Cynthia,
 
1.  My statement..."Hey Scorcese...save a film...sell one of you villas"
is rhetorical. I have used this device to encourage expedient
consideration of issues relating to financing film preservation.  There is
no question, Scorcese is a helleva guy. Does he own villas?
 
2.  I have visited the NFPF Web site and I have learned a little more
about the administation of the effort...EXCEPT THE FOLLOWING:
 
        1.  To what extent is the job getting done...number of films
        restored so far, number in-hand we KNOW need restoration?
 
        2.  How much money has been collected and what is the
        target figure? (I am aware of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
        and Science's $250,000 donation.)
 
        3. Who is actually doing the preservation, who
        selected the facility, and are cost distribution figures
        available?
 
        4.  Who is the NFPF Chair of the Board?
 
        5.  Are the films being digitized after they are restored?
 
I       6.  What month in 1998 will the NFPF Grant Program begin?
 
        7.  Is the governmental matching funds arrangement in place now?
 
Thanks for reading my post.
I look forward to your response.
 
Irene Upshur
 
 
On Wed, 11 Feb 1998, Cynthia Bussiere wrote:
 
> Irene's Bottom Line:
>
> <<   BOTTOM LINE:    Hey Scorcese...save a film...
>        sell one of your villas.   >>
>
> As Chris has pointed out, Martin Scorsese has done more than his
> share of work (and spent more than his share of money) on behalf
> of film preservation.  Scorsese's work includes serving as a current
> member of the National Film Preservation Board (NFPB).  With his
> colleague Arthur Hiller, he sits on the NFPB as a representative of
> the Directors Guild of America.
>
> Additionally, Scorsese was highly instrumental in the 1997
> re-release and restoration of _Contempt_.  Work on the film
> included restorative work on the multi-lingual soundtrack and
> the primary colors of the Bardot nude scene at the beginning
> of the film.  Scorsese has a major credit (something like
> "Martin Scorsese Presents") in the opening titles of the
> re-released and newly-restored film.
>
> Apart from the Scorsese issue, Irene's post raised other
> issues of private sector responsibility for film preservation.
> The newly created National Film Preservation Foundation
> (NFPF) is aimed specifically at the private sector.  As a
> 501(c)(3) corporation, the NFPF is a non-profit organization
> to which donations---monetary as well as in-kind---by individuals
> and business entities are *tax deductible* as charitable
> contributions.  Thus, the Foundation was established not
> only as a means to raise film preservation funds from the
> private sector of the American economy but also as an
> incentive to the donation of private funds for national film
> preservation efforts.
>
> Private sector efforts notwithstanding, Chris has stated the
> case for government-sponsored film preservation at the
> national level.  The restoration process is not only expensive;
> it is also extraordinarily time-consuming and labor-intensive.
>
> Moreover, in addition to the public doman "orphans" of which
> Chris spoke, there are copyrighted films in need of preservation
> and restoration that are terribly difficult to lay hands on.  Because
> of the widespread purchase and sale of film libraries in their
> entireties in the 1980's, no one is quite sure of either the exact
> identities of the copyright owners or the physical locations of
> many of these films.  According to Robert Harris and James Katz,
> the team responsible for the _Vertigo_ restoration (among others),
> _The Lion in Winter_ is one such film badly in need of restoration.
> In these types of cases---especially when the films are no longer
> physically located in the United States---it may prove easier or
> more efficient for governmental rather than private sector resources
> to be brought to bear on the identification of the owners, and on
> the location, preservation, and restoration, of the target films.
>
> Finally, film preservation did not go unrecognized in Tuesday's
> announcement of the AMPAS Technical Achievement Awards.
> One such certificate was awarded to James M. Reilly, Douglas
> W. Nishimura, and Monique C. Fisher of the Rochester Institute
> of Technology for the creation of A-D Strips, a diagnostic tool
> for ascertaining the presence of vinegar syndrome in processed
> acetate-based motion picture film.  (When acetate-based film
> breaks down, it basically turns into vinegar.)
>
> Cynthia
>
>
> Cynthia Bussiere
> [log in to unmask]
> San Francisco, California
>
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>
 
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