Re: [Frameworks] Kodak Is Selling Off Its Legendary Film Business [Photography]
No Mason Shefa Yale University, '15 Jonathan Edwards College 818.517.9061 www.masonshefa.com On Aug 24, 2012, at 7:02 AM, Pip Chodorov framewo...@re-voir.com wrote: Kodak Is Selling Off Its Legendary Film Business [Photography] GIZMODO | AUGUST 24, 2012 http://pulse.me/s/czzYe Kodak is really closing out its era as a photographic monolith, opting to sell off its film business entirely. As the Wall Street Journal reports, Kod... Read more ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] Kodak Is Selling Off Its Legendary Film Business [Photography]
Have you seen _Villa Rides_ with Yul Brynner? There is a scene in there in which Pancho Villa's army receives their first machine gun, and one soldier loads it and begins firing without putting it into the base. He is unable to control it or stop it and bullets go flying in all directions. Kodak's management is a lot like that, and it has been for the past fifty years or so. They have not managed to kill themselves yet, but it's been only a matter of time. Kodak did most of the fundamental research into digital imaging, and they held most of the patents. But they never actually introduced products until years after everyone else, because management could not see beyond the next quarter and did not want to invest into the long term. Then Kodak sold those patents at a fraction of their real value, again because they saw short term profit. Kodak's current CEO knows about printers, he doesn't know a damn thing about film, and to be honest Kodak hasn't really understood the film market for the past few decades. Every major decision they have made has turned out to be wrong. In the early 1980s, Kodak shut down all of the smaller film production alleys with the expectation that they would not ever need to do smaller production runs. They kept only the newer alleys that are optimized for very large jumbo rolls and very long production jobs. Consequently, as the market has shrunk, Kodak has been unable to keep any of the smaller-demand films in the catalogue. Stuff like the RAR films, the Hawkeye Surveillance Films, and other stocks that have a small dedicated market have all gone away and _that_ has accelerated the move of many of the scientific and industrial imaging people to digital systems because they had no alternative. At the same time, smaller operations like Orwo, Ilford, and Kentmere with smaller lines are able to make a profit on the smaller production runs which are the order of the day today. Kentmere is using these little nine-inch jumbos which would fit inside the core of one of the big Kodak ones. For two years I tried to get Kodachrome our local camera store was unable to get Kodak to ship them the stuff and it seemed like BH was the only place in the country that could get it. Then Kodak discontinued it because of the low demand... but if you don't ship it to customers, they aren't going to be buying it. Kodak's film operation today basically hinges on motion picture print stocks. They make a lot of print stock, much of which is going into the third world, and the large scale print stock production is keeping the alleys open for them to be able to make smaller demand stocks like camera films. With the current move to digital presentation, demand for those print stocks is going to be going away. The only hope for Kodak's film operation is for Kodak to split it off and get some people who actually understand film and the film market to run it. It's going to take some capital investment too... some of those long alleys are going to have to be split up and transformed into facilities more conducive to small production runs. They are going to have to figure out how to make film in small runs and actually get that film to customers. So, I am hoping this is a good thing. If not, well, Fuji is making record profits today. --scott ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] Kodak Is Selling Off Its Legendary Film Business [Photography]
On Fri, Aug 24, 2012 at 8:09 AM, Scott Dorsey klu...@panix.com wrote: The only hope for Kodak's film operation is for Kodak to split it off and get some people who actually understand film and the film market to run it. It's going to take some capital investment too... some of those long alleys are going to have to be split up and transformed into facilities more conducive to small production runs. They are going to have to figure out how to make film in small runs and actually get that film to customers. I agree completely. The company needs to be broken up with motion picture being separated or bought by a company like Eastman Chemical. Perez, the board, and executive level management are stuffing their pockets with money through the sale of stock holdings and giving themselves raises and bonuses as the ship sinks. So, I am hoping this is a good thing. If not, well, Fuji is making record profits today. True, we'll have Fuji and ORWO and maybe AGFA (print and sound films), but Kodak MP makes stocks in 16mm that are not available from these other companies. 7363 and 3374 to name two. Though I believe AGFA still makes optical sound recording film in 16mm, getting it is cost prohibitive with minimum order requirements. I hope Kodak MP can survive in another form, but the current model needs to go. Alain -- 40 FRAMES Alain LeTourneau Pam Minty 40 FRAMES 5232 North Williams Avenue Portland, Oregon 97217 USA +1 503 231 6548 www.40frames.org www.16mmdirectory.org www.emptyquarterfilm.org ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] Kodak Is Selling Off Its Legendary Film Business [Photography]
From Jim Linder's post on AMIA (today)... Kodak has announced that it is selling other divisions including Consumer Film. Speculation is that this is due at least partially to low bids for the patents. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1872396390444812704577607700939340864.html http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-08-23/kodak-to-sell-imaging-units-as-patent-auction-continues But here is the biggie. According to this article Motion Picture Film is outside of the core and the article continues with a quote that suggests that the business may be up for sale. Page 2 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1872396390444812704577607700939340864.html --Alain On Fri, Aug 24, 2012 at 9:45 AM, 40 Frames i...@40frames.org wrote: On Fri, Aug 24, 2012 at 8:09 AM, Scott Dorsey klu...@panix.com wrote: The only hope for Kodak's film operation is for Kodak to split it off and get some people who actually understand film and the film market to run it. It's going to take some capital investment too... some of those long alleys are going to have to be split up and transformed into facilities more conducive to small production runs. They are going to have to figure out how to make film in small runs and actually get that film to customers. I agree completely. The company needs to be broken up with motion picture being separated or bought by a company like Eastman Chemical. Perez, the board, and executive level management are stuffing their pockets with money through the sale of stock holdings and giving themselves raises and bonuses as the ship sinks. So, I am hoping this is a good thing. If not, well, Fuji is making record profits today. True, we'll have Fuji and ORWO and maybe AGFA (print and sound films), but Kodak MP makes stocks in 16mm that are not available from these other companies. 7363 and 3374 to name two. Though I believe AGFA still makes optical sound recording film in 16mm, getting it is cost prohibitive with minimum order requirements. I hope Kodak MP can survive in another form, but the current model needs to go. Alain -- 40 FRAMES Alain LeTourneau Pam Minty 40 FRAMES 5232 North Williams Avenue Portland, Oregon 97217 USA +1 503 231 6548 www.40frames.org www.16mmdirectory.org www.emptyquarterfilm.org -- 40 FRAMES Alain LeTourneau Pam Minty 40 FRAMES 5232 North Williams Avenue Portland, Oregon 97217 USA +1 503 231 6548 www.40frames.org www.16mmdirectory.org www.emptyquarterfilm.org ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] Kodak Is Selling Off Its Legendary Film Business [Photography]
I have an idea. How about every member of frameworks chips in and we become stake holders in the print film production division of Kodak. We can sell shares at $100 a pop. I could do 10 shares and just eat ala Jack Smith for awhile, 2 day old oatmeal. Watching my cholesterol anyway. Anyone out there know if this is feasible? On Fri, Aug 24, 2012 at 12:53 PM, 40 Frames i...@40frames.org wrote: From Jim Linder's post on AMIA (today)... Kodak has announced that it is selling other divisions including Consumer Film. Speculation is that this is due at least partially to low bids for the patents. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1872396390444812704577607700939340864.html http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-08-23/kodak-to-sell-imaging-units-as-patent-auction-continues But here is the biggie. According to this article Motion Picture Film is outside of the core and the article continues with a quote that suggests that the business may be up for sale. Page 2 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1872396390444812704577607700939340864.html --Alain On Fri, Aug 24, 2012 at 9:45 AM, 40 Frames i...@40frames.org wrote: On Fri, Aug 24, 2012 at 8:09 AM, Scott Dorsey klu...@panix.com wrote: The only hope for Kodak's film operation is for Kodak to split it off and get some people who actually understand film and the film market to run it. It's going to take some capital investment too... some of those long alleys are going to have to be split up and transformed into facilities more conducive to small production runs. They are going to have to figure out how to make film in small runs and actually get that film to customers. I agree completely. The company needs to be broken up with motion picture being separated or bought by a company like Eastman Chemical. Perez, the board, and executive level management are stuffing their pockets with money through the sale of stock holdings and giving themselves raises and bonuses as the ship sinks. So, I am hoping this is a good thing. If not, well, Fuji is making record profits today. True, we'll have Fuji and ORWO and maybe AGFA (print and sound films), but Kodak MP makes stocks in 16mm that are not available from these other companies. 7363 and 3374 to name two. Though I believe AGFA still makes optical sound recording film in 16mm, getting it is cost prohibitive with minimum order requirements. I hope Kodak MP can survive in another form, but the current model needs to go. Alain -- 40 FRAMES Alain LeTourneau Pam Minty 40 FRAMES 5232 North Williams Avenue Portland, Oregon 97217 USA +1 503 231 6548 www.40frames.org www.16mmdirectory.org www.emptyquarterfilm.org -- 40 FRAMES Alain LeTourneau Pam Minty 40 FRAMES 5232 North Williams Avenue Portland, Oregon 97217 USA +1 503 231 6548 www.40frames.org www.16mmdirectory.org www.emptyquarterfilm.org ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks -- ... ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] Kodak Is Selling Off Its Legendary Film Business [Photography]
I wouldn't put a penny into Kodak's film division. But if someone from Orwo came to me asking for an investment, I'd be happy to write them a check. Orwo knows their customers and they know what they want. Kodak doesn't even seem to know their own employees let alone their customers. --scott Disclaimer: I own Fuji stock. ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
