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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Kodak warns it may be delisted from the NYSE, might not recover.

This sucks.
As a motion shooter I really love digital Raw workflow. But I still shoot a lot of film in my personal stills shooting.
Kodak has worked really hard to streamline and continue to improve in that department, and the buzz out of the PDN show was that they actually had higher sales of still photo film through mid Octoberin 2011 than in all of 2010.

If Kodak ends up folding or kills their still photo film line in all this I'll be damn pissed... Ektar 100 and the new Portra 400 are incredible, and I personally find Ektachrome slide film fits my style better than Fuji Velvia or Provia stocks for most subjects.
 
When I was shooting my Scarlet X night tests at Hollywood and Highland on the animated billboard it said: "Image is everything. Shoot on Kodak Motion Picture Film."

I only worked on one feature in 2011 shot on S35. Everything else was Red or blue. In 2012 I think matters will be much worse. It's a sad time and I agree they'll need support to make motion picture film still work industry wide. Not just Kodak, but the labs out there too.

In terms of still photography, that market is shrinking painfully fast. It's still there, but the competition is just too big.
 
I saw where their stock went way below a buck the other day. Imagine the day when Kodak becomes a penny stock! This really is awful.
 
Marc Wielage said:
I saw where their stock went way below a buck the other day. Imagine the day when Kodak becomes a penny stock! This really is awful.
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I'm amazed that people still hold Kodak stock. Must be die-hard supporters, employees and officers with stock option plans and the few who couldn't see the forest for the trees and now just figured they will ride it out. I'm betting Kodak will be acquired by another camera or technology company looking to absorb their patents and other IP.
 
PatrickFaith said:
there almost needs to be a non-profit to support "film" as a historical medium.
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I don't think the tax payer would go for it. They are already pretty angry funding bad movies that call them idiots. They would probably say, "Ridicule us in video, PLEASE"
 
I still feel that they could survive if they put a huge focus on archiving systems. I feel that despite some effective solutions out there, it's far from ideal yet and needs some serious thought power put behind it to come up with efficient tools that can stand the test of time and be nearly bulletproof. Seems like a golden opportunity that they may never get to capitalize on if things continue to spiral downhill for them. I'd love to see them survive. My grandfather worked for them. It's a company with a tremendous history in this country. They just need to adapt to the needs of the industries they serve.
 
Selling printers won't save them, unless of course they move into the realm of 3D printers. I think they have made some big mistakes in their restructuring efforts. I'll have to look up some of their more elite patents and see what they have behind the curtain, but on the surface it seems they have gone in some wrong directions. They need to be on the forefront of technology if they want to survive, in my opinion. Again, there could be some incredible intellectual property they have been holding onto that perhaps puts them in that category but unfortunately up until now it has not proven successful financially. Maybe some sales of these patents will keep them afloat.
 
I wish I would have shorted this stock a couple years ago. I would be filthy rich right now. Only trouble is, I did not have the cash to do it.
 
Sold my Kodak stock about 10 years ago with the initial push of digital production in Hollywood -- Star Wars prequels, etc.. Back then, Kodak stock was like a blue chip of sorts, a solid place to park some money and keep ahead of inflation. I was never much of a day-trader type, but I tended to own stock (and still do) for companies that I support and believe in.

They have patents and IP, but nothing new and noteworthy that I'm aware of. Posted it in another related thread, but as far as I'm aware, their last real attempt at innovation came in 2007 when they patented and unveiled their alternative to bayer-pattern sensors. The concept was sound, but it was just an alternative and not necessarily better or worse. Their implementation was lacking in specs and sex-appeal compared to the bayer-pattern CMOS chips being put into the latest DSLRs at the time, so it failed to impress shareholders and woo any would-be licensing / manufacturing partners. In short, it was too little, too late.

For now, the Kodak name is still worth a ton, but it's been getting cheaper by the day as they put their label on shoddy consumer printers and toy cameras. Mainstream consumers don't have any real attachment to the Kodak brand -- hey that was the type of film mom used in her camera! Seriously, it's the professional crowd that is interested and with which the Kodak name holds the most clout. The very same crowd that refuses to buy their crap printers, re-badged junk memory cards and disposable cameras.

The end is at hand, writing has been on the wall long enough that it's worn and fading away. Kodak is not being killed by the progression to digital imaging systems and a slower uptake of film. They killed themselves by stagnating and failing to innovate. So sad, so ironic... Being unable to progress in an industry they practically forged themselves. 20 years ago, Kodak was one of the top pioneers in digital imaging technologies... What happened? I don't know... But I think we all know what didn't happen. They didn't adapt and evolve with the industry.
 
I wonder if Jim might be able to snap Kodak up for a song, if he times it right? Then again, he'd have to calculate what the "Kodak" name and patents are even worth any more. Certainly, there might be some kind of "circle of life" elegance to Jim acquiring Kodak.

In my opinion, the way Kodak has been mis-managed over the last decade borders on criminal negligence. A sad state of affairs for a legendary company.
 
My grandfather used to work at Kodak back in the day (I think he retired in the 70's). He took his bonuses in stock and lost a lot of money doing that. The city of Rochester suffers from pollution in no small part do to Kodak, still it is a sad day and feels kind of like loosing a family member. A family member that didn't change with the times, but still...
 
Steve Sherrick said:
...My grandfather worked for them. It's a company with a tremendous history in this country...
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Brian Pascale said:
..My grandfather used to work at Kodak back in the day (I think he retired in the 70's)...
Click to expand...

Justin Kirchhoff said:
...My Aunt and Uncle have both worked at Kodak. Each of them worked there for more than 20 years. They got laid off years ago...
Click to expand...

The jobs peak for Kodak was 145,000 in 1988. So that's well over 100,000 jobs lost.
Hard for economies to turn around these days when modern
inventions and efficiencies eliminate need for people. Next to go is U.S. Postal Service..a victim of e-mail.
Check out this nugget from a Goldman Sachs analyst in 2007...

“Kodak finally has the right products for the digital market,” said Jack L. Kelly, an analyst at Goldman Sachs.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/business/09kodak.html
 
So erhhmm RED should go public! Especially with the three new blockbusters getting a lot of buzz. (Prometheus, Hobbit, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) Not that I have worked on thousands of shoots, but i've been steadily working in the freelance field in NY for almost 4 years and have only been on 3 film sets :/
 
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