Shindler's Site: Tradition

by Marty Shindler

Tradition, tradition! The famous song from Fiddler on the Roof reminds us that traditions are often very important to our well-being, on both the business and personal levels. It also tells us that there are times when we do things for no other reason than tradition.

Tradition is the handing down of beliefs and customs from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth. In today’s world, with communications technology changing on a daily basis, there is not always time for traditions to take hold before they give way to new and more innovative customs, some of which become new traditions of sorts. Often in this process the old is maintained along with the new.

It’s September once again and time to think about our LF traditions. Often that process is not just one of thinking about our traditions, but a rethinking of them, and not performing the tradition just because it’s a tradition.

In the LF arena, an industry barely 30 years old, there are many traditions of which we are proud and that form the basis of an exciting business. Among those that we hold dearly and that are fundamental to our existence is the pure spectacle of the images that are created as part of the films we produce. Many have said that our images alone are worth the price of admission.

Some industry pundits think that this is no longer enough to bring audiences to the box office. Innovative productions released in the past few years bear similarities to traditional LF films, but form the basis for future traditions.

For example, the rapid rise of digital technologies in the production and post-production process warms my heart. As someone who has spent most of his career involved in these technologies, I am pleased to see the growing use of CGI and digital animation in LF films and simulator rides. These tools are an essential part of 3D production, and are helping to grow all levels of the LF food chain.

Sound is another important tradition in the LF industry. In our cavernous auditoriums, great sound is vital to the presentation. I recently visited the beautiful new Sony Imax Theater at Metreon in San Francisco. Preceding the movie was a new trailer by Imax subsidiary Sonics Associates that told us everything we needed to know about sound. It mentioned the kinds and locations of the various speakers and demonstrated sound traveling throughout the theater. The audience seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. That’s a tradition that should be spread to all Sonics theaters.

As the industry gathers in New York for the annual ISTC GSTA, many traditions will be discussed, possibly including the benefits, if any, of changing the organization’s name, a set of letters that tradition had made more important than the actual words for which they stood. How often in the last nine months have you had to correct yourself or provide an explanation?

When was the last time anyone ever called Big Blue "International Business Machines"? Their three letters, IBM, became an identity that has endured, despite its origin in technology that is now obsolete.

It seems that there is an organization for everything. While in New Jersey, watch out for the GSTA, the other one, that is: the Garden State Towman’s Association (www.gsta.org). While we all believe that our films have a tradition of hooking the audience, this may not be what we mean.

Industryites at the conference will discuss the exhibits created to complement LF films currently being shown. The use of exhibits and films to support one another is an important tradition that must endure. It is vital to reinforce the learning experience of the one in the other.

Topics will also include marketing, and which efforts have worked and which have not. Those that do not should be rethought and not repeated just because "that’s how we’ve always done it."

Other relatively new traditions that should be discussed throughout the industry include:

• Reporting box office information for publication in the trades. For most of July, 10 LF films were in the top 60 domestic box office lists, opening up Hollywood’s eyes. Sooner or later, the industry will begin a new tradition of also sharing and reporting of production costs, as the mainstream cinema industry does.
• Not starting films only on the hour. Institutions are learning from their commercial colleagues that having more flexible starting times is a way to maximize occupancy rates.
• Continued development of new and original film ideas, not just rehashing old story lines or concepts. Thinking outside the box is essential for all aspects of filmmaking.

Among the best of the new traditions is MaxImage! I say that not just because this column is published here, but because the industry seems to agree that having regular and timely news and views of what is happening throughout the entire LF business is essential. Congratulations to James Hyder on completing Year Two. The tradition continues!

One tradition that is important to me is being with my family during religious holidays. For that reason, I will not be in New York this year for the GSTA. Scheduling the conference to coincide with the Jewish High Holy days in September is one tradition that should be done away with.

See you at the Large Format Cinema Association conference in Los Angeles next May.