Modern

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MPAA Okays COMPO;
Clarifies Contributions
NEW YORK—The Motion Picture Ass'n of
America has become a charter member of
the Council of Motion Picture Organizations.
Action was taken unanimously at a meeting
of the board of directors Tuesday (31 ) . Ratification
followed the pattern of the formal
resolution provided all participating units
after the Washington meeting.
The matter of contributions to COMPO,
which has caused deferral of ratification by
the Theatre Owners of America and the
Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers,
was brought up by Ned E. Depinet,
RKO president, who is a strong supporter of
the new organization. At his suggestion the
directors inserted an additional paragraph
clarifying the method of matching an exhibitor's
voliuitary contribution, based on 10 cents
per $100 of film rental.
The December Washington meeting had
provided that "each such contribution of 10
cents per $100 of feature picture rentals actually
collected by distributors from exhibitors
is to be matched by an identical voluntary
contribution by the producer-distributor of
each feature picture included in the billings.
Ellis Arnall, president of SIMPP, had raised
the point that producers alone were not covered
and wanted to know what will be a producer's
share, if any, of the distributor's cost
of maintaining COMPO.
DECISION IS UNANIMOUS
On Depinet's recommendation, the MPAA
board voted unanimously that "in the event
an independent producer has a distribution
contract with a member of this association
for domestic distribution of a feature picture,
then the voluntary contribution by the producer-distributor,
upon agreement by the independent
producer, shall be deducted from
the total sum which is to be divided between
the producer and the distributor prior to
the division, so that the producer and distributor
shall each pay their pro rata share
of such voluntary contribution."
Asked after the meeting to comment, Depinet
said:
"It is very simple. If RKO has a contract
with an independent producer under the terms
of which 70 per cent of the rentals from the
picture go to the producer and 30 per cent
to the distributor, then the producer would
pay 7 cents and the distributor 3 cents of
every dime to match exhibitor contributions
to COMPO."
Arnall was not in New York at the time of
the meeting and could not be reached immediately
for comment.
"I am highly pleased but not surprised,"
Depinet said, "that my fellow members of
the MPAA board took this step unanimously
and wholeheartedly today, for in addition to
agreeing to match the exhibitors' voluntary
contribution, the vote meant that the member
companies of MPAA were willing to assist in
every practical way in making the Council
of Motion Picture Organizations a useful vehicle
for allout industry cooperation."
MPAA ratification of COMPO followed similar
action by the Metropolitan Motion Picture
Theatres Ass'n, the Motion Picture Industry
Council and the Pacific Coast Conference
of Independent Theatre Owners and
Five COMPO Objectives
Are Named by Depinet
NEW YORK—Five objectives of
COMPO were given by Ned E. Depinet,
RKO president, in his address at the
20th Century-Fox merchandising meeting.
He listed the following objectives:
1. To achieve better public relations.
2. To increase theatre patronage.
3. To improve our internal relations,
particularly among the more than 280,000
persons who are working in every division
of our industry.
4. To prevent unfair legislation and oppose
discriminatory taxation.
5. To obtain research guidance.
the tradepress publishers group. After the
meeting it was said that quick action by
ITOA and Variety International is expected.
The board of National Allied is scheduled to
meet in Washington in about a week. Special
meetings of TOA and SIMPP will be necessary
in view of their postponement of ratification
at recent meetings.
Board of Review Begins
Sale of New Magazine
NEW YORK—The National Board of
Review
began distribution during the week of
the first issue of its new monthly magazine,
Films in Review, a pocket-sized publication
selling for 35 cents. It is advertised as neither
a trade, fan nor aesthetes' magazine but one
which will stress the "problems and achievement
of film output in the U.S. and throughout
the world, both as entertainment and
education." John B. Turner, a member of the
board for ten years, is editor.
The first issue contained articles by William
Wyler, William Wellman and John Huston,
directors; the best films of 1949, film
production in India, progress in the French
film industry, a sketch of Preston Sturges,
director, and articles and book reviews by
Terry Ramsaye, Quincy Howe and others.
Ticket Sales Fluctuate;
Trend in '49 Is Down
NEW YORK—Theatre attendance during
December 1949 was about 11 per cent under
the December 1948 total, according to figures
compiled by Audience Research, Inc. The research
organization estimates a total sale
of 52,500,000 tickets for last December, compared
with 59,200,000 in December 1948.
The third quarter of 1949 was better than
the third quarter of 1948 by 400,000 tickets.
Tlie 1949 total was 66,800,000 and the 1948
total was 66,400,000.
According to the survey, attendance fluctuated
more in 1949 than in 1948. The first
quarter was 10 per cent below the same quarter
for 1948. The second quarter was 15 per
cent behind the same period for 1948.
Eagle Lion Looks Up;
Financing Is Easier
HOLLYWOOD—Financing for independent
production is becoming available from heretofore
uninterested banking sources, it was
revealed by William C. MacMillen jr., vicepresident
in charge of Eagle Lion operations,
who—along with William Heineman, EL
sales head, was in Hollywood to huddle with
filmmakers on current and upcoming product.
Meeting with the film capital tradepress,
MacMillen said that his company had been
successful in securing first money for production
from the Fidelity bank, Philadelphia,
and the First National bank of Detroit,
two ultraconservative financial institutions
neither of which, up to this time, had
ever made a loan to bankroll production.
The EIL executive saw in such situation the
possibility of independent producers opening
up a vast new source of financing and
a resultant mitigation of the financing woes
which have confronted them during the past
few seasons.
AN OPTIMISTIC PICTURE
Heineman and MacMillen painted an optimistic
picture of EL's current status and
its prospects for the future. The former
declared that the company's gross collections
for the first half of 1950 would be anywhere
from 20 to 50 per cent above the
same period of last year.
To expedite financing for independent producers
whose deals are approved. EL now
has a revolving fund of $1,000,000, which
was set up by eastern financiers and New
York brokerage houses. Filmmakers can
draw up to 60 per cent of their necessary
budgets from this pool, the EL toppers explained.
To obtain such backing, however, producers
seeking an EL release must obtain
company approval as concerns script, budget
and casting, MacMillen emphasized. The
packages are scrutinized by Heineman and
N. Peter Rathvon, whose Motion Picture
Capital Corp. is a major source of so-called
"second money" financial support for independents
distributing through EL.
69 FILMS FOR SEASON
MacMillen and Heineman informed that
EL's 1949-50 releasing slate will comprise
69 pictures, of which 12 will come from
J. Arthur Rank's British picturemaking unit.
Of the remainder, 30 will be supplied by
Producer Jack Schwarz and the rest by various
independent sources.
EL itself is supplying the first money, and
personnel of the company from executives
on down through secretarial help is contributing
the balance of the budget, for the
upcoming "The Jackie Robinson Story," film
biography of and starring the famed Negro
athlete, which will be produced by Mort
Briskin.
Jos. Schenck to Arbitrate
In Korda-Selznick Case
NEW YORK—Sir Alexander Korda has
withdrawn his suit against David O. Selznick
seeking to restrain the latter from distributing
Korda's "The Third Man" in the U.S.
and both parties have agreed to submit to
arbitration with Joseph M. Schenck, 20th
Century-Fox studio executive, acting as arbitrator.
18 BOXOFFICE :: February 4, 1950