New Yorker

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domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: New Yorker

#576 Post by domino harvey » Wed Feb 10, 2010 12:14 pm

Awesome, because distributing films theatrically worked out real well for Tartan!

kekid
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:55 pm

Re: New Yorker

#577 Post by kekid » Wed Feb 10, 2010 6:01 pm

I am very happy to read this news, but am somewhat cautious in my expectations. In my brief contact with him, I found Jose Lopez to be utterly resistent to change. Many years ago, when Laserdisc was the best available medium, New Yorker continued to produce VHS versions exclusively, and sell them at exhorbitant prices. I called Jose to suggest that they start releasing some of their wonderful films on Laserdisc, and he was surprised I was unhappy with the quality of the VHS. To my knowledge they never released anything on Laserdisc, and switched to DVDs only when it became apparent that the VHS was a dead format. I would have liked to see a complete change in upper management. Having said that, I hope Jose has learnt from his experience, and is going to be more attentive to quality going forward.

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Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: New Yorker

#578 Post by Matt » Fri Apr 02, 2010 11:43 am

I just got an e-mail announcing the "new" New Yorker Films. While I'm happy that the whole staff is returning to their previous positions, I hope they have been chastened somewhat and don't just return to business as usual. Let's see a robust DVD/Blu-ray program and some streaming on Netflix and Hulu, and if we can't get that, a good licensing relationship with someone who can provide it.

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NilbogSavant
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 3:15 am

Re: New Yorker

#579 Post by NilbogSavant » Fri Apr 02, 2010 11:53 am

Hopefully some of their titles come back in print soon. Camp de Thiaroye is going for $300!

Adam
Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2007 8:29 pm
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Re: New Yorker

#580 Post by Adam » Fri Apr 02, 2010 12:23 pm

Just got this on a film programmers email list:

We are pleased to announce: The "new" New Yorker Films!
Some of you have already received my 'mass e-mail' about this, but for those who
haven't:

New Yorker Films will resume operations in April, from new facilities at the
address in my signature below.

The entire staff will return to our previous positions, and we look forward to
again serving you in your programming of excellent films!

At present, we're mostly just able to clear rights (i.e., no media to ship yet)
on most titles we had at the time of our closure last February, but we do have
some 35mm available for shipping now. (For titles, please inquire via e-mail.)

By mid-April, we expect be able to rent/ship a good deal more 35mm prints, and
to have our old contact information available for use again—tel: 212-645-4600...

In the meantime, please use this e-mail address—newyorkerfilms@hotmail.com —to
contact me. For those of you who worked primarily with Linda Duchin in the past,
you can reach her for the time being at newyorkerfilms@earthlink.net

For my part, I'm pleased to have the chance to work with you all again, and will
update the list as more information becomes available.

p.s. This is NOT an April Fool's joke!

Best,

Jonathan
--
Jonathan Howell
New Yorker Films
220 E. 23rd St., Suite 409
New York, NY 10010
newyorkerfilms@hotmail.com

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perkizitore
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:29 pm
Location: OOP is the only answer

Re: New Yorker

#581 Post by perkizitore » Sun Apr 04, 2010 6:26 pm

Jonathan told me that their first DVD release will be Moses and Aaron. Sadly, no blu-rays in the pipeline...

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Tom Hagen
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2008 12:35 pm
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah

Re: New Yorker

#582 Post by Tom Hagen » Wed May 18, 2011 3:29 pm

Manohla catches up with Dan Talbot at Cannes.

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Peacock
Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:47 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: New Yorker

#583 Post by Peacock » Wed May 18, 2011 3:51 pm

Thanks for that TH
Manohla Dargis wrote:New Yorker Films shut down in 2009 after selling its library of 400 or so titles. (The newly reconfigured company, which he doesn’t run, recently released “Octubre” and “My Dog Tulip.”)
I didn't realize NY had sold everything.... I thought someone had bought the company, or given them a cash injection so they only sold some stuff. Which possibly explains the multiple New Yorker titles slowly appearing from Criterion. And it means the Apu Trilogy, Straubs, Oshimas and Rivettes are that much more likely...

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justeleblanc
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:05 pm
Location: Connecticut

Re: New Yorker

#584 Post by justeleblanc » Wed May 18, 2011 4:44 pm

NYer initially defaulted on the rights to their library, and after trying to auction off the films (this part is the fuzziest) a third company took control of the rights. At this point several of the films were either sold or licensed off, but Aladdin Distribution bought NYer and at that point I think they bought back the rights to NYers catalog. It seems there are also less resistant to other distributors released their titles, including Criterion.

I'm unsure of the policy NYer had toward Criterion before they went into receivership, but several NYer titles did show up as Criterions (some of the Ozu's and Bertoluccis). These titles may have also simply been titles for which NYer lost the rights. There was a moment in 2008 when many NYer DVDs went out of print, including the Bressons, Weekend, My American Uncle. The theory was that NYer chose to not renew the rights to these from the international agents, as it was too expensive and NYer was trying to recover from their massive debts. I think Criterion has swooped these titles up. As for their two Rivette titles (CELINE & JULIE and BELLE NOISEUSE), these were NYer properties at the time of their defaulting, so if Criterion were to have picked this would have happened at a different point in time as Weekend and the Bressons. We shouldn't necessarily use the Janus release of Weekend or the hulu.com addition of L'Argent as a sign that Criterion has been licensing directly from NYer.

Just two cents...

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Peacock
Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:47 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: New Yorker

#585 Post by Peacock » Wed May 18, 2011 5:02 pm

Very helpful post, thanks j.
I was also considering the Life and Times of Harvey Milk + L'Atalante - but absolutely, it's very possible NYer lost the rights prior to their defaulting.

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: New Yorker

#586 Post by Michael Kerpan » Wed May 18, 2011 5:08 pm

The Ozu films passed out of New Yorker's catalog (due to license expiration) _before_ these got licensedd by Criterion from Shochiku.

Thomas Dukenfield
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2010 6:42 pm

Re: New Yorker

#587 Post by Thomas Dukenfield » Wed May 18, 2011 5:15 pm

So, are we to assume that New Yorker will regain the rights to a lot of the titles they used to have (excluding whatever Criterion picked up)? They had a ton of gems of world cinema that were only released on VHS (on top of the more obvious OOP DVD titles).

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swo17
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Re: New Yorker

#588 Post by swo17 » Wed May 18, 2011 5:43 pm

Ha, Criterion has finally cleared up all the New Yorker talk on Facebook:
Criterion wrote:The magazine?

Thomas Dukenfield
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2010 6:42 pm

Re: New Yorker

#589 Post by Thomas Dukenfield » Wed May 18, 2011 5:47 pm

swo17 wrote:Ha, Criterion has finally cleared up all the New Yorker talk on Facebook:
Criterion wrote:The magazine?
Burn.
Rimshot.

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SpiderBaby
Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2010 6:34 pm

Re: New Yorker

#590 Post by SpiderBaby » Wed May 18, 2011 5:49 pm

that was my bad. I guess writing "The" gave them a way out.

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Peacock
Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:47 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: New Yorker

#591 Post by Peacock » Wed May 18, 2011 6:29 pm

Criterion wrote:The magazine?
Criterion wrote:Ok here's a serious answer: Not sure where you are getting your info, but as far as we know New Yorker still has many of its catalog rights, but we're keeping our eyes open for opportunities where great auteur films may be becoming available.
Bu-bu the article?
Criterion wrote:We saw this too. While it's true that New Yorker shut down for a while, the sale of the company and its library was by its creditors to a group of investors backing the reconstituted company, which is being run by essentially the same staff that was running it when it shut down. Meaning, yes, they went out of business, until they got a backer who helped them get back into business (although Dan is no longer involved). So the catalog rights were not, as the article seemed to imply, scattered to the four winds or sold off wholesale. The rights that had not expired remain with the company. I hope that clears things up a bit.

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SpiderBaby
Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2010 6:34 pm

Re: New Yorker

#592 Post by SpiderBaby » Wed May 18, 2011 9:08 pm

^Well I got more out of that post than I thought. So that wraps it up a little and we'll just see what they previously got from them (Weekend, etc) in the future.

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justeleblanc
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:05 pm
Location: Connecticut

Re: New Yorker

#593 Post by justeleblanc » Wed May 18, 2011 9:55 pm

Has anyone compiled a list of Criterion films that were released by NYer on VHS or DVD? Did NYer release other Oshima's aside from A CRUEL STORY OF YOUTH?

CJG
Joined: Sun Dec 02, 2007 3:13 am

Re: New Yorker

#594 Post by CJG » Wed May 18, 2011 10:06 pm

Yes, they also released The Sun's Burial.

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Gregory
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm

Re: New Yorker

#595 Post by Gregory » Wed May 18, 2011 10:36 pm

Quite a few New Yorker VHS titles ended up with Criterion. In addition to what's been mentioned:
Elevator to the Gallows
Zazie dans le Metro
Fire Within
The Lovers
Sans Soleil
Woman in the Dunes
Antonio Gaudi
Pickpocket
Vivre Sa Vie
2 or 3 Things I Know about Her
Masculin, Feminin
Le Samourai
Fear Eats the Soul (and other Fassbinder -- part of BRD Trilogy I believe)
The Idiot

Thomas Dukenfield
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2010 6:42 pm

Re: New Yorker

#596 Post by Thomas Dukenfield » Wed May 18, 2011 11:18 pm

CJG wrote:Yes, they also released The Sun's Burial.
...and Taboo as well.

Marriage of Maria Braun was the other Criterion Fassbinder that New Yorker put out on VHS. I think that about covers it.

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Ashirg
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:10 am
Location: Atlanta

Re: New Yorker

#597 Post by Ashirg » Fri Oct 07, 2011 1:28 pm

Moses and Aaron is finally being released on November 8, after a 2-year delay...

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: New Yorker

#598 Post by knives » Fri Oct 07, 2011 1:40 pm

The Straub/ Huillet right? I guess they are back and hopefully better.

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Dadapass
Joined: Thu Oct 09, 2008 6:57 pm

Re: New Yorker

#599 Post by Dadapass » Sat Oct 29, 2011 5:44 pm


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SpiderBaby
Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2010 6:34 pm

Re: New Yorker

#600 Post by SpiderBaby » Sat Oct 29, 2011 6:27 pm

:shock: First I heard of it. Great news.

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