American Cinematographer - December 1960 - 6

The ONLY
Professional
Meter...

INDUSTRY
NEWS

measures
ILLUMINATION,
CONTRAST and
BRIGHTNESS!

3*3%

Hollywood Filming Zooms!

Production of both theatre and tele¬
vision films by Hollywood studios con¬
tinues its upward trend, which took a
definite turn in mid-summer.
Four Star Television set an alltime TV film production record last
month by scheduling 16 half-hour and
5 hour-long segments for 13 different
series to get underway at Republic
Studios before December 1st.
Mid November saw a total of 33
feature films in production by Holly¬
wood major studios and independents,
60% of which were shooting in the
U.S. With 8 major productions before
the cameras November 15th, 20th
Century-Fox studio achieved a produc¬
tion peak for the year. Of the eight,
four were shooting here, and the other
four abroad.
On November 25th, The Hollywood
Reporter, industry trade paper, re¬
ported that TV film production in
Hollywood set a new high for number
of series, with 114 shooting, not count¬
ing the late starters not yet announced.
Columbia Pictures' studio activity
last month reached a new production
peak for the year with a total of five
features before the cameras. The stu¬
dio's video film subsidiary, Screen
Gems, was also at peak production.

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The current boxoffice "blockbusters"
-Spartacus, The Alamo, and others-
have started film laboratories tooling
up for what looks to be a definite trend
in production in 70mm film.
DeLuxe labs, a subsidiary of 20th
Century-Fox is reported already set¬
ting up the necessary equipment for
the super-widescreen width.
MGM is seriously considering ex¬
panding its film laboratory to accom¬
modate 70mm processing and printing.
Technicolor, of course, long has been
set up for lab services in the 70mm
width. Most of the other independent
laboratories are watching the trend
closely, meantime doing some sharp
figuring.

News briefs of
industry activities,
products and progress

"Cost of re-tooling," reports Daily
Variety, Hollywood trade paper, "de¬
pends on a number of factors peculiar
to each lab, but price tag on facilities
to make release prints is in the area
of a half-million dollars. Added facili¬
ties to handle special processing, such
as dailies, would be generally a quartermillion dollars. Thus . . . any lab must
think in terms of a capital outlay of
from $500,000 to $750,000 or more."
While the number of 70mm-equipped
theatres in the country is estimated
at less than 1% of the total number at
present, other theatres are converting
at the rate of one or two per month,
it is reported.
*

*

*

Mellor Re-pacted by T-C-F.

Two-time Academy Award winner
William C. Mellor, now directing the
photography of Jerry Wald's "Wild In
The Country," has been signed to a
new one-year contract by 20th CenturyFox Studios. His next assignment will
be George Stevens' forthcoming pro¬
duction of "The Greatest Story Ever
Told."
*

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Maps For Location Shooting

Large scale maps with the shooting
sites designated by key lettering were
supplied last month to production per¬
sonnel for the location shooting in Nor¬
thern California for Warner Brothers'
"Susan Slade," according to Lucien
Ballard, ASC, who is directing the pho¬
tography of the picture. Because of the
many location sites involved, the maps,
prepared under direction of Director
Delmer Daves, will enable personnel
to quickly find the various sites where
filming is scheduled.
He

*

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DuPont Moves N.Y. Office

DuPont's Photo Products Depart¬
ment is transferring its New York dis¬
trict sales office and warehouse facili¬
ties to 248 West 18th St., Secaucus,
New Jersey. Move is aimed to provide
faster service to customers on east coast.
Meantime, company is erecting a new
building on a 20-acre site off the New
Jersey Turnpike, which it plans to oc¬
cupy about the middle of 1961. ■

AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER
American Cinematographer - December 1960

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