat al- ready on the Coast to make a pilot for the series on Saturday (23). Considering the Guy Lombardo series, the Cugat tinter will com- prise the second musical skein on MCA distribution fosters. Com- pany execs don't figure the maes- tros offer sufficiently the same brand of tooting to be intra-mural competition. As “complimentary” properties, it Was suggested unof- ficially that the. two vidpixers might even be sold as alternate Week slottings. Lensing on Cugat will be done at the Republic Studios in Holly- wood. 70G Residual Payments On Terry,’ ‘Hero' Reruns Official Films has just completed residual payments to actors, writ- ers and directors' of ’an estimated $70,000 on tWo of its series which have reached third and fourth run status. Payments . for reruns oil “My Hero” and “Terry arid the Pirates," with former accounting- for about 47,000 and the latter for $23,000, .“Hero" ran. .network initially, with Official now having sold it in rerun, While; “Terry” initially was national spot for Canada Dry, with that already in rerun too, Payments wCre iriade' in accordance with- the Screen ; Actors Guild, Screen Directors -Guild and Screen. Writers Guild. repayment contract clauses. WCBS-TV’s Pix Curtsy Paraphrasing a tune from “Ok- lahoma," WCBS-TV iff singing “The Exhibitor and the Telecmster Must Be Friends,’* CBS’ New York flagship has delayed “first N, Y. telecast*’ of “Runaway Bus" to permit its opening and runoff at the Trans-Lux Normandie. Lat- ter will 'give “Bus” its U. S. preem ride late this month. Station’s curtsy to the Gotham art house was made by request Of the pic’s distributor, Americari- British TV. Movies. ^y DAVE KAUFMAN Hollywood, Oct 19. Most vivid illustration of the grosses to; be garnered in the tele- film refuii market is Frank Wis- bar's “Fireside Theatre,” topgross-. ing series in the industry. .“Fire- side," now in its sixth year of pro-, duction, .has grossed $2,350,000. from five years’ product which had initial production outlay of ap- proximately $3,500,000, That makes a rich rerun pie with lots of whipped cream but there’s a digestive hitch to it all. By the" time the distributors get their heavy cut of the pie, only one-half or less is left for the pro- ducer. But the producer in this instance, Wisbar, ' making .the ■ telefilms for Procter & Gamle on a participation basis. So P&G winds up with less than half the pie, giv- ing a slice of it to Wisbar. The end is not in sight, however, with more ’‘Firesides’’ continually going into the reissue market. However, ■ weil-inforhied pro- ducers feel the lush days of rerun grosses are approaching tjyeir end. They base this on a conviction that the advent of color and magnetic, tape will revolutionize many of to- day’s methods of production and distribution. Producers estimate both rieyr technological advances will be here on a commercially feasible basis in from two to three years for tv pix, and consequently advise prospective telefilm finan- ciers to consider carefully these potentials in any iongrange invest- ment. The way some producers look at it, they’ve spent the last few years coming out of the economic wilder- ness,. only to find themselves con- fronted with the electronics revo- lution now taking place, and you detect a certain amount of frustra- tion iia their analysis of the situa- tion. One of the iriore successful producers commented wryly; “You can make a lice living, you “can put money in the bank, but you’ll never get rich in televisiom" “Fireside" figures point up one of the reasons producers aren’t happy despite the fantastic grosses being accumulated in reruns. They feel distribution costs today ‘are enormous, and that ways and means should be found to reduce them to a “bearable" level. Syridication the Answfer? Syndication holds many answers, especially of the syndicator-distrib- utor finances his own shows, it’s felt. One producer observed: “TV film production is a Iongrange in- vestment and as such definitely not bad. But half-hour shows, costing more than $25,000 ana not closely covered by sponsors’ (irstrun pay- ment, enter, the danger zone by delaying the period of recoupment too long and the mounting interest on the capital will eat up the prof- its.” : Breakdown of the ‘‘Fireside” pic- ture reveals'they were , begun in 1949, with Wisbar,./ producing* 40 15-min. vidfilms for Gordon LeVoy, under, the aegis of General Televi- sion Enterprises; Next season Wisbar made the series for Bing (Continued .on* page 38) O’Shea Exits MPTV For Own Legit Flackery Mike O’Shea has resigned as ria : tional publicity director of Motion Pictures for Television in order to reopen his own legit flackery; He exits MPTV Nov, 15, after winding a trip to the Coast on which he left yesterday (Tues.). O’Shea, who’s a member of the Assn, of Theatrical Press Agents & Man- agers, is set to handle two incom- ing Broadway shows as his first ac- counts, and there’s the possibility he may handle upcoming MPTV telefilm series on a freelance basis, O’Shea joined MPTV last Octo- ber, when the firm’s syndication arm was formed. His duties will be taken over by promotion-adver- tising chief Guy Cunningham* Gilded Guild - There’s a wide-open battle between two banks in Cleve- land, with television the battle- ground and Guild Films .placed right in the middle. The banks are the Society for Savings and the Cleveland National Bank. - Former has been sponsoring “Liberace” for some months, now, and the latter, wishing to get into the television act, re- cently bought the “Florian Za- bach Show" as a competitive entry..Both are Guild shows.. Real gainer is WEWS-TV, which carries both programs. Aussie Market's . ^ Within the last month the Aus- tralian government announced al- location of television channels in several of its . major Cities, and it's expected that most of them, includirig the three in Melbourne and the like number in Sydney; will be airwise in the. next 18 months. Paul Talbot, boss of Fre- mantle Overseas Radi and Tele- vision, who just returned from a world tour Which included the Ari- zac empire, said it should be a major foreign market for American vidpix distributors, much better than England;, as a matter pf fact. To prove the “natural" status of Australia for vidpix distribs, Tal- bot cited several reasons: (1) All along, Aussies have found Amer- ican product popular. (Fremantle alone has 14 radio shows of Amer- ican vintage placed , there, and some, such as “Superman" and “You Are There," he contends are high ranking) ; ; (2) there is no large supply of indigenous talent/ so the Anzacs; might readily turn to the U S. for shows. The English, for example, have a well-establish- ed motion pic and legitimate thea- tre industries, while Australia shows her only real strength.—and that’s relative—in radio; (3) aside from the important fact that Aus- tralia is an English-language coun- try, there is “tremendous" interest in the advent of video, practically assuring a Solid market for decent product, and (5) there is the chief city of Sydney (2,000,000 popula- tion) whose blue laws close all theatres, bars and sports arenas on Sunday, leaving room at pres- ent for broadcast entertainment alone, Talbot disclosed that his own or- ganization will speiid nearly $i,- 000,000 for vidpix to use ini Aus- tralia. The FORTY; topper is Ameri- ( Continued on page .38) Syndication Likely On Richard Arlen/Alarm’ There’s a good- chance, that “Alarm," Roland Bleed Productions’ series about .firefighters .with itich- ard Arlen starring, r may g6 into syndication next spring; According to Guy Thayer Jr., Reed v.p. now in N. Y. on business, the firm will continue to pitch for a national sale through the January and April sales cycles, but if none is forth- coming by then, will proceed on production for syndication. Distribution would probably be handled by United Television Pro- grams, which already has Reed’s “Rocky Jones" and "Waterfront” in the syndication field. So far there’s only a pilot on “Alarm,” with the Reed organization and Halsey Bar- rett in N. Y. handling the sales ef- fort, Thayer and. Arlen, inci- dentally/ go to Houston next week to screen the pilot for the Fire Chiefs’ convention there. ■f Telefilm stocks — at least the shares of the two companies which have floated public issues—have more than doubled over a three- week period. Along with this vast increase in the companies’ worth, has come a tremendous in Wall Street interest the fledgling syndication business, arid conversely, an. extreme finance-: consciousness on the part of syn- dicators. Two stocks involved are Guild Films' and Official Films, with the former almost doubling its market price in the short period of three Weeks: since it hit the market, and the latter’s shares, idle; in rice and activity for nearly four years, suddenly shoot- ing, to more than double, its value i the same, period. Guild was floated at $4 a share; by the week- ^pd closing it Was $7.62 per share. Total market value *of the 250,000- share issue, has jumped from $1,000,000 to $1,900,000. Official’s stock. issue, floated four years ago when the firm was. organized, at a much higher fig- ure had fallen, sharply arid re- mained at about 85c a share for the past couple of years. Three weeks ago, the firm issued iti financial report; showing a start- ling net profit of $317,000. Price jumped to, $2 a share within Week and a half, and has re- mained at about that level. Chiefly responsible for the more-than-riierited interest and up-, beat are a number of factors. First, the syndication business has that “brand-new” stamp, and this, along with the glamor of being another “television baby,’,’ has ex- cited interest. Secondly, there are only the two companies in th field with public issues, which ac- counts for the fact that the Guild issue was no less than eight times oversubscribed by the time it hit the market. Thirdly, they are among the few firms which have shown a profit at this stage, of the. game, There’s little question that the oversubscription of the Guild is- sue not. only served to shoot its price upward but that some of the interest spilled over into Offi- cial’s lap. This,; plus the fact that the latter’s net profits had creased by 400% over the previ- ous year, zoomed, its stock up- ward too. United Television Programs has begun its renewal carnnaign on “Waterfront” with the inking of four regional bankrollers for * sec- ond year. It’s the first time. UTP has gone into a second year on any of its syndicated properties ( with the exception of the “Big Town” reruns, which- a network pro- position). New cycle of 26 to fol- low the 39 already produced by Roland Reed productions goes be- fore the cameras Nov. 4. Big renewal is Standard Oil of California, which is picking it Up in seven western states: Standard was the. first bankroller pacted for the Preston Foster series when it was still in the pilot stage over a year ago. Stroh Brewing has renewed in Detroit and four Michi- gan markets; Falls City brewing will bankroll in Kentucky and In- diana arid Peyton Packing will go it again in Texas. Irving, Hiecke Upped, Hollywood, Oct. 19; Revue Productions has upped Richard Irving and Carl Hiecke to v. p. status. Irving for past three years has been director and associate pro- ducer for the vidfilmery, white Hiecke, with Revue over two years, is production manager.