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COMPO IS<br />
READY<br />
TO BEGIN ITS JOB<br />
Its Bylaws Drafted, Financing Okayed, Officers<br />
Nominated in Atmosphere of Industry Harmony<br />
By NATHAN COHEN<br />
Full text of COMPO bylaws on Page 12<br />
CHICAGO—On the spot where it was first fashioned, the Council of Motion<br />
Picture Organizations came into final being this week.<br />
In a two-day session (8, 9), marked by complete harmony and an evident determination<br />
to establish a strong, workable formula for an industry public relations program,<br />
representatives of 10 charter COMPO groups drafted a set of bylaws, nominated<br />
a permanent slate of officers, approved a financing plan, ordered a continued<br />
fight for total repeal of the federal amusement tax, and generally set the<br />
scene for the industry's first overall, unified venture into the area of developing<br />
improved relations with the public and within itself.<br />
Ned E. Depinet, who has been the organizing committee's chairman since the<br />
industry first agreed to join in a unified public relations program, had a special<br />
reason for holding this week's meeting in the Drake hotel.<br />
"I scheduled this meeting here so we can button up the first phase of COMPO<br />
where we started," he said, in calling the session to order. "It seems appropriate<br />
to conclude where we began and I earnestly hope the same fine feeling and high<br />
ideals that guided our deliberations during that memorable meeting will prevail<br />
again."<br />
It was in this spirit that the deliberations were carried on.<br />
It may now be expected that COMPO will<br />
be a full-bloom organization by next fall<br />
when its financing plan is scheduled to go<br />
into effect. The board set September 1 as<br />
the date when the voluntary contributions<br />
plan becomes effective—a plan under which<br />
exhibitors and distributors make annual payments<br />
on the basis of 1/10 of 1 per cent of the<br />
value of their film rentals.<br />
A SEPTEMBER 1<br />
GOAL<br />
By September 1, it is highly probable that<br />
an executive vice-president will have been<br />
selected to serve as the organization's administrative<br />
chief, and that top talent in<br />
almost every segment of the industry will<br />
have been recruited into the program of doing<br />
a public relations job for the film business.<br />
Depinet will be the first permanent president<br />
of the Council. His name headed the<br />
slate of officers nominated to serve after the<br />
organization has been incorporated and legally<br />
constituted. With the president, the<br />
slate calls for nine vice-presidents, a secretary<br />
and treasurer. Originally, the bylaws<br />
provided for five vice-presidents but the additional<br />
offices were ordered so that each of<br />
the charter organizations will be represented<br />
among the<br />
officers.<br />
Nominated for vice-presidencies were: Ellis<br />
Arnall, Society of Independent Motion<br />
Picture Producers; Harry Brandt, Independent<br />
Theatre Owners Ass'n of New York; Leo<br />
Brecher, Metropolitan Motion Picture Theatre<br />
Owners; Roy Brewer, Motion Picture Industry<br />
Council; Abel Green, tradepress; H.<br />
V. "Rotus" Harvey, Pacific Coast Conference<br />
of Independent Theatre Owners; Sam Pinanski,<br />
Theatre Owners of America; Ronald<br />
Reagan, Screen Actors Guild; Trueman Rembusch,<br />
Allied States Ass'n—all presidents or<br />
chairmen of their respective groups.<br />
Robert J. O'Donnell, retiring chief barker<br />
of Variety Clubs International, was nominated<br />
for the treasurer's post and Francis<br />
Harmon, vice-president of the Motion Picture<br />
Ned E. Depinet (L) , who has been nominated<br />
to become president of COMPO,<br />
discusses a point with Leo Brecher, one<br />
of the Council's vice-presidents.<br />
Ass'n of America, was nominated for secretary.<br />
It has been under Harmon's guidance<br />
that all COMPO meetings have been held in<br />
the last nine months.<br />
An officer need not be a member of the<br />
board of the organization, it was decided;<br />
hence, the nominations of Pinanski and Reagan<br />
for vice-presidents. However, the executive<br />
body drafted a set of bylaws which will<br />
allow for considerable flexibility in the operation<br />
of the organization. For example, there<br />
have been preliminary discussions of plans<br />
for COMPO activity on a regional basis, but<br />
no set plan of organizing these regional units<br />
is being considered. In all probability each<br />
region will be permitted to establish its organization<br />
along the lines it feels is best suited<br />
for the particular area. In the development<br />
of regional committees for COMPO's tax<br />
fight, it was apparent to A. F. Myers, tax<br />
campaign chairman and his associates, that<br />
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:<br />
The COMPO executive committee<br />
made these decisions at its meeting<br />
Monday and Tuesday:<br />
1. Adopted a set of bylaws which<br />
was satisfactory to all charter members<br />
of the Council and nominated a<br />
full slate of officers to be headed by<br />
Ned E. Depinet as president.<br />
2. Specifically prohibited trade practices<br />
as within the realm of the organization's<br />
interests.<br />
3. Set September 1 as the date<br />
when the financing plan goes into<br />
effect, with voluntary contributions<br />
by both distributors and exhibitors to<br />
be based on 1/10 of 1 per cent of film<br />
rental values.<br />
4. Agreed to extend membership in<br />
the Council to include theatre equipment<br />
and supply firms, and such allied<br />
industry firms as Eastman and National<br />
Screen Service Corp.<br />
5. Voted to carry on its fight for<br />
complete repeal of the federal amusement<br />
tax.<br />
6. Agreed to draft top talent in the<br />
industry for service on five committees<br />
which will direct management and<br />
personnel problems, membership, financing,<br />
organizational matters and<br />
program planning.<br />
standardization of regional group organizations<br />
is not essential.<br />
The Council also is ready to draft top talent<br />
to work on organization, membership,<br />
finance, planning, program and other ventures<br />
within the COMPO realm. Likewise<br />
will the Council recruit membership from allied<br />
industry groups and organizations. Indications<br />
were that COMPO will welcome memberships<br />
from theatre equipment groups, from<br />
such firms as Eastman and National Screen<br />
Service Corp.<br />
Before the Council gets into this phase of<br />
its work, however, there are some preliminary<br />
steps which must be taken. First will be filing<br />
of a certificate of incorporation in the<br />
state of New York. Depinet then is expected<br />
to select the personnel of five committees<br />
through which the work of the organization<br />
will be carried on, and a major task of the<br />
committee on management and personnel will<br />
be to screen applicants for the job of executive<br />
vice-president, as well as other paid employes<br />
of the Council.<br />
At least 50 persons are said to have shown<br />
interest in becoming the Council's top paid<br />
official. While the deliberations of the executive<br />
group here were closed sessions, it is<br />
understood that between 30 and 40 names of<br />
individuals who might be interested in the<br />
post were "tossed" into the discussions. None<br />
of these names, however, were revealed. One<br />
thing is certain: there is no lack of candidates.<br />
The five committees through which the<br />
Council will function are the management<br />
and personnel group; one on organization<br />
which will draft the charter, handle details<br />
of incorporation and other functional problems;<br />
another on finance; a fourth to develop<br />
membership; and a fifth on planning<br />
and program.<br />
These committees, particularly those on<br />
8 BOXOFFICE<br />
:<br />
: May<br />
13, 1950
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