Well, it’s (basically) official. Kodak is on the down and out after rumors abounded this week claiming the company, a staple in the film industry, is getting its pieces together in order to file bankruptcy. Kodak has been in a near literal tailspin ever since the age of digital filmmaking began. Once the largest provider of filmmaking medium, Kodak was overtaken by the newest generation of 4k (or higher resolution) cameras like the Red, or Arri Alexa. Kodak has been going down for a few years now, but most recently it has been trading at under 50 cents a share. The NYSE threatened to remove its listing if the company cannot get its stock price back up within six months. Another disheartening blow for the celluloid maker, was the loss of half of its capital in 2011. Now it only has $862 million dollars to it’s name, down from when it had double that amount in 2010. To try and avoid bankruptcy, Kodak has been trying to sell of or license it’s famous and valuable patents for digital film processing, among other patents. Also, the company has been quick to shift from film to printing (both commercial and home) in order to try and restructure it’s business model to something that can once again create income like Kodak was used to. Kodak hans’t technically filed any papers yet, but people close to the company estimate the filling to come through anytime, but no later than February. The real question is, what impact will this have on the film industry? Most movies are still shot on film cameras and require processing. Both are led in the industry by Kodak. But what happens when the industry leader film supplier is out of business? Most Cinematographers favor Kodak film over the less known Fuji Film. Could one or more of the major studios jump in and save Kodak (or at least it’s film department)?
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