Petition against Production Stop of Kodachrome 40

[filmfreund]

Hi,
I am the editor of the German magazine schmalfilm. We will also publish an English version within some weeks. More details: www.smallformat.de

We started a great petition against the production stop of Kodachrome 40. Not only Super 8 will fade out, also DS8 and 16mm - as I was told by some Kodak insiders. We should stay together and should just count the amount of K 40 cartridges we are willing to buy per year. Kodak doesn't know how to deal with having a consumer division of Super-8mm and regular 8mm and a potential "professional" super-8 division as well.

Rather then figure out a way to combine consumer and professional forces so that the overall Super-8mm and regular 8mm film section remains profitable, it's becoming divide, subtract, and lets not deal with it. While I understand Kodak must please it's stockholders first and foremost, Kodak has a very strong and loyal film base that they are not reaching out to BEFORE they make decisions.

Please mail us your full address and the amount of K40 cartridges you would like to use next year. We will put you on our petition list and will keep you informed. [email protected]

Here are our arguments:

Eastman Kodak Company
Cinema Operations
Entertainment Imaging
President for Image Capture Products
Mr. Eric G. Rodli
3455 S. LaCienega Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90016
USA

Kodak Limited
Kodak House
Entertainment Imaging
Vice President for Image Capture Products
Mr. Bob Mayson
Station Road
Hemel Hempstead
Herts HP1 1JU
United Kingdom

Announced Production Stop of Kodachrome 40

Dear Mr. Rodli,
Dear Mr. Mayson,

Being an active cinematographic filmmaker and a reader of the German ?schmalfilm? (small format) magazine I must protest to your Announced Production Stop of Kodachrome 40.

As other movie makers, I appreciate the continued commitment of KODAK to providing Super 8 reversal film in your announcement. However, it is ironic that K40's end is announced now when it celebrates its 40th anniversary.

For some good reasons I would like to ask you and KODAK not to stop the production of K40 and the processing in Lausanne (Switzerland):

1. The new color reversal film Ektachrome 64T cannot be used in more than 75% of all Super 8 cameras because those cameras are not able to meter correctly. Many cameras will not specifically meter for 64 ASA.

2. Kodachrome 40 is sold process paid. The price of K40 cartridges has increased considerably within the last years. The new Ektachrome 64T will even be more expensive, due to finding specialised labs and paying separately for film stock and its processing. This will become far too expensive for both amateur and professional moviemakers. One of the big benefits of Super8 K40 has always been its low budget character. This fact attracts an increasing number of young filmmakers, who want to work with the cine medium without making big investments. And for the remaining 50 % of all European users ? who are above 60 years ? all this gets far too complicated as well.

3. Active filmmakers like myself have stocked considerable amounts of K40 in their freezers. Always buying this filmstock process paid for some development moment in the future we have transfered future processing fees to KODAK accounts. This is OK as long as we have a guaranteed processing, KODAK may get the interest out of this accumulated capital. But, this also implies that KODAK has the obligation to fullfill its processing duty and enable all filmmakers to get their films processed up to the last cartridge ever sold process paid.

4. The quality of Kodachrome 40, the colors and the fine grain are outstanding. The thickness of other film stock inside the Super 8 cartridge has always been a problem (for example the slight softness of Ektachrome 7240). I would like to keep on screening the sharp, brilliant and colourfull high contrast K40 images with my filmprojector without having to worry about smoothness of operation.

5. The new Ektachrome 64T looks like a product for semiprofessional use. I understand that it will be marketed by the Entertainment Imaging department of KODAK. In e.g. Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands we can buy our Kodachrome 40 films in more than 400 photoshops, department stores and drug stores. I expect some important changes in your distribution and sales policy leading to Ektachrome 64T to be sold only by some rare specialty shops. Most users won?t know where to buy it anymore and new users will have difficulties to find their K40 filmstock.

I fully understand that Super 8 and K40 filmstock is a business like any other ? and KODAK has to earn money with it. For this reason I would like to promise you, that I will use at least ______ Kodachrome 40 Super8 cartridges per year.

Please, do not stop this wonderful film stock and do not close the lab in Lausanne.

Date/Signature
Mail to: [email protected]

[filmfreund]

Up to now, the signers represent the amount of 8266 Kodachrome 40 cartridges per year! Please sign in: www.schmalfilm.de

[etimh]

Hey filmfreund, thanks for your initiative and work on this! Let's be heard! Tim

[filmfreund]

Our petition has reached more than 10,000 cartridges per year! That means it is signed by 11% of all users of K40 worldwide. We will try to arrange a meeting with Kodak people end of June.

Please sign in the petition: www.schmalfilm.de

We will discuss the topic of processing machines. There would be one - for not too much money. It belongs to Kodak, isn't uses at this time but must be "refreshed". They could use it in Switzerland and say goodbye to the old machine - or they could give it to a private lab. But they must want to do it! And we have to do everything that they really do it. So: keep on to protest! Juergen

[filmfreund]

People starting with K40 might be great users of 16mm and 35mm in the future. That is the real business for you at this time when digital has not taken over the whole market. In Germany, all film schools use this K 40 material. Even Steven Spielberg started with Super-8 on Kodachrome. Spike Lee, Gus van Sant, Rick Linklater, directors like Jem Cohen, Matthew Harrison, Kelly Reichardt, and a host of experimental film artists not yet widely known, did their start with K40.

Our petition was now sigend by Hans Weingartner, the German Cannes winner of last year. More and more professors of film universities sign in and also people from the jury of the famous Oberhausen Kurzfilmtage. So it is not only a topic of those 60-90 year old amateurs (even if they use most of the cartridges sold in Germany).

In our petition you can see that a lot of young people (17-25 years) that just started with Super-8. They buy a cheap camera, put in the cartridge and shoot. This is their first experience. This first film makes the decision to go on with it or stop it. If the exposure is wrong (because of the 64 ASA topic of Ektachrome 64) they won't use it any more. Nobody who starts will have the idea that a Super 8 cartridge can not be read correctly in an automatic camera.

With my next letter on Tuesday, you will get the up dated petition which represents the amount of 12,000 used cartridges per year, the newest issue of schmalfilm with the topic of K40 production stop and I will enclose a DVD of our last years Super 8 competition "NOMOS Super 8 Filmpreis" sponsered by the German watch company NOMOS. I will send this to your London office.

Well, it is not only a question of money (of course I know about the shareholders attitude in your company and the bad figures of the second quarter). The people just love the colors, the grain, the look, the durability of the K40 film stock. Have a look at the short comments of the other petition in the net with 2,800 signers so far. (http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?k40) The people really love this film stock. Your company has a product with a lot of emotional value. Other companies would be glad to have such a positive advertising material free of charge. May be you can not earn any money with it - but you won't loose money with it, either. If you take away this beloved film stock, many people won't buy any other Kodak products any longer. That is what a lot of German signers write in the petition - and we did not incite them to write things like that.

[filmfreund]

Up to now, the signers represent the amount of 13472 Kodachrome 40 cartridges per year! We already tested the new Ektachrome 64T and compared it to Kodachrome 40 scences. Details in the first issue of small format.

www.smallformat.de