Rocky Mountain Film Lab Files Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

skyrick · Jul 19, 2010

I sent them a roll of Kodak 2236 about a year ago, so I guess I'm a creditor. Got a notice from the court handling the case today. I'm not familiar with bankruptcy, don't know the difference between Chapters 11 & 13. Their web site says they recently moved and are in the process of reorganizing.

Is this the end of old film processing?

Jeff Kubach · Jul 19, 2010

I hope not! I hope they pull through.

Jeff

Mike Wilde · Jul 20, 2010

That is sad to hear.

They had a ton of old gear, and the means to bring all sorts of old processes into service as they were needed.

I guess the 'as they were needed' part of that statement that is pertinent here is that they were not needed often enough.

mwdake · Jul 20, 2010

I'm not an expert; but as I remember Chapter 13 is a reorganization bankruptcy and is typically used by individuals or sole proprietorships.

I wish them luck.

fotch · Jul 20, 2010

I think there is hope since this is not for liquidation only, but a reorganization.

ultrachrome-x · Aug 21, 2010

not the end of old film processing

These companies still process old film

www.rapidphot.net
www.filmrescue.com
Dead Link Removed

All were better options than RMFL has been for a long time anyway.

As to RMFL, they are returning film to customers that request it but not returning the money because they don't have it to return. It's the nature of bankruptcy. There is a chance that if you leave it there they may actually reorganize and get it done one day. This is their spoken intention and I see no reason for them to say this if they didn't feel they still owed it to people to do their payed for film. It would be to their advantage while reorganizing to simply send this film back to people and not continue to promise that they would one day get it done. They have no legal obligation to do the creditors work at this point. On the other hand, their reputation is pretty much destroyed and that may be hard to bounce back from so you maybe should just request the film back.

railwayman3 · Aug 21, 2010

I can recommend Process-C22 (although, as they are in the UK they are not as convenient for everyone).
Obviously not as quick as an ordinary C-41 lab, but they seem to keep reasonably to quoted times, and also have done a good job with the films I've sent.

Sirius Glass · Aug 21, 2010

ultrachrome-x said:
These companies still process old film

www.rapidphot.net
www.filmrescue.com
Dead Link Removed

All were better options than RMFL has been for a long time anyway.

As to RMFL, they are returning film to customers that request it but not returning the money because they don't have it to return. It's the nature of bankruptcy. There is a chance that if you leave it there they may actually reorganize and get it done one day. This is their spoken intention and I see no reason for them to say this if they didn't feel they still owed it to people to do their payed for film. It would be to their advantage while reorganizing to simply send this film back to people and not continue to promise that they would one day get it done. They have no legal obligation to do the creditors work at this point. On the other hand, their reputation is pretty much destroyed and that may be hard to bounce back from so you maybe should just request the film back.

skyrick would need to get his film back first. If it was processed great, otherwise this urls might help him.

skyrick · Aug 22, 2010

Sirius Glass said:
skyrick would need to get his film back first. If it was processed great, otherwise this urls might help him.

I have since received a letter from Rocky Mountain saying they fully intend to resume business after reorganization, whenever that happens. So I'll leave my film there. I panicked because I didn't know the difference between Sect 7 & Sect 13 bankruptcy. Thanks for the links though, ultrachrome-x, I'll check them out. I still have some frozen rolls of very expired HIE, I shot a roll and sent it to RM to see if anything would (ahem) develop.

nickrapak · Aug 22, 2010

skyrick said:
I have since received a letter from Rocky Mountain saying they fully intend to resume business after reorganization, whenever that happens. So I'll leave my film there. I panicked because I didn't know the difference between Sect 7 & Sect 13 bankruptcy. Thanks for the links though, ultrachrome-x, I'll check them out. I still have some frozen rolls of very expired HIE, I shot a roll and sent it to RM to see if anything would (ahem) develop.

Next time you shoot with HIE, just ask a local (or national mail-order) lab to process it. It uses the same B&W process as all B&W films, and will cost a third of the price.

skyrick · Aug 22, 2010

nickrapak said:
Next time you shoot with HIE, just ask a local (or national mail-order) lab to process it. It uses the same B&W process as all B&W films, and will cost a third of the price.

My bad, I meant Ektachrome IE.

ultrachrome-x · Aug 23, 2010

skyrick said:
My bad, I meant Ektachrome IE.

Is it e-4 process or AE-5/e-6 process film?

If it's e-4 then it's old and you are better off dealing with a place that will cross process it into a color negative. It's a lot punchier and more likely to come out. If it is the later version of the film that came out in the late 90s then you can deal with a less expensive place like DR5 and it will likely still come out ok as a slide.

As a side note...if you shoot the stuff and want the most color separation and the craziest colors, use a deep orange colored filter. By far the coolest effect.

Have fun with it!!

skyrick · Aug 23, 2010

ultrachrome-x said:
Is it e-4 process or AE-5/e-6 process film?

If it's e-4 then it's old and you are better off dealing with a place that will cross process it into a color negative. It's a lot punchier and more likely to come out. If it is the later version of the film that came out in the late 90s then you can deal with a less expensive place like DR5 and it will likely still come out ok as a slide.

As a side note...if you shoot the stuff and want the most color separation and the craziest colors, use a deep orange colored filter. By far the coolest effect.

Have fun with it!!

Yeah, this is the toxic e-4 stuff. color prints is what Rocky Mountain promised, and that's fine. I found out after I shot that roll about the orange filter. I used a Hoya R72. Don't know how that'll turn out.

proc22 · Sep 16, 2010

railwayman3 said:
I can recommend Process-C22 (although, as they are in the UK they are not as convenient for everyone).
Obviously not as quick as an ordinary C-41 lab, but they seem to keep reasonably to quoted times, and also have done a good job with the films I've sent.

In particular reply to the above post (I'm not advertising!) to say thank you for the mention.

We had no idea here about the RMFL troubles - although we've had big problems with long service times too, this is just one of those things with very old film. Batch processing, supply difficulties, etc. Some types you're lucky to get one roll in every two years. We always try our best though and have caught up a great deal this year. In the early days we'd post on newsgroups and give advice every day but there just isn't time for that nowadays. In fact I couldn't even find the original APUG log-in as it's been so long.

Just to say if anyone has had real problems with RMFL and need their films looking at, do get in touch, we'll try our hardest to help you out. There are a number of film types we're not accepting right now because backlogs are too high (we need to be fair to those with films in already) but like I said, we'll see what we can do to help and fix your problems.

Cheers,
Proc C-22 (in the UK)

proc22 · Sep 16, 2010

ultrachrome-x said:
Is it e-4 process or AE-5/e-6 process film?

If it's e-4 then it's old and you are better off dealing with a place that will cross process it into a color negative.

For the love of God don't put IE in a C-41 processor! E-4 IE (Kodak 2443) can still be done as slides. AFAIK the last IE expired in 96-97. The IR effect fades quicker than the latent images does (i.e., less magenta and more cyan in the image) but many come out very nice. E-4 doesn't have to use 1970s toxic nasties at all, the original was a hideous process and we've never used anything remotely like it, but obviously it's a proprietary method so I can't divulge details.

Rocky Mountain Film Lab Files Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

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