The blockbuster Star Wars movie out this week will benefit a lot of companies and individuals associated with it, including an iconic Rochester brand.
The Force is also with Kodak with this week’s mega-premier of the latest in this blockbuster franchise, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. That’s because it was shot on traditional Kodak film.
That’s a departure from some of the more recent Star Wars movies, according to Andy Evenski, who is Kodak’s President and general manager of entertainment and commercial film.
“Remember Star Wars was first shot on digital and now this is the first one that’s coming back to film. So it’s significant for us to be present and be part of this enormous opening.”
Evenski says this was an artistic decision by the director and one which some other prominent Hollywood filmmakers have been adopting in their latest releases.
“The Hateful Eight ‘ with Quentin Tarentino, that’s coming out on Christmas day, and you had Mission Impossible, we had James Bond on film, so there’s a lot of people coming back to film showing the natural beauty and what artistic value it comes with.”
All of the Kodak motion picture film is made in Rochester, and Evenski says hearing about major films like Star Wars being shot on Kodak film is a great source of pride for the employees there.
“The majority of the people I talked to in the production area, in the office area and everything else have great pride in it and that’s part of the things that we really cherish with the people in Rochester. They have great in the Kodak name, delivering to the customer a high quality product and we’re so proud of that.”
Kodak will also have a special logo for the new Star Wars movie when the credits roll at the end of the film.
Evenski attended this week's world premiere of the new Star Wars film in Los Angeles, as did Kodak CEO Jeff Clarke.
