Kodak wants its name off Hollywood theater
Kodak wants out of Tinseltown.
Eastman Kodak Co., in a filing in its U.S. Bankruptcy Court case in New York this week, asked to be released from its 2000 naming rights deal with the Hollywood Boulevard theater that hosts the Oscars. Under the contract, the company had the naming rights “in exchange for a significant annual fee,” according to the filing.
The move by the Rochester, N.Y., company, a pioneer in film and camera production, comes after it filed for bankruptcy protection last month as it faces a failing business model born in the pre-digital age. It also comes as the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has begun discussions to move the annual Academy Awards ceremony out of Hollywood to the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.
Taken together, the moves would represent a significant hit to the Kodak Theatre, which was built to suit the needs of the academy and has been the anchor of the Hollywood and Highland entertainment complex.
The landlord for the theater, CIM Group, declined to comment.
Times staff writer Roger Vincent contributed to this report.
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