Eastman Kodak pausing film manufacturing to modernize equipment

Citing increasing demand and the need to modernize its production factories, Eastman Kodak Co. temporarily paused all film production this month at its factory in Rochester, N.Y., according to company executives during last week’s quarterly earnings call.

“Our film sales have increased in motion picture and in still film and other films. So on film, right, we’re doing a shutdown in November, total shutdown,” said Jim Continenza, executive chairman of the board and CEO, of Eastman Kodak. “We’ve continued to invest in our manufacturing process, while we need to shut down completely to bring light into the dark, right? Film is made in the dark. So in November, we will be modernizing the plant, putting more investment within that, which has also caused us to use more cash in the quarter to build up inventories while we do this. But as we continue to see our commitment and our customer commitment to film, still in motion picture, we are going to continue to invest in that space and continue with that growth.”

Eastman Kodak, which produces motion picture films and film for still photography, reported early this year it was committing to film production.

According to an interview with WXXI in Rochester, Terry Taber, chief technical officer and senior vice president, Advanced Materials and Chemicals, the November shutdown was planned for a year: “We started planning this over a year ago, because we were upgrading two things: the air handling system, which also does the dehumidification for the building, and for the air supply, going into the coating machine.”