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Just saw this in the LA Times Calendar section, February 18, 1995.
"Trimark Picture's colorization of the new bkack-and-white movie
"Federal HIll" is reverberating within the film community: The film's
director is seeking a way to halt the movie's release while fimmakers and
the Artist's Right's FOundation are publicly criticizing the company's
actions.
"This is the first time a distributor has announced such actions.
"'With its decision to colorize a critically succesful
black-and-white motion picture, Trimark has advertised to the artistic
community the level of respect it has for the work of film artisits,' the
Artists Rights Foundation said in a prepared statement.
"Director Michael Corrente's black-and-white film, which will open
in Los Angeles on Friday, was released in New York to strong reviews Dec. 9
and has since played in Boston, Kansas City and Providence, R.I.
"Woody Allen, a longtime champion of both black-and-white
filmmaking and artist's rights in congressional hearings on the issue over
the years, took time from filming his next movie to release this statement:
"'It's very simple on this subject. If a film is colorized with the
consent of the director it's fine. At a later date with the director's
consent, as an artistic decision, this is also fine. Without the director's
consent it is criminal.'
"Allen should know. The opening scene of his Oscar contender
"Bullets over Broadway" is made of vintage black-and-white footage that was
colorized by the same company colorizing "Federal Hill." But that decision
was Allen's choice.
"At issue is Corrente's choice. The 35-year-old direcetor, who
financed the $80,000 picture with his own money and a second mortgage on
his brother's house, never wanted his film in color. He uses
black-and-white footage as a metaphor for the existence of the films's
characters--five youths who grow up in a tough Providence Italian American
neighorhood, mirroring Corrente's youth.
"'I am not unhappy with the way Trimark released this film, but
nobody ever told me they were going to colorize anything,'said Corrente.
'They asked me if I would consider looking at a [colorized] test for home
video and certain markets. I made it clear to them that even if I decided
to agree to it, it would just be for home video. That decision was never
made.
"'And I told them if [the colorized version was theatrically]
released in specific markets, it would have to be colorized with the
original black-and-white version,' he noted. 'I wanted the guy in Des
Moines to be able to have the choice. They never got back to me about any
decision. I learned about it when they issued their press release saying
they were doing it.
"'Could you imagine someone doing this to [Steven Spielberg's]
'Schindler's List' or [Martin Scorese's] 'Raging Bull'? It's a terrible
feeling," he said.
"'Right now my attorney is in contact with the Artist's Rights
Foundations's attorney,' Corrente said. 'Because I own the copyright and
there is some specific language in the contract, we are trying to determine
whether we can stop them, possibly with an injunction. We are sending them
a cease-and-decist letter to them."
Trimark spokesman David Bowers said the company was within its
rights to colorize the film.
While Trimark liked the black-and-white version, Bowers said "we
felt we could broaden the audience if we colorized it. After we opened in
New York, Boston, and other cities, the reaction we got back from those
markets is that they would enjoy it more if it wasn't in Black-and-White.
"'Because it's in black-and-white, some people think it's an art
film," Bowers noted. 'But it's a commercial film and that's why we want to
colorize it.'
"So why didn't Trimark colorize before any screenings? 'In watching
the film, we thought it would do fine,' he said. 'It's still showing in
theaters in black-and-white. And it will be released in L.A. in
black-and-white.'
"Jody Shapiro, the president of CST Entertainment of Culver City,
said his company negotiating for the coloring job with Trimark about a
month ago. About a quarter of the film has already been colorized, he said.
"'I can understand the concerns and we are the first to admit that
colorization, in the early days, looked so bad. But that's not the case
anymore,' said Shapiro, who is also currently colorizing 'All About Eve'
for Fox. 'You have to understand that in the eyes of the distributors, this
gives them a brand-new avenue to exploit their product, especially
overseas.'
"But the foundation counters that notion with the Bern Treaty.
"'In 1989, the United States joined 80 other nations and signed the
Bern Treaty. This treaty was composed over 100 years ago to protect the
rights of authors across national borders,' the foundation said. 'Under
U.S. law, the copyright owner is considered the author, a bizarre notion
that we hope will change with the determination of astists to protect their
good names from the whimsy or opinions of marketers.'"
-30-
Well now, what do we all think of this? My guess is that there will
arise outcry from this particular forum regarding what I consider an
atrocity and a travesty of not only the rights of an artist, or the rights
of artists everywhere, but a travesty against art itself, not to mention
what it does for notions of respect, or for that matter, taste.
I could go on in indignant prose on how angry this makes me, and
how it is nothing but another example of a culture losing its culture.
However, I'll leave messages of this sort, for the time being, to other
members of Screen-L. I am interested, however, in seeing some information
regarding this issue posted. namely, I imagine the following would be
useful:
1) Where the Artists Rights Foundation can be contacted to pledge
support.
2) Where Trimark can be contacted.
3) Where Michael Corrente (the director) can be contacted.
However, I do wanto comment on one of Corrente's quotes. He said it
would be inconcievable for a company to do this to 'Schindler's List' or
'Raging Bull'. However, during pre-production of 'Schindler', studio-execs
wanted him to shoot in color, then transfer it to B&W later, so that they
could relaes a color version on video. So, unfortuantely, even Spielberg
and 'Schindler' are not immune.
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Mark Kawakami * No part of this may be reproduced
Chapman University * expressed, written consent of the
[log in to unmask] * National Football League
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