TO LORD

;
tions
,
attorney
;
rectors
,
ncr
'
tainment
Kom,
1
—
RKO Scores a Success
In Film Distribution
1 OS ANGE1 is A
l
vice-president
of RKO General Pictures, feels the
market for encore classic programing
couldn't
be better!
Since our return to distribution of RKO
Radio Pictures classics in February, we
have received bookings in six weeks that
match what our sub-licensee brought in the
last year in six months! The lack of new
product has enhanced the value of established
pictures from Hollywood's 'Golden Age.'
we've been especially pleased that so main
large circuits and new houses, which never
rc.ilK have done restrospectives before, have
accounted for such a large share of current
bookings. We're currently running RKO
festivals in a General Cinema circuit in the
Midwest, in a Transcontinental circuit in the
Southwest and will be going into a Blumenfeld
theatre in the Bay Area and a Mann
theatre in Los Angeles shortly," Korn disclosed.
In addition to continued bookings in theatres
which have specialized in this product,
RKO will benefit from planned retrospectives
at AFI's J. F. Kennedy Center
Theatre, Washington. D.C., in May and
another at the Los Angeles County Museum
of Art July-September. Korn said that interest
in RKO has been generated by more
than the remake of the studio's 1933 "King
Kong."
"The boxoffice appeal of pictures such
as 'Gunga Din,' 'Hunchback of Notre
Dame.' the Val Lewton thrillers and those
featuring Katharine Hepburn and Astaire-
Rogers has never diminished," Korn noted.
Mike Ridges Is Appointed
Sunn Administrative V-P
LOS ANGELES—Raylan Jensen, executive
vice-president. Sunn Classic Pictures,
announced the appointment of G. M.
"Mike" Ridges as Sunn's administrative
vice-president. Ridges' initial responsibilities
will involve the organization of a new
nontheatrical and TV syndication division
for the company. He will be looking extensively
for feature films to incorporate
along with Sunn's own product in TV packages.
three
Prior to joining Sunn—and for the last
years—Ridges was a member of Universale
New York sales cabinet and executive
in charge of special marketing.
Martin Heller Is Elected
To Mulberry Square Board
DALLAS — Mulberry Square Produc-
announced the election of theatrical
Martin Heller to the board of di-
effective March 21. Heller is a partin
the New York law firm of Regan,
Goldfarb, Heller, Wetzler & Quinn and is
resident in the firm's offices in Beverly
Hills,
Calif.
He has an extensive background in enter-
law, having previously been affiliated
with RKO. MGM and 20th-Fox.
Girdler Weighs Projects Carefully
To Evaluate Appeal to Filmgoers
By
RALPH KAMINSKY
HOLLYWOOD — Youthful
William
Girdler
filmmaker
William Girdler is deep into preproduction
on his next picture,
another terror tale involving
the magical
powers of an Indian
medicine man, and he
is certain that the
subject will draw customers
into theatres.
"Action, adventure,
horror— that's where
the solid market is
and most of the mon-
0>making films are in
this area," Girdler declared, in defining his
approach to moviemaking. "You have to
approach motion pictures as a business
not with the syndrome of the 'typical'
Hollywood producer."
Keep Budgets Low
Analysis, research and marketing studies
should be the first steps. After that, he
advises, "keep your budgets as low as possible
and turn out a quality film."
Girdler's newly formed company, Weist
& Associates, has the new film "Manitou"
budgeted at $3 million and four other projects
in the works in the range of $1.5
million to $2.5 million.
"Only the producer who can make pictures
at a reasonable price can come out
ahead. We don't want to set out to make
an arty film and lose money for our investors,"
he declared. He also is convinced
that it is the independent producers, not
the major studios, who are leading the way
in
making reasonably priced films.
"The independents don't make their pictures
by boardroom decisions. One man or
a small group decide what to do and they
get on with the job," he stated.
Girdler, who says he "grew up in theatres"
in his native Louisville, Ky., feels
certain that "exhibitors are the most important
part in making and selling movies."
He reasons that they are "nearest to the
public" and are the best source of information.
"When you ask 'Why did people come
to see it?', the exhibitor is the one who can
tell
you," he said.
Exhibitor Financing Inevitable
Considering the shortage of product and
the pace at which films are being made by
the majors, Girdler said he is convinced
that exhibitors will have to get into financing
pictures. Exhibitors, he pointed out,
are in the ideal position to evaluate which
producer can offer the safe investment.
"They know whose pictures make money.
And they know who makes a critically acclaimed
picture that loses money."
He said he sees the time coming when
exhibitors will develop their confidence in
moneymaking producers and will invest in
their projects as a regular thing. At present,
he said, he obtains his financing from
friends in the Midwest, "people who know
me." Exhibitors, he added, just as easily
can become friends with producers and invest
with those who have a proven record
as moneymakers.
"We're not out to win an Academy
Award," Girdler said of his plans for his
immediate projects. "Manitou" is based on
a
novel by Graham Masterton dealing with
the supernatural in which an Indian medicine
man returns to life to avenge himself,
pjnishing modern Americans for the crimes
of the early settlers.
Filming is set to begin Monday (18) for
a fall release date. Complex special effects
costing nearly $1,000,000 will be a major
part of the movie in which a modern
Indian medicine man pits his magic against
that of the returned Indian.
Future projects include "Knights of
Glory," a story taking place after King
Arthur's time and developed in the vein of
"The Magnificent Seven"; "Deadly Jungle,"
an animal-terror story; "Last of the White
House," a murder mystery, and "Extra," an
examination of the internal workings of a
huge metropolitan newspaper.
'Youngest Exhibitor Ever'
Girdler lays claim to being just about the
youngest exhibitor ever. He began showing
Hollywood-produced motion pictures on his
35mm projector when he was nine years
old. The son of a well-to-do industrialist in
Louisville, he was able to become acquainted
with exhibitors and film buyers and soon
was screening movies in miniature festivals
for his friends.
He had his own Studio 1 Productions to
produce TV commercials in Louisville, after
a stint in the Air Force where he was a
cameraman and film editor after training in
Hollywood studios. His company made
some 200 commercials, branched out to
make 14 documentaries and then went into
feature films. In 1971 he co-authored and
directed a screenplay, "Asylum of Satan,"
and a year later he made "On the Hook."
He soon formed Mid-America Pictures
and made four features, later moving to
Hollywood where the company produced
three more. Girdler left the firm to make
"Grizzly" and the "Day of the Animals"
for Edward Montoro's Film Ventures International.
Now, with
formation of Weist & Associates
he will function as co-author, director
and producer of "Manitou."
'Bod Squad' Clicks in LV
NEW YORK — Film Ventures' "Bod
Squad," a kung fu action melodrama, reported
an impressive one-week gross at the
Portal Theatre, Las Vegas, it was announced
here.
BOXOFFICE :: April 11. 1977