Interview with Jordan Deutsch, Head of Universal 8 & Marketing Film Int'l (1979)

[Walter Stanton]

Interesting interview with the former head of Universal 8, about his (then) new company, Marketing Film Int'l, their exclusive deal with Paramount, and their upcoming digest & feature length film releases in super-8. Includes a discussion on how their digest films are edited & an ad for the new Mountain Film Club mentioned in the article. (Super 8 Filmaker, Dec 1979)

[Mike Newell]

Fascinating article. Thanks for posting

[Douglas Meltzer]

Walter,

Thank you for this. It's really interesting and Mr. Deutsch certainly understands the business end of the hobby!

[Mike Newell]

Couple of interesting points in the interview.

Jordan confirms that Steven Spielberg was involved in the edit of Close Encounters 400 digest I wonder does that apply to Universal 8 Spielberg output Duel, Jaws, Sugarland Express and 1941 which are extremely well edited.

Royalties were paid for super 8 releases to actors and technical staff. Bet it wasn’t much.

Marketing pushed 200, 400 digests and full feature releases in US but were prevented legally from releasing 3x400 mini versions in US and they were meant only for European market.

[Walter Stanton]

Couple of interesting points in the interview.

Jordan confirms that Steven Spielberg was involved in the edit of Close Encounters 400 digest I wonder does that apply to Universal 8 Spielberg output Duel, Jaws, Sugarland Express and 1941 which are extremely well edited.

Hard to say, since CE3K was released by Columbia's 8mm division and not Universal 8. However this ad from 1978 states "this special digest version has been edited under the supervision of America's most exciting filmmaker, Steven Spielberg".

[Mike Newell]

From memory, the clamshell digest of Close Encounters 400 is a different cut of the original cardboard box version and is superior edit.

[Douglas Meltzer]

Mike,

Columbia did re-edit a couple of their digests (Cat Ballou, Golden Voyage of Sinbad), however I have not heard of a CE3K redo. That would be something!

[Mike Newell]

Mike,

Columbia did re-edit a couple of their digests (Cat Ballou, Golden Voyage of Sinbad), however I have not heard of a CE3K redo. That would be something!

Doug

I recently came across a copy of Close Encounters in a clam shell box. It was a lovely shade of pink.

However, what struck me was it was a very good edit of the movie which is not my memories of the digest all those years ago in the original cardboard box release.

Interesting that they did re-edits of Cat Ballou and Golden Voyage of Sinbad so they have done it. If anyone out there has the two versions would be interesting to know.

Mike

[Mark McLaughlin]

I bought CEOT3K when I was a kid on 400’ cardboard box. The interview with Jordan Deutsch is fascinating. Where is now? If alive it would be nice tracking him down for an interview.

[Walter Stanton]

I'd definitely like to know more about his Mountain Film Club, the films they sold, and how long it lasted.

FYI: Joachim Schmidt's interview with Manfred Menz doesn't mention Jordan Deutsch specifically, but covers the alliance between Paramount & MFI that Jordan talks about in the article:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHNDuCRxlhA

[David Kilderry]

Very interesting Walter, thank you. I remember when these Marketing Films hit with a bang in 1979/1980. They were featured prominently in a local Super 8 catalog I received.

[Joachim Schmidt]

This is very very interesting! As far as I know, Manfred Menz was the CEO of the German and the international company. He told me he was once per week in the US, by Concorde, for sure…

Walter, I would love to put your scans on my website on the marketing film page. Would this be possible?

[Walter Stanton]

Joachim Schmidt yes by all means, share the scans on your site

[Joachim Schmidt]

Thank you very much

[Joe Balitzki]

I had the pleasure of meeting Jordan Deutsch at Marketing's office in New York City. His secretary Gail introduced me and I was given a tour of the offices. I had purchased the full feature of Grease and discovered that one reel was out of sync. I contacted them just in time as a large shipment had arrived of which my print was part of. I was praised for bringing it to their attention as the reels had to be rerecorded. I remember being shown a room full of boxed features for shipment. I remember Gail telling me that they were threatening Technicolor in NYC because they were having trouble providing them with prints due to the demand. She told me that some prints were being struck in Germany. I was shown briefly a editor at work on a film but have no idea what he was working on. Going to their offices was memorable because I drove to NYC after work and had to deal with traffic and park in a garage. When I arrived I was frazzled and Gail asked me what was wrong. She offered me a cold soda while I sat in her office and told her about the ordeal of driving there. That was the closest I would ever come to Paramount Pictures and I have fond memories of that day. One more memory: As I walked into their offices there were several women at desks filling orders. One commented to me that they were all tired of hearing praise for their films due to the quality and recent theatrical releases or their classic status.