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Save Packfilm Travelog No. 19: The Analog Product Institute (API)

JOIN DOC ON AN INSTANT ADVENTURE

 

Dear all,

so far I trashed about 234 versions of the "most powerful press release against Fujifilm ever written". Because, honestly, as days go by and my anger about the final NO from Fuji slowly calms down, I more and more change my mind. After all these weeks of fighting for the packfilm format so hard, and after so many hours spent trying to find a way to cooperate with Fujifilm, we maybe just have to accept the fact that Fuji simply can not re-think their decision. Basically, it does not even really matter to again and again ask for the reasons.

And instead of spending more energy on blaming and blackmailing Fuji, we finally decided NOT to develop a press release that questions the Fuji management, but to instead start working on a global press release that proudly presents our PLAN B. 

Plan B with B for even BETTER! Just as the global, super successful SLOW FOOD movement was started after a fight against the opening of the first McDonalds fast food restaurant in the heart of Rome, we decided to use the momentum created by the serious threat for packfilm to proudly establish a global ANALOG PRODUCT INSTITUTE (API) with one first main target: to carefully evaluate possible new approaches for developing a NEW generation of analog instant packfilm. Establishing a rich network of new suppliers, manufacturers and financiers from all over the world.

Our vision is to start building a rock solid structure where we can collect and bundle all this amazing positive energy that we have had the pleasure to experience during the last weeks. The API will hopefully soon put us in the position that no more iconic analog products and technologies can simply disappear from this world forever.

Please stay tuned for exciting updates within the very next days, as we are working day and night to make this happen asap and we for sure will need your help to rock.

Sincerely excited and finally full of super positive energy again,
Yours,
Doc

 

 

www.savepackfilm.net

 

21 comments

  • Michael

    Many thanks! Excellent stuff. https://bucketlist.org/idea/6LiG/ideas-to-assist-properly-deal-with-nervousness/

  • Ianalog

    Super project; Dream can become reality. But there is a concern, No one talks about it, nor does it communicate that.
    There is currently a KICKSTARTER campaign set up by the partner and collaborator of florian kaps DOC: NEW 55, which deals with the development of technologies and machines
    To start an industrial production of the support which will serve to perpetuate the 100 packfilm type, abandoned by FUJIFILM.
    If you want the legacy to be perpetuated, it is very important to communicate around you the presence of this project and the link, if you want this to happen.
    Thank you all for sharing and participating in this campaign.
    Here is the link: http://kck.st/2eoPqQf

  • AMW

    I know I’m late to the reply party, but I posted a message on your June update and I have to say something here. I’ve read some great replies and some nonsense on this update and another. The nonsense coming from those who offer their sage business advice on how to deal with a Japanese company’s culture. “Well I happen to know that X culture behaves in a Y way and you must learn how to behave similarly in order to do business.” Guess what all ye wanna be students on Japanese business culture, that very assumed “culture” is what got us here. And what’s worse, there’s little room for culture quirks, or trying to understand them in the early 21st century global business model. So let us stop with the advice to Doc, stop the further insulting of a “culture” with broad statements that verge on the offensive, and move forward to get to the best end result, pack film survives.

    I wish Doc had fired a shot across the bow of Fuji’s mothership. When did we lose our ability to fight bad business behavior with muscle and fury? To assume it would offend them to the point of no return, one only needs to look at the FB-3000 triumphant return to the market! Oh wait, that didn’t happen. So much for petitions and niceties. I will never buy a Fuji anything as long as I live. I will tell everyone I know to avoid Fuji products. They aren’t going to sell or part with any of their(actually Dr. Land’s Polaroid) technology or the machines needed to produce. Look at Impossible’s beginnings and this situation. One wanted it to work and so it has and the other sends a big fat NO in an email. And to those who think they were losing money, no they weren’t. They weren’t making enough profit based on data that fits nicely on a spreadsheet. What they don’t know, and it’s a culture thing, the culture of huge business, is that a new generation of customers were discovering the product and had they stuck in the game, got on the ground, made a little effort like maybe a camera, they might have realized a door had opened. Anyone drink Mexican Cokes? Made with sugar and not HFCS. You think Coke isn’t aware of the demand for that drink and is trying to figure out how to take it back? As an aside, I read on Catlabs JP, a potential provider of our beloved, an interesting paragraph about pricing and how it relates to demand. So it would appear Fuji, in a high rise conference room filled with men who are too old and stubborn to adapt, was too scared to raise prices for fear of losing what sales they likely felt a tenuous hold on and instead they decided, without so much as a courtesy warning, that they were killing production because it just wasn’t worth it. It’d never be what it was so axe it. Doc was a hangover to them, and one they dealt with as such.

    So forget all the nuance or perceived cultural differences and fight by the means congruent with the battlefield. In this case, don’t buy a Fuji anything. Call it a boycott, call it a personal thing, but don’t give them a dime. If this means something to you, act. Don’t wait for Doc to post, or to save us for that matter, let Fuji know your intent. They killed our format, one that made them money, without any regard to anything but their bottom line. Big corps need to know that their customers matter and they will be held publicly accountable for any harm they do to their customers. That translates across all possible ways companies conduct themselves, be it because of their location or motivation. Ffuji.

  • Helene

    I’m ready for a kickstarter! Or any help I can give. Still working with old stock 669 film but it won’t last me forever and I love it too much to have to give it up.

  • Hannah

    Are there any updates? I’m still devastated by this whole thing and would love to hear if any progress has been made.
    Thank you for all your work so far.

  • Jay Sorrels

    Hey Doc – Can I please join the chorus asking for an update of some kind? Rumour had it that at least some of the Fuji machines will be auctioned off and of course we have seen that hopeful but mysterious announcement from CatLabs. I must confess I fear they will end up lovingly but expensively jamming cut down New55 into recycled cartridges or some such like. My trusty 360 waits too because if there is no sustained future for pack film other than expensive improvising, it is better the lovely thing goes to someone who can afford £20 a pack for the remaining stocks of FP-100c. I know it must be tough – but I have heard that pack film is far simpler to make than integral – and perhaps integral can be adapted into a Type 100 form factor. Perhaps it is strategic to wait until all FP is gone or priced even higher than today to get maximum buzz – but throw a bone and some hope to your biggest fans. Like me :)

  • fastcat99

    Doc – It has been quiet for a month or so now. Please share any news or updates as they develop (pun intended!). We are all very excited to have you leading the effort to re-invent pack film!

  • joe

    i hope you are in talks with Cat LAbs of JP in Boston,Ma

  • David

    I endorse other comments made here about seeking additional cooperation from Fuji. If they won’t reconsider their decision to stop production, perhaps they will assist you with technology, expertise, supply contacts to carry on the format elsewhere. What can you offer them to make that attractive and turn their cooperation into a net plus for them? I imagine there is a fair amount of overlap among pack film users and Instax users, for example. I also think a small royalty could be paid to Fuji in exchange for technology.

  • Vince

    I hope you are talking to CatLabs here in the US, who say they have already started on a pack film project:
    http://www.catlabs.info/we-will-make-packfilm

  • Ross

    Having lived and worked in Japan, I suggest you send a “Thank you for your time and consideration despite the unfortunate decision” letter. If you want the equipment, you first need to develop a relationship with the leadership. Going at them tough and aggressive only “shuts down” further communication. Find a common ground. Talk about who uses this film and why. Give Instax film props for what it is and see if they’ll talk about it’s future. It may take a while but you may get results. There was internet chatter that they may reintroduce pack film as Instax Professional with a new camera and all. If that’s the case, the new relationship can go a long way in possibly getting involved in the development to make sure the current pack film cameras and holders are compatible or useable with an adapter. One way or another, a good relationship with Fuji is, in my opinion, necessary going forward.

  • iglad

    That’s the way to go, as there’s more than one way to get to Timbuktu!!! I’d forget about Kickstarter and look for financial investment initially, chemists, machines. How about trying to licence the film from Fuji or aren’t they willing to even do that, if not the F ‘em. It’s a bout looking at total global demand and if all those passport photographers can hang on in there salvation is coming. You have to make it a 10 pack film and price it under or similar to Impossible film. Please go for it, crunch the numbers and get back to us with a plan. I’m behind you and so is my 195.

  • Jack

    I bought my pack camera from a carboot sale for £1 it is the best camera I have ever owned. It is only a 103 but the dreamy shots it creates with the beautiful fp100c colour saturation makes it one of my absolute favs. You definitley have my backing for any future projects crowdfunding or otherwise :-)

  • Alejandro Orduz

    That is the way to go,. For sure a kickstart campaign will rise the resources needed, thousands of us will support it,… With even better an more interesting products (bnw, isos, duo-colors)…
    Thousands, maybe millions of pack films cameras are all over The world to keep shooting..

  • Michael Bartosek

    I agree wholeheartedly with this approach!! It’s sad that Fuji can’t find a way to assist, but tackling the problem from a new angle seems like something, where progress and innovation can be made!! Kudos for your efforts!

  • Ann O'Belle

    Your message even calms ME down. Yes, you are right… The milk has spilled; forward, not backward. I will support where I can. Sending Super-Duper-Energy your way.

  • Tony Wayne

    That’s the correct attitude we should have, and that’s the positive energy we need. Please consider my support!

  • Robert

    I agree with Nick. Get the equipment!! Don’t let them destroy it. It’s the least they can do. Where did that conversation stop?

  • Kim Deslandes

    Thank you for all of your hard work, for this positive message, and for continuing to give us hope for this medium that we love. I can’t wait to hear more about the API!

  • Anthony Vanacore

    As a 19 year old college student in New Jersey I want you to know that this film appeals to all ages, I’ve been shooting it for 2 years, and every time I show anyone from my generation the “magic” of pack film they want to join the bandwagon. I hope this is a bit of inspiration for the movement to realize that everyone loves the film and the cameras used to shoot it! (Polaroid 360 user)

  • Nick

    Doc this is great! I will gladly back any efforts to save film. If you need financial help, I’m sure there are plenty of us who would join a kickstarter as per Film Ferrania.

    Don’t fully give up on the Fuji factory equipment though! That could be huge!

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