The Reel Blog

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The Munchkins finally got a star on the Hollywood Blvd. Walk of Fame. It was long overdue. The honor came, in no small part, due to the efforts of Ted Bulthaup,

Bulthaup, a theater owner, also helped pay to have the seven actors honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which they received Tuesday morning.

You can read more about Ted's efforts here.

You can see why they got their star here:

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The Cinema Buying Group, representing more than 8,700 North American movie screens, has narrowed its list of prospective vendors for its digital cinema RFP to four. For this second round, vendors must provide sufficiently detailed cost information which would enable CBG to evaluate the total initial and recurring costs to exhibitors - details that were necessarily lacking in the initial round of proposals.

The vendors, according to CGB's press release - AccessIT, Digiserv, Kodak and Technicolor - will also now need to describe how they will accommodate all CBG members - whether by the creation of different classes based upon different cost structures, different equipment packages, different sequencing, or otherwise.

This request of the vendors is made with the understanding that distributors may not wish to sign open-ended VPFs with four different vendors. According to Kendrick Macdowell, NATO Vice President and General Counsel, and counsel to CBG:

We have asked distributors to execute CBG-specific VPF agreements with the remaining four vendors as expeditiously as possible so that these vendors can crunch their numbers and respond with their final and best offer to CBG members.

These VPFs would likely be conditioned on a winning bid for the CBG project and allow for a competitive final phase of the RFP.

According to CBG managing director Wayne Anderson:

For small theater owners across North America, this process means surviving the digital cinema revolution, and that means not losing access to the big screen in many communities. We're pleased with the quality of the submissions so far, and we hope to move this final selection phase quickly.

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It happens to the best of them.

Even Boxoffice  (NATO's official magazine), can't get its facts straight on the NC-17 rating. Michael Villapiano, in a November 7 blog post, retails some of the more persistent myths surrounding the rating.

It starts in the first paragraph, which I'll reprint in full:

Historically, the most reasonable solution in avoiding the dreaded NC-17 rating has been releasing films unrated. This technique has allowed filmmakers to circumvent the Motion Picture Association of America, while at the same time enabled more print advertising and wider theatrical exhibition. Many newspapers won’t promote NC-17 films and many theaters won’t screen them. Larry Clark’s debut Kids, Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream and Todd Solondz’s Happiness were all released unrated and made 7.5 million, 3.6 million, and 2.8 million respectively. These numbers may not seem astronomical, yet compared to the figures of NC-17 films, the unrated ones do quite well.

To which I can only respond:

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The Cinema Buying Group has released a revised Particpation Agreement.

The new agreement entails the creation of a "Late Membership Class" comprising those who join CBG-NATO after the November 2 deadline who may, or may not, participate in the digital deal negotiated for CBG members. According to the Agreement:

The Participant understands and agrees that the Managing Director was obliged to provide potential digital vendors with a fixed membership roster so that the economics of providing equipment and service to CBG members could be calculated, and the RFP process concluded fairly. The Participant understands and acknowledges that-in addition to urging independent cinema owners to join CBG, repeatedly and in multiple forums, over the last two years-NATO sent notice of a CBG membership deadline of November 2, 2007 to all NATO members, that NATO requested that state and regional units circulate the notice to all of their members, and that notice of the membership deadline was posted on the CBG website. The Participant understands and agrees that by joining CBG after November 2, 2007, the Participant will belong to a "Late Membership Class," and that participation in the digital cinema equipment and service deal negotiated for CBG members is not guaranteed, and/or that participation in the deal, at the vendor's discretion, may not be on the same terms as provided to CBG members in good standing before November 3, 2007.

The Late Membership Class only applies to digital cinema equipment and services and does not affect any other aspect of CBG membership.

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The Writer's Guild held a news conference at 1:30 pm in Los Angeles to announce the guild's decision to strike.

Deadline Hollywood's Nikki Finke has the details.

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