Frequently Asked Questions
- Does CUFS repeat movies?
The CUFS rule is that any movies shown during the last school year won't be shown during the current school year. The only movies immune to being “put on hiatus” are The Rocky Horror Picture Show and whatever movie is chosen for Screen on the Green. To view the movies on hiatus, click here.
- How does CUFS get the rights to movies?/I want to learn more about showing movies on campus!
At the beginning of a movie, you've probably seen the FBI warning talking about “unauthorized…exhibition of copyrighted motion pictures”. CUFS has to pay for what are called public performance rights to the movies we show. Public performance rights (or just “rights”) are paid to a licensor who has the rights to license other people or groups to screen a film. The two licensors that CUFS most frequently uses are Swank and Criterion. The rights for films vary between
800 per title (but can go as high as $1000), generally being more expensive the newer or more popular the movie.
- If you showed my movie last year, is it paid for?
No. CUFS has to negotiate public performance rights each time we screen a movie - if we showed your movie last year, we'll have to contact the licensor again and pay again.
- Who do I contact about cosponsoring with CUFS?
kabell at clarku
- What if I can't or don't want to pay that much money?
Contact us if you'd like to discuss a cosponsorship or other options.
- What if my movie isn't on Swank or Criterion's site?
You'll have to locate the distributor of the film - look on the back of the DVD case for names of studios, production groups, etc. and start sending emails. Eventually, you'll be directed to the right person (or, as the case may be, discover the film isn't available for public performances, which does happen sometimes).
- What about Disney movies or Star Wars?
Disney movies are difficult to come by due to Disney's home video release policies - Swank has some titles available, but not all. The Star Wars movies are not available for public performance, as Lucasfilm has no licensor for screenings.
- What are the words underneath the movie descriptions on your site?
Those indicate which CUFS member is doing the screening - after a CUFS member has been trained to project films, they get to pick a nickname to appear on the site.
- Why does CUFS do intermissions on long movies?
Due to poor ventilation in the projection booth, the projector becomes too hot to run after 2 hours and shuts itself off - we shut it off preemptively so that it doesn't happen at a random time during the film. We hope to have this problem resolved by spring semester 2012.