Hello APUG from FILM Ferrania

[Xmas]

I got an email last night from Film Ferrania informing me that my reward has been pushed back because of factory problems. While the email insisted that they are still going to produce film, I'm wondering how this setback will affect the factory/dream as a whole?

To be expected coating film is non trivial it is not like painting a fence, don't worry.

 

[ME Super]

There's a post on their website about it. The slip in schedule is 4-6 weeks at the moment. I'm not too worried about a 4-6 week slip because remember, they initially said they'd produce film in first quarter 2014. That slipped to summer 2015 for film for sale. Another 4-6 weeks isn't that much in the grand scheme of things. Now if they'd said their coater broke and they'd have to have a new part manufactured for it, I'd be concerned.

 

[railwayman3]

To be expected coating film is non trivial it is not like painting a fence, don't worry.

I think a few weeks delay is of no consequence at all, particularly if it allows them to achieve the standards they're aiming for. The fact that Ferrania are keeping us up-to-date so openly is all to-the-good.

 

[rhmimac]

+1

 

[cmacd123]

Apparently Asbestos found in a place they were not expecting it while rearranging walls in the building. Finding Asbestos means the plastic walls go up and nothing else gets done until the folks in plastic suits get it cleaned up.

Disappointing but not altogether surprising in an building built before 1980.

 

[Ken Nadvornick]

When I contributed to the KS campaign I never once imagined that they were going to meet the published schedule. This is just too big of an undertaking. There had to be gazillions of unknowns lurking that would blow any good faith best guess estimates right out of the water. It's exactly the reason why investor funding is so risky and hard to come by for any new endeavor.

I also didn't contribute just to get a handful of rolls of E-6 film. I don't care when the rewards are fulfilled. I don't care if the rewards are fulfilled. That was never a high priority for me. The priority for me is to get a new, scaled, long-term, sustainable, quality film company off the ground and up and running. That's why I contributed.

If and when I ever do receive my rewards I may simply just give them away in an attempt to further jump start Ferrania's customer base. Because if it works, we'll all have all of the color film our hearts desire down the road.

So I'm not concerned in the slightest. Especially as this sounds to be a non-film technology related bump in the road.

Ken

 

[RattyMouse]

I got an email last night from Film Ferrania informing me that my reward has been pushed back because of factory problems. While the email insisted that they are still going to produce film, I'm wondering how this setback will affect the factory/dream as a whole?

Did you read the email? it states quite clearly what the effect will be.

 

[alanrockwood]

I think a more realistic target is first quarter, 2016. I hope they make it.

 

[Nzoomed]

When I contributed to the KS campaign I never once imagined that they were going to meet the published schedule. This is just too big of an undertaking. There had to be gazillions of unknowns lurking that would blow any good faith best guess estimates right out of the water. It's exactly the reason why investor funding is so risky and hard to come by for any new endeavor.

I also didn't contribute just to get a handful of rolls of E-6 film. I don't care when the rewards are fulfilled. I don't care if the rewards are fulfilled. That was never a high priority for me. The priority for me is to get a new, scaled, long-term, sustainable, quality film company off the ground and up and running. That's why I contributed.

If and when I ever do receive my rewards I may simply just give them away in an attempt to further jump start Ferrania's customer base. Because if it works, we'll all have all of the color film our hearts desire down the road.

So I'm not concerned in the slightest. Especially as this sounds to be a non-film technology related bump in the road.

Ken

+1

 

[madgardener]

Cold/wet winters seems to be a theme lately, my electric bill was almost double from the cold of Feb, here in PA. I'm wondering though about the need to bring in portable heaters. Was that because the building is poorly insulated that the HVAC system couldn't keep up? OR was something else in play?

As far as the 4-6 weeks go, I'm not worried either. I would prefer they take their time and do the job right rather than adhere to an artificially set timetable. Keep going Ferrania! I'm very much looking forward to the new film.

 

[flavio81]

There's a post on their website about it. The slip in schedule is 4-6 weeks at the moment. I'm not too worried about a 4-6 week slip because remember, they initially said they'd produce film in first quarter 2014. That slipped to summer 2015 for film for sale. Another 4-6 weeks isn't that much in the grand scheme of things. Now if they'd said their coater broke and they'd have to have a new part manufactured for it, I'd be concerned.

+1

For an engineering point of view, it's much better (and safer) to delay the delivery date, rather than risk quality to meet deadlines. And the new FILM Ferrania seems to be an engineering-driven company, which is great.

 

[FILM Ferrania]

I got an email last night from Film Ferrania informing me that my reward has been pushed back because of factory problems. While the email insisted that they are still going to produce film, I'm wondering how this setback will affect the factory/dream as a whole?

As a whole, this is just a tiny blip. The note was primarily to speak to our Kickstarter backers who were expecting film in April.

As mentioned in the longer article on the blog, nothing that has happened has affected our machinery in any way and most of it is unrelated to the film production process. Just routine problems with a very old building.

Most of these issues were anticipated - until the asbestos was found. We'll know for sure this week when we can get back on the horse.

 

[FILM Ferrania]

Cold/wet winters seems to be a theme lately, my electric bill was almost double from the cold of Feb, here in PA. I'm wondering though about the need to bring in portable heaters. Was that because the building is poorly insulated that the HVAC system couldn't keep up? OR was something else in play?

As far as the 4-6 weeks go, I'm not worried either. I would prefer they take their time and do the job right rather than adhere to an artificially set timetable. Keep going Ferrania! I'm very much looking forward to the new film.

Much of what we consider to be HVAC is steam powered in the LRF building. Since we are currently purchasing steam at a relatively high cost, we are very sparing with its usage.

When some leaks/breaks were discovered, the steam was shut off at the source, but the team had to move forward on the cleaning activities - hence, portable heaters.

 

[ME Super]

Wow. Hope the guys in Italy can get a more efficient (less costly to operate) HVAC system in place soon. I remember my mom's store in the 1980s had a boiler and steam registers for heat. It was a warm heat, but took air some time after the boiler kicked on to start putting out heat, and quite a while after the boiler shut off to stop pumping heat.

When they have film for sale this should get a bit easier to raise funds for going forward. Go Ferrania!

 

[cmacd123]

often when building are fully running, the machinery and people produce so much heat that there is a need for cooling even in the winter. once they get running they will have a better idea of what their heat and cooling needs are.

 

[cmacd123]

Anyone hear if the Asbestos workers have let the FF crew back into the building yet? It has been about a Month since the last update.

 

[TheToadMen]

I'm guessing that the old "modem room" is inside the asbestos area, so they are still disconnected from internet ...

Bert from Holland
http://thetoadmen.blogspot.nl

 

[Xmas]

Wow. Hope the guys in Italy can get a more efficient (less costly to operate) HVAC system in place soon. I remember my mom's store in the 1980s had a boiler and steam registers for heat. It was a warm heat, but took air some time after the boiler kicked on to start putting out heat, and quite a while after the boiler shut off to stop pumping heat.

When they have film for sale this should get a bit easier to raise funds for going forward. Go Ferrania!

You have not modelled why Agfa, Efke and Ferranni all closed down and Ilford and Kodak went bust...

 

[railwayman3]

You have not modelled why Agfa, Efke and Ferranni all closed down and Ilford and Kodak went bust...

Why so gloomy ? Few could foresee the catastrophic drop in demand for analog products after the remarkably fast development of digital, in all its forms from high-quality SLR's to excellent cameras in smartphones for the snapshotters.

The demise of Agfa, the original Ferrania and Ilford companies, and Kodak's problems were, I'm sure, down to this and perhaps the issues of being part of larger conglomorates. Efke could no longer afford, from existing revenues, the essential maintenance of its plant and buildings (which I read were more valuable as development land? ).

Fuji seems to have supported film as a niche part of its other businesses, and Harman/Ilford have reorganised into a specialist business of a viable size for the existing B&W analog markets. Why shouldn't Ferrania be able to do the same for the colour/cine markets ?

 

[kb3lms]

If winter has been as recalcitrant in Italy as it is here, then it is no wonder that they are still trying to deal with it.

Some little tasty update would be nice though.

 

[FILM Ferrania]

I'm guessing that the old "modem room" is inside the asbestos area, so they are still disconnected from internet ...

Bert from Holland
http://thetoadmen.blogspot.nl

That's a good one Bert

No, the simple fact is that we have all been very busy on behind-the-scenes stuff while we've been locked out of the LRF pending the asbestos removal - and there simply hasn't been much to report.

We're posting an update to Kickstarter backers and another part of the ongoing story on our website tomorrow.

 

[FILM Ferrania]

Why so gloomy ? Few could foresee the catastrophic drop in demand for analog products after the remarkably fast development of digital, in all its forms from high-quality SLR's to excellent cameras in smartphones for the snapshotters.

The demise of Agfa, the original Ferrania and Ilford companies, and Kodak's problems were, I'm sure, down to this and perhaps the issues of being part of larger conglomorates. Efke could no longer afford, from existing revenues, the essential maintenance of its plant and buildings (which I read were more valuable as development land? ).

Fuji seems to have supported film as a niche part of its other businesses, and Harman/Ilford have reorganised into a specialist business of a viable size for the existing B&W analog markets. Why shouldn't Ferrania be able to do the same for the colour/cine markets ?

The analog film market lost 95-97% of its sales volume in the period between 2000 and 2009 - depending on who you ask. It went from over $100B per year, to around $3B, maybe less (we're actually trying to collect data from 2010-2014 to nail the number down).

For anyone who had built film factories pre-2000, this was of course a devastating blow. And anyone who didn't make MAJOR changes before June 29, 2007, when the iPhone was released took an extra hard shot to the chin.

We commend Ilford for managing to rapidly adjust to the market and I just got an email the other day celebrating their 10th year under their new structure!!!

Ilford's our hero and we hope to work alongside them to dispel the "film is dead" myth permanently.

When you look back through time, many things have been declared dead that are not dead at all. And over time, people forget the hyperbole and simply accept that these things exist.

Pencils did not kill the fountain pen, as it was theorized at the time.
Radio did not kill the theater.
TV did not kill movies.
Photoshop did not kill paint, canvas, brushes, etc.
Despite many attempts, nothing has killed vinyl records.
Tablets have not killed anything they were predicted to kill - from pencils and paper, to books and magazines, to gaming consoles and TVs.

These markets have all undergone adjustments, of course, but those who were willing and able to adjust properly are doing just fine.

We're feeling pretty good about our chances.

 

[MattKing]

However: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwuy4hHO3YQ

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

We can't rewind we've gone too far...

Great tune!

 

[Xmas]

Why so gloomy ? Few could foresee the catastrophic drop in demand for analog products after the remarkably fast development of digital, in all its forms from high-quality SLR's to excellent cameras in smartphones for the snapshotters.

The demise of Agfa, the original Ferrania and Ilford companies, and Kodak's problems were, I'm sure, down to this and perhaps the issues of being part of larger conglomorates. Efke could no longer afford, from existing revenues, the essential maintenance of its plant and buildings (which I read were more valuable as development land? ).

Fuji seems to have supported film as a niche part of its other businesses, and Harman/Ilford have reorganised into a specialist business of a viable size for the existing B&W analog markets. Why shouldn't Ferrania be able to do the same for the colour/cine markets ?

My comment was on the text...

When they have film for sale this should get a bit easier to raise funds for going forward. Go Ferrania!

Bank managers wont lend money at risk, they are more prone to confiscate your umberella on a rainy day.

Agfa's factory equipment was sold off for 'instant' cash. After Agfa sold the factory cheap as a 'going' concern.

Kodak have been an outstanding example of ineffectual US management. They are still making lots of money from 'Legacy' products. They are using the money to fund new developments. They have hicked the price of the product I might have bought.

Fiji only has one mono film left.

If Ferrania needed more money e.g. for a 400 ISO film 'reengineer' it is another kickstart, to be fair this is the easy way. 'Bit easier to raise funds' no sorry no sale.

I apologize my point was not clear.