Kodak Movie Film, at Death's Door, Gets a Reprieve - … Film, at Death's Door, Gets a Reprieve Tarantino, Abrams Mount Campaign to Get Studios to Promise Orders From Kodak July 29,

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BUSINESS

Movie Film, at Death's Door, Gets a ReprieveTarantino,  Abrams  Mount  Campaign  to  Get  Studios  to  Promise  Orders  From  Kodak

July  29,  2014  6:59  p.m.  ET

Faced  with  the  possible  extinction  of  the  material  that  made  Hollywood  famous,  a  coalition  of  studios  isclose  to  a  deal  to  keep  Eastman  Kodak  Co.  in  the  business  of  producing  movie  film.

The  negotiations—secret  until  now—are  expected  to  result  in  an  arrangement  where  studios  promise  tobuy  a  set  quantity  of  film  for  the  next  several  years,  even  though  most  movies  and  television  shows  thesedays  are  shot  on  digital  video.

By  BEN  FRITZ

Kodak's  new  chief  executive,  Jeff  Clarke,  said  the  pact  will  allow  his  company  to  forestall  the  closure  of  its

Rochester,  N.Y.,  film  manufacturing  plant,  a  move  that  had  been  under  serious  consideration.  Kodak's

motion-­picture  film  sales  have  plummeted  96%  since  2006,  from  12.4  billion  linear  feet  to  an  estimated  449

million  this  year.  With  the  exit  of  competitor  Fujifilm  Corp.  last  year,  Kodak  is  the  only  major  company  left

producing  motion-­picture  film.

Mr.  Clarke  originally  had  hoped  that  a  group  of  studios,  producers  and  filmmakers  would  invest  directly  in

Kodak's  film-­manufacturing  plant,  as  a  joint  venture.  But  that  proposal  fell  flat  earlier  this  summer.  A

subsequent  effort  to  solicit  long-­term  orders  from  studios  gained  traction  when  several  prominent

filmmakers  joined  Kodak's  cause,  according  to  people  involved  in  the  discussions.

Among  the  big  name  directors  who  lobbied  the  heads  of  studios  to  help  find  a  solution  were  Quentin

Tarantino,  Christopher  Nolan,  Judd  Apatow,  and  J.J.  Abrams,  who  is  currently  shooting  "Star  Wars

Episode  VII"  on  film.

In  the  agreements  being  finalized  with  Kodak,  studios  are  committing  to  purchase  a  certain  amount  of  film

without  knowing  how  many,  if  any,  of  their  movies  will  be  shot  on  the  medium  over  the  next  few  years.

"It's  a  financial  commitment,  no  doubt  about  it,"  said  Bob  Weinstein,  co-­chairman  of  Weinstein  Co.  "But  I

don't  think  we  could  look  some  of  our  filmmakers  in  the  eyes  if  we  didn't  do  it."

Mr.  Weinstein  said  he  was  personally  lobbied  by  Mr.  Tarantino,  a  public  critic  of  digital  filmmaking.

Film  and  digital  video  both  "are  valid  choices,  but  it  would  be  a  tragedy  if  suddenly  directors  didn't  have  the

opportunity  to  shoot  on  film,"  said  Mr.  Apatow.  director  of  comedies  including  "Knocked  Up"  and  "The  40

Year-­Old  Virgin,"  speaking  from  the  New  York  set  of  his  coming  movie  "Trainwreck,"  which  he  is  shooting

on  film.  "There's  a  magic  to  the  grain  and  the  color  quality  that  you  get  with  film."

Quentin  Tarantino  was  one  of  several  directors  that  lobbied  heads  of  studios  to  help  ensure  the

continued  production  of  Kodak  movie  film.  Mr.  Tarantino  is  shown  on  the  set  of  'Inglourious  Basterds,'

in  2009.  Weinstein  Company/Everett  Collection

From  Reels  to  Pixels

Timeline  highlights  of  film  and  digital  film-­making.

1889:  Kodak  produces  the  first  commercialtransparent  film  roll.

1895:  The  Lumiere  Brothers  publicly  screen  afilm  for  the  first  time  ever.

1927:  "The  Jazz  Singer"  is  the  first  "talkie,"  ormotion  picture  with  sound,  to  play  publicly.

1935:  "Becky  Sharp"  is  the  first  live-­actionfeature  film  made  in  Technicolor.  The  newtechnology  would  become  broadly  popularover  the  next  few  years  with  hits  including"The  Wizard  of  Oz"  and  "Gone  With  the  Wind."

1952:  "Bwana  Devil"  is  the  first  3-­D  colorfeature  film,  setting  off  a  brief  craze  using  thenew  technology.

1970:  Imax  big  screen  projection  is  shownpublicly  for  the  first  time,  in  Osaka,  Japan.

1999:  "Star  Wars:  Episode  1  -­  The  PhantomMenace"  is  the  first  movie  played  on  digitalprojectors.

2002:  "Star  Wars:  Episode  II  -­  Attack  of  theClones"  is  the  first  feature  film  shot  entirely  ondigital  cameras.

2008:  "Journey  to  the  Center  of  the  Earth"  isthe  first  live-­action  feature  film  made  andshown  in  digital  3-­D.  The  next  year,  thetechnology  moves  into  the  mainstream  with"Avatar."

2013:  "The  Wolf  of  Wall  Street"  is  the  firstmovie  distributed  entirely  digitally,  with  no  filmprints.

Inside  Kodak's  Movie-­Film  Plant

With  preliminary  order  numbers  in  hand,  Kodak  is  nownegotiating  formal  commitments.  Among  the  studios  in  talkswith  Kodak  are  Time  Warner  Inc.  's  Warner  Bros.,  ComcastCorp.'s  Universal  Pictures,  Viacom  Inc.  's  ParamountPictures  and  Walt  Disney  Co.  's  Walt  Disney  Studios,  aswell  as  Weinstein.

"In  an  industry  where  we  very  rarely  have  unanimity,everyone  has  rallied  around  keeping  film  as  an  option  for  theforeseeable  future,"  said  Warner  Bros.  CEO  KevinTsujihara.

Industry  experts  say  the  roughly  $1  million  cost  of  rentingcameras  and  recording  equipment  on  a  movie  is  roughly  thesame  for  film  and  digital,  but  that  the  latter  allows  for  fastermovement  through  the  visual  effects  and  post-­productionprocesses.

"I'm  a  huge  fan  of  film,  but  it's  so  much  more  convenientdigitally,"  said  producer  Ian  Bryce,  whose  recent"Transformers:  Age  of  Extinction"  was  shot  primarily  ondigital  cameras.

Kodak's  Mr.  Clarke  was  named  chief  executive  in  March,seven  months  after  the  company  emerged  from  a  20-­monthbankruptcy  reorganization.  He  found  that  demand  for  filmfrom  Hollywood  was  dropping  even  faster  than  Kodak  hadprojected  and  that,  as  a  result,  that  business  unit  would  be

unprofitable  for  the  first  time  in  recent  history.

Film  is  expected  to  account  for  less  than  10%  of  Kodak's  approximately  $2.2  billion  of  revenue  this  year,but  a  closure  of  the  movie-­film  plant  would  be  an  outsized  blow  to  the  company's  image  as  it  attempts  toregain  lost  luster.

Kodak  hopes  the  agreements  will  stabilize  a  rocky  businessand  help  to  bridge  a  revenue  gap  for  the  next  few  years  as  itattempts  to  market  a  version  of  its  film  for  use  intouchscreens  for  devices  like  smartphones  and  tablets.

Although  the  company  also  makes  film  for  aerial  andindustrial  customers,  the  movie  and  TV  industries  have  longbeen  its  biggest  clients.  But  the  digital  revolution  has  senttheir  demand  into  a  tailspin.  Most  movie  theaters  haveswitched  over  to  digital  projection.

"The  unprecedented  decline  in  the  use  of  film  in  theentertainment  industry  created  an  enormous  amount  ofuncertainty,"  Mr.  Clarke  said  in  an  interview.  "We  had  tobuild  a  coalition  among  all  the  parties  in  order  to  reach  a

Before  several  Hollywood  studios  promised  to  buy  aset  quantity  of  film,  Kodak  was  considering  closing  itsmovie-­film  manufacturing  plant  in  Rochester  N.Y.  NickBrandreth  for  The  Wall  Street  Journal

Related  CoverageQ&A:  J.J.  Abrams  Says  Film  Sets  StandardChristopher  Nolan  on  Future  of  Films

solution."

It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  film  will  find  enough  adherents

to  remain  economically  viable  in  the  years  to  come,  as  few

young  directors  still  use  it.  Elizabeth  Daley,  dean  of  the

school  of  cinematic  arts  at  the  University  of  Southern

California,  said  only  one  class  at  her  school,  advanced  cinematography,  still  trains  students  to  use  film.

But  proponents  have  also  pointed  out  that  film  is  the  only  medium  still  used  for  preservation  of  all  types  of

movies  for  long  periods  of  time—even  ones  shot  digitally.  Digital  files  need  to  be  regularly  transferred,

putting  them  at  greater  risk  of  being  damaged.

Mr.  Clarke  said  that  he  expects  Kodak  will  lose  money  on  film  manufacturing  in  2014  and  roughly  break

even  by  next  year,  based  on  the  deals  currently  being  worked  out.  By  2016,  he  hopes  that  sales  to

touchscreen  manufacturers  combined  with  projected  demand  from  Hollywood  will  move  Kodak's  film

business  back  into  the  black.

"I  am  confident  we  will  see  a  slowing  of  the  [revenue]  decline,"  said  Mr.  Clarke.  "But  a  large  part  of  this  will

be  a  deeper  recognition  that  film  is  valuable."

Write  to  Ben  Fritz  at  [email protected]

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