Rumor: Kodak and the future of film

dxqcanada · May 10, 2012

Hmm, there appears to be a forum (some unknown site) post that is making the rounds again ... looks like it appeared back in March.

A Kodak employee made some remarks about film manufacturing during this meeting: HOLLYWOOD SECTION MEETING, TUESDAY MARCH 20 | SMPTE

I searched but I cannot find the originating post ... nor other posts/comments/sites that can corroborate this ... so I am not sure if this is just something that someone hopes would spread ... so I will spread it anyway.

Here is a copy of a copy of the post:

I just attended (last night) a SMPTE meeting of the Hollywood Chapter. The subject was "The Technology and History of Film, presented by Beverly Pasterczyk of Eastman Kodak Co." Ms. Pasterczyk is a chemist with film R & D at Kodak, and she mentioned that Kodak Research is currently engaged in the continuing design and implementation of new emulsions, such as the new version of the Vision III product.

Regarding consumer films, she said that they are considering restructuring a new approach aimed at producing these at a reasonable cost in much smaller volumes than in the past. She said that new technology will permit them to continue to produce these in "boutique quantities" using single coating machines rather than the huge multiple coaters of the past. She said that basically, as long as they had sufficient orders for a minimum of a single master roll "54 inches (almost 1-1/2 meters) wide by whatever length - no minimum stated", they would consider examining production in terms of the economics involved. Future production would primarily be on an "on demand" basis.

This would include the infrastructure for processing, probably at a single lab, either in Rochester NY, or sub-contracted.

"On demand" could conceivably include any film that Kodak has ever manufactured. Someone in the audience asked the inevitable question: "Including Kodachrome?" Her answer: "Yes, including Kodachrome". She added that while small runs of Kodachrome were unlikely, it was not out of the question, since they have had numerous inquiries.

To the question "How could this be made possible?" her answer was intriguing. "Volume is the answer. Consumer groups of large numbers of individuals could petition for the return of a specific film. This would include not only large companies, but also individuals banded together such as camera clubs, especially those with a large enough base such that they could collectively join on a national or even international basis".

Overread · May 10, 2012

Considering that nearly every school and uni that runs an photography department tends to also do film work, plus the avilibility of film gear at a cheap price and high quality and the massive history of film I think its very likely that film will retain a hold in the market. Companies like Kodak will only ride it out by downscaling their infrastructure to provide for a smaller population. The bonus to the population is that a more limited product might well be able to reach a higher level of quality. Downside is costs are likely to go up.

As for the idea of group support - its very interesting and I certainly think that a lot of companies get hooked on the mass market and forget that the niche market can, when properly informed and treated, provide a wealth of its own. It might not have as many backers, but many of them will be more willing to part with larger sums or at least to purchase larger quantities than the average on the consumer general market.

I've seen this happening a fair bit in the computer game world - Kickstarter projects have taken off in the a big way over the last half a year or so - mostly all focusing on being small scale companies targeting niche markets and achieving their goals because of the consumer support of those more dedicated. Heck some have even managed to get massive amounts of investment beyond what they targeted when their idea and pitch - and importantly consumer communication - are strong.

Josh66 · May 10, 2012

But, what would be the point in bringing Kodachrome back if they didn't also bring the K-14 process back too?

The part about smaller runs isn't really surprising or anything...