"I don’t have time to get out and evaluate other revenue streams," a producer said to me one day. "There is too much on my plate now that requires my immediate attention!"

"You don’t have time not to," I responded. "The additional revenue will make your life easier. With the sharp increase in films expected in 1999 and 2000, revenues for current films and the ability to green-light new productions will be highly dependent on producers being able to squeeze every drop of revenue out of their films now. Tomorrow will be too late."

As with other scenarios I’ve described in this column, I’ve heard the same story from many people in the LF business. If I’d only heard it once, I would call it an isolated instance. But hearing similar comments from multiple individuals in different roles at different organizations makes it a trend.

Organizational analysts say this means it is time to add people to build the company further. These comments are symptomatic of growing organizations that need to make the transition from small entrepreneurial philosophies to more professional management.

Among the ways to add people is to manage costs and concurrently increase revenue. In Maximizing Revenue, (MaxImage! April 1998) I emphasized both strategies. Since then, I have been paying close attention to whether and how, LF companies have implemented the concepts in that article. It’s time to issue Revenue Report Cards.

High marks go to MacGillivray Freeman Films for the recent deal with Miramax to distribute Everest in video and other ancillary markets. It won’t be long before the video hits Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, local video stores and probably even Amazon.com and Reel.com. Since the video industry regularly reports its sales and rental results, it will be interesting to monitor Everest’s progress in those weekly charts.

As the film progresses through its release windows, we’ll see it on cable and then in the TV syndication market. We may even see it on airplanes, cruise ships and other non-theatrical markets. MFF will benefit its future productions by developing market awareness of its brand. In the LF business, brand identity has eluded almost everyone except Imax, which, for good or ill, has become virtually synonymous with the whole industry.

Most other companies in the LF industry have earned relatively poor grades on their Revenue Report Cards, mostly for lack of trying. But I say the revenue is there for those who are willing to act.

Videos of LF films - even those from the largest producers - still have not hit the national chains or the local stores in any kind of meaningful way. Videos in gift shops at the various institutional facilities have only fared moderately well. My research suggests that the prices of these videos are not competitive with most other tapes sold in the mainstream market.

I receive several standard replies when I ask producers why they’re not looking more actively for the ancillary streams I mentioned in Maximizing Revenue. Here is a sample of these rationalizations, along with my responses.

I agree. However, video is now the single largest source of revenue for conventional features. For many customers, video is a matter of convenience or a way to catch the film an extra time. With LF theaters still far from universal, home video or airline screenings may be the only way some people will see the film. How often have you said "I’ll catch it on video"? I rest my case.

If investors of all kinds do not get a payback eventually, there may not be a next film. What happens when the administration changes? Will production funds still be available? Someone must have the incentive to grow the revenue.

What kind of deal did you cut with the distributor? Did they have the incentive to achieve the highest results? Was the film marketed effectively and broadly? Is it time to switch distributors?

Maybe not on the major networks, but with cable channels continuing to proliferate, there will be a slot and it will be played numerous times.

Feature films are just one type of entertainment offering on airlines and cruise ships. Longer flights frequently run a number of shorter pieces. Short flights also offer filmed entertainment. Soon personal video will be widely available.

Wait no longer. DVD is here. The authoring tools provide infinite possibilities. Emerging technologies will play an important role in the future revenue stream.

Michael Childers of LightStream Communications Group has written an extraordinary article in the Fourth Quarter 1998 issue of Avion, the Official Publication of the World Airline Entertainment Association. In "The ‘Other’ Movie Markets," Childers describes various other small markets that could yield "found" money for your films. These include the hotel/motel, military, school, college and institutions, and even the health care industry.

The article states, "the convergence of the telecommunications, television, and data processing industries has led to the integration of technologies that are globalizing communications and commerce. Entertainment content and technology-based delivery systems are becoming irreversibly linked."

Think of the additional revenue possibilities made available with new technology. How will the LF industry fare in its next Revenue Report Card?