Hi Jessica, I think Microcinema really is shuttered. Here’s a letter I got back in May:
Dear Distribution Vendor Partners and Microcinema Customers: Effectively immediately, any and all UPC’s associated with Microcinema Inc. are going on permanent moratorium and discontinued. After nine years of distributing excellent films on art and culture, we have concluded that this business and industry is no longer sustainable and we will be closing down the company. If you are a Distribution Vendor Partner, please submit any and all RA’s as soon as possible. We sincerely thank you for all of your support and business over the years, and we may be working with you again in the future, but for now Patrick and I are moving on to other endeavors. Kind regards, Joel S. Bachar, President Microcinema International +415-447-9750 Www.microcinema.com Best, Randy Randy Pitman Publisher/Editor Video Librarian 3435 NE Nine Boulder Dr. Poulsbo, WA 98370 Tel: (360) 626-1259 Fax (360) 626-1260 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.videolibrarian.com From: Jessica Rosner Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2014 5:56 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Videolib] Extremely OP DVD distributors New Yorker is around and so is Microcinema unless I missed something, but New Yorker did lose rights to many titles in its library. There is nothing really unusual about that. Foreign and independent films are especially prone to rights issues because the contracts are for a limited time ( used to average 7 years now 10 to 15) It is a bit of catch 22 because honestly piracy is so bad and the cost of acquiring and mastering a new copy so high it just is not feasible in many cases for a company to do it sometimes even if they still have the rights. Sometimes there are happy endings. I was thrilled when one of my favorite films of the last 20 plus years THE LONG DAY CLOSES was reissued first on film and now on blu ray DVD but that is the exception rather than the rule. LOTS of titles are out of print and sadly many companies are gone now. Ironically I don't think there has ever been a time where MORE titles were actually available but there is always going to be a HUGE number of titles that are not. Jessica On Wed, Jul 9, 2014 at 7:41 PM, Laura Jenemann <[email protected]> wrote: Dear videolib, Can anyone offer a few of their favorite DVD vendors that are out-of-business, or titles out-of-print? Recent mention of Microcinema comes to mind, as do earlier New Yorker films. Thank you very much. Regards, Laura Laura Jenemann Media Services/Film Studies Librarian George Mason University Libraries Email: [email protected] Phone: 703-993-7593 VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.
VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.
