A comeback for Kodachrome? Maybe, Kodak says

The annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is a showcase for the newest cutting edge products from the world's top technology companies.

But for Eastman Kodak Co., this year's showcase was a nod to the past.

The company showed off a new Super 8 movie camera, announced it was bringing back Ektachrome film, and even hinted at the possible revival of the beloved Kodachrome brand.

It has been five years since the film giant filed for bankruptcy, the inevitable result of a shift in consumer behavior. The proliferation of digital cameras and online photo sharing caused film sales to plummet. In the span of a decade, the Kodak products that long held a dominant space on every retailer's shelves disappeared from the marketplace.

Why now? What's happened during the past five years to spark a resurgence of interest in analog technologies as the world grows increasingly digital? Is it simply a nod to nostalgia, or is there a sustainable business here?

Super 8 and the Hollywood connection

Appearing on a company podcast called "The Kodakery," chief marketing officer Steven Overman said the decision to bring back Ektachrome was an easy one.

"We get asked all the time by filmmakers and photographers alike, 'Are you going to bring back some of these iconic film stocks like Kodachrome and Ektachrome?'" he said. "I will say we are investigating Kodachrome, looking at what it would take to bring that back. Ektachrome is a lot easier and faster to bring back to market."

One of the challenges lies in the complexity of Kodachrome. The manufacturing process is complicated, but making the film itself is just one piece of the puzzle. Reviving Kodachrome would require the re-creation of an entire ecosystem, including labs that could process the film and produce prints or slides to deliver to the consumer.

It's a daunting task, but that's what's happening with the Super 8.

When you buy a film cartridge for your new Super 8 camera, you're paying for development, processing, scanning and uploading a digital version to the cloud. It's all included as part of the package.

The business model hearkens back to George Eastman's early advertising slogan: "You press the button, we do the rest."

Kodak introduced the concept of "home movies" when Super 8 cameras hit the market in 1965. A generation of amateur filmmakers followed, some of whom became Hollywood legends. Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Martin Scorsese all got their start shooting 8mm film as teenagers.

But even younger directors who grew up during the camcorder era say that the Super 8 film cameras were what helped propel them toward a career in filmmaking.

"The news that Kodak is enabling the next generation of filmmakers with access to an upgraded and enhanced version of the same analog technology that first made me fall in love with cinematic storytelling is unbelievably exciting," said Christopher Nolan, whose directing credits include Inception and The Dark Knight.

Writer and director J.J. Abrams also expressed his excitement at Kodak's announcement.

"While any technology that allows for visual storytelling must be embraced, nothing beats film." Abrams said. "The fact that Kodak is building a brand new Super 8 camera is a dream come true."

Kodak CEO Jeff Clarke says the commitment to film is about enabling young filmmakers to explore the craft and an affordable and accessible way.

"There are Super 8 cameras you can buy on eBay that still work really well, and enthusiasts do that," Clarke said. "But we want young filmmakers, film schools, and people who want to be a little different to be able to participate in film. Not everyone has a budget like Steven Spielberg or Christopher Nolan or Quentin Tarantino. The Super 8 camera becomes a gateway for people who care about film and want to have a differentiated product around photography."

Don't take my Kodachrome away

That same excitement has greeted news about the return of Ektachrome film, and even the possibility of Kodachrome returning.

Willie Osterman, a photography professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology and chair of the school's fine art photography program, says that while digital cameras makes it easier for an amateur to take pictures, the unique qualities of film are still appealing to professional photographers.

"In the art world, photographers prefer film because of what it's able to produce. There's something about that quality of grain that helps aesthetically," he says. "It's subtle, but at a certain level you appreciate that."

While there were once a hundred darkrooms for students at RIT to work in, now there are fewer than 30. Most have been converted to digital editing bays, and freshmen are no longer required to take a course in processing black and white prints from film.

Osterman says digital photography has prompted an amazing revolution. But for visual professionals it's simply a different medium, not one that replaces film. Each offers its own unique attributes, in the way that a painter might choose between working with acrylic or oils.

"There is a color palette that Kodachrome and Ektachrome have," he said. "Kodachrome is richer in warm colors. Ektachrome is cooler, with more blues. Depending on where and what I was photographing, I would choose a film because of the color palette it produced."

During his podcast appearance, Kodak's chief marketing officer said that the Super 8 and Ektachrome revivals were driven by consumer demand, and that the company heard a clamoring for more of these products.

"Ektachrome is not the last thing we are going to bring back," Overman said. "We are going to continue to identify those products that the world is hungry for and we're going to do everything we can to keep delivering them."

Hands-on experience

The average consumer got rid of their Instamatic or inexpensive 35 mm camera as the digital age dawned. Whether they replaced it with a digital camera or simply used their smartphone to capture pictures, they didn't mind leaving the analog process behind.

But for many, the passion for traditional photography remained — the method of capturing images on film, processing that film, and producing prints on photographic paper. For them, the prospect of these Kodak products returning is tantalizing.

"There is a culture of people that are trembling with excitement," says Mark Osterman, process historian at the George Eastman Museum. "I think it's great."

He leads workshops in photographic processing for the museum, including many methods that have fallen out of use. He says there's been a huge resurgence in interest in these techniques for fine arts photography.

"Last year we had 23 workshops on old photographic processes like tintypes, glass negatives, daguerreotypes, and 35 mm motion picture film." says Mark Osterman, who is not related to Willie Osterman.

As soon as those workshops are announced, the registration lists are filled to capacity. People travel from all over the country and even from Europe just to participate.

What it shows, Mark Osterman says, is a desire for a hands-on experience, to actually make something with one's own hands. In the digital world, the photographer is detached from the process of making pictures. The push of a button creates an image file. The push of another button sends that image into the cloud for others to see. There's a level of detachment, a lack of deliberateness in the digital workflow.

It's very different from the resurgence of vinyl records for listening to music, he says. While those record albums provide a more tactile process for listening to music, re-creating the process is not as challenging. You could build a record press in your garage and figure out how to capture sound onto discs.

Color film, on the other hand, is incredibly complex, not the sort of thing a person could learn to manufacture or process on his or her own.

"Chromogenic color film is the most technologically advanced product ever sold to the consumer. It's more difficult to make than an automobile or a computer," Mark Osterman says. "If Kodak were to decide not to make any color film and discarded those manufacturing machines, the world would never see color film again."

The brain trust of people who know the chemistry of color photography are in their twilight years, he says.

Mark Osterman believes this is perhaps what's most important about Kodak's announcement, that it hints at a long-term plan not just for Kodak but for preserving the future of film.

"They are doing what they need to do to keep it possible to produce a technically challenging product," he says.

Future of film business

Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show, Clarke said the return of the Super 8 camera should send a clear message about Kodak's intention to make a strong return to the world of consumer products.

"It's a symbol of what Kodak cares about and our commitment to film," Clarke said at the show. "Even though the business now is focused on printing and other advanced technologies, film is still core to our company. It's about 10 percent of our revenue, and its profitable."

So, is the return to film a nod to nostalgia or is there a sustainable business here?

"The answer to both questions is yes," says George Conboy, chairman of Brighton Securities.

He says there's clearly a consumer demand for photographic film, just as there is a market for greeting cards in a world of email.

"The return of Ektachrome and the idea of Super 8 will appeal to people in what I'd call the fine art space and to those with a hipster sensibility," Conboy says.

Kodak was selling a couple of billion rolls of film each year at its peak, and it won't need to reach anywhere near those volumes for this renewed effort to be successful. We're not going to see the return of film as a mass market consumer product.

"The business is not huge but neither is Kodak anymore. If they can make a profit, more power to them," Conboy says.

It's not likely that Kodak Park is going to rumble back to life, or that the resurgence of film will lead to hundreds of new jobs returning to Kodak. But Kodak has an advantage in terms of both the institutional knowledge and the infrastructure. Former competitors like FujiFilm and Agfa aren't capable of getting back into the film business.

Conboy says the moves show an encouraging shift in Kodak's strategy.

"Management is attempting to be nimble, to seek out revenue and profits in any venue they can," he says.

As an avid photographer, Conboy would love to see Kodachrome return. But as a business analyst, he's skeptical.

"There were never more than a few labs in the country that could process that film," he says. "My prediction is there won't be enough volume to make that work."

SLAHMAN@Gannett.com

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