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Films are disgustingly expensive to deal with


Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

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A 1972 16mm film on the history of porn in NYC came up for sale on eBay. I have been looking for a copy of it on VHS for years. It covers the 1970s grindhouse era on Times Square. The 16mm film for sale is only 90% complete. The seller has a scanning lab out in the Northwest. I asked if he was going to scan the film before he sells it, but he said he wasn't. He said if it was complete he possibly would scan it.

He told me he could scan the 50 min film on a Lasergraphics for $500 if I wanted a copy. I offered him $50 for a DVD just to look at the faded pink film, but $50 does not go far with film work.  That is what happens with money based enterprises, it is all about profit. With non-profit historical archives they are happy to get what they can and if something better does comes up they update their material with a better copy. But there is no guarantee a better copy will ever come up.

Now, I can't blame him for wanting a profit, we all have to pay the rent. Just saying films are disgustingly expensive to deal with. If I was rich I'd pay $500 for a DVD to look at. I would not care. When you kick off you leave it all behind for someone else to spend for you, so why not spend it yourself. But alas, not rich.

Going back to film archives...

I was told that when the big film archives do find a better copy for their library they trash the retired version in the dumpster. If true, isn't that sad ending for film.

Edited by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.
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  • 1 month later...
On 6/3/2020 at 1:58 AM, Daniel D. Teoli Jr. said:

I was told that when the big film archives do find a better copy for their library they trash the retired version in the dumpster. If true, isn't that sad ending for film.

It is expensive to properly store and maintain a film archive. 

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