Los Angeles, CA -- Eastman Kodak Co. and Hollywood have gone hand in hand since 1896, when the Rochester, N.Y., company began turning out film for the nascent motion picture industry.
Kodak has more Oscars than Katharine Hepburn or Slumdog Millionaire- nine for scientific or technical achievements. And since 2001, it has had its name on the first permanent home for the Academy Awards, Hollywood's Kodak Theatre.
But the 3,200-seat venue that also hosts the American Idol finals likely won't bear the Kodak name much longer as the bankrupt company seeks to get out of a naming rights contract.
The company this week filed a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court seeking to end its sponsorship agreement.
The move, if approved by the court, would be the latest in a series of cuts Kodak has made in recent years to what used to be a far more active stable of sponsorships. The company at the end of 2011 announced it was ending its Kodak Challenge effort with the Professional Golfers Association. Since 2007, it also has ended sponsorships of the Olympic Games and NASCAR.
Exiting the Kodak Theatre contract is another proposed spending cut Kodak is pursuing in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. It also has asked for bankruptcy court approval to end a variety of real estate leases.
According to Kodak's legal paperwork, it pays "a significant annual fee" in exchange for naming and other promotional rights to Kodak Theatre, though it didn't specify how much.
The cost of maintaining the sponsorship, Kodak said, "would likely outweigh if not eclipse any benefit in attempting to identify a potential acquirer of the contract and unnecessarily deplete assets."
The company said it had a back-and-forth this week with CIM Group, which owns and operates the Hollywood and Highland Center real estate development of which Kodak Theatre is part, telling CIM Group to go ahead and remove Kodak's signage from the venue.
CIM Group declined to comment Wednesday.
The Hollywood Reporter had said three weeks ago that the Oscars might move to the larger Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles in 2014, though no such announcement has been made.
In a statement, Kodak spokesman Christopher Veronda said the company "is proud of its important role in the entertainment industry, and our long-standing relationship with film makers."
"Our motion ... reflects our commitment to ensure that we are maximizing value for our entertainment customers, creditors and other stakeholders," he said.
USA Today