New Yorker

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whaleallright
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am

Re: New Yorker

#651 Post by whaleallright » Sun Dec 01, 2013 6:23 am

I imagine they are having cash-flow problems. I still get their emails advertising DVDRs of African and other films at institutional prices (something like $100–$300/film). Surely a business model that has largely had its day.

I wouldn't be so sure they still have the rights to the films you mention, feihong—unless of course you have good information on this. They lost the US rights to most or all of the classic Japanese films they once distributed, as well as other things like A Man Escaped and Touki Bouki, so it's quite likely that rights to all those later Asian films—Kitano, Kore-eda, Jia, etc.—have or will soon lapse. The question is whether that will happen before or after the inevitable death of physical media as a means of commercial film distribution.

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The Elegant Dandy Fop
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 3:25 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Re: New Yorker

#652 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Sun Dec 01, 2013 1:15 pm

Milestone already owns the rights to Maborosi, and I really hope they lose the rights to Jia Zhangke's and Takeshi Kitano's films so we can see non-interlaced copies of each. Jia is suppose to be working on a director's cut of Platform, so hopefully when that comes to the US, it's not New Yorker haphazardly promising a Blu-Ray for a few years.

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

Re: New Yorker

#653 Post by knives » Sun Dec 01, 2013 2:25 pm

I'm very much hoping any company can take the Straub/ Huillet's away from them. I suppose at least they released Moses and Aron on that front though.

onedimension
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 4:35 pm

Re: New Yorker

#654 Post by onedimension » Sun Dec 01, 2013 5:08 pm

I'm surprised no one has bought out New Yorker.. I could see Kino, who have so many sub-labels and recent acquisitions, being interested in having a little more of an art house market..

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dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: New Yorker

#655 Post by dwk » Sun Dec 01, 2013 5:28 pm

New Yorker lost the rights to the Kitano films a few years ago. BCI had picked up the rights but they went out of business before they released any of them.

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ShellOilJunior
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 7:17 am

Re: New Yorker

#656 Post by ShellOilJunior » Mon Dec 23, 2013 5:31 pm

I sent an inquiry to them on Nov. 29:

Greetings,

I see your Web site has an October release date listed for this film. Do you happen to have an updated release date? Very much looking forward to this release.

All the best,
Patrick


They replied today (Dec 23):

All I am told is that it will be later in 2014. Sorry we can't provide
more info at the moment, but thanks for your interest.

shaky
Joined: Mon Jul 29, 2013 2:52 pm

Re: New Yorker

#657 Post by shaky » Thu Feb 13, 2014 1:45 pm

Has anyone heard anything at all from these guys since last year? My goodness...

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FrauBlucher
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
Location: Greenwich Village

Re: New Yorker

#658 Post by FrauBlucher » Thu Feb 13, 2014 2:13 pm

I wonder if they're on their last leg. You don't even hear of them signing deals to distribute new films.

onedimension
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 4:35 pm

Re: New Yorker

#659 Post by onedimension » Thu Feb 13, 2014 3:30 pm

I think they're past last leg, were in wheelchair, now in hospital bed fighting valiantly. If they don't make it, hopefully another label can pick up the work they've put into 'Celine and Julie' - they did get out a theatrical release, right? so it's not all PR and red tape..

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whaleallright
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am

Re: New Yorker

#660 Post by whaleallright » Fri Feb 14, 2014 8:14 pm

Since the New Yorker DVDs of Platform and Unknown Pleasures are technically out of print (though you can still find copies on Amazon and elsewhere), and Xiao Wu/Pickpocket doesn't seem to have any distribution in the US, do you think Criterion could pick up Jia Zhangke's so-called "Hometown Trilogy"? I'd love to see Platform, in particular, on Blu-Ray. Jia is working on a "definitive cut" of Platform (which will not be identical to the original, longer festival cut), and such a thing would certainly warrant a revisiting of his first three features.

(I would actually hope that any release of Platform include the release cut with which most are familiar, since it is such a remarkable--and remarkably proportioned--film.)

I don't recall this idea being batted about anywhere....

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FrauBlucher
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
Location: Greenwich Village

Re: New Yorker

#661 Post by FrauBlucher » Fri Feb 14, 2014 8:19 pm

I wonder how this works if they go out of business and can't hold onto rights. Do the rights revert back to film makers or can NYer sell off rights to another company? I'm sure it's not as easy as all this.
Last edited by FrauBlucher on Fri Feb 14, 2014 8:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Max von Mayerling
Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2004 6:02 pm
Location: Ann Arbor, MI

Re: New Yorker

#662 Post by Max von Mayerling » Fri Feb 14, 2014 8:46 pm

Not that I know much about this area, and not to be too much of a lawyer about it, but I would assume that their licenses are just an asset that would be dealt with like other assets. Unless the licensing agreements somehow provide otherwise. (And, sorry, but I imagine that the licensors are rarely the film makers - they are most likely studios or whoever it was that paid for the film (or whoever bought the rights from them, etc.).)

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FrauBlucher
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
Location: Greenwich Village

Re: New Yorker

#663 Post by FrauBlucher » Fri Feb 14, 2014 8:54 pm

Max von Mayerling wrote:(And, sorry, but I imagine that the licensors are rarely the film makers - they are most likely studios or whoever it was that paid for the film (or whoever bought the rights from them, etc.).)
Yes, I should have suggested Producer and not filmmaker, unless one in the same.

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Shrew
The Untamed One
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 2:22 am

Re: New Yorker

#664 Post by Shrew » Fri Feb 14, 2014 10:08 pm

Yeah, if you look back in this thread, New Yorker actually already went bankrupt around 2008. Not sure of all the details, but everything went OOP and their theatrical distribution shut down. I think they tried to sell/auction off the rights to their library, but no one bought it (likely because it was being sold as a unit). Eventually they somehow got reorganized/came back, distributed a couple new films, got out a couple new discs, and then we're here.

Whatever's going on there, it certainly seems like they're an incredibly incompetent company. I can only assume some rich Manhattanite's discretionary funds are what keeps it afloat, but probably not enough to finance a print run of a new disc like Celine and Julie. This seems like it would be a perfect project for Kickstarter, but considering their website doesn't enough have an easy-to-find catalog page, I figure whoever's running it hasn't heard of such technology.

Unfortunately rights will probably stick with them until their natural expiration. Since New Yorker has so many low profile films I imagine they and/or their creditors fear they will be stuck with a lot of unsellable product if they let the relatively better-known titles like Celine and Julie, Beau Travail, or the Jias go seperately.

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feihong
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:20 pm

Re: New Yorker

#665 Post by feihong » Sat Feb 15, 2014 12:46 am

I wonder what they still have. They used to have some Bresson, some Sogo Ishii, quite a bit of Alain Tanner, some Chabrol...but I guess much of those rights have passed to other companies.

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

Re: New Yorker

#666 Post by SpiderBaby » Sat Feb 15, 2014 2:23 am

They have The Hour of the Furnaces. I started asking about a potential dvd release a couple years ago, in which they replied it would likely be a 2013 release (same with the Rivette). That of course didn't happen, and still waiting.

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feihong
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:20 pm

Re: New Yorker

#667 Post by feihong » Sat Feb 15, 2014 3:36 am

It sucks this that great movies can get buried in this way.

javi82
Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2014 7:41 pm

Re: New Yorker

#668 Post by javi82 » Sat Feb 15, 2014 11:44 am

Do they still have Claire Denis' Beau Travail? I thought I saw there logo when TCM aired it about three months ago. I wish it would go to someone who would do something with it.

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FrauBlucher
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
Location: Greenwich Village

Re: New Yorker

#669 Post by FrauBlucher » Wed May 07, 2014 6:18 am

June 27th of 2013 is the last time New Yorker has updated their site.

Has anyone who pays close attention to the festival circuit has seen or read whether New Yorker has been attending or even bidding on films for distribution rights?

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JSC
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 9:17 am

Re: New Yorker

#670 Post by JSC » Tue Aug 02, 2016 8:54 am

I thought I'd bump this thread up a bit to inquire if there's been any word
about the state of New Yorker Films these days. Their website hasn't been
updated in two years and I'm assuming the 'Celine and Julie go Boating'
blu-ray release is essentially kaput.

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

Re: New Yorker

#671 Post by domino harvey » Tue Aug 02, 2016 10:42 am

Rosenbaum answered a question about it in his Reddit AMA and said he didn't expect his extras to ever see the light of day, so since I can't imagine New Yorker paying for them and not using them, presumably the film's release is similarly DOA

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feihong
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:20 pm

Re: New Yorker

#672 Post by feihong » Tue Aug 02, 2016 7:01 pm

On the Projection Booth podcast about Celine & Julie Rosenbaum said that the owner of New Yorker films didn't like the film, but it seemed to me that he basically implied that New Yorker probably wouldn't be releasing Celine & Julie in the future. Putting the different sources together, it seems really unlikely New Yorker has any plans for Celine & Julie.

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FrauBlucher
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
Location: Greenwich Village

Re: New Yorker

#673 Post by FrauBlucher » Tue Aug 02, 2016 8:02 pm

New Yorker hasn't been active in any way. They no longer procure new films from the festival circuit. They are also letting rights from their catalogue lapse, as Criterion and Cohen have obtained a bunch that were previously with New Yorker. So, I don't know what to expect with Celine and Julie. Maybe it's just waiting for the rights to lapse.

beamish13
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:31 am

Re: New Yorker

#674 Post by beamish13 » Wed Aug 03, 2016 12:47 am

Liberating Alain Tanner's films from New Yorker would be tremendous.

They're infamous for their shoddy approach to film distribution, and they were known for loaning out unplayable 35mm prints to university film clubs and repertory houses during the 80's and 90's.

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whaleallright
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am

Re: New Yorker

#675 Post by whaleallright » Thu Dec 10, 2020 3:48 am

Does this company continue to exist—if only as a kind of holding company for the theatrical and home-video rights to a dwindling number of films, for which they may or may not have copies available—at all, or is it dead? It's grimly amusing to me that their website has read "The New Yorker Films’ website is being redesigned" for something like six years.

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