Wid's weekly (1923)

of the theatres have never been able to play a film until long after the public has lost in¬ terest in it. Everyone is familiar with the fact recently demonstrated with our long runs in certain cities, that the old idea of showing a film for one week only in a city was faulty, because most of the fans were unable to find the film after the first run was finished. Under the unit method a good film would be shown simultaneously in one hundred theatres each night, so that in a period of a few weeks, while everyone was still thinking and talking about the production, the offering could be played in all of the community theatres, or in other words, brought to the door of the fan. Certainly this method of operation has a very decided value in making it possible to bring a film back to a community once a year. It will show for a month or six weeks and arouse a great deal of interest. It will then be removed for one year, so that when it returns the following year there will be the same value that is now secured to the annual visit of successful theatrical attractions. It has been demonstrated that a film will succeed or fail in any given district or commu¬ nity according to the manner in which it is presented in that community. A successful run in Chicago, under the present system, does not necessarily mean a successful run in Den¬ ver or Seattle. The Unit Method gives in¬ tensive selling in each district and actually covers the country in the same period of time that is now used, with the possibility of doing a much greater volume of business, because every booking is made when the interest in the film, through word of mouth discussion, makes its value greater. There is another very decided value to the method of operation presented by the Guaranty Sales Corporation. Under their plan of operation a group of salesmen start with one production and go through the entire country selling and exploiting only that one film. Not only does the producer get the value of con¬ centrated effort, but he is placed in a position where he knows that there is no possible op¬ portunity to use his film to help the sale of any other film. The independent producer will also be decidedly interested in the arrangement of the Guaranty Sales Corporation which provides that every rental check from the theatre owner will be made out to the Los Angeles Bank of the producer, which bank will be authorized to pay over direct to the producer the percent¬ age of the rental which is his share of the profits. Such a direct payment system is bet¬ ter than any arrangement I have ever heard of in the selling of films. I believe that “The Unit Method” will be welcomed most heartily by theatre owners, be¬ cause it will give to every theatre owner the opportunity to play a good film when it is still very much alive, and while the exploitation expenditures in his community are still deliv¬ ering box office value. Under the present methods of selling, one hundred prints of a subject are scattered over the country. For instance, to make the point, we will say that each of twenty offices gets five prints. Actually one may get three and an¬ other eight, but that does not enter into the point which I want to make. In order to play all of the theatres in any community with the five or six prints available, the exchange must take approximately nine months to get the bulk of the business in. As a matter of actu¬ ality, it frequently takes two years, or more, to play any given district with half a dozen prints. Under the unit method there will be two units working on each film, with the coun¬ try divided into twelve districts. That makes six districts for each unit to cover, and with six weeks bookings in each district, the entire country will be covered in nine months’ time. I have checked, with exceptional care, this plan of selling. I believe it is the greatest and most valuable innovation that has ever been presented, and I will be very much interested in having anyone show me where it is in any way weak. I believe the officers of the Guar¬ anty Sales Corporation will also be interested in having anyone try to present any basic weakness in their plan. For years capable creators and independ¬ ent financial men have wanted to produce in¬ dependently. I know of scores of very capable creators and men with millions who have been waiting for the presentation of a selling plan which would give intelligent, intensive selling of a worth while film, in a manner that would bring proper returns honestly delivered. It’s here. Certainly this method of operation has come into the industry at a most timely period. Even the biggest corporations have admitted that the forcing of bad product is bad busi¬ ness. With this new method of operation open to the independent producer, the opportunity