“The major film studios have decided that they eventually want to stop renting all archival 35mm film prints entirely because there are so few revival houses left, and because digital is cheap and the cost of storing and shipping prints is high.”
The above quote comes from the overview of the Fight For 35mm petition. And I’m urging you all to read up on it and sign it.
And if that doesn’t work, then I guess it’s Occupy Film Vault.
Well, I signed and slapped it on Facebook this morning, for whatever that’s worth. I’ve heard the same thing from other programmers, that the studios have cut their staff in the repertory divisions and don’t want to be bothered about supplying prints any more (much less striking new ones). It’s a mini-crisis that’s sprung up faster than anyone expected as a side effect of the digital multiplex epidemic.
The New Bev is a great place to hang out, and one that’s survived a lot of adversity over the years, so it’d be a terrible shame for them to get done in by such a fixable problem.
Thanks for passing it along.
I rarely go to the movies anymore, and it’s usually for a revival of something or other. If film goes, I can’t imagine me in a theater again.