Wall Street Journal show the decline of Kodak film sales
The Wall Street Journal leads today on the efforts of star-directors like Tarantino and Judd Apatow to force studios to commit to long term minimum orders from Kodak for rolls of film.
The new deal would prevent Kodak, the last major movie-film producer, from ceasing production for the first time in its history, this would have left Hollywood without the option of choosing between digital and film recording. According to the WSJ:
Kodak’s motion-picture film sales have plummeted 96% since 2006, from 12.4 billion linear feet to an estimated 449 million this year
Although the cost of shooting a movie on film or digital is about the same in terms of gear rental, film makes post production longer and more expensive. Hence why many producers favour digital. Under the new deal studios will be buying film without knowing how many films will be made each year with the medium. It is acknowledged that the motives behind the new deal may not purely be based on economical facts themselves, but also on keeping talent happy:
“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.”
With the drive coming from big name directors who responded to Kodaks solicitations.
Do you think this deal is a good one? Will inevitably in the future we all be digital?
