8mm Forum: 16mm Rental Library?

This is topic 16mm Rental Library? in forum 16mm Forum at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Brian Hendel (Member # 61) on June 09, 2006, 02:53 PM:

Hello all... Does anyone know if there still exists a 16mm rental library in the US? I know there used to be tons of them years ago but I'm not sure if they are extinct. I was thinking of having an outdoor film festival for friends this summer and didn't want to actually buy more films. Any tips would be appreciated via email. BrianH9249 at aol dot com

[ June 10, 2006, 04:37 PM: Message edited by: Kevin Faulkner ]

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on June 09, 2006, 04:08 PM:

Although I'm in the UK, I looked into this a while back and discovered Swank. This page http://www.swank.com/art/16mmrelease.asp indicates that they have some recent releases in their library.

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on June 10, 2006, 04:41 PM:

Brian, Hope ypou dont mind but I editied the email address you put at the end of your post.

It's not really a good idea to display your normal email address in the threads as you will possibly find that it gets nabbed by spammers and you will then end up with all sorts of junk every day.

It just helps to cut that problem down if you write it like I have for you. It stops them just copying and pasting them into their address lists and also stops scanning software finding them on forums etc.

Kev.

Posted by Brian Hendel (Member # 61) on June 10, 2006, 08:07 PM:

Thanks Kev - I never really thought about spammers. I definitely don't need more of that so I'll be more careful in the future.

Posted by Joerg Polzfusz (Member # 602) on June 12, 2006, 02:25 AM:

Hi,

I found these two links:

http://www.zipporah.com/

http://www.cinemaweb.com/silentfilm/16rent35.htm

Jörg

Posted by Joerg Polzfusz (Member # 602) on June 12, 2006, 06:49 AM:

Some more links:
http://www.reelclassics.com/Buy/films.htm

http://www.nrhs.com/avlib/16mmg-q.htm

http://www.umass.edu/defa/

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on June 12, 2006, 08:49 AM:

Some good links provided here but I must say that in general, film libraries seem to be hopeless at providing details of what they have on 16mm. Often, you can search for titles but when the details come up, there's no indication of whether the film is available on 16mm.

Filmbank in the UK have a large 16mm library, even though they don't add to it, but if you look at their website, although some (not all) of their 16mm titles show up as available on 16mm, you would have great difficulty finding ANY indications elsewhere on the site that 16mm exists! Similarly, the BFI has a substantial 16mm library, but I defy anyone to actually obtain or see a list of exactly what's in it!

If anyone doing similar research finds a library that actually seems to promote the use of 16mm, please say so as they deserve further publicity.

Posted by Eberhard Nuffer (Member # 410) on June 12, 2006, 12:29 PM:

Another link: http://www.modernsoundpictures.com/FHWP.html. Among the newer titles that can be rented from "Modern Sound" are "Finding Nemo", "The Incredibles", and "Home on the Range".
By the way: Have you seen the latest additions to the "Swank" 16mm-catalog: "The Chronicles of Narnia", "W&G - Curse of the Were-Rabbit", "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" and "Chicken Little"?

Eberhard

Posted by Fabrizio Mosca (Member # 142) on June 26, 2006, 11:32 AM:

Hi all,
maybe it's out of topic, but I wonder if there is somebody selling recent 16mm titles for private use only. I've seen in links you indicated that some of them sell film but not newer ones, or they sell to libraries or schools only.
Does anybody knows if there is some place where to buy film printed in the last few years? (apart ebay of course...)
Thanks!
Fabrizio

Posted by Jeff Taylor (Member # 442) on June 26, 2006, 03:03 PM:

Nobody sells recent titles except for the ones which find their way out of Swank's or Modern's inventory and end up on ebay. One of the main reasons why so few new titles are carried by the remaining rental houses is the rediculous minimum print order size--reportedly 100 prints--which far exceeds the demand and is a huge expense to the rental libraries. For those titles which are printed I'd bet many of those prints never go out on rental!

Posted by Winbert Hutahaean (Member # 58) on June 27, 2006, 06:56 AM:

Another out of topic question.

How the library can sure that films are returned unscratch? Do they check the film from start to end every time people rent it (how waste the time).

Then with a normal usage, how many time of show that film will finally naturally be scratched?

cheers,

Posted by Fabrizio Mosca (Member # 142) on July 01, 2006, 11:08 AM:

Thanks Jeff for clarifying me the question, it's sad but unfortunately it's always the same story: money reason.

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on July 01, 2006, 04:58 PM:

"How the library can sure that films are returned unscratch? Do they check the film from start to end every time people rent it"

I'd be surprised if a library would normally check for new scratches, but some might use a device which can identify splices and sprocket damage.

"Then with a normal usage, how many time of show that film will finally naturally be scratched?"

That all comes down to whether the film is shown by competent people with well-maintained equipment. Personally, I could run a film 100 times and I'd be very disappointed to see any sign of scratches. It always surprises me when some collectors say that visible signs of wear are inevitable after a while.

Posted by Peter Berrett (Member # 650) on July 27, 2006, 09:54 PM:

Likewise I'd be interested to hear of film libraries in Australia. Village Roadshow had one for a while but I understand that has been sold to a third party.

Anyone know who is renting out 16mm films in Australia? And how much they charge? The only one I know of is ACMI.

Regards Peter

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