UCLA Arts Library Theater, Film, and Television Blog

HOLLYWOOD ON THE HUDSON:  FILMMAKING IN NEW YORK, 1920–39
Friday, January 16 – Saturday, February 7
“Hollywood on the Hudson” traces the roots of the modern American independent film industry to New York between the two world wars, when an industry built on centralized authority began to listen, for the first time, to a range of independent voices, each with their own ideas about what the movies could say and do.  The Hollywood studio system was geared toward creating a standardized product and sought to appeal to all ages and classes.  Whereas New York cinema—while also aiming for populist fare—could be technically innovative and culturally specific, and play to niche audiences, from art houses to ethnic enclaves.This program surveys filmmaking in New York during the hegemony of Hollywood, from D.W. Griffith’s return from the West Coast in 1919 to the World’s Fair of 1939.  It is based on the book “Hollywood on the Hudson: Film and Television in New York from Griffith to Sarnoff” by Rutgers Professor Richard Koszarski.

A Race Against Time: Preserving Our Audiovisual Media
presented by the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts

Cosponsored and hosted by the Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

Sessions:
Overview of Machine-Based AV Media Identification and Preservation
Reformatting Options for AV Media
Contracting for AV Preservation Services
Surveying and Selecting AV Media Materials for Preservation and Access
Funding Opportunities for AV Preservation
Case Studies and Panel Discussions

Lead Speaker:
Alan Lewis, Audiovisual Archives Consultant, Washington, DC

Speakers:
George Blood, President, Safe Sound Archive, Philadelphia, PA
Tom Clareson, Program for New Initiatives, PALINET, Philadelphia, PA
Sarah Cunningham, Audio Preservation Specialist, Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum, Austin, TX
Sarah Stauderman, Preservation Manager, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, DC

The fee for this two-day program is $200. Funders for this program include the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.  In partnership with PALINET.  Also cosponsored by The Kilgarlin Center for Preservation of the Cultural Record, School of Information, The University of Texas at Austin and Amigos Library Services, Inc.

Registration form available. For more information, visit www.ccaha.org or email pso@ccaha.org. A limited number of $750 stipends are available to staff from non-profit institutions with annual budgets of less than $500,000.  Eligibility requirements and stipend application information also available.

Google Books has been adding selective magazine content, both back issues and current writing, to its search. It’s very difficult to tell which exact content has been added, though there are a number of useful titles like New York Magazine, Jet, and reprints of Ebony from the 1960s-present. One way to limit a bit better than the basic interface is to use the Advanced Google search in order to pre-limit to magazines.

The Arts Library recently added a complete set of David Alan Stern’s Acting with an Accent series, including 25 CDs and manuals devoted specifically to dialect and accent training for actors. Coverage includes many regions of the
U.S., as well as global accents in English. The series is available for checkout in the Arts Library Selected Plays & Monologues collection (call number PN2071.F6 S73 2003). Contents are as follows:

[v. 1]. New York City — [v. 2]. American Southern — [v. 3]. 4 Texas dialects — [v. 4]. Boston — [v. 5]. Down East New England — [v. 6]. Upper class Massachusetts “Kennedy-esque” — [v. 7]. Chicago — [v. 8]. Midwest farm and ranch — [v. 9]. Australian — [v. 10]. Spanish — [v. 11]. Italian –[v. 12]. French — [v. 13]. German — [v. 14]. Russian — [v. 15]. Yiddish –[v. 16]. Polish — [v. 17]. Norwegian and Swedish — [v. 18]. Standard British (2nd ed.) — [v. 19]. British North Country — [v. 20]. Cockney — [v. 21]. Irish — [v. 22]. Scottish — [v. 23]. Arabic — [v. 24]. Persian (Farsi) — [v.25]. West Indian & Black African.

Those interested in finding more recorded dialects may also wish to consult the freely available online resource IDEA: International Dialects of English Archive, which includes speakers of different ages, regions, and genders.

Life Magazine has partnered with Google to create a photo archive, containing some images never before previously published: http://images.google.com/hosted/life

Date coverage includes the 1750s to the present.

The AMIA Nitrate Film Interest Group has started a Flickr account to help identify unknown archival films. The site was created to help as a place where archives and collectors can load scans and video from unidentified films to seek help in getting them identified in a collaborative way.

To see the current scans, click on the “Photostream” link from the main page.

The Silent Cinema in Quebec website is the result of a partnership between GRAFICS (Groupe de recherche sur l’avènement et la formation des institutions cinématographique et scénique) at the Université de Montréal, the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec and the Cinémathèque québécoise.

It includes biographies, short essays, a timeline, and streaming video of films from Edison, Biograph, and more.

The Los Angeles Conservancy offers a popular architectural walking tour of the Broadway Historic Theatre District on Saturday mornings. On November 9, the Conservancy is also offering a special one-day tour called “L.A. NOIR-chitecture: A hard-boiled tour through the historic city.” Information can be found on the Conservancy website.

Patrons interested in theaters featured on the Broadway tour can consult the Conservancy’s walking tour brochure (Arts Library Reference NA6846.U62L675 1992), and the book The Last Remaining Seats: Movie Palaces of Tinseltown (Arts Library Reference NA6846.U62L573 2004).

This year, the UCLA Library is trying out new subject guide software called Libguides. As of October, I’ve put together a Film and Television research guide, and a specific course guide for F/TV 106C. These guides will be developed further, and a course guide for 106A is also underway. Please let me know if you have suggestions for additions to the guide, or would like to request a course guide.

A new guide for Theater researchers is also forthcoming!

LA as Subject presents “Archives Live” the 3rd Annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar.Southern California history comes alive in exhibits by 65 historical collections and archives-including L.A.-area universities, libraries, and community organizations. Browse rare collections, consult with experts, and learn about family genealogy, online research tools, preserving your own history, and numerous other topics. Presented by L.A. as Subject, the bazaar offers a wealth of resources for exploring Los Angeles history. L.A. as Subject-an association of archives and collections hosted by the USC Libraries-is dedicated to improving the visibility, access, and preservation of archives and documenting the rich history of the Los Angeles region. Educational programs, discussions about history with local authors, and documentary films about the hidden stories of Los Angeles neighborhoods are scheduled throughout the day.

For more information about LA as Subject, please visit:http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/arc/lasubject/