Amazing Find original ATARI Movie film

[Greg2600]

That looks like finished film stock, not negatives. $9 bucks a minute is a hefty price I think. Maybe I'm wrong?

[Bojay1997]

That looks like finished film stock, not negatives. $9 bucks a minute is a hefty price I think. Maybe I'm wrong?

That would actually be super cheap assuming it's a telecine transfer with automated color correction. Generally, most labs charge $20-$25 a minute with a 10 minute minimum plus cleaning charges and charges for hard drives or whatever media you end up transferring to, not to mention shipping. The big problem you may run into is that many labs won't transfer copyrighted material without written permission from the rights holder.

[mr-atari]

That would actually be super cheap assuming it's a telecine transfer with automated color correction. Generally, most labs charge $20-$25 a minute with a 10 minute minimum plus cleaning charges and charges for hard drives or whatever media you end up transferring to, not to mention shipping. The big problem you may run into is that many labs won't transfer copyrighted material without written permission from the rights holder.

Wow never even considered that! Guess if this is a print and not the negative, then I am sunk!

Ok well then it is going on eBay because I'm not going to drop a couple grand on a projector.

[Parodius Duh!]

The big problem you may run into is that many labs won't transfer copyrighted material without written permission from the rights holder.

Theres a good chance any copyrights in regards to these old theatrical commercials have run out long ago, I doubt Atari, Namco, etc... would hang on to the copyrights for these but I could be wrong. Not like they would ever release a dvd of this stuff anyway.....Im sure you can find someone to transfer it, I mean people come to me to transfer their old television programs taped off of tv onto DVD, which is completely legal as long as it is signed off that the program is still used for private home use.

[mr-atari]

Yeah it's sad that the reality is that this stuff is history yet the copyright holder will not do anything with it and that negates others ability to preserve it! I don't have the $$ to have it converted, so I can only hope that whoever gets it on EBay will kick me down a copy on Blu_ray when they get it done.

[Bojay1997]

Theres a good chance any copyrights in regards to these old theatrical commercials have run out long ago, I doubt Atari, Namco, etc... would hang on to the copyrights for these but I could be wrong. Not like they would ever release a dvd of this stuff anyway.....Im sure you can find someone to transfer it, I mean people come to me to transfer their old television programs taped off of tv onto DVD, which is completely legal as long as it is signed off that the program is still used for private home use.

Completely incorrect. The copyright on these just like anything else Atari published or created is still very much in effect. While you may be correct that the current Atari might not care very much about a project of this type, any legitimate lab is going to require proof that the copyright holder has signed off. Frankly, commercials have continuing value in the stock footage market for films and television shows (especially with at least one Atari/Nolan Bushnell project in the works at a major studio and various cable documentary programs like Modern Marvels and others using footage of vintage technology ads on a regular basis), so the belief that this is just worthless footage outside of copyright is silly.

[Greg2600]

Even the thought of copyrights would scare most studio's away, that is true.

mr-atari, you might want to consider posting about this on AtariAge.com's forums. There are several long-time members of the hobby there who don't read this forum, and they might have the ability to transfer the film as well as make you an offer for them.

[JSoup]

That would actually be super cheap assuming it's a telecine transfer with automated color correction. Generally, most labs charge $20-$25 a minute with a 10 minute minimum plus cleaning charges and charges for hard drives or whatever media you end up transferring to, not to mention shipping. The big problem you may run into is that many labs won't transfer copyrighted material without written permission from the rights holder.

Which is a good reason to find a film or art school with a lab equipped to do the transfer and make sure a student does it. Either they won't care about the copyright or will do it on the premise that it's 'for educational purposes only'.

[Gameguy]

That looks like finished film stock, not negatives. $9 bucks a minute is a hefty price I think. Maybe I'm wrong?

That sounds like a lot, but it's really not if you think about it. There's so many old films or TV shows that aren't available on DVD due to supposed lack of demand, but if it would only cost a couple thousand dollars or less to transfer a movie you have to wonder why nobody bothered with those films yet.

[mr-atari]

Even the thought of copyrights would scare most studio's away, that is true.

mr-atari, you might want to consider posting about this on AtariAge.com's forums. There are several long-time members of the hobby there who don't read this forum, and they might have the ability to transfer the film as well as make you an offer for them.

Thanks for the Tip Greg, it is so exciting to see the frames of the film and so disappointing to watch them in the cruddy youtube quality that they exist in today.

[JSoup]

So, any progress on this?

[mr-atari]

So, any progress on this?

I am going to be listing the film on eBay this weekend, after I split it up, I was able to find a medical projector, no sound to review the film.

[ASek]

So were these listed on eBay? I did an Advanced search, but I disn't get any results for this. Does anyone know what happened with the film?

[ASek]

Does anyone know how to get in touch with Mr-Atari? I've tried contacting him through the Forum, but no response. I'm working on the upcoming "Atari: Game Over" documentary being produced by Lightbox Films for Xbox and we've been looking for 35mm copies of Atari Commercials for use in the film. If anyone knows Mr-Atari, or a collector with copies of these commercials, please send me a Message or Email.

[JSoup]

I imagine you've already done this, but try on AtariAge.

[Greg2600]

Does anyone know how to get in touch with Mr-Atari? I've tried contacting him through the Forum, but no response. I'm working on the upcoming "Atari: Game Over" documentary being produced by Lightbox Films for Xbox and we've been looking for 35mm copies of Atari Commercials for use in the film. If anyone knows Mr-Atari, or a collector with copies of these commercials, please send me a Message or Email.

Yes definitely ask on Atari Age, not necessarily for him, but others there might also have copies of commercials to use.

[ASek]

Yes definitely ask on Atari Age, not necessarily for him, but others there might also have copies of commercials to use.

Thanks for the suggestions. I did post in the "Wanted" section of AtariAge, perhaps there's a better place post this kind of query, let me know.

It's a shame that Mr-Atari doesn't seem to be checking his messages, as we offered to cover the cost of the digital transfer and pay his time and effort. Moreover, we would have provided him with a digital copy of his own which is what it seems he was really after from the start and he could have kept the film and still sold it on eBay, odd.

[Gameguy]

Does anyone know how to get in touch with Mr-Atari? I've tried contacting him through the Forum, but no response. I'm working on the upcoming "Atari: Game Over" documentary being produced by Lightbox Films for Xbox and we've been looking for 35mm copies of Atari Commercials for use in the film. If anyone knows Mr-Atari, or a collector with copies of these commercials, please send me a Message or Email.

Did you just PM him or did you email him too? His email seems to be made available as a way to contact him through his profile. If you just sent a PM, it's possible he didn't get a notification for it. Plenty of users don't check the forum anymore so they wouldn't know about any PMs waiting for them.

[ASek]

Did you just PM him or did you email him too? His email seems to be made available as a way to contact him through his profile. If you just sent a PM, it's possible he didn't get a notification for it. Plenty of users don't check the forum anymore so they wouldn't know about any PMs waiting for them.

Yep, sent him a couple emails. My guess is he uses a secondary email that he doesn't check very often. It's either that, or he made the whole thing up...

[JSoup]

Or the movie just isn't a priority for him. It happens.