New Yorker

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Second, is it worth contacting Criterion about the state of certain films like Eustache's The Mother and the Whore or a re-release of Godard's Week-End? Do we actually know why Week-End went out of print in the first place? Did the license expire or did New Yorker do it to cut costs?

I was also having these thoughts. I mean, do I have to sacrifice a firstborn child to get that Eustache? I would seriously write to Criterion about Weekend and A Man Escaped however. Hell, can you see a Criterion for Lancelot? Otherwise, it's a sad day because I have many fond memories of NYer on VHS too. NYer, Touch and Go, please God let it stop.

[AisleSeat]

End of the Road for New Yorker Films, Legendary Distributor of “Difficult” Cinema

This is terrible news.

In the current economic climate, other companies probably won't be so quick to pick up the slack. That means, unfortunately, a lot of small, but interesting films will not find their way to DVD anytime soon.

[domino harvey]

It was Rosenbaum's trip to Paris that broke them, he ordered room service

[Buttery Jeb]

According to Video Business, Technicolor will be auctioning off New Yorker's assets sometime in the near future, to recoup a loan made to Madstone Films before they folded a few years back.

This sucks.

-BJ

[justeleblanc]

Let's hope Criterion, Koch, Rialto, Janus, Benton, Zeitgeist, Front Desk, Facets, MYA, Kino, KimStim, Fantoma, Facets, and even Docurama find sales and begin releasing some of these hidden titles. Need I even mention the hundreds of titles that have been locked up?

[HerrSchreck]

It's really just shitty news and bodes ill for all likeminded distributors, regardless of production budget. Many of these films (aside from theobvious stuff like the Bressons) are going to slip out into the void without question. I'd rather see a film in a somewhat dodgy transfer than not see it at all... and I'm sure this will be the case in a goodly number of titles after the scramble for the more obvious ones is over.

[GringoTex]

It's really just shitty news and bodes ill for all likeminded distributors, regardless of production budget. Many of these films (aside from theobvious stuff like the Bressons) are going to slip out into the void without question. I'd rather see a film in a somewhat dodgy transfer than not see it at all... and I'm sure this will be the case in a goodly number of titles after the scramble for the more obvious ones is over.

Up until 10 years ago, there wasn't a film in the entire New Yorker catalogue that wouldn't have been snapped up by another distributor if New Yorker ceased to exist. But New Yorker could offer more money. We in the non-theatrical circuit would bitch and moan when New Yorker acquired rights to a film, because we knew it would mean more bad prints and shitty service.

I have no idea about today's economic outlook for distributors. You may be right that a lot of their catalogue will vanish. But maybe most of it will be picked up by more caring companies. Especially once the economy gets righted, I think we'll all be better off without New Yorker.

[dx23]

Although I'm real glad that a lot of these films can now be released by other companies who will put out a better product, I'm saddened by the void they will be leaving. Like ptmd said, their impact was huge back in the 70's and 80's but they didn't seem to adapt to the technology era of the DVD, and thought that by putting their catalog with lousy transfers and extra, it was enough to please the film enthusiasts.

[Matt]

The shuttering of New Yorker was not their fault, but that of Madstone, the company that bailed New Yorker out of its last financial crisis. The library will be auctioned off by Technicolor (to whom Madstone owed money) as early as next week.

Janus/Criterion, do you have enough cash? Do we need to set up a fund for donations?

[jbeall]

Well, this news totally sucks. I guess it's time to buy a copy of Life and Debt while I still can.

New Yorker may not have done the best presentation of their catalog, but at least they were putting stuff out. While it'd be nice if every important film got the Criterion treatment, CC can't put everything out--indeed, they have enough of a backlog to generate constant complaints from this forum, so I'm eternally grateful to companies like New Yorker that put out interesting cinema (and let's face it, even on their bad days, they were never as lousy as Facets).

[Antoine Doinel]

The shuttering of New Yorker was not their fault, but that of Madstone, the company that bailed New Yorker out of its last financial crisis. The library will be auctioned off by Technicolor (to whom Madstone owed money) as early as next week.

Janus/Criterion, do you have enough cash? Do we need to set up a fund for donations?

Nice idea, but can you imagine the griping that would result?

"Hey Mulvaney, if it wasn't for the $20 I donated you guyz wouldn't even have [insert title here]. I demand you put it on BluRay/let me design the cover/let my mom do the commentary"

[Matt]

While it'd be nice if every important film got the Criterion treatment, CC can't put everything out--indeed, they have enough of a backlog to generate constant complaints from this forum, so I'm eternally grateful to companies like New Yorker that put out interesting cinema (and let's face it, even on their bad days, they were never as lousy as Facets).

I think anyone who purchases the New Yorker library (which will surely be sold as a package and not as individual titles) would be smart to keep the marquee titles and then re-sell the rest to someone else, perhaps on a title-by-title basis. No one distributor has the capacity or wherewithal to really milk the value out of all these titles right away. Technicolor will not care who gets what or what happens to it once it's sold; they just want their money.

[Antoine Doinel]

I wouldn't be surprised if there are already some offers being made right now. Realistically speaking, the Kino's of the world will not be able to afford whatever Technicolor is looking for. I would say Image is probably a strong contender, but let's just hope someone like a Lionsgate or even the Weinsteins (remember The Miriam Collection?) doesn't swoop in looking to make their investors happy by "bolstering their catalog" and "diversifying their offerings".

[ptmd]

even the Weinsteins (remember The Miriam Collection?) doesn't swoop in looking to make their investors happy by "bolstering their catalog" and "diversifying their offerings".

Or Wellspring... The Hou Hsiao-hsien prints they used to distribute are *literally* sitting in a basement collecting dust, because the Weinsteins couldn't give a shit and want to bury the competition (I am not exaggerating here)... I'm certainly not worried that, with the collapse of New Yorker, high-profile films like La Belle Noiseuse are simply going to disappear, but who's going to keep prints of The Death of Empedocles in circulation (to cite one example of a film that very few companies would even consider these days and which New Yorker had a very good print of)? Image might buy the catalog and release certain titles on DVD, but that's not the same thing as making actual films available.

[dx23]

I would say Image is probably a strong contender, but let's just hope someone like a Lionsgate or even the Weinsteins (remember The Miriam Collection?) doesn't swoop in looking to make their investors happy by "bolstering their catalog" and "diversifying their offerings".

I doubt the Weinsteins will buy since their own label, Genius, is also having huge financial troubles. It wouldn't surprise me to see Lionsgate outbid everyone else and then shelve the films or release them without English subtitles.

[jbeall]

Another article on New Yorker's demise:

New Yorker Films dies; will rebirth follow?

In a broader sense, New Yorker's long-term willingness to defy the marketplace realities of American film distribution never seemed like a sustainable business model. While the films listed above attracted at least some American viewers, New Yorker was worshiped in cinephile circles precisely because it often took on difficult and adventurous cinema that was destined to find almost no audience. Sometimes Talbot and Lopez seemed to be running an educational foundation under the guise of a for-profit business. In bringing films by African cinema godfather Ousmane Sembène, Chinese rebel Jia Zhang-ke, obscure American auteur Lodge Kerrigan and legendary French documentarian Chris Marker to a handful of American viewers they were undeniably performing a public service, but they surely didn't make any money in doing so.
After the shock of the official announcement of New Yorker's demise -- which arrived midday on Monday, via the company's Web site -- began to subside, admirers and former New Yorker employees began to wonder what would happen next. "I firmly believe that this is merely the end of chapter one," says indie distributor turned filmmaker Jeff Lipsky, who was a New Yorker exec in the '80s and '90s. "I'm refusing to accept the permanent demise of New Yorker Films." Lipsky suggests that Lopez, who has been most active in running the company in recent years, may have a rescue plan in mind that will keep the New Yorker name and library intact under new ownership. [...]
New Yorker's library would have obvious appeal to "an online distributor, a TV network or a DVD company," Werner continues. Given that IFC is at least two and potentially all three of those things, and in recent years has assumed a commanding position in the distribution of foreign-language and American independent films, it might be the most logical potential bidder. Werner declined to speculate about that possibility, saying no corporate decision had yet been reached.
There are certainly other small, arty distributors that would love to own New Yorker's catalogue, including Facets Video, Kino International and Koch Lorber Films, but those are marginal players in the video marketplace, and in the current financial crisis they don't likely have cash to spare.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Would it help if someone wrote Criterion a letter asking if they'll bid on NYer or should we assume that they are? I want to write to them and ask about the Eustache and Bresson, but I'm not certain if that'd be pointless. Whoever mentioned La Belle Noiseuse better not count their chickens and should buy the VHS because I don't know who would ever touch that film. Certainly not Criterion. Facets maybe?

[cinemartin]

Whoever mentioned La Belle Noiseuse better not count their chickens and should buy the VHS because I don't know who would ever touch that film. Certainly not Criterion. Facets maybe?

La Belle Noiseuse is on DVD from New Yorker and still available to buy as far as I know. The dvd is actually pretty good.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

I wasn't aware of that. I've only seen the VHS so this is good news. It is still at Amazon so you're right.

[justeleblanc]

There will be an auction of New Yorker's titles, and I suspect Criterion will be eyeing a few of the titles. It would make sense to email Criterion with the titles you want them to buy. I would love to see a re-release of La Belle boiseuse if only so they could release it alongside Divertimento.

As for Eustache, are we sure New Yorker still owns the rights?

[Saturnome]

Do they have rights on L'Atalante?

[Jonathan S]

End of the Road for New Yorker Films, Legendary Distributor of “Difficult” Cinema

How does this news affect Milestone, Dennis? Will you be looking for a new distributor?
Although your discs seemed to be mixed in with other New Yorker titles on their website, I assume they are separate from the library that is being auctioned?

[Lemmy Caution]

Damn, I just picked up Sembene's Camp de Thiaroye last week. Not many distributors putting out African films, that's for sure.

IFC is owned by Rainbow Media, one division of the Dolan's media empire (Cablevision, etc.) and, despite the stock price being currently half of what it would be in a normal economy, they can certainly afford to purchase the New Yorker catalog, if interested.

I regularly see a couple of editions of La Belle Noiseuse around. I could check, but pretty sure the French dvd release has English subs.

[Edit: Thanks Tojoed, I couldn't remember which editions I'd been seeing. Forgot that one was AE. I just wanted to make it clear that the film is out there and not particularly hard to find on Dvd]

[tojoed]

I regularly see a couple of editions of La Belle Noiseuse around. I could check, but pretty sure the French dvd release has English subs.

The Artificial Eye release in the UK certainly has English subs.

[Ted Todorov]

Criterion, please, for the love of *insert deity here* release Celine and Julie Go Boating, which IMO is the greatest film that New Yorker has been sitting on. Do they own the rights to other Rivette films besides Celine and Julie and La Belle Noiseuse? What about Eustache films other than The Mother and The Whore?

I certainly hope that Criterion/Janus can scrape the cash together and get their hands on at least some of that catalog.

And yes, color me as someone who said "good" when I saw the news. This all of course has the potential to turn out very, very badly -- but that catalog could also end up with much better treatment than they were getting from New Yorker.

And honestly I'm not even mourning the NYer 35mm theatrical arm -- the vast majority of these films I ended seeing at the Walter Reade or NYFF/NDNF under much better conditions than the small screened, uncomfortable Lincoln Plaza (still better than the Quad or the FIlm Forum, not to mention the truly wretched Angelika, admittedly).

FWIW: the donation to Criterion scheme is not a bad idea -- they could certainly keep track of who gave what and dole out rewards accordingly when/if the day comes.

Whoever mentioned La Belle Noiseuse better not count their chickens and should buy the VHS because I don't know who would ever touch that film. Certainly not Criterion.

Huh?!? What are you talking about -- the existence of the DVD has already been pointed out, but why wouldn't Criterion release the film -- it is by far one of Rivette's most commercially successful efforts. And Rivette has been in the public eye with his last film.