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International Harmony Plans Films That Appeal to FM Radio Listeners Bv JOHN COCCHI NEW East Coast Editor YORK—International Harmony here is a distribution company of recent vintage (tounded in 1974, distiibuting films since 1976) which is geared to youth-onented product in the comedy vein. According to president Stuart S. Shapiro, it caters to the market which prefers FM radio, that is, the audience that made "National Lampoon's Animal House" and "Up in Smoke" major hits. An example is International Harmony s double billing of "Tunnel Vision" and "Shame of the Jungle" for an R-rated comedy program. Both films (the latter is an animated feature) use the talents of members of the "Saturday Night Live" TV show. Shapiro, who is aided in his company by of marketing Steven Menkin, a director former actor (he starred in "Hair" off- Broadway and appeared on the soap opera "AH My Children") and office manager Dawn Hanrahan. began the company in partnership with Gary Legon. who now produces such films as "Chalk." Organized Rock Comcerls I H. started out by organizing rock concerts and albums (as Rock 'n' Road) until acquiring "Tunnel Vision." a satire of television featuring Chevy Chase, and "Tarzoon. Shame of the Jungle," made in Belgium by Michel Gast. Latter film was dubbed into English with the voices of John Belushi and Johnny Weis&muller Jr. and was first booked under that title. The similarity to Tarzan was challenged by Edgar Rice Burroughs' widow and the soundtrack had to be redone. Four minutes were cut to earn an R from the original X version. As "Tarzoon." the animated feature played St Louis. Las Vegas. Tucson and Kansas City, while as "Shame." it did great business in such territories as San Francisco and Minneapolis. "Tunnel Vision" was first released successfully by World Wide Enter- COMING SOON... A BIGGER and BETTER BOXOFFICE ..>inment. from which International Harmony acquired it. Now. Shapiro feels, the combo is ready for the drive-in and summer markets. For June-July, the company will have a Neil Young concert film, "Rust Never Sleeps," with Dolby stereo, in fifteen major markets beginning with Washington, D. C. A soundtrack album will be released on the Reprise/Warner Bros, label. Firesign Theatre. Formerly a partner in Douglas Records, Shaprio produced a posthumous Jimi Hendrix album. He considers himself an expert in FM radio promotion and uses this outlet to a great extent. Handling his radio promos are Peter Shanaberg and Morrie Eisenman of Selluloid Promotions in California. They have worked on campaigns for "The Fantastics Animated Film Festival," "National Lampoon's Animal House" and "Love At First Bite." Also on the West Coast is Norman Smith, national sales coordinator for International Harmony. Business For Independents There is a big future in rock films, says Shapiro, who also thinks that it will be a business for the Independent rather than the major distributor. The majors tend not to promote these films as well as the indies. 'Goldengirr lo Bring Gold to U.S. Olympics HOLLYWOOD—Avco Embassy Pictures will premiere "Goldengirl" June 18 in Washington. D. C. as a special fund raising event for the benefit of the U. S. Olympic Committee. The screening at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will be attended by top Olympic athletes and major stars as well as Washington officials, according to Bob Rehme, executive vice-president and chief operating officer. Men Forever' "Goldengirl" stars Susan Anton in her debut a beautiful and mysterious 'J film as Upcoming are "Cocaine Cowboys," a Olympic triple gold medal contender. James spoof directed by Ulli Lommel (of "Tenderness of the Wolves") with the unlikely combination Coburn also stars as a sports star merchandising whiz. of Jack Palance and Andy Warhol, and "J Men Forever," a black and white camp presentation of old Republic serials with new dialogue and a rock score, as revised by Phil Proctor and Andy Bergman of EMI Now Directs, Manages Spacevision 3-D Process HOLLYWOOD—EMI Films has taken over management and direction of Spacevision, a subsidiary of Capitol Records which is developing a "breakthrough" in three-dimensional motion pictures, according to Lord Delfont, chairman and chief executive of EMI Film and Theatre Corp. The process is applicable to all film and video projects, according to Spacevision president Alan Weber, and it will be used to develop future 3-D feature presentations. It also will be used for special attractions at theme parks and leisure centers as well as theatre in Marineland, Fla. presentations in the commercial and indus- world. trial WMI's Spacevision presentation, "Sea Dream," will be screened at the Cannes Film Festival. The feature is on permanent exhibition at a large screen quadrophonic EMI's Central Research Laboratories in Ideally. Shapiro would like to have three the United Kingdom will direct the research or four concert films a year for his company. He credits I.H.'s unbroken string of and development. Derek Leithead. a director of EMI Film and Theatre Corp. will supervise Spacevision in the UK and Europe froni successes to their promotions. The increasingly popular midnight movie concept is a his London office. Weber will work out of long shot in his estimation. the EMI Films offices in Beverly Hills. Diversifying. International Harmony is now in pre-production on "Film Festival." a satire by Tony Hendra, Ted Mann and Sean Kelly of National Lampoon, to be coprodu:ed in Alberta, Canada and New York Distributed by Laurel as a co-production with Second City of Toronto. It has an option on "White Man PITTSBURGH—The Laurel Group of Meets Big Foot," a film project by R. New York City has completed negotiations Crumb and is working on a show/ film/ recckagj of the musical "Robin Hood." program book for distribution with with MW Communications to produce a "Dawn 'Dawn of the Dead' Book 'Moments' at Cannes Fest NEW YORK— Moshe Mizrahi's "Moments" was selected as an entry in the "uncertain regard" official category of the theatres and selected book store Cannes Festival 1979. Written and directed by Michal Bat Adam, the Israeli-French coproduction was produced by the Academy doing blockbuster business in Award director Mizrahi ("Madame Rosa") of the Dead." MW principals William Wilson and Robert Michelucci plan initial distribution to all United .Artists theatres, with additiona distributior scheduled. George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead,' a sequel to "Night of the Living Dead," i! Europe unde the title "Zombie" and was released nation ,llv April 20 bv United Film Distributioi BOXOFFICE 7. 197
1 Director Romero Asks Avco to Release The Onion Field'; ^^l^^^^^"^^^ SCOITSDALE. ARIZ.—A $2 Million Advertising Campaign Set re-evaluation ol the Motion Picture Assn. of Ameiica's i.iting system is long overdue, according to lirector-producer George A. Romero, who spoke before a group of motion picture exhibitors at the mid-winter NATO meeting. "Times change," stated Romero, "and it would have been foolish to believe that movies could remain unaffected by the change and torment in our society over the last 12 years—the time span of our self-imposed code." Romero said that the MPAA rating system is and has been a model program to some extent: "We (the industry) can be proud to be self-regulated. However, if it was working that well, we wouldn't have the problems we are now having." Romero's main complaint is that there are no defined guidelines that determine whether a film should be PG or R. The guidefKists between ratings have constantly been blurred—relaxed, tightened or appealed. He asked that in order to achieve genuine public acceptance, guidelines must be set so that there is understanding and acceptance on the part of the public. Romero has asked the entire industry both exhibition and distribution—to establish "a truly effective system that can be defended philosophically, morally, and legally; to take a hard look at the system mechanism and to be sure that it is as close to 100 percent effective as it can be made." He asked, most importantly, that the films be so designated that the public may know what it is going to see, thereby affording freedom to the filmmaker and avoiding any threat of government intervention. Romero advocated a category for adult films which would not have the stigma which the present X category implies. He maintained that present connotation of the X category diverted adult films, which are not pornographic, into the R category. In summation, Romero called for a realistic restructuring of the entire rating system and a redefining of the code. Cinema Radio Contracted For 23 More Drive-Ins Twenty-three new Cinema Radio Sound System installations have been constracted by drive-in operators across the country, it was announced by Fred Schwartz, president of Cinema Radio Corp. Topping the list will be additional installations for the United Artists Theatre Circuit at three of the chain's East Coast theatres. Portland, Ore., exhibitor Tom Moyer, who already has five Cinema Radio installations, has contracted for two additional units. As many as 50 additional Cinema Radio installations are now in final contractual stages, according to Schwartz. By RALPH KAMINSKY West Coasi Editor HOLLYWOOD—Avco Embassy Pictures is gearing itself for an initial .$2,000,000 launch of its newest acquisition, Joseph Waumbaugh's "The Onion Field." The true story concerns the kidnapping of two Los Angeles police officers, the murder of one of them and the longest criminal trial in the history of California to convict the killers. "The Onion Field" will be released October 3, opening in Los Angeles and New York in a carefully planned campaign that will lead gradually into spreading it into major cities. "It's a serious film and we're going to handle it in a serious way," declared Bob Rehme, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Avco. 'No BUnd Bids' "We're so e.xcited about the picture we decided to call a press conference to announce we got it," Rehme said during a press luncheon at a swank restaurant. Rehme assured exhibitors that "there will be no blind bids on this picture. We want to show it to exhibitors and let them see what they're getting. That's how proud we are of it." With the release scheduled for the fall, Rehme pointed out that, "We have a lot of time for a proper campaign. We have a lot of ideas to work on." Working from its worldwide distribution agreement with Waumbaugh's Black Marble Productions, Avco will show the film at the Cannes Film Festival May 17 and 20. looking for foreign sales and deals with foreign distributors. 'Better Than Book' "The script is better than the book, and Joe wrote both of them," Rehme declared. Waumbaugh's well-publicized disillusionment at Hollywood's treatment of his books had driven him to regain rights to "The Onion Field" from Columbia Pictures which had held the book until the ex-cop filed a $.3,200,000 suit in February 1978. The company agreed to sell him the rights and the suit was dropped last May. "I'm very happy," Waumbaugh said of the Avco deal. "We showed the picture yesterday to the tough guys at Avco and it made them cry," he said. Added Rehme: "They were real upbeat tears." "Nothing has been changed from the book," Waumbaugh declared. "All the names are the same—the killers, the lawyers, even the judges." Even the casting was done with an effort to find faces to fit those of the paiticipants in the sensational event. "I wanted the public to live 'The Onion Field' experience the way I did." he declared. "The Onion Field" was written after Waumbaugh, a policeman, became concerned over the effect the kidnapping and killing had over Officer Karl Hettinger. The young officer saw his buddy murdered, escaped the killers in a harrowing chase, and then had to cope with the aftermath of peer judgements over his conduct, plus the trauma of recalling the experience in the numerous trials that followed apprehension of the killers. Waumbaugh and his wife, Dee, raised the financing for the film from 30 investors mostly friends—even getting $25,000 from one of his former police buddies. When the production went $200,000 over budget, Waumbaugh sold an apartment house he owned. "After all, who wants to own an apartment house," he said in an aside. 'Bare-Bones Budget' The $2,400,000 budget was a "bare-bones budget," according to Walter Coblenz who produced the film. He pointed out that Waumbaugh had not taken any payment for film rights to the book, nor for his work in writing the screenplay. If those costs had been added to the film and if the production had been made by a major studio with its usual 10 percent overhead charges, the budget easily could have been upwards of $4,500,000 as a "rock bottom," Coblenz pointed out. Now Waumbaugh's main concern is to see that every investor—many of them his friends— "gets his money back before I get a penny." Starring in the Karl Hettinger role will be rising star John Savage, who has made his mark in "Hair" and especially "The Deer Hunter." "We got him for wholesale," Waumbaugh commented, since the young actor was signed before either of his other pictures propelled him into the upper brackets. Ronnie Cox will play the role of Detective Pierce Brooks who was the chief investigator in the case and now is police chief in Eugene, Ore. Others in the cast are James Woods, portraying the convicted murderer Gregory Powell and Franklyn Scales as convicted murderer Jimmy Smith. Each actor has an uncanny resemblance to the actual characters they portray, and Waumbaugh demonstrates that with side-by-side photographs of the people. Other roles are handled by Richard Herd, who starred as chairman of the board of the company operating a nuclear plant in "The China Syndrome," Ted Danson, Diane Hull, Priscilla Pointer, Beege Barkett. plus 45 other performers who are relatively unknown and thus add to the realism that Waumbaugh, Coblenz and director Harold Becker sought. 'Scared Straight!' Honor TEMPE, ARIZ.—The National Press Photographers Assn. and the Department of Mass Communications at Arizona State University bestowed a Best Documentary award on "Scared Straight!", touted as the first television documentary' ever to win an Academy Award. BOXOFFICE :: May 7, 1979 11
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