Kodak's star fades as Oscars say bye to venue
Source: Agencies |
February 26, 2012, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
EACH year at the Oscars ceremony, Hollywood says goodbye to stars and filmmakers who've passed away. This year, the award show will bid adieu to the Kodak Theatre.
Just a decade ago, the glamorous 3,300-seat venue was touted as the Oscars' first permanent home, but the 131-year-old company has forfeited its sponsorship of the venue as it struggles with bankruptcy.
The move symbolizes Kodak's fading star power in Hollywood. Although seven of the nine "Best Picture" nominees were shot on Kodak film, the industry's increasing use of digital editing and projection has ravaged the company's printing business.
About half of the world's commercial screens now show movies from digital projectors.
"35-millimeter is coming to the end of its life," said David Hancock, head of film and cinema for research firm IHS Screen Digest. "In four years' time there will be no film printing business."
Kodak film has long been a favorite of cinematographers. But more and more movies are shot using digital cameras, and the notion of a "cutting-room floor" littered with celluloid scraps has given way to studios with computerized tools such as Avid Technology Inc's Avid DS and Apple Inc's Final Cut Pro.
The billions of dollars that major studios save on film - and its costly ingredient, silver - has resulted in revenue declines for the Eastman Kodak Co division that once accounted for the vast majority of the company's overall revenue.
Kodak is unable to afford the marketing boost the Oscars once gave it.
Last week, a bankruptcy court judge approved its early exit from a 20-year naming rights deal it signed with Kodak Theatre owner CIM Group in 1999. The Kodak Theatre, which was custom-built for the awards show and first played host to the ceremony in 2002, will be described to millions of viewers today simply as the "Hollywood & Highland Center."
Just a decade ago, the glamorous 3,300-seat venue was touted as the Oscars' first permanent home, but the 131-year-old company has forfeited its sponsorship of the venue as it struggles with bankruptcy.
The move symbolizes Kodak's fading star power in Hollywood. Although seven of the nine "Best Picture" nominees were shot on Kodak film, the industry's increasing use of digital editing and projection has ravaged the company's printing business.
About half of the world's commercial screens now show movies from digital projectors.
"35-millimeter is coming to the end of its life," said David Hancock, head of film and cinema for research firm IHS Screen Digest. "In four years' time there will be no film printing business."
Kodak film has long been a favorite of cinematographers. But more and more movies are shot using digital cameras, and the notion of a "cutting-room floor" littered with celluloid scraps has given way to studios with computerized tools such as Avid Technology Inc's Avid DS and Apple Inc's Final Cut Pro.
The billions of dollars that major studios save on film - and its costly ingredient, silver - has resulted in revenue declines for the Eastman Kodak Co division that once accounted for the vast majority of the company's overall revenue.
Kodak is unable to afford the marketing boost the Oscars once gave it.
Last week, a bankruptcy court judge approved its early exit from a 20-year naming rights deal it signed with Kodak Theatre owner CIM Group in 1999. The Kodak Theatre, which was custom-built for the awards show and first played host to the ceremony in 2002, will be described to millions of viewers today simply as the "Hollywood & Highland Center."
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