The New Star Wars Was Shot on Kodak Film, And That’s a Good Thing For Analog
Film lives, at least in Hollywood
I may lose some of you right off the bat, but I feel like I should start this post with an admission: I’m not really a big Star Wars guy. I’m excited for everyone who is, but I was always more of a dragons and wizards nerd than a lasers and space ships nerd. I am, however, pretty excited about a story from The Hollywood Reporter in which Kodak reveals that some big-budget movies are making their way back to film and that’s very good for profits.
Before getting too ecstatic about the possibilities of a resurgent Kodak, it’s important to remember that motion picture film is a different business than still photography film. It’s also worth noting that digital-era Kodak is pretty complex in its corporate structure, so the success on the cinema side doesn’t automatically mean that the films we know and love like Portra and Tri-X will reap any of the benefits. But, overall, this still seems like good news for the company.
I may lose some of you right off the bat, but I feel like I should start this post with an admission: I’m not really a big Star Wars guy. I’m excited for everyone who is, but I was always more of a dragons and wizards nerd than a lasers and space ships nerd. I am, however, pretty excited about a story from The Hollywood Reporter in which Kodak reveals that some big-budget movies are making their way back to film and that’s very good for profits.
Before getting too ecstatic about the possibilities of a resurgent Kodak, it’s important to remember that motion picture film is a different business than still photography film. It’s also worth noting that digital-era Kodak is pretty complex in its corporate structure, so the success on the cinema side doesn’t automatically mean that the films we know and love like Portra and Tri-X will reap any of the benefits. But, overall, this still seems like good news for the company.
Very recently, Kodak was losing $100 million a year on its film business, but now they actually expect to see a profit in 2016, which is a crazy turn around.
Of course, there will still be naysayers online who are quick to mention the amount of digital effects that are also incorporated into movies like Star Wars, but this is still a nice reminder that there are people who care about film.
