United labor bulletin., 1914-07-25
How Movies Make Money
MARC Min coMer.w


and the owner of small theater can
throw on his screen the products of Gen
eral, Universal and Mutual, and in ad-
dition, if he is willing to pay the price,
an added Feature" So much for the
emancipation of the business.
What, then, are the film profits?
OF course all figures in such an in
stance as this are estimates, but with
certain facts we can arrive at some con-
clusions. Let us begin at the bottom
and see just how the structure of mo-
tion picture income is reared. Take the
producer first and follow the film on its
road from factory to screen. The Amer
lean picture makers consume approxi-
mately 1900 miles of film year. OF
this 10000 is made in this country and
the rest is imported. This unusued film
costs an average of pa cents foot de-
livered to the studios. Roughly speak
ing the outlay for raw material is
$l0,000.000 year.
To this must be added not less than
SAC, 900 900, which is the conservative es-
innate of the cost of producing photo
plays in this country every IL months.
The gross total outlay then is S50,0O0,-
600.
Right here YOU encounter one of the
startling evidences of change in the bus
mess A few years ago the average cost
per foot of finished film ranged from 80
cents to ST. This was for the ordinary
story told on l,0OO-foot reel. But
that was when the scenario of such a
tale cost $25 and before the high cost
of production began to march shoulder
to shoulder with the high cost of liv-
ing.
With the advent of "stars," big and
expensive literary material, gorgeous ac-
cessories, elaborate equipment and all
the rest of the trimmings that the So
phisticated movie fan now demands, the
price has gone to SIS foot, and in many
instances. notably in such production as
"The Prisoner of Zenda,' which had a
costly cast and judith of Bethulia," it
is even higher.
Los Angeles Has a Movie Empire.
To go into specific details OF the pro-
duction end would mean to embark on
a long and complicated narrative-a sep
arate article in itself. A few facts will
give a hint of the expensive expansion.
The original flmsy Edison studio called
the ''Black Maria" which was moved
about on a track so as to keep up with
the sun lit was the type of the early
kind), has given way to the million
dollar steel and glass plant with ac-
cessories like complete zoos, ranches,
and regular staffs of scores of actors
and actresses. More than a dozen COM
panies have establishments that repre-
sent more than 81 100000 each. Out near
Los Angeles, in the heart of the out
door motion picture empire, there are
concerns with weekly salary lists of
over $4,000. One owner has a park of
10000 acrese and another huge combina-
tion, the Universal, has a city all its
own.
time when the motion picture actor was
glad to get $5 a day. Now many get
from $50 to $50 a day, while such IA
vorites as Costello. Baggott, Kerrigan
and various others, draw down $4,000 a
year. Costly scenario departments must
be maintained; authors get royalty in
stead of lump sums; the world is racked
for striking and stirring features. 1t is
no infrequent thing for a manager to
spend from $4,000 to 900 on pro-
duction and make no bones of it. Yet a
few years ago this would have been a
sensational performance. Now you be-
gin to see why the camera crank must
be kept turning, for the longer the reel
the fatter the bank roll.
The Way the Profits Come.
The profit in motion picture produc-
tion. like the profit in ordinary photog-
raphy, depends upon the number OF
prints you sell. The original film-the
so-called negatives seldom if ever
sold outright. 1t remains in stock as
a constant income producer. The owner
bends his energies to sell as many posi-
tives. as the reproductions are called, as
possible.
IT, o,,o-,ro ,,,,,,bor <f ,,os;t;,,os ,,ada
from a commercial film in the United
States is 80. This is very low esti-
mate, because many of the larger con-
Germs print 80 and some even turn out
so or 90. The foreign demand helps to
swell the number. One concern makes
$4,000 feet of negatives week. From
this figure you get some idea Of the
number of positives it can let loose. A
single company-part of the Motion Pic
ture Patents Company-used 1900 900
feet of film last yearl
The standard price that the producer
gets from the exchange on regular film
stories is 10 cents foot. This means
500 for every 1,000-foot reel. The
manufacturer counts himself fortunate
if he can average a net profit of cents
n foot.
One Hundred Eight Releases Weekly.
The life of the film; that is, it's earn
ing period, is usually about six months.
One of the best-known motion picture
magnates in the United States told me
that each copy of the ordinary ,000-fpot
subject would bring in not less than
5000 during this time. The life of the
feature film is considerably longer. A
first-class big feature will return at
least $4,000 to it's owner during the
first IL months. Such films are some-
times subleased for five years, and from
present indications they will be produc-
ing some sort of income during all this
time.