Kelmar cleaner and FilmGuard

[Tomek Lecocq]

Hello,
As Brad sells stuff only with US shipping, what is the recommended place to buy FilmGuard and 35mm media pads in continental Europe?
Also, what is an "ok" price for a Kelmar cleaner? I'm not in such a hurry to need to buy one right away, so I would prefer to know.
Thanks.

[Joshua Camerata]

Should be around $400-500 not including shipping. Email FT directly.

[Ryan Gallagher]

Is there any situation to run/use a Kelmar Cleaner if you only book single showings of a print?
Do studios in fact discourage running wet on their archival/classic/back-catalog prints?

I ask cause we own a mothballed Cleaner (that would need a refurb and supplies)... who knows when it was last in use.
But i'm not sure we have ever shown the same print more than maybe twice before it went back.

[Randy Stankey]

At Mercyhurst, I used Film-Guard for one-offs all the time.

I was in the habit of building the print at the bench, onto 6,000 ft. reels, then spooling them onto the platter. I built a bench mount for the Kelmar cleaner and I used it to give the film a coat of Film-Guard while the film was rewinding. You just have to be careful not to let the rewinder go to fast. I also pre-screened every film so that allowed me to get a second run through the projector. When showtime rolled around, the film usually had two runs through the cleaner. Then, of course, the go-show would also be run through the cleaner. Yes, even with only two or three runs, there was a difference. While I don't hesitate to say that my boss and I didn't see things eye to eye, very often, Film-Guard is one thing we agreed on. In fact, after about half way through the first season of showing films, by his edict, all films were required to be cleaned with Film-Guard before showing to the public.

None of our film distributors ever complained about their films being treated with Film-Guard. I had called and asked about using it but nobody ever denied permission and, to be honest, I don't think more than a handful of them even understood what I was talking about, anyhow. I never got any complaints. We often circuited prints from one place to another and I, sometimes, had occasion to call the next place for confirmation on shipping instructions. On one of those occasions, the guy at the other place commented about the fact that, when they received prints from us, they were always so clean.

Why should anybody, studios or otherwise, complain? They're getting a free cleaning!

Today, however, I would consider using Film-Guard, carefully. The prints that I ran were all regular release prints. Many of them weren't in the best condition when I got them. Using Film-Guard, films almost always left my hands in better condition than I received them in. Nowadays, with flim use being rare, I'd be mindful about using Film-Guard on prints if there is only one copy or if you are running archival prints.

Back in the day, I never had anybody refuse me and I don't think some people even noticed. Today, I think it's best to, at least, call or send an e-mail and ask before you use Film-Guard on somebody else's prints.

[Ryan Gallagher]

Today, however, I would consider using Film-Guard, carefully. The prints that I ran were all regular release prints. Many of them weren't in the best condition when I got them. Using Film-Guard, films almost always left my hands in better condition than I received them in. Nowadays, with flim use being rare, I'd be mindful about using Film-Guard on prints if there is only one copy or if you are running archival prints.

Back in the day, I never had anybody refuse me and I don't think some people even noticed. Today, I think it's best to, at least, call or send an e-mail and ask before you use Film-Guard on somebody else's prints.

That is sort of the impression I get of the state of the situation too. We don't have a cleaner I trust ATM, so I wouldn't do it anyway. And running changeovers it would have to be bench cleaning, cause we only have the one cleaner. It's more about would it even be worth it as a side project to revive our cleaner. I do own one personal print I could clean. ;-)

[Tomek Lecocq]

Thanks for the info about the cleaner.
Still wondering where is the recommended place to buy FilmGuard and 35mm media pads though (in continental Europe).

[Brad Miller]

http://www.film-tech.com/dealers.php

You can also email us and we can setup a custom quote to ship overseas. I think the cheapest way to do it though is for you to sign up for one of those freight-forwarding companies in the US. Typically they charge like $5 to setup your account and then we ship to them (you get a unique mailbox number) and whenever a package arrives for you, it is then sent with a ton of other prints to combine and lower shipping costs.

[Marcel Birgelen]

@Brad

Do you know if there is anything in FilmGuard that's bound to the European ADR/REACH regulations?

Those regulations are there to make sure that the cleaning tissues I recently ordered on-line were shipped with an even more incompetent shipment provider than the rest I ordered from the same company. You wouldn't say it if you'd seen how the box looked they came in, but it's sure good to know they were handled with "extra care"...

[Brad Miller]

It is not considered a hazardous material. We have never had any issues.

[Tomek Lecocq]

You can also email us and we can setup a custom quote to ship overseas

With brexit, it won't be cheaper to send it from the UK dealer instead of the US, so I'll send an email for a custom quote then.