save Kodak - campaign to keep kodak film alive

[tadler]

i just posted a comment in this new initiative: http://www.savekodakfilm.com/

here's what i wrote:
I was surprised and disappointed when the incredible Kodak Ektar 25 color negative film disappeared in mid nineties. Prints from the 35mm film looked like large or at least good middle-format shots. I was then quite worried when the unique Technical Pan B&W film disappeared around 2004, there were no alternatives to this incredible special-purpose ultra high definition film. Although I shoot digital as well, I still work intensively with large format camera using the beautiful Ektar 100 color negative film. What will I do if this one disappears now? How will I continue my projects which are still in the making now? No offense to other manufacturers, but there really isn’t anything around to replace this quality. These films should have been declared as world cultural heritage, preserved and maintained regardless of market demand! The world simply cannot let this thing be extinct, whether by state institutions investing in obtaining and keeping the production alive, or by supporting private entrepreneurs who can commit on preserving this endangered species.

[Brian C. Miller]

Money talks louder than wishful thinking. There is a poll on the site, and for it being active for six months, there are tad over 300 votes to keep Kodak film alive. The blog writer claims that he can get the investors together to purchase what Kodak has put up for sale, and claims that he just needs to show the investors that there is a vibrant film community out there.

What investors need are hard numbers. Like, how much still film did Kodak sell? What does it cost to coat a master roll, and how fast do the products cut from it sell? Number, hard numbers. Not wishful thinking. Return on investment.

If you value Kodak that much, buy film and encourage other people to shoot film. Show prints. Show what film does oh so well. Educate people.

That's all we can do, besides freezing it for that fateful day in the future. Like, maybe next year.

[jp]

If you like Ektar 100 that much, sell a lens or stop dining out or cancel cable TV and start to fill your freezer with film boxes. It's easier than talking people into saving Kodak.

I hoarded an appropriate amount of Kodak film last year, still buying what I need for use. I'm inclined to get a bit more before this sale thing blow up.

[RichardSperry]

The government bails out the robber baron bankers which don't produce a thing. That ran themselves into the ground. That steal from people.

And a company that actually produces a valuable product, they are willing to let die.

I would love to see Fotokemica come in and buy the whole lot for a penny on the dollar. And note the irony of a "Commie" company buying out one of America's former blue chips.

[jeroldharter]

Not all companies survive indefinitely. Nor is it a legitimate function of our goverment to ensure that they do.

Unless I have the money and risk tolerance to buy a piece of Kodak myself, I will move on.

[Brian Ellis]

Money talks louder than wishful thinking. There is a poll on the site, and for it being active for six months, there are tad over 300 votes to keep Kodak film alive. The blog writer claims that he can get the investors together to purchase what Kodak has put up for sale, and claims that he just needs to show the investors that there is a vibrant film community out there. . . .

Any investor that cares one iota about whether there's a "vibrant film community out there" is a complete idiot (and if that idiot uses responses to someone's blog to figure that out he or she would be a double idiot). The way any sensible prospective purchaser will decide whether to buy Kodak's film business isn't to look at responses to a blog. It's to turn the investor's financial, legal, and technical people loose in Kodak's offices and plant doing due diligence for as long as it takes to figure out whether Kodak is making money on what films, if any, and if not, what changes can be made at what cost to make money. As you say, it's a matter of numbers, not vibrant film communities.

[Nathan Potter]

Exactly right Brian.

Nate Potter, Austin TX. / Corea ME.

[John Kasaian]

Ya can't save anyone that doesn't want to save themselves. This applies to big biz as well.

[RichardSperry]

Not all companies survive indefinitely. Nor is it a legitimate function of our goverment to ensure that they do.

What's the legitimate function of government these days? Ours tells us what to eat and what we can't eat. Tells us who we can screw or not. Tells us to turn left instead of going straight. Bails out bandit bankers who can't run their own businesses and buys them jets. Watches us on camera. Gives rights to corporations. It feeds and clothes people who did not earn it, pays for their rent for nicer homes than I live in. It gives them medical treatment and drugs. It even buys them electric scooters because they are too obese to walk so they can tool around Walmart, and gives them preferred parking spaces close to the door.

I would think that if our government can do all these other illegitimate functions, then why not buy Kodak too. As a taxpayer, I would love my tax dollars going to actually producing something.

Besides, it's in the Preamble, it would be promoting the general welfare.

[Kodachrome25]

According to this USA Today article, the motion picture film division might be up for sale as well:

"Kodak made a point of saying that businesses, such as consumer inkjet printing, motion picture and television film, and specialty chemicals, are outside of the core. Ken Luskin, president of California wealth management firm Intrinsic Value Asset Management, said the company seems to be indicating that it will also sell those businesses."

http://www.usatoday.com/money/indust...ess/57289302/1

I also got an email from Audrey Jonckheer last night that states Kodak film and pro paper will be represented at the Kodak booth at Photokina in Germany next month. At that time, they will launch the updated Kodak Professional Film website and brochures. It is expected to take until early to mid next year to finalize the sale of the still film unit.

The key thing to remember here is that Kodak is marketing both Kodak still film and the Kodak still film customer to the potential buyers, so we are all literally in the spotlight together at the moment.
So my feeling is lets not blow the chance we have all been talking about for years to get Kodak film in the hands of an eager new owner that could very well want to keep the products in our hands for longer than we thought possible.

Keep buying it, shooting it and for god's sake, keep the vibe as positive as you can, I am going to.