8mm Forum: In the final steps of starting a 16mm movie house business :)...

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Topic: In the final steps of starting a 16mm movie house business :)...

Elyas Tesfaye
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 520
From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Registered: Nov 2012

posted June 09, 2015 01:54 PM

Hello all,

hoping you're all doing great and wanted to share my two cents worth on a potential business idea. From my volunteer screenings at different venues, I realized of the existence of a potential for a business. Has anybody thought of the same? Depending on the diversity of titles in one's collection and screening venue availability and quality as well, one would be a niche player at best, but still just was curious to see if anybody has thought of the same and hopefully compare notes. Thanks for your time and hope to hear back from anyone [Big Grin]

!!!

Best,
ET

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

posted June 09, 2015 02:52 PM

Be careful if your films are copyright. Are they professional features?

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Maurice

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Elyas Tesfaye
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 520
From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Registered: Nov 2012

posted June 09, 2015 04:51 PM

Hi Maurice,

most of my films (over 70%) are National Film Board of Canada productions and I am in talks with them about copyright. I was actually looking to get some feedback from the likes of yourself and other veterans to the trade on copyrights to features from major studios. Also, I have a lot of European features (spaghetti Westerns) some of which are from studios that are now defunct. Would the copyright hence be free game or what? Thanks as always [Smile]

!!!

Best,
ET

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

posted June 10, 2015 06:14 AM

Film copyright is a mine-field. Some distributors fail to renew their copyright and the film falls into the public domain. You should give a lot of thought to your project. Are there a lot of film users who would wish to borrow films from you? Will it be worth your trouble?

You may be interested in the following although it may not relate to Canada:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_in_the_public_domain_in_the_United_States

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Maurice

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Jean-Marc Toussaint
Film God

Posts: 2392
From: France
Registered: Oct 2004

posted June 10, 2015 08:14 AM

Elyas, as Maurice is suggesting, a thorough search of who owns what could be extremely helpful.
It's not because the producing studio is no longer up and running that the rights for the films are available. They could be owned by a distribution company, even if the title isn't available in digital form for the general public. Most major studios are/have their own distribution channel. Smaller production companies rely on independant distribution entities.
The documentary which I coproduced has a flat fee of 150.00 euros for a public screening. This is quite low compared to flat fees for other films. A minimum of 300 to 500 is not uncommon for small films. It can be much higher for bigger titles.
A friend of mine is organizing a yearly festival (now in its sixth year) for genre fans in the east of France. This year, Brian Yuzna came to introduce Return of the Living Dead 3, Anthony Hicox came for Waxwork and Jake West came for Doghouse and flat fees had to be paid.
Sometimes, distributor will ask you for a share on tickets sale (40 to 50% is the norm), or they can ask you for a flat fee (guaranteed minimum) PLUS a percentage on ticket sales.

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The Grindcave Cinema Website

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Terry Lagler
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 525
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Apr 2008

posted June 10, 2015 08:35 AM

Hi Elyas
Sounds like a fun idea but as others have pointed out the copyright thing can be an issue, especially if you want to charge for shows. There are small venues in Toronto that do regular 16mm shows (B-Movie features, educational films etc..) that charge between $5-$10. Although they may be calling it a donation.
During the preparation of last years Home Movie Day at our public library I mentioned the idea of doing real film screenings as they already have DVD movie nights. I don't know details but they pay a blanket fee that covers copyright (but these showings are free). Apparently getting permission to show older films is much easier. I was recently in contact with events co-ordinator who told me we have a room for the entire day this year and are interested in doing some sort of screening so we'll see how this shapes up.
I would imagine the NFB would be protective of their material so it will interesting to hear what they say.

Hope you keep us up to date.

Cheers
Terry

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Elyas Tesfaye
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 520
From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Registered: Nov 2012

posted June 11, 2015 11:08 AM

Hi guys,

I appreciate all the great input, thank you all so very much [Smile]

!!!

Maurice, thanks for the Wikipedia link, that will definitely come in handy and I am actually thinking of starting a cinema house business, not renting.

Jean-Marc, thanks a lot for the in depth breakdown. The National Film Board might also fall into the more reasonable ones that want a percentage ( I remember being quoted 35% of the box office in a previous conversation) cut of whatever you make, which I feel is the most reasonable to the movie house.

Terry, I will definitely keep you updated, neighbor [Smile]

... And hoping the business does well and thrives, maybe you and I could consider swapping movies as the cheap shipping definitely makes it an enticing option for the both of us going forward [Big Grin]

!!!

Best,
Elyas

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Steve Klare
Film Guy

Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 11, 2015 11:15 AM

quote:
most of my films (over 70%) are National Film Board of Canada productions

-Hmmm!

Do you have any Bill Mason films?

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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

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Elyas Tesfaye
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 520
From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Registered: Nov 2012

posted June 11, 2015 02:07 PM

Hey Steve,

titles might help but they are almost all documentaries... The one name that jumps at me when I think of these older NFB productions is Koenig ( both Wolf and Joe) [Smile]

... I can send you a word document of what I have thus far catalogued if that helps, so lemme know [Big Grin]

!!!

Best,
ET

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Steve Klare
Film Guy

Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 11, 2015 02:26 PM

He was this great film maker who loved making films about nature and in particular canoeing.

Bill Mason

He was never formally trained in filmmaking, just naturally talented. He was also thought of as being very hard to work with, which was OK because generally speaking he liked working as alone as possible.

Some of the more famous ones were:

Paddle to the Sea, (The most requested NFB title, ever)
Cry of the Wild,
Wolf Pack,
The Land that Devours Ships,
Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes,
Blake,
Path of the Paddle,
Song of the Paddle,
Waterwalker

He should also be a local hero to you: he grew up in Winnipeg!

[ June 11, 2015, 03:46 PM: Message edited by: Steve Klare ]

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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

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Elyas Tesfaye
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 520
From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Registered: Nov 2012

posted June 12, 2015 12:27 PM

Hi Steve,

wow!!! Thanks for the tip, I actually have "The voyagers" and awesome to hear he was from Winnipeg too. Have yourself a great Weekend as I myself will be heading to one of our local restaurants to watch the US Sweden soccer worldcup match this PM [Smile]

... The actual game is a stone's throw away from the joint [Big Grin]

!!!

Cheers,
Elyas

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