AMIA Newsbriefs

We're about to lose 1,000 theaters that can't convert to digital? It does matter.

There's a very interesting editorial over at Indiewire right now from Michael Hurley, who owns some theaters in Maine, about the digital conversion that's threatening to swamp
a significant number of our country's screens... many if not all, in what is surely not a coincidence, run by independent owners and operators.
 
Read more here: http://www.variancefilms.com/blog

Westland series of rural BC films to become part of UBC archive

One of the largest private film collections in Canada, which provides a fascinating document of rural B.C., will be housed and preserved by UBC Library thanks to a generous donation
from the Halleran family and the support of community partners including Columbia Basin Trust (CBT). The Halleran Collection, valued at $750,000, consists of about 250 nature-oriented video programs produced in British Columbia over the decades – first by
Mike Halleran and then by his son Terry.
 
Read the story here: http://castlegarsource.com/news/westland-series-rural-bc-films-become-part-ubc-archive-17128

Kodak is out of the picture at Oscars

The announcement comes after much speculation as to whether the once-dominant film manufacturing and photography company would keep its name on the Oscar theater after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization
earlier this year.
 
Read the story here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/22/oscars-kodak-idUSL4E8DM8VN20120222

The Associated Press partners PFT to digitize video archive

The Associated Press is working with Prime Focus Technologies (PFT) to digitize its unique video archive, making it available to a whole new audience across digital platforms.
AP’s film and tape archive contains around 70,000 hours’ worth of footage, including more than 1.3 million global news and entertainment stories, in 16mm film and videotape, dating back to the beginning of the 20th Century.
 
Read the press release here: http://www.medianewsline.com/news/121/ARTICLE/9023/2012-02-22.html

Debate on Saving Historic Films Explodes

Is it acceptable to destroy cultural objects as if they were land mines? This is a question faced by archivists in Germany, where many of the country's historical films were shot
on explosive nitrocellulose. A bitter fight has broken out in Germany over whether the film should be preserved or destroyed.

 
Read the story here: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,814106,00.html#ref=nlint

The Winter 2012 Newsletter is now available!

The AMIA Winter Newsletter is here ...  

• Lots of pictures from the Austin Conference
• Information about our 2011 AMIA Awards - Silver Light recipient Ralph Sargent and William S. O'Farrell Volunteer Award recipient Greg Lukow
• A Member Profile of Gary Adams
• The Volunteer Spotlight shines on Heather Linville
• And did you know SAMMA won an Emmy?

Plus - an update from the NYU Student Chapter, Advocating for Thailand's Audiovisual Archives from AMIA's Advocacy Committee, news from the field, and more. 

Also in this issue is a tribute to Alan Stark from the Memorial Service in October, and we remember John D. Lowry.

Log into the members area of the AMIA website to read the Newsletter here.  

We hope to see you in Seattle for the 2012 Conference!  We'll be announcing dates for our Digital Asset Symposium and The Reel Thing: Los Angeles soon.

Enjoy!