From: Timoleon Wilkins (email suppressed)
Date: Sat Apr 01 2006 - 05:59:49 PST
Rich and Matt have been essential to the likes of myself, Nathaniel Dorsky,
Dominic Angerame, Bruce Conner and many others. When Palmer Films closed
their doors, Forde was the only place to go. A modern lab with an old
school atmosphere--where you dealt directly with a real human being, a place
where quality mattered. Their price inflexibility was part of the
deal--Rich didn't have stars in his eyes about the "real" customers. He &
Matt did whatever took, charged for it (often did little favors free), and
treated you the same as a big volume customer. I'm not sure Alpha is on
that same wavelength.
If processing is all you need from them, I doubt there'll be any changes.
It's the personalized aspect of the service that is so important to
avant-garde work, not just for the work but for the psyche...And the art of
16mm print-making is surely becoming esoteric enough...
The only major piece of equipment being moved to Alpha is the Ektachrome
processor. Alpha already had a BW reversal machine, lying dormant for
nearly a decade, but Rich says its running again and is a better machine in
terms of maintenance for them. I can't imagine the quality of BW rev.
getting any better, though he assured me it would. And they'll continue to
offer every service they did before, for now at the same prices. And one
can call up and talk to him or Matt anytime, though who knows 6 months from
now!? (Rich is letting a lot of control out of his hands, make no mistake
about it--wants to work part time, retire later). Also he assured me all
print timing done previously at Forde is transferable to Alpha without the
need for new cue tapes or other adjustments.
What to become of Forde's redundant equipment, Ecn/Ecp/BW processors,
printers, etc? That I didn't ask. I've always thought of opening a lab,
maybe this is the chance, anyone want to take the plunge with me?
Tim
__________________________________________________________________
For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.