My mantra is 'local, local, local'
By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
As I write this column a film crew is making preparations a few steps outside my office door to shoot three scenes for "Angel's Blade 2," a horror film produced and directed by Granby's Robert Stock.
Actor Corbin Bernsen star of "L.A. Law," and currently seen in "Psych" on USA Network, among other productions is walking around our little cubicle farm. It's going to be an odd morning fun, though.
Technology has made local film making possible. My friends Marty Langford, Warren Amerman and Scott Kittredge have all shown that home grown films can satisfy audiences and critics.
The issue isn't talent Western Massachusetts has plenty the issue is always going to be distribution.
You can make the best movie, write the best book or construct the best mousetrap and the problem will always be how to get your product to market.
The irony is that while today it's technically easier to make something such as a feature film, it's much, much tougher to find the means to allow an audience to find your movie.
And it's all the result of the lingering death of local business ownership.
I picked up last week a copy of the venerable movie trade publication, "The Motion Picture Herald" from 1946. Every week, this publication would report the news of the industry with an emphasis on serving the theater owners.
Yes, indeed, real people, rather than conglomerates actually used to own theaters. Some still do. Bill Hanney owns Entertainment Cinemas and that's one reason my wife and I always go there. The Agawam cinema is also still locally owned.
In 1946, the exhibition end of the motion picture industry was divided between theater chains owned by the studios and those operated by independent businesses. Those independents made decisions on what movies they would show.
As long as a film had a potential for profit in their locations, they were open to showing it. These local owners were showmen who took pride in making the right picks about the movies they presented. They took risks.
Today, though, corporate owned chains that are not inclined to give an independent film a break dominate the exhibition side of the movie business.
The home video industry used to be a haven for both independent businesspeople and filmmakers, but that also has changed with the major chains cutting exclusive deals with studios to squeeze out the little guy.
Sound familiar to your business? How many classifications of businesses are now essentially out of the hands of local ownership?
I was speaking to attorney Patrick Markey last week. He's running for City Council in Springfield and he believes the future strength in the city will be the establishment and growth of locally owned businesses. He said the days of hoping for a corporate white knight to come riding into the city with the promise of hundreds of jobs is over. There's no single approach to economic development.
I agree with Markey. Remember how Wang Computers was going to "save" Holyoke back in the 1980s?
You might notice a re-occurring theme over the next year in these columns and that's the importance of making decisions that actually make an improvement to our area. No, I'm not calling a boycott against Wal-Mart, but I am saying that making a choice to shop at a locally owned business is better for Western Massachusetts.
Spend a dollar at a chain store and a good chunk of it leaves the area. Money spent with a local concern has more of a local impact.
This column represents the opinions of its author. Send your comments online to Remiderpublications.com or to 280 N. Main St., East Longmeadow, Mass. 01028.
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