Think Beyond the Obvious: Careers in Media Archiving What are media archives? • Oldest in UK – • Preservation, collection, curation, public access, commercial and cultural repurposing of footage

• Not “dusty”

The Master Film Store of the British Film Institute's National Film & Television Archive, Gaydon, Warwickshire

• Often at the cutting edge of technology

“It is not just a question of preservation of materials, it has to be a question of continual transfer, copying and restoration of the originals” UNESCO

Universal restoration of Jaws, 2012 •

Amy (Asif Kapadia, 2015) Andy Murray, Wimbledon, 2013 UK media archive industry

• 800 companies in the UK work in audio visual archiving

• 8,700 employees

• Majority are small to medium employers. Less than 3% employ 50 people +. 58% employ fewer than 5 people

< a d d c o m p a n y l o g o s > UK media archive industry

Public sector Major commercial Specialised • 13 in UK Commercial AV archives Specific collections e.g. based on themes, • Regional film and TV Getty Images genres or time periods collections ITN Source • Amateur filmmaking e.g. collections and • Corporate and collections Clips & Footage – instructional videos e.g. The Greenpark Getty Images Collection e.g. BFI National Archive Northern Island Screen Yorkshire Film Archive East Anglian Film Archive

Types of roles and Skills

Inside archives Outside archives Curator Archive researcher

Library/collections Archive producer management Production company roles Digital Asset Management Broadcaster roles Preservation/Conservation Content creators Public access and screenings Post-production, digital restoration - Colourists

Training • No current formal qualifications in UK since end of UEA MA in Film and TV Archiving

• Lack of structured training and entry routes into industry

It is now widely assumed that 75-80% of all silent films ever produced have been lost to history Media archive traineeships

• Heritage Lottery Fund grant from “Skills for the Future” programme

• 14 trainees for 2015 • 4 weeks class training

• 2 x 10 weeks paid archive work placements nationwide

Useful Links

• Focal International • UNESCO Audiovisual Archives: A Practical Reader • Film Archives UK • Keepers of the Frame - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytt1eehq_jI • FIAF • FIAT • Historypin • Creative Skillset • Screen Archives