[Frameworks] Kodak filing for bankruptcy?

[Jason Halprin]

Quoting: Fred Camper <f at fredcamper.com>


>The article implies that the bankruptcy that Kodak is considering wold  
>allow it to continue to operate. I don't think liquidiation is in the  
>cards anytime soon.

I concure. I have heard through the rumormill that the Motion Picture division of Kodak has continued to remain profitable. Since all of the equipment used to manufacture the actual film is an "older" technology, it wouldn't make much sense to liquidate it. The value would be little more than the scrap value of its parts, so it would seem reasonable to keep it operational, and therefore profitable. I wouldn't expect too much more R&D, but as long as there is a Kodak company based in Rochester, I don't think we'll see the disappearance of film. However, it also seems likely that when the plug is pulled on film stock, and more importantly, the commercial manufacture of processing chemistry, it will be sudden.

Then again, there's some companies down the chain (post-houses that specialize in film scans, for one) that rely on film as a continued capture medium might step up at that point to purchase some of the manufacturing facilities and silver-halide related patents. If they could purchase things for pennies-on-the-dollar (as they might through a liquidation), they could then run these units at a very low profit, or even a slight loss, if only to keep the filmstock flowing as long as possible. I'm not holding my breathe on this scenario, but my fingers are crossed. As I write this I'm realizing just how difficult it would be to convince a lender to financially support a plan to vertically integrate a post-house into a declining industrial field.

-Jason Halprin