No news from Ferrania is not good.

[john59]

How long as it been now since the Kickstarter...................I dont mind the wait but the fact that there hasnt been much news is a bit disconcerting to say the least.

[kontrabass888]

Maybe it will be a good idea if they release daily report to the public, they should let every body believes that they are at least working every day.

[aj]

Work is in progress in the factory site. Things are far more complicated than taping the windows with black paper and crancking up a few machines. Their website is updated now and then. Millions have been spent on equipment.

[BAC]

A representative from Film Ferrania gives updates and answers questions on APUG every now and then. This is the link to the thread with a recent update:

http://www.apug.org/forum/index.php?thr ... st-1772349

In the past 12 months, our founders have spent every minute of their time doing the following:

Nicola - wrangling the Regione Liguria and the TWO different companies, both owned by Regione Liguria, who have (in the past) had some say about what goes on in the LRF. This has meant frequent 6 hour trips (3 hours each way) from his home in Florence, as well as visits to officials in Genoa and even a couple of trips down to Rome. The endless paperwork he and his lawyer have generated is mind-boggling, and the general disregard for anything resembling a schedule or timeline has certainly taken a toll on his psyche. In addition, he's maintained regular communications with me here in the US, he's taken meetings with a wide variety of potential future partners, and this past summer, he even managed to drum up some freelance work for a couple of guys on our team.

Marco - living in a cold office in the LRF for months at a time to serve as General Contractor to the 20+ different teams who have done one thing or another to the building - none of whom had any idea of the overall plan. He has had to fight to maintain quality control, scheduling conflicts, and days, sometimes weeks at a time where someone was supposed to show up but didn't. In between all of this, he and Corrado (who has also been very active) have gone over every inch of the LRF, making to-do lists AND they have managed to salvage another 10-15 tons of equipment and materials that we will eventually put to use. I can't say what exactly, but some really exciting stuff.

Being privy to this second-hand glimpse into the inner workings of (part of) the Italian government, I have developed a profound respect for Nico and Marco.

We're posting a new video soon - keep your eyes peeled.

[Eric Milborn]

If I understand correctly they were in Germany at Wittners yesterday:
http://www.wittner-cinetec.com/neu/

[aj]

That is bad news. Getting cozy with Wittner will lead to extremely expensive film. Euro 38 is now the standard price on all super-8. Rounding up to the most expensive one is now practice as they learnt from the 100D discontinuance that people will pay almost anything for a cartridge.

We and Ferrania are much better off with Fotoimpex as their distribution partner. They are well aquainted to handling niche-market goods. They also do still photography and have a far better approach to customers.

[ncollingwood]

Here's your update! They are now certified as a manufacturer. New timeline to follow once they can nail it down.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fi ... ts/1541695

[Will2]

The Pro8mm folks just did a European tour and met with Wittner and Ferrania. I'm sure they want to lock down distribution in the U.S. as well. I get the impression Ferrania wants to make it as affordable as possible but we also have to remember that if we want to keep getting it, they'll have to make some sort of profit eventually.

[aj]

I don't think allowing or giving away mark-ups of 40-60% to retailers helps any product.

The business or hobby would best be served by some competition from the East. All of a sudden we get these filmscanners at merely Euro 400. Maybe a new camera materializes soon too. Certainly it will when the new Kodak picks up and the moneyspending audience is quantified.

[Angus]

Ferrania release a new bulletin every month or two.

There is not much point in a daily update because sometimes things move slow. It takes weeks to install big machines into a building, then more weeks to get the power connected, weeks/months to get the government to approve the installation and allow work to begin.

The latest news is that the LRF is officially now a factory according to the Italian government, and no longer a "research facility". So a lot of the bureaucracy is now done and the guys at Ferrania can begin the process of getting their machinery working.

The original timeline allowed for a window of just a few weeks to manufacture the kickstarter rewards..then there was always going to be months with no production while the LRF was turned into a factory. Remember that Film Ferrania only has one of the old Ferrania buildings (The LRF research facility) and not the entire complex - much of which was demolished recently. While all the demolition work was going on the Film Ferrania people had to remove the machinery they wished to keep from the old building, move it to the LRF, have it installed with specialised electricity, water and sometimes compressed air lines...bear in mind that the on-site power generation station no longer works so the entire facility had to be reconnected to the power grid....a lot has happened but it's behind the scenes stuff rather than producing something you can hold in your hands.

I think people really have little idea how many obstacles there are to overcome. It's not simply a case of throwing a few hundred thousand euros at an existing factory and reopening it.

[Will2]

I don't think allowing or giving away mark-ups of 40-60% to retailers helps any product.

It used to make sense; make film convenient and easy to get at any grocery store. In that model there has to be a markup or otherwise why would a store carry it? Plus film was ridiculously cheap to make per unit in the mass quantities Kodak manufactured so film was cheap and everyone made money.

Now, Kodak doesn't offer a discount for Super 8 film to retailers...that's why stores like B&H sell it for $34.95 and Kodak sells it for $25.95 direct. In this age of internet mail order Ferrania could do the same thing, but if a company comes and offers to buy $10,000 worth of film...they should probably get a discount. And if that helps keep the doors open and gets the film into the hands of more people, it sounds good to me.

The business or hobby would best be served by some competition from the East. All of a sudden we get these filmscanners at merely Euro 400.

Somehow I don't think Roger is quaking in his boots (he's Texan, so he has boots), but a little competition could be good...if nothing else to show why quality products are worth the extra money.

[aj]

I don't think allowing or giving away mark-ups of 40-60% to retailers helps any product.

It used to make sense; make film convenient and easy to get at any grocery store. In that model there has to be a markup or otherwise why would a store carry it? Plus film was ridiculously cheap to make per unit in the mass quantities Kodak manufactured so film was cheap and everyone made money.

Now, Kodak doesn't offer a discount for Super 8 film to retailers...that's why stores like B&H sell it for $34.95 and Kodak sells it for $25.95 direct. In this age of internet mail order Ferrania could do the same thing, but if a company comes and offers to buy $10,000 worth of film...they should probably get a discount. And if that helps keep the doors open and gets the film into the hands of more people, it sounds good to me.

The business or hobby would best be served by some competition from the East. All of a sudden we get these filmscanners at merely Euro 400.

Somehow I don't think Roger is quaking in his boots (he's Texan, so he has boots), but a little competition could be good...if nothing else to show why quality products are worth the extra money.

It is very unlikely and only your assumption that such a big seller as B&H doesn't get proper wholesale prices. I.e their purchasing price is much lower than the Kodak direct. They sell at $35 because they noticed there is little competition and people buy it anyway. Just like what Wittner and Pro8mm do People living in an city with high prices for everything just spend it easier on everything. They are used to it and their income is on the same level.

Roger told quite a few of his Retro buyers just buy the machine to scan the family films and then resell or let it gather dust. Clearly more money than brains and no real worries. Had there been a ready offering of this machine they had opted for that, they are not completely crazy

[mr8mm]

Dennis bought a large amount of film that required little finishing and no packaging and from what I could see got no discount. Kodak is not into dealer discounts unless you are a student, of course.

[Mana]

So do we have any students here!?

[inlieubeaulieu]

I work at a film school that still sells Super 8 and 16mm (daylight spools) filmstock, and we get a pretty good education discount which allows us to sell it right near Kodak direct prices.