AMIA 2024 | Program

Preliminary program sessions are listed below. Session descriptions and times may change and additional programs added to the schedule.

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9:00 AM – 5:00 PM – Separate Registration Required
Film Restoration Essentials for Small Archives and Non-Profits
Fabio Bedoya, Filmworkz

Join us for a comprehensive workshop on film restoration, designed to empower small archives and non-profit organizations with the knowledge to perform complete restorations. We will explore accessible tools and technologies that ensure the integrity and quality of historical films. The workshop will introduce machine learning tools for color recovery and frame replacement, making advanced restoration techniques available to institutions with limited resources.    Our instructor brings extensive experience in digital intermediates and film restoration from various international projects, including collaborations with major studios and independent filmmakers. Participants will learn cost-effective restoration methods that do not compromise on quality.    This workshop is intended for individuals with a basic understanding of video editing or digital intermediate processes. It aims to enhance participants’ skills in film preservation, ensuring that our cinematic heritage is preserved for future generations.

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM – Separate Registration Required – Sign up here
Hack Day
Annie Schweikert, Stanford Libraries
Tim Lake, BAVC
David Rodriquez, Florida State University

A unique opportunity for practitioners and managers of moving image collections to join with developers and engineers for an intense day of collaboration to develop solutions for digital audiovisual preservation and access. Within digital preservation and curation communities, hack days provide an opportunity for archivists, collection managers, technologists, and others to work together develop software solutions, documentation or training materials, and more for digital collections management needs. No prior experience in coding or computer programming is needed, just a willingness to learn, share knowledge and collaborate.

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM – Separate Registration Required
Legacy Equipment: Maintenance & Repair Workshop
Jackie Jay, Farallon Archival Consulting
Victoria Fajardo, BAVC Media
Kristin MacDonough, Video Data Bank
Steve Davis, Vanderbilt Television News Archive

With a focus on four common video decks, this full-day pre-conference workshop will cover maintenance, simple fixes, and diagnosing problems. Attendees will have the chance to work hands-on with the playback machinery, working with specialists on each type of deck, and have the opportunity to ask questions of repair experts.

5:30 PM – 6:00 PM
AMIA 2024 Newcomer’s Orientation

6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
AMIA 2024 Opening Night Cocktails

It’s opening night in Milwaukee!  A chance to raise a glass, say hello to friends, and meet new colleagues in person before heading out for dinner or other fun.

8:30 AM – 9:00 AM
Coffee & Tea Break

Start the morning with a cup of coffee or tea. Thanks to our friends at Iron Mountain Archives & Media Services!

 8:45 AM – 10:45 AM
AMIA 2024 Welcome & Keynote

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Risk and Reward: What Archivists Should Know About Film Projection
Patricia Ledesma Villon, Walker Art Center
Lori Felker, DePaul University
Kevin Rice, Process Reversal
Ben Balcom, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Ross Lipman

As archivists, we are entrusted with both the preservation and access of rare and original materials created by others. However, many archivists are not often trained to project films or understand the technical standards around film projection as part of access, which is often segmented to the role of projectionists and other technical roles. Projection of works in their original formats, particularly film, is often integral to the nature of the material we steward and can additionally help highlight artistic intent around the medium and further support archival advocacy. Presented by the AMIA Small Gauge and Amateur Film Committee, this roundtable discussion is composed of filmmakers, theatrical projectionists, and archivists. It aims to bring greater awareness to the larger archival community about special issues and considerations concerning the projection of artist-made films, archival prints, and other valuable prints of both small and large gauge formats in addition to theatrical and microcinema 16mm/Super 8 projection.

 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
The Jack Warner Scripts: A Case Study
Alisha Perdue, Iron Mountain Media and Archive Services
Hillary Howell, Iron Mountain Media and Archive Services
Jeff Briggs, Warner Bros. Discovery
Randal Luckow, Warner Bros. Discovery

Archival experts from both Warner Bros. Discovery Global Archives & Preservation Services and Iron Mountain Media and Archive Services will present on the discovery, preservation and digitization of 600 bound scripts created for Jack Warner’s personal collection. Dated between the 1920s-1970s, noteworthy scripts include Don Juan, The Adventures of Robin Hood, My Fair Lady, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and many others. The collection will be fully digitized and shared for the first time, creating a comprehensive representation of the book by digitizing not only the pages, spine, and front/back covers, but also by imaging vintage publicity stills from the features that are taped inside the books.

 11:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Diaspora Identities in Archival Home Movie Practice

Agata Zborowska, University of Chicago/KU Leuven

This presentation looks at vernacular moving image practices and related oral histories as sources for studying the transformation of the diaspora’s identity through a case study of the Not-So-Ordinary project on home movies and Polish Chicago. The research project is conducted by Agata Zborowska (University of Chicago/KU Leuven) in partnership with Chicago Film Archives.    In the presentation, I will discuss the preliminary results of the project that aims to contextualize films and videos through oral histories and explore the media’s potential to evoke memories and narrativize one’s experience. The presented case study is an example of how to analyze not only the movies’ content and aesthetics but also the practices related to their creation, viewing, sharing, and their role in the lives of individuals, families, and communities.

11:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Arkansas Voices: The Oral History Recordings of Dr. Johnye Strickland
Amanda McQueen, University of Arkansas at Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture

In 1973, Dr. Johnye Strickland founded the Oral History Program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. During her 52-year tenure at UALR, she and her students recorded hundreds of hours of interviews on open reel tapes, audio cassettes, and microcassettes. Thanks to a grant from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council, the UALR Center for Arkansas History and Culture has digitized these recordings, making the stories they contain accessible again. This presentation will introduce the Johnye Strickland Collection, describe the grant project, and highlight some unique oral histories, including interviews with Vietnamese refugees, conversations with women in Arkansas politics, folk histories of Petit Jean Mountain, and discussions of craft with Arkansas poets. Strickland’s recordings feature an array of Arkansan voices – from those newly arrived to those long established – and the stories they tell enrich our understanding of this often-overlooked state’s cultural and political history.

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Meeting: Education Committee

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Meeting: Publications Committee

 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Meeting: CAW Workshop Working Group

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
Lunchtime Screening: Queer Exhibition and VHS Preservation
Allison Farrell, University of Wisconsin — Milwaukee

Our screening, from the UWM Film Studies Collection’s Queer Media library, highlights three early films by Sadie Benning. Sadie’s work stands apart (including from their father, James Benning) in its DIY, punk rock, stream-of-consciousness storytelling. In this session, we will interrogate the difficulty of accessing their films through screening a VHS copy directly as a prelude to our VHS digitization project.  These works, filmed in Benning’s bedroom using available materials on a Fisher-Price PXL 2000, are prime examples of the resulting “Pixelvision” style for which they are known. In tandem with Pixelvision is the difficulty in deciphering the images onscreen and risk of loss while rerecording in another medium. While watching a good-quality VHS release of “A Place Called Lovely,” “It Wasn’t Love,” and “Girlpower,” we aim to demonstrate both the importance of preserving queer voices through media while emphasizing the value of using already existing media for exhibition.

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Meeting: LGBT Committee

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Meeting: News, Documentary, and Television Committee

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Meeting: Preservation Committee

 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Best Practices for Use of Generative AI in Archival Documentaries
Rachel Antell, Archival Producers Alliance
Stephanie Jenkins, Archival Producers Alliance
Jennifer Petrucelli, Archival Producers Alliance

Generative AI (GenAI) is flooding our world with a dizzying amount of synthetic media, and there is little guidance on how to responsibly navigate this new reality. The Archival Producers Alliance will present the Best Practices Guidelines we have developed for use of GenAI in documentary films. In this panel, we will explore the potential risks that GenAI presents to the Archive, to preservation, to the historical record, and to documentary film–as well as ways of mitigating these risks when using it. We will also discuss the methodology that went into developing the guidelines and how we see the Archival and Documentary spaces evolving in light of this powerful new technology.

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Preparing Streaming Media for Accessibility: Three Organizations Share Their Efforts
Rachael Stoeltje, Indiana University Libraries
Jon Dunn, Indiana University Libraries
Heather Heckman, University of South Carolina Libraries
Crystal Sanchez, Smithsonian Institution
Walter Forsberg, Smithsonian Institution

Given the April 2024 updated Rule on the Accessibility of Web Content and Mobile Apps Provided by State and  Local Governments, many organizations are working on plans to make their digitized archival audio-visual material accessible to all. With the vast quantity of streaming media available currently across our organizations, this panel will present the issues, the efforts that are  beginning now and the challenges that will be faced. This will serve to introduce this topic to the AMIA community and to promote discussion within our field.

2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
No Reel Left Untouched – A Case Study of 150,000 Reels
Mark Smirnoff, Prasad Corp
Geetha Sanumathy, Prasad Corp

The National Film Archive of India (NFIA), the largest archive in India, is in the midst of a project to preserve almost 150,000 reels of film in its collection and to physically restore almost 60,000 of those reels. This case study looks at the workflows and processes, as well as new management structures created. The project is ongoing, with lessons still to be learned.

2:30 PM – 3:00 PM
Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology
Sydney Perkins, myself

The domain of digital audiovisual preservation has been largely confined to grandfathered production technology. While signal processing has continued to improve in adjacent disciplines, we lag behind and stubbornly soldier onward using old technology and techniques. I’m proposing a workflow for visual restoration on image scans of optical tracks as a superior alternative to conventional sound readers and audio software. I’ll show how this workflow enables results of higher fidelity, and I’ll go in to detail about its archival and ethical merits. The process only uses image scans of optical tracks along with free and low cost software with a wide user base; therefore, I consider it “lateral thinking with withered technology,” in the words of game designer Gunpei Yokoi, whose 16mm FMV games will be the first subject of the case study portion. We defy you to guess the second subject, and heartily ask you to divulge it afterward.

3:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Coffee & Tea Break

Take a break and grab a cup of coffee or tea. Thanks to our friends at PRO-TEK Vaults!

3:15 PM – 4:15 PM
Filipino American Historical Society of Chicago
Ashley Dequilla, Filipino American Historical Society of Chicago
Rebecca Hall, Chicago Film Society
Camille Townson, South Side Home Movie Project

The Filipino American Historical Society of Chicago: Autonomous Archiving is an invitation to experience the historical documentary-style 16mm home movies created by union pipefitter Nicholas Viernes (1902-199) and learn about the work done to conserve these films. As part ofIn this session, we will present  three of the earliest films from among the 300 home movies in the FAHSC collection: “Little Farmers of Reynoldsburg” parts 1 and 2 (1936 and 1937), which highlights portrait shots of an interracial family and their farm animals in rural Ohio; and “All-Stars” (1939), featuring an interstate Filipino migrant baseball tournament at Grant Park near the Field Museum of Natural History. The families and migrant communities showcased in these home movies document bold moments of joy and prosperity within a rapidly diversifying social landscape of the early 20th Century. Presented by Ashley Dequilla, FASHC archivist and collection manager, and Rebecca Hall, Chicago Film Society co-founder and projectionist.

3:15 PM – 4:15 PM
YouTube Do’s and Don’ts: Create, Manage, Monetize, Share
Elizabeth A Hansen, Texas Archive of the Moving Image
Mitch Peyser, PressPlay2Entertain
Skip Elsheimer, A/V Geeks
Todd Wiener, UCLA Film & Television Archive

YouTube continues to be the second most visited website, the second most popular social media channel, and the second most popular search engine. It is accessed by 47% of the online population at least once a month. And although a Google search may bring users to your website, you may never reach those natively searching YouTube. A holistic access plan should include a YouTube strategy. In this session, Mitch Peyser, President of PressPlay2Entertain, Elizabeth Hansen, Managing Director of the Texas Archive of the Moving Image, and Skip Elsheimer, Founder of A/V Geeks, explore the do’s and don’ts, (and pros and cons) of creating and managing a YouTube channel with examples from their respective organizations as well data from the UCLA Film & Television Archive. We will cover creating and launching a channel, aligning that channel with your objectives, and practical tips on SEO and monetization. We’ll also discuss the risks, what can go wrong, and how to avoid missteps. Attendees are encouraged to bring their questions and experiences to the session.

3:15 PM – 4:15 PM
Roundtable: Accompanying Documentation: What to Do With Paperwork Found in Film Cans
Courtney Holschuh, The Library of Congress

What does your institution do with paperwork found in film cans? Trash it? Scan it? File it? Leave it in the can? This discussion will about what types of paperwork are typically found in cans, what is potentially important to keep, and how your institution handles paperwork.

3:15 PM – 3:45 PM
Serious Business: 1970s Feminist Film Distribution; A Site for Archival Knowledge
Amy Reid, The University of California, Santa Cruz

“Serious Business: 1970s Feminist Film Distribution; A Site for Archival Knowledge ” presents the diasporic journey of a now non-existent distribution company’s collection of films. Working with catalogs, ephemera, letter correspondences, oral history work, and home archives from Freude’s son, this presentation shows ways to build an alternative understanding of experimental and feminist film culture in the long 1970s when films were no longer accessible.

3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
The Preservation of Digital Live Performance Art
Jenny Hsu

This research project focuses on the preservation of Digital Live Performance Art (DLPA). Technological advancements have significantly transformed the performance landscape, enabling artists to engage with digital technology in real time during live shows. The origins of tech-centered audiovisual performances can be traced back to dance, theatre, expanded cinema, audio and video synthesis, and live programming.  With the advent of new equipment, software, platforms, projection techniques, various coding environments, and visual programming languages, DLPA has developed into a unique form of artistic expression, no longer merely a supplementary component of musical or theatrical performances. DLPA blends performance art with digital (and analog) technology and human-computer interaction.  This research explores two categories: live-coding and mixed-media performances through the lens of museum conservation. By identifying conservation challenges such as documentation, technology obsolescence, and performance delegation, the research aims to develop a documentation resource to aid individual artists and institutions in preserving DLPA.

4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Introducing Moving Image Archives into Media Studies
Jason Evans Groth, North Carolina State University Libraries
Josh Thorud, University of Virginia

This session explores the integration of archival media into media production and digital storytelling education. By leveraging archival footage, students can create compelling narratives that connect historical content with contemporary perspectives. The session will provide practical strategies and case studies from media literacy and production classes, highlighting how archival media can enhance learning and foster creativity. The two case studies will come from two university libraries working with Media Studies courses, with different archival content, leading to a broader discussion of best practices and strategies for incorporating and potentially exhibiting student projects using moving image archives. The session will include access to example assignment prompts and files for reuse in many educational contexts.

4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Whisper AI Transcription, Human Implementation
Nina Rao, Emory University
Simon O’Riordan, Emory University
Owen King, GBH Archives
Emily Lynema, Indiana University

Since the 2022 debut of Whisper, OpenAI’s automatic speech recognition software, an ecosystem of complementary tools and modifications has evolved, now offering organizations stewarding AV materials unprecedented opportunities to leverage this tool to increase the accessibility and discoverability of their digital collections. In this session, panelists from Emory, GBH, and Indiana will discuss their experiences and research implementing Whisper into their media management and preservation workflows, discussing Whisper’s performance across varied AV collections as well as the human impacts of working with Whisper.  These insights from three organizations with varied scopes of collections and distinct but connected avenues of research may be helpful to a variety of organizations engaged in similar work or interested in starting up such a project. Attendees will gain insight into the strengths and weaknesses of leveraging Whisper, the challenges and opportunities presented by the technology, and practical guidance on implementing or expanding AV accessibility-related projects.

4:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Cinema Slides: The Greatest Images Never Seen
Robert Byrne, San Francisco Silent Film Festival

Projected glass “lantern” slides were part of the cinema-going experience from the very beginning. Slides were used for advertising products, instructing, informing (or scolding) audiences, and spectacularly advertising the delights of upcoming shows. Not only visually stunning, these slides provide unique insight into audience behavior and expectations, as well as advertising and promotional strategies. Many archives and museums hold cinema slides that have been passively collected, but that generally reside on the fringes of the institution’s collection. In his richly illustrated presentation, Rob discusses the history of glass projection slides within the cinema, placing them in both a historic and aesthetic context, as well as the archival challenges and opportunities presented by these fragile objects that many institutions hold in their collections.  The presentation will include the opportunity to view and handle original slide artifacts and coincides with the launch of the online Cinema Slide Archive.

5:00 PM – 5:30 PM
From Busby Berkeley to Frank Zappa: the Treasure Trove of Philip Jenkinson
Rosie Rowan Taylor, British Film Institute

Private film collectors now arguably represent the last frontier of film preservation. Many key film titles still missing or even yet to be discovered, may well be hiding in private hands. The private film collection of British broadcaster and journalist Philip Jenkinson is testament to this. He was embedded in, and well known throughout the British film collecting community, which included Kevin Brownlow (film historian), and Ronald Grant (founder of the London Cinema Museum), and with Key American connections such as David Bradley (American writer, actor, director, and university instructor). He edited early films for some of Britain’s most important filmmakers, including Ken Russell, one or two of which made it into his collection.  Rosie Taylor has worked with this complex and fascinating collection, now preserved in the BFI National Archive, finding important connections and hidden gems, and discovering the important role private collectors play in film preservation.

5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
In Plain Sight! Women Directors: Restoration Case Studies
Kirsten Larvick, Women’s Film Preservation Fund/IndieCollect
Sandra Schulberg, IndieCollect
Eva Yuma, IndieCollect

Since 2016, IndieCollect has digitally restored more than 80 films — half of them by women directors. Kirsten Larvick (Women’s Film Preservation Fund), Sandra Schulberg (restoration producer), and Eva Yuma (restoration colorist) focus on the 4K restoration of A Question of Color by Kathe Sandler, whose negative had to be pieced together with help from the Black Film Center & Archive. How IndieCollect works with archive and distribution collaborators is part of the story, as well as our approach to programming restored films by women in theaters and other venues. We’ll also report on launch of 20-title “American Independents” film series & restoration summit from Dec 6-12 at Laemmle’s Monica Film Center to mark 10th year of our #SaveIndieFilm campaign and educate various publics about the demise of works on celluloid.

7:00 PM – 9:30 PM – UWM Student Theatre
Surprise Restoration Screening!

On Wednesday evening, AMIA hosts a surprise Restoration Screening and a flashback to the music of the 1980s.

7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Trivia Night 2024
Trivia Master: Colleen Simpson, Prasad Corp

Test your skills, win prizes, and dethrone the reigning AMIA Trivia Champs! Do you know the name of the brewery where Laverne & Shirley worked? Or what the state lullaby of Montana is? If not, maybe one of your teammates does.  Play as a team or show up and we’ll assign one for you.  Eight rounds – and prizes for Best Team Name, Best Team Cheer, and, of course, the champion team!

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Coffee & Tea Break

Start the morning with a cup of coffee or tea in the Pavilion. Thanks to our friends at DigiPres Labs!

9:00 AM – 5:30 PM
The Pavilion

Don’t miss an opportunity to visit the Pavilion! The Pavilion brings together exhibitors with demos, skill shares, and specialist spaces. Our goal is to create a hub for sharing information at the conference.

9:30 AM – 10:30 AM
Looming Analog Sunset: Ensuring Long-Term Preservation of Your Organization’s Past
Carin Forman, AWS
Andrea Kalas, Paramount Pictures
Linda Tadic, Digital Bedrock
Heidi Shakespeare, Memnon Archiving Services

We are at a specific time in archival history when technology to digitize and create discoverability over these materials is at a mature place where scripts, video, and film can be searched for reuse, historical preservation, story telling and monetization. We are also at a moment when the playback machines of historical audio tape and video tape are getting more and more scarce, along with the engineering expertise to run them. This session, comprised of four leaders who have worked in a number of different capacities and organizations in the fields of archiving, digital and physical storage, media supply chains, and preservation, share their insights as to why this is the moment to digitize your archive. They will discuss how the perfect storm of playback machine obsolescence and degrading assets also presents the perfect opportunity to realize legitimate value from archival media content.

9:30 AM – 10:30 AM
Human-centered AI-assisted Video Cataloging
Raananah Sarid-Segal, WGBH
Owen King, WGBH
Miranda Villesvik, WGBH
Caroline Mango, WGBH

This panel will present a human-centered approach to AI-assisted cataloging.  Panelists from GBH Archives, working on the American Archive of Public Broadcasting, will describe the development, implementation, testing, and use of AI-based media analysis tools within workflows for item-level cataloging digital videos.  Panelists include cataloging, digital ingest, and metadata operations staff who have been involved in the creation and use of AI-based cataloging tools. We will discuss the CLAMS (Computational Linguistics Applications for Multimedia Services) suite of open source AI tools, post-processing CLAMS output for use in cataloging, questions we sought to answer regarding cataloging ease and efficiency, and the results of our experiments with tool integration. We will explain how our approach and roadmap differs from initiatives seeking to make cataloging fully automatic.

9:30 AM – 10:30 AM
Building Professional Mentorship in the Field
Ashley Franks-McGill, Duplitech
C Diaz, ENTRE Film Center

We believe that the mentor/mentee relationship is mutually enriching and that mentorship – formal or informal – is critical to an inclusive profession. You can be a mentor at any stage in your career. Over the past few years AMIA has worked to expand mentorship within the community, both through the Pathways Fellowship and our Mentorship pilot program. How do we inspire new mentors and mentor advisors, and what resources do they need in order to feel capable and confident in this new role. How can we expand mentorshp – formally and informally – throughout AMIA and the field. Panelists, including advisors, mentors, and mentees from the program, will lead a discussion about what’s next. Led by Ashley Franks-McGill and C Diaz, AMIA’s Mentorship Coordinators.

9:30 AM – 10:00 AM
Essential Yet Challenged: Decentralized Model of Film Preservation in China
Yizhou Wei, Film Archive Studies Center, Xiamen University

Unlike in the United States, China’s film preservation efforts have long exhibited a centralized model. As a continuation of cultural control from the planned economy era, film preservation in China has been monopolized by a single institution, with minimal involvement from the private sector and academia. However, with the dissolution of the planned economy, the advancement of digital technology, the rise of private film collections, and the influence of educational film archive concepts from Taiwan, new forces are gradually emerging that may challenge this centralized model. This presentation aims to review and analyze the current state of film preservation in China, outlining the unique value and significance of a decentralized model in the contemporary Chinese context.

10:00 AM – 10:30 AM
Preserving Community Memory in the Balkans Project Report
Siobhan Hagan, Smithsonian
Kelli Hix, BAVC Media

In this presentation, archivists will report on the AMIA fiscally sponsored project, Preserving Community Memory in the Balkans. The project is a collaboration between archivists, artists, and cultural workers in Serbia and the United States to develop preservation initiatives and foster regional preservation networks. The region is rich in culture and history, yet there is little infrastructure or funding to collect or preserve the abandoned and community-held archival collections that exist in former factories, homes, and private collections. To address this challenge, independent, volunteer-led organizations are taking the lead. The speakers will discuss the work of SKVER, a regional archive in eastern Serbia; the evolution of Timok Digital, SKVER’s regional annual education and training workshop; the development of Serbia’s first Memory Lab; the Serbian translation of the Community Archiving Workshop’s “La Lotería Audiovisual”; and the work of Rainbow Ignite, an organization collecting and safeguarding documentation of LGBTQ+ history in Serbia.

 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Developing a National Network of Magnetic Media Preservation Training Sites
Kelli Hix, BAVC Media
C Diaz, ENTRE Film Center
Zachary Rutland, Skid Row History Museum and Archive
Henry Apodaca, Skid Row History Museum and Archive
Tim Lake, BAVC Media
Azad Namazie, UCLA Library Special Collections

In 2019, BAVC Media began a project to provide equipment and community-centered, peer-to-peer driven training in magnetic media preservation to Host Site Partner Organizations and their communities around the United States. Five years later, over 13 Host Sites in California, New York, Missouri, Oklahoma, Hawai’i, Texas, and Maryland have participated, and approximately 45 community members have been trained. The program (supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities) offers a model for preservation training that bridges gaps between cultural workers and technicians, and offers a pathway for rigorous training outside of academic programs, internships, and apprenticeships. In this panel, BAVC Media and representatives from Host Site Partner Organizations, ENTRE Film Center and Skid Row History Museum and Archive, share the challenges, outcomes, and lessons learned from five years of the program. We encourage a lively discussion of how other organizations and individuals approach technical training in preservation.

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Archiving Television: A Preview
Owen Gottlieb, Rochester Institute of Technology
Ruta Abolins, University of Georgia/Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection
Hugo Ljungbäck, University of Chicago
Eric Hoyt, Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research

The Archiving Television panel brings together a selection of the authors from the forthcoming anthology, currently in production (University of Georgia Press, Spring 2025). The authors will provide a cross-section of the volume, which provides new interventions, shedding light on contemporary understandings and practices of the archiving of televisual material. Cases on the panel drawn from subject areas including instructional (classroom) television, reviving from within collections, campus television, and the formation of the remarkably complete Peabody awards archives. “Archiving Television critically engages and evaluates the archives and archival processes that collect, order, and preserve elements of television as historically, culturally, socially, politically, and economically significant material. The overarching intent of this anthology is to interrogate where television as historical material “lives.” To do so, we bring together scholarship by academics, archivists, and practitioners to reflect on the processes and places that confer television with historical value.” -Lauren Bratslavsky, Introduction.

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Lessons Learned from the Public Broadcasting Preservation Fellowship
Rebecca Fraimow, GBH Archives
Aida Garrido
Jackie Jay, Farallon Archival Consulting
Michelle Moriarity Witt, North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
David Sohl, Media Burn Archive

In 2018, the American Archive of Public Broadcasting launched the Public Broadcasting Preservation Fellowship, designed to provide students at archives and information science graduate programs with the opportunity to learn about audiovisual materials by digitizing at-risk tapes from public broadcasting institutions. The program was revived for a new round of Fellowships in 2022, but the long impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and changes in the digital preservation landscape provided additional challenges for the Fellowship model as originally designed.

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Roundtable: GenAI and Archives: Understanding the Implications
Rachel Antell, Archival Producers Alliance
Stephanie Jenkins, Archival Producers Alliance
Jennifer Petrucelli, Archival Producers Alliance

Having published a set of best practices guidelines for the use of generative AI in documentaries, the APA is looking to join with archives in a discussion of the risks and benefits of engaging with genAI. This roundtable will be a space to share experiences, insights & questions; and to potentially lay the groundwork to create guidelines for archives in navigating this new landscape.

11:00 AM – 11:30 AM
AV Processing Strategies: the Holder and de Lavallade Papers
Anicka Austin, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library

The Geoffrey Holder and Carmen de Lavallade papers at Emory University’s Rose Library is a 307 linear feet collection showcasing the artistic legacies of two Black pioneers in dance, choreography, visual arts, and theater. Media material in the collection covers a significant array of performances, rehearsals, and artistic research that spans across VHS tapes, film reels, CDs, and Betacam tapes totaling 1957 items across 46 boxes. This presentation will discuss strategies, lessons learned, and successes in managing this media-rich collection amid COVID-19 challenges, detailing AV inventory creation and effective arrangement and description strategies. It will also discuss the ways Rose Library’s leadership and existing policies and procedures supported the process and how this collection highlighted areas of improvement in our documentation practices.  Attendees will gain insights into managing large-scale AV projects and promoting inclusive archival practices, both vital for preserving the cultural heritage of performing artists.

11:30 AM – 12:00 PM
A Nonprofit Archive Primer: Show and Tell with Deserted Films
Devin Orgeron, Deserted Films
Melissa Dollman, Deserted Films

DIY Palm Springs home movie archive Deserted Films will lead an informal chat (the telling part). From the challenges of starting a 501c3, to fundraising, awareness raising, event and website curation, physical storage, file storage, etc. Deserted Films hopes to demystify the process for the uninitiated (it’s not always pretty and it’s not always what you learned in school!).  The “showing” part is where it gets fun. Melissa and Devin have pulled some gems from their collections. Marvel to shots of the magnificent Palm Springs aerial tramway; enjoy Palm Canyon from the 40s through the 80s; take a dip in the pool; relish the beauty of architectural treasures; say hello to the stars and party with the locals. Our goal is share what’s unique about Palm Springs while also inspiring folks to consider how a small, regional archive might fit into the landscape of their own region.

12:00 PM – 12:00 AM
Poster Session

• The 8-Files: Investigating the Mysteries of 8mm Video Transfers
  Brianna Toth, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives
  Siobhan Hagan, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives
• Broadcasting Baltimore: Digitizing and Describing Hidden Histories
  Joana Stillwell, Mid-Atlantic Regional Moving Image Archive (MARMIA)
• Audiovisual Archiving and Preservation at the University of Houston
  Johana Canales, University of Alabama
• Godard’s History of Cinema: AI Transcription Protocols
  Nicholas Avedisian-Cohen, Concordia University – Visual Collections Repository
• Responsibly Stewarding for Others: Preserving Armenian Culture
  Linda Smith, New York University
• Back to the Future: Past-Proofing NPR’s Production Data Workflows
  Ashley Blewer, NPR
  Susie Cummings, NPR

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Meeting: Open Source Committee

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Meeting: Disaster Preparedness/Recovery

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Meeting: Oral History Committee

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
Lunchtime Screening: Staff Picks from the Prelinger Archives
Adrianne Finelli, Prelinger Archives
Kate Dollenmayer, Prelinger Archives
Kristin Lipska, Prelinger Archives
Jennifer Miko, Prelinger Archives
Emily Chao, Prelinger Archives
Megan Needels, Prelinger Archives

Prelinger Archives is in the final year of a three-year grant for mass-digitization of its film collection funded by Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web. Since the start of the project, Prelinger Archives staff have scanned over 2.5 million feet of film and uploaded over 1500 items, while collectively developing practices of inclusive and reparative description to allow multiple avenues into a vast trove of moving images. This curated screening session will highlight rarities and treasures within the collection that have inspired, delighted and bewildered staff. The speakers, all Prelinger Archives staff, will each share experiences from the project as footage is screened and will speak to working with a unique collection that contains a wide array of materials (outtakes, home movies, warped films).

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Meeting: Small Gauge/Amateur Film Committee

 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Meeting: Next Steps for the International Outreach Committee

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Who the F*ck is “Dr. Ted”: Archiving Lost Pornographic Films
Oscar Becher, Vinegar Syndrome
Lindsay Erin Miller, Vinegar Syndrome
Andi Emberley, Suny Purchase
Lucy Talbot Allen, New York University
Camila Garcia Cabrera, Jacob Burns Film Center

Looking beyond known, seminal works such as DEEP THROAT and DEBBIE DOES DALLAS, this panel aims to delve into the complexities of preserving low-budget independent works made at the height of the sexual revolution produced for the purposes of exploring sexuality and sensuality. The expansive collection of Dr. Ted, also known as the Exodus Trust, the MultiMedia Resource Center (MMRC) and the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, has passed through many archivists hands. This panel showcases the work of archive professionals who have worked on this collection through sharing their insights into the conservation and access issues related to preserving sex-film works

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
A Collaborative Effort: Born Digital Video Preservation Strategies at LC
Morgan Oscar Morel, Library of Congress
Laura Drake Davis, Library of Congress
Charles Hosale, Library of Congress
Marcus A. Napier, Library of Congress

This session will discuss approaches taken by different areas at the Library of Congress for the receipt of, processing, and providing access to born-digital content. Opportunities for interacting with creators and donors, establishing suggested guidelines, developing new workflows, and the need for additional flexibilities will be discussed. Is the democratization of technology to create high-quality moving image content helping or hindering collecting efforts? How does the moving image archive profession navigate this format-rich environment to ensure long-term preservation? Speakers from the Library of Congress will highlight: processing considerations for moving image collections at the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center (NAVCC); collaboration and workflows for providing limited access to commercially-available content; and the American Folklife Center’s (AFC) Fieldwork File Format Recommendations. Presentations will include impact of collaborations, variety of file formats received, lessons learned, and strategies moving forward

2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Peliculas Caseras: Fostering Archival Autonomy and Empowerment Among Latine Communities
Yesenia Perez, UCLA Film & Television Archive
Marísa Hicks-Alcaraz, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

This session will identify how affect theory and a relational paradigm can be implemented through an intersectional lens as an epistemological framework to engage Latine communities in Southern California and the Midwest with moving image archiving. Examining current outreach efforts, we will explore various methods through which relationality can be centered within preservation work and programming, particularly through two projects centering peliculas caseras: the Home Movie Remezcla project and Home Movie Day Events. Ultimately, we will propose approaches to outreach that not only engender collective memory, but facilitate direct actions leading to the redistribution of power and resources to Latine communities who will subsequently be able to lead preservation projects without institutional intervention.

2:30 PM – 3:00 PM
Digitizing, Documenting, and Working with All Your Dance Stuff
Jenai Cutcher, New York Public Library
Stephanie Neel, Mark Morris Dance Group

Archival materials are increasingly being perceived for what they are: tools for inclusion, education, accessibility, and social justice. However, collecting and maintaining archives falls outside the current capacity of most performing arts organizations and individuals. Available means for documenting performance are degrading and in danger of being lost. Most performing artists are concerned with providing access to their works for future generations, but the migration process and both using and maintaining digitization equipment is complex and not financially sustainable.    Currently, individuals and small- to mid-sized companies have no option but to address these problems independently. Dance documentarians Jenai Cutcher and Stephanie Neel are forming the Creative Archives Group to centralize and consolidate resources, technologies, and services through a community-based digital archiving hub. This hub will bridge connections between AV archivists and performing arts groups to create high-quality materials and empower artists to actively create, maintain, and engage with their archives.

3:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Coffee & Tea Break

Take a break and grab a cup of coffee or tea. Thanks to our friends at Iron Mountain Archives & Media Services!

3:15 PM – 4:15 PM
Archival Visibility: Preservation, Access, and Education with Milwaukee LGBTQ+ Collections
Shiraz Bhathena, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Ann Hanlon, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries
Abigail Nye, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archives is known for its commitment to documenting marginalized communities and provides access to the one of the largest LGBTQ+ history collections in the Midwest. Many of these collections are audiovisual, including episodes and raw footage from Public Access television shows, oral histories in audio and video form, and radio shows from the 1970s.       But after these collections are preserved, how can a learning institution ensure that they are being utilized to their fullest capabilities, both online and in the classroom? Panelists will present an overview of selections from our LGBTQ+ AV collections. We will discuss how tools such as OHMS, IIIF, and speech-to-text tools have helped in facilitating access for patrons on a world-access level. Finally, panelists will demonstrate different ways that the archives’ LGBTQ+ audiovisual collections have been used in instruction, highlighting the unique affordances of audiovisual materials in a classroom context.

3:15 PM – 4:15 PM
Eames in the Castle: Preserving Films Made for the Smithsonian
Walter Forsberg, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives
Amy Gallick, Library of Congress – NAVCC

Film preservation case study and historical background presentation detailing films produced by Ray and Charles Eames for the Smithsonian Institution, held and collaboratively preserved by the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian.

3:15 PM – 4:15 PM
“Degralescence” 10 Years Later: Community Solutions to a Mounting Predicament
Brianna Toth, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives
Dan Hockstein, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives
Ashley Blewer, NPR
Libby Hopfauf, Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound/Seattle Municipal Archives
Nicole Martin, Open Archive
Susie Cummings,NPR
Andrew Weaver, University of Washington

Over the years many individuals and institutions have speculated on how much time is left before it’s “too late” to save our cultural heritage recorded on magnetic media that is not yet digitized. The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia predicts magnetic media will be unsalvageable after 2025! Over the past 5 years magnetic media’s progressive degradation has required modified conservation treatments that are more intensive for tapes to be successfully transferred. Examples of this include needing to bake tapes longer at higher temperatures or multiple times and that the removal of contaminants is becoming more difficult. However, instead of discussing “degralescence” as the impending doom of our profession, we want to come to terms with the reality that it may have arrived, but there is still action that can be taken — if we collaborate and think of this as a “human problem” with human solutions. To do this, this forum seeks to re-establish conversations and community building that were a part of AMIA’s Magnetic Media Crisis Committee.

3:15 PM – 4:15 PM
AMIA Pathways Fellowship: Meet the 2024 Fellows

Autumn Armstrong, Pathways Fellow
Eve March, Pathways Fellow
Frances Cava-Humphrey, Pathways Fellow
Janeth Delgado, Pathways Fellow
Justin Martin, Pathways Fellow
Maryam Mustafa, Pathways Fellow
Mercer Zervopoulos, Pathways Fellow
Paula Roque-Rivera, Pathways Fellow

The AMIA Fellowship supports paid internships in combination with mentorship and professional development training to forge pathways in the audiovisual preservation field for people from groups historically underrepresented in the profession. The Fellowship welcomed the 2024 cohort in June and this is an opportunity to meet the Fellows and hear a bit about their internship experiences.

4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Preparing, Identifying, and Responding to the Archival Impacts Climate Change
Edward Benoit III, Louisiana State University, School of Information Studies
Jill Trepanier, Louisiana State University, Geography and Anthropology
Krista Hollis, LEED Green Associate

More than before, archives must assess their unique climate change-related threats to their collections and missions as part of their overall disaster and emergency management plans. This forum will discuss the different climate change threats impacting archives, the IMLS-funded PROTECCT-GLAM national categorical risk assessment scale utilizing a GIS analysis of climate models, and best practices for sustainability and greening the archives. The forum will conclude with an open discussion of climate change action priorities for the archival community.

4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
DAR to be Different: Demystifying Aspect Ratio and Forming a Community Consensus
Morgan Oscar Morel, Library of Congress
Dave Rice, CUNY TV

Out of the many technical details encountered in the preservation of analog video materials, the nuances of aspect ratio are among the most confusing. Available explanations of terms like Display Aspect Ratio, Pixel Aspect Ratio and Storage Aspect Ratio often confuse more than they elucidate. This presentation will attempt to clearly and succinctly explain and simplify these concepts, and discuss their impact for AV preservation and archiving. Additionally, the session will include the opportunity for a community discussion meant to work towards a consensus of how our field will handle the incongruencies surrounding this topic.

4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Homicide: Life on the Street – A Remaster Case Study
Cassandra Moore, NBCUniversal
Chase Schulte, NBCUniversal
Casey Keltner, NBCUniversal StudioPost

Homicide: Life on the Street ran for 7 seasons between 1993 and 1999. Its all-star cast included breakout star Andre Braugher, and it garnered critical acclaim, including Peabody and Emmy Awards, and was listed as one of TIME magazine’s “Best TV Shows of All-TIME.” The 4K Remastering process encountered a myriad of challenges including: locating picture and audio assets that had undergone multiple ownership transitions and questionable cataloging practices; recreating the final edit from over 600 boxes of uncut negatives; and navigating music licensing for streaming distribution. Members of NBCUniversal’s Mastering & Archive team and NBCUniversal StudioPost will discuss how they overcame these obstacles to get the series ready for streaming distribution.

4:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Establishing a Community Digitization Program for AV Materials
Callie Holmes, UGA Walter J. Brown Media Archives
Thomas May, UGA Walter J. Brown Media Archives

In April of 2024, UGA’s Walter J. Brown Media Archives held our first “Free the Tapes” community digitization event, where we invited members of the public to drop off up to 5 audiovisual items to be digitized by BMA staff, free of charge, with no donation to the archives required. The program culminated with a Home Movie Day style screening of clips that were digitized as part of Free the Tapes. We will discuss logistics, including working with our UGA Libraries colleagues who specialize in public programming and community outreach, and how we advocated within our organization to get the event approved (including by UGA’s legal counsel). We will also discuss how we adapted when we received about 5x as many items as we had anticipated and how we used Airtable to track digitization and manage all patron communication.  We will go in depth into “lessons learned,” including how we adapted our program for our Fall 2024 Free the Tapes event. Ultimately, our Free the Tapes event was a success, both in terms of public feedback and internally with staff, and this program will be valuable to anyone considering something similar in their community.

5:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Saving the Unsalvageable: An Unusual Preservation Approach for BW Reversal Film
Dino Everett, USC HMH Foundation Moving Image Archive
Isabella Scaffidi, American Cinematheque

This panel looks at an unusual and novel technique for saving the most damaged and brittle film reels This is not for making fancy looking marquee restorations so much as for last ditch efforts of saving footage that is so historically important that any evidence remains valuable, even it is visually flawed.

5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Grab a drink in the Pavilion!

Before you head out to explore Milwaukee, grab a drink with the Pavilion exhibitors.  Check your registration envelope for a drink ticket.

7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Made in Milwaukee: Recent Experimental Films from the City
Hugo Ljungbäck, University of Chicago
Lori Felker, DePaul University
Ben Balcom, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Britany Gunderson

For over five decades, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Department of Film, Video, Animation, and New Genres has fostered a significant community of experimental filmmakers, who flock to the school for its focus on artist-driven practice. As one of the few schools that still requires students to gain experience working with 16mm film production, Milwaukee has become well-known in avant-garde film circles for its experimental film scene, and the city is now home to an abundance of institutions, programs, festivals, and itinerant spaces that focus on experimental film. In celebration of Milwaukee’s vibrant experimental film community, this screening session will present a survey of recent experimental 16mm films from Milwaukee, highlighting how analog filmmaking is being reinvented by contemporary filmmakers, who make specific use of the medium’s unique affordances and limitations. This session is sponsored by the Small Gauge and Amateur Film Committee.

8:15 PM – 9:15 PM
Screening of Queer Short Films by AMIA LGBT Committee
Kristen Muenz, The Wexner Center for the Arts

Take a break from a long day of conference-going with a micro-film festival hosted by AMIA’s LGBT Committee! We’ll be celebrating queer cinema by screening a handful of the committee’s personal favorite short films spanning genres, geographical locations, and the infinite richness and vibrancy of the queer community. (A full film program will be available at the door, complete with descriptions, backgrounds, and any content warnings.)

8:15 AM – 9:45 AM
Coffee & Tea Break

Start the morning and get ready for the keynote with a cup of coffee or tea. Thanks to our friends at Iron Mountain Archives & Media Services!

 8:30 AM – 9:15 AM
Closing Keynote: DAM in GLAM: A Vision for the Future
Chris Lacinak, AVP

Join us for this keynote presentation by Chris Lacinak, placing a spotlight on AMIA’s 2025 Digital Asset Symposium, where he’ll explore the critical intersection of Digital Asset Management (DAM) within Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums (GLAM). Chris brings a perspective based on his extensive experience working at the intersection of archives and DAM, serving in his roles as:  Founder and CEO of AVP;  Consultant;  NYU MIAP Adjunct Professor; AMIA Board Member; DAS Conference Chair; Contributor to standards and best practices; Creator of the “DAM Right” podcast. This diversity has positioned him as both an insider and outsider, a practitioner and an entrepreneur, straddling the realms of archives, DAM, cultural heritage, and corporations. This vantage point has afforded him unique insights into the evolving relationship between archival and DAM practices, operations, and technologies. In this thought-provoking presentation, Chris will share what he has learned along the way and offer a vision for what lies ahead, consisting of both high level forecasts and pragmatic guidance.

9:00 AM – 2:00 PM
The Pavilion

Don’t miss an opportunity to visit the Pavilion! The Pavilion brings together exhibitors with demos, skill shares, and specialist spaces. Our goal is to create a hub for sharing information at the conference.

9:45 AM – 10:45 AM
Elevating Autistic Voices Through Neuro-Affirming Practices in Audiovisual Archives
Casey Davis, Autistic Voices Oral History Project
Sam Fleishman, Autistic Voices Oral History Project

This session will delve into the Autistic Voices Oral History Project (tAVOHP), an initiative challenging neuro-normative assumptions within archives and oral history, shifting the field toward a neuro-affirming framework. Launched in 2023, tAVOHP addresses the underrepresentation of Autistic lived experiences in the historic record by documenting and preserving the stories of Autistic advocates. Participants will receive an  introduction to the neurodiversity paradigm, neuro-affirming frameworks, Autistic culture, and discuss the “double-empathy problem.” Emphasizing cross-neurotype communication as a core competency, this session aims to set a precedent for future memory work. Project staff will share Autistically-informed methodologies for conducting oral history, providing practical strategies for enhancing communication, creating inclusive spaces, building trust and understanding, and empowering Autistic narratives. Attendees will learn how to create supportive environments for Autistic patrons, donors, colleagues, and others, fostering a more inclusive and empathetic approach to archival practices. The session will also introduce the The Autistic Lived Experience: Community Curation and Memory Workers Fellowship funded by IMLS in partnership with AMIA and the Association for Autism and Neurodiversity (AANE). AMIA members are encouraged to apply for the fellowship, with the call for applications open through January 2025.

9:45 AM – 10:45 AM
Got Nitrate? Adventures Building a Nitrate Vault in 2024
Doug Sylvester, PRO-TEK Vaults
Tim Knapp, PRO-TEK Vaults

Nitrate film vaults are constructed very infrequently and taking on this challenge in 2024 is not for the faint of heart. The handling and storage of nitrate film requires exceptional levels of expertise, care, training, and safety precautions. Building a new nitrate film vault is, therefore, a complex endeavor.    PRO-TEK Vaults is one of the few certified providers of nitrate film restoration and preservation services in the U.S. and PRO-TEK’s team regularly provides guidance and services to presidential libraries, universities, museums, news organizations, corporations, and motion picture studios.    Over the last few years, industry colleagues discussed their desire for additional nitrate film storage in the greater Los Angeles area. In this session, Tim Knapp and Doug Sylvester from PRO-TEK will discuss the process they started in 2022 to scope, design, build, and operate a new nitrate film vault which will open in early 2025.

9:45 AM – 10:45 AM
Walls of the Classroom Disappear: Early Educational Television 16mm Films
Matthew Wilcox, Michigan State University Libraries
Emily Vinson, University of Houston Libraries

This session examines the 16mm film collections of KUHT (Houston, TX, first aired May 25, 1953) and WKAR (East Lansing, MI, first aired January 15, 1954), two of the earliest public educational TV stations in the U.S. We will explore the historical context behind their establishment following the FCC’s freeze on new broadcast licenses, highlighting their mission to provide educational and cultural programming. The session reviews their diverse content, from academic subjects to cultural programming, showcasing innovative educational broadcasting approaches. We will also discuss the technical choices between filmed productions and kinescope recordings and their implications for preservation. Finally, we will share strategies for digitizing these collections, including securing funding and overcoming obstacles to ensure these historical materials are accessible to modern audiences.

9:45 AM – 10:45 AM
Pathways Fellowship Alumni: Reports from the Field
Patricia Ledesma Villon, Walker Art Center, Pathways Alumni Coordinator

• Stashed and Forgotten
  SHAN Wallace
  Delving into my work as both an image-maker and an archivist, highlighting the intersection of these two practices. It also focuses on my contributions at MARMIA, where I digitize home movies and offer free digitization services to the community.
• My Experience Trying To Maximize the AMIA Pathways Fellowship Experience
  Adira Philyaw
  As a remote student in Florida State University’s Masters of Science in Information (MSI) program attending class from a small town during the Pandemic, opportunities to work in the Archives were limited before I discovered the AMIA Pathways Fellowship Program. Since becoming a Pathways Fellow, I have had the chance to work across academic, federal, and non-profit sectors thanks to AMIA’s Network and the doors it opened for me. Using these experiences, my presentation will focus on the skills I gained as a Pathways Fellow, how I leveraged those skills, and what I hope to accomplish career-wise in the future.
• Activating the Archive: Ramon Williams at the Bud Billiken Parade
  Rai Terry, South Side Home Movie Project
  Camille Townsend, South Side Home Movie Project
  From 1940-1960 Chicago’s South Side man with a camera, Ramon Williams, recorded the history of the Bud Billiken Parade, the largest Black parade in the world. This presentation will overview two aspects of activating this footage: how Ramon’s historic orphan 16mm films came to be in the South Side Home Movie Project’s archive, and how in partnership with the folks at Bud Billiken Parade, we were able to bring Ramon back down the route this year. From social media to the front page of the Chicago Reader, we’ll share the impact and lessons, joys and pains of re-activating this footage for the public.
• From Teaching to Studying: Aiming Outside of my Current Field
  Sherly Torres, New Urban Arts
  In the summer of 2022, I practiced AV archiving at the Rhode Island Historical Society as an AMIA Pathway fellow. I grew up in Puerto Rico and Providence, RI within the Latinx community studying artmaking and art education. Art conservation and museum studies is a career goal of mine and at the RIHS I learned many aspects of how the organization handles its audiovisual archives respectively under Becca Bender’s guidance, their main AV archivist at the time. I’m thankful to AMIA for this experience and training, especially before starting my path to earn a masters in art conservation.

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
A Decade of Preservation: Al Larvick Fund’s Home Movie Collaborations
Kirsten Larvick, Al Larvick Fund
Brian Belak, Al Larvick Fund
Jim Hubbard
Diana Little

The Al Larvick Conservation Fund granting organization celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2024. The Fund provides support for digitization and conservation of American home movies and amateur media, with a unique approach that extends to collection individuals and families. The Fund administers two annual grants: a National Grant for recipients across the country and a Regional Grant for Upper Midwestern states. Its mission goes beyond providing digitization, ensuring that the materials are actively utilized and celebrated through detailed Airtable cataloging, screening programs, and oral histories. These activities ensure that the personal media are made accessible and well-curated for future generations. The panel session will feature contributions from board members, vendors, and grant recipients, showcasing the organization’s transformative impact and its role in revitalizing personal and community histories, while also addressing its limitations.

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Archiving Film Culture: Collaborating to Increase Access and Outreach
Matt St. John, Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research
Mary Huelsbeck, Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research
Eric Hoyt, Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research
Olivia Babler, Chicago Film Archives

With the project “Expanding Film Culture’s Field of Vision,” the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research (WCFTR) is processing and sharing collections from individuals and institutions that helped push American film culture beyond the mainstream, across different regions and time periods. The project, funded by a National Historical Publications and Records Commission grant, includes four collections: Amos Vogel (Cinema 16 founder, New York Film Festival co-founder, Annenberg Center director of film), Chuck Kleinhans (Jump Cut co-founder/editor, Northwestern University professor, experimental filmmaker), Elfrieda Abbe (film critic, Angles: Women Working in Film and Video editor), and the Wisconsin Film Festival. Speakers from WCFTR and Chicago Film Archives will discuss collaborations between the two Midwestern archives and other film organizations that produced screenings, film scans, and digital exhibits for this project, increasing access to the rare avant-garde and independent films represented in these collections.

11:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Talk About Talkies
George Blood, George Blood Audio/Video/Film/Data

In the moving image preservation community there’s a lot of concern about and discussion of image quality, resolution, and formats. What about the sound?  As film scanners have improved over time, they have added features and functionality. A decade ago sound film was scanned in two passes – once on a telecine to capture the picture, then again on a sound reproducer – which then required assembling the two elements together in an editing program. Now most film scanners will scan both sound and picture in one pass. Is this a good thing? Have we compromised performance for this convenience and labor/cost savings? Recently George Blood Audio/Video/Film/Data was in the market for a new film scanner. At last year’s AMIA we presented on the factors impacting image capture, and showed the results from different models. This year we present our findings on the sound reproduction, both mag and optical, of three high end film scanners.

11:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Navigating AI Integration in Audiovisual Archives: Practice & Policy
Johan Oomen, Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision

This presentation explores research on integrating AI in various organisational contexts, with a focus on audiovisual archiving. AI’s potential is evident in search & exploration, preservation, artistic expression, and big-data analysis. Policies like the AI Act and Ethical Guidelines for Trustworthy AI shape strategies for responsible AI use. However, integrating AI in audiovisual domains poses challenges, such as choosing between off-the-shelf and bespoke solutions, aligning AI with legacy systems, considering public values in procurement, ensuring scalability and long-term viability, and fostering AI literacy. The audiovisual domain’s specificity necessitates developing good practices. The AI4Media Network of Excellence engaged media practitioners to capture their experiences. This presentation shares these insights, offering practical guidance on sustainable, responsible AI integration into workflows and formulating policies for AI technology selection and use.

11:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Exploring Experimental Machine Learning in Film Restoration
Fabio Bedoya, Filmworkz

In this session, we will explore the cutting-edge applications of machine learning in film restoration, addressing not only color recovery and frame replacement but also the intricate processes of colorization, source/gauge matching, and nitrate decay recovery. Through a series of detailed case studies, I will demonstrate how AI tools are revolutionizing the field, making advanced restoration techniques more accessible.  Drawing from a rich background in digital intermediates and a history of international collaboration, I will guide attendees through the ethical and practical considerations of integrating AI into film preservation workflows. The session is designed for those with an intermediate understanding of the field, but beginners will also find the discussions enlightening and informative.  Participants will leave with a deeper appreciation of the capabilities of machine learning in film restoration. We will delve into how these tools can be leveraged to overcome traditional challenges, ensuring the longevity and integrity of our cinematic heritage.

11:30 AM – 12:00 PM
The Future of LTO Technology in Digital Preservation
Linda Tadic, Digital Bedrock
Larry Blake, Swelltone

LTO data tape is used by archives as a stable solution for backing up digital files. The current generation, LTO-9, has also introduced some challenges when there are differences in the physical environment of the writing location vs. that of the reading location.    One of the noted features of the format since LTO-5, the LTFS open file system used for writing data to LTO tape, will no longer be supported by IBM past version 2.4.5 on PCs running Windows 10 or 11.   Additionally, there is a trend by LTO tape library and software manufacturers to ignore LTFS and incorporate object storage technologies into LTO tape libraries, resulting in data on tape being locked into proprietary systems.    This session will explain the implications of these changes in the LTO format as related to digital preservation, to help guide attendees’ future use of LTO data storage in their digital preservation planning.

12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Poster Session II

• Dr. Grace McFadden & The Quest for Civil Rights: A Look at South Carolina’s Civil Rights History
  Adira-Danique Philyaw, University of South Carolina’s Moving Image Research Collection/AMIA Pathways Fellow (2023)
• Mapping the magnetic Media Landscape – Updates on the National Survey from BAVC Media and NEH
  
  Kelli Hix, BAVC Media, Project Director, Mapping the Magnetic Media Landscape; Hands On Training in Analog Audiovisual Playback Equipment
  Kailen Sallander, BAVC Media, Research and Development Manager
  
• From Project to Permanent: Establishing WQED’s First Archives
  Molly Tighe, WQED Multimedia
• Alcoholism in Milwaukee: Remastering a WTMJ TV Newsreel
  James Pride, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
• Decentralized Web Storage – A Community Based Alternative
  Nicole Martin, Open Archive
• Stanley Kubrick’s First Three Films
  Michael Dawson, Cinedustrial
• Doing Time w/John Dillinger: The Only True Crime is Not Preserving Your Collection
  Brian Sargent, Fox Archives

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Meeting: Copyright Committee

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Meeting: Conference Committee

 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Transforming Audiovisual Archives with AI: Innovations, Challenges, and Ethical Considerations
Zack Ellis, TheirStory
Sandra Aguilar, USC Shoah Foundation
Doug Boyd, University of Kentucky Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History

Join us for an insightful discussion on the transformative impact of AI on audiovisual archiving. Traditional methods of transcription, indexing, and cataloguing have been laborious and costly, yet essential for enhancing the usability of collections. Over the past decade, AI has promised a revolution in these processes, though its effectiveness has been debated. Recent advancements, including OpenAI’s Whisper and ChatGPT, have significantly enhanced AI transcription accuracy and mainstreamed AI technologies. Concurrent developments in AI Named Entity Recognition (NER) further facilitate the automatic extraction of key entities. Organizations like the USC Shoah Foundation, University of Kentucky’s Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, and the TheirStory oral history platform have embraced these innovations, integrating them with tools. Join Sandra Aguilar (USC), Doug Boyd (University of Kentucky), and Zack Ellis (TheirStory) as they share their experiences, explore the benefits and challenges, and discuss the ethical considerations shaping the future of audiovisual archiving.

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Author, Author! An AMIA Publishing Roundtable
Devin Orgeron, Deserted Films
Melissa Dollman, Deserted Films
Liza Palmer, The Moving Image/Film Matters
Brian Real, University of Kentucky
Karen Gracy, Kent State University
Anthony Silvestri, Minnesota Press
Michael Marlatt, Archival Accessibility Consultant
Jimi Jones, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Peter B. Kaufman, MIT

AMIA members are among the leading professional and scholarly voices worldwide on issues surrounding the preservation, archiving, and restoration of film, video, and digital moving images. They write not only for AMIA’s journal, The Moving Image, but also author books and articles for a wide variety of publications.  This session offers a sneak peek at a few upcoming publications, with time for Q&A with the authors / editors. Have something you’re working on and want to figure out how to get it in the world?  Curious about publishing? Want to make folks aware of something you’ve just published?  Join us for a mostly informal chat. Let’s get our work out there!

2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Exploring 3D Printing for VCR and VTR Repair
Anthony Gonzalez, Independent

A decade into the magnetic media crisis, video’s obsolescence means that playback equipment is getting harder to maintain, making digital reformatting efforts more difficult. Expert knowledge of how to repair and maintain VCRs and VTRs is becoming rarer, and the supply of original parts is decreasing. Without access to industrial manufacturing processes, new parts can’t be made. Or can they? This presentation will explore 3D printing’s current and potential applications for repairing VCRs and VTRs and give an overview of the technologies and software involved in workflows for 3D Printing for Repair (3DPfR). The presenter will also discuss their own experiences with a 3DPfR project for a Sony SLV-740HF consumer VHS player, including their successes, failures and areas for future research. This presentation will cover how 3D printing can be used to repair legacy video equipment and the work that still needs to be done to reach this goal.

2:30 PM – 3:00 PM
DIY Video Lab : Crowdsourcing, Escaping Perfectionism, and Embracing Apprenticeship Models
Ari Negovschi Regalado, Texas Archive of the Moving Image

In this session, TAMI seeks to provide archivists with insight into how to implement a lab build-out at a fraction of the cost. In 2023, the organization was able to complete a digitization lab build-out for $4,700 by using tactics such as crowdsourcing donations through a successful “Equipment Round-Up” campaign on social media, purchasing consumer-grade equipment, and gleaning second-hand sales. In the spirit of knowledge-sharing, our presentation offers a down-to-earth approach that will reveal “imperfections” in our workflow and destigmatize affordable solutions to solve costly problems.     We’ll also cover the merits of an apprenticeship model, which has become integral to the lab’s daily operations. By de-centering the emphasis on advanced degrees to work in the moving image archiving field, we have increased our capacity while simultaneously breaking down barriers to entering this elusive field by encouraging those with no formal archival training or degrees to join Team TAMI.

3:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Coffee & Tea Break

Take a break and grab a cup of coffee or tea. Thanks to our friends at PRO-TEK Vaults!

3:15 PM – 4:15 PM
Supporting Federal AV Accessibility: New FADGI Guidelines and Software Updates
Charlie Hosale, Library of Congress – American Folklife Center
Crystal Sanchez, Smithsonian Institution
Chris Lacinak, AVP
Bertram Lyons, Medex

Since 2021 the Federal Agency Digital Guidelines Initiative (FADGI) Audio-Visual Working Group has maintained an active Accessibility Subgroup focused on documenting accessibility guidelines and processes for cultural heritage institutions and supporting accessibility features in AV archives tools. At this session FADGI and project partners will present lightning talks on the subgroup’s initiatives and related work. Improvements and feature enhancements to embARC, vrecord, BWF MetaEdit, and ffmpeg will be discussed, as will four recent FADGI publications: Definitions for Key Accessibility Features for Digital Audiovisual Collections Content, Software Accessibility for Open Source Digital Preservation Applications, Guidelines: Embedded Metadata in WebVTT Files, and The Current State of Accessibility Features for Audiovisual Collections Content in Five FADGI Institutions. The subgroup’s products assist archives and libraries to serve users who are blind, have low vision, are deaf or hard of hearing, prefer to read transcripts and subtitles, or prefer sign language.

3:15 PM – 4:15 PM
Hack Day Awards
Annie Schweikert, Stanford Libraries
Tim Lake, BAVC Media
David Rodriquez, Florida State University

Earlier in the week practitioners and managers of digital audiovisual collections joined with developers and engineers for an intense day of collaboration to develop and refine simple tools for digital audiovisual preservation and access.  Today we’ll review their work and hear the results of some of these collaborations.

3:15 PM – 3:45 PM
Large AI Models for Video Content Summarization
Kyeongmin Rim, Brandeis University
Kelley Lynch, Brandeis University

This presentation will introduce video content summarization (VCS) and its real-world applications. We’ll explore how artificial intelligence (AI), particularly large language models (LLMs) and large vision-language models (LVLMs), can be used to understand and summarize video content, and then we will show how pipelined approaches with proper pre- and post-processing elements can improve the results. Additionally, we’ll cover the effectiveness of AI in video summarization and the challenges that remain. Our goal is to provide the audience with a broad understanding of VCS and how AI is transforming this field. We’ll also showcase a practical implementation of VCS pipelines in the CLAMS project, an open-source AI-assisted metadata extraction platform developed via collaboration between Brandeis University and AAPB (GBH MLA).

3:15 PM – 3:45 PM
Artists and Archives: A Model for Community Engaged Archives at Visual Studies Workshop
Tara Merenda Nelson, Visual Studies Workshop

How do collaborations between artists, community members and archives push forward archival methodologies and practices? This session will present strategies of curatorial and artistic modes of collaboration within the archive, using Visual Studies Workshop (VSW) as a case study. Artist/filmmaker and curator Tara Merenda Nelson and curator, scholar, and archivist, Almudena Escobar López will co-present on the central role of the archives within VSW’s public programming initiatives. Merenda Nelson will present on VSW’s Community Curator Program and the seasonal Salon series that directly connect members of the community with VSW archives, as well as the media transfer laboratory. Escobar López will discuss VSW’s artistic residencies and their use of archives as an example of archival intervention and inquiry.

3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Enabling Integrated Access to Audio-Visual and Traditional Archives Using “Records-in-Contexts”
Jamie Lee, National Archives of Singapore

This presentation discusses the National Archives of Singapore’s experience using ICA’s new archival description standard, Records-in-Contexts (RiC) to integrate archival descriptions for audio-visual (AV) and paper-based archives. With a specific focus on broadcast and sound archives, the presentation will assess how RiC addresses perennial integration and data modelling challenges for AV resources, evaluate how other AV-centric ontologies may be used to complement and/or extend RiC, and propose design patterns that may be referenced by other institutions seeking to use RiC for archival description of AV materials.

3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
The Art of Archiving Video Art
Nilson Carroll, Visual Studies Workshop

Throughout the 1970s, video artists were studying, deconstructing, and recomposing surplus scientific and consumer video equipment in pursuit of new technological languages. What emerged from this period of invention were hand built video tools such as the PaikAbe synthesizer and the Jones analog/digital synthesizers – machines that had been custom crafted (or ‘hacked’) by artists who were pushing the boundaries of existing technologies to create instruments that could serve a purpose beyond that which was deemed commercially desirable. Fifty years later, the work made by these innovators requires equally inventive workflows and technologies in order to be preserved. This session will explore archivist Nilson Carroll’s (Visual Studies Workshop) preservation of works made by video artist Peer Bode (Experimental Television Center, Institute for Electronic Arts) in the 1970s. Carroll has been working closely with Bode to preserve the artist’s early experiments recorded on ½” videotape, many of which feature “glitches” that push the video signal to its limits or display the signal in new ways. Examples of Bode’s tapes will be shown and the problem solving that went into the preservation of those tapes will be discussed.

 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Navigating Rights and Usage: Best Practices for Accepting Donations
Lance Watsky, Filmic Technologies
Karen Cariani, WGBH Archives
Ruta Abolins, University of Georgia/Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection
Greg Cram, New York Public Library

This panel aims to guide archivists on the critical process of negotiating rights before accepting audiovisual donations. Our goal is to empower attendees with the necessary knowledge and tools to establish clear rights agreements and ensure ethical usage of donated materials, thus enhancing their collections’ value and accessibility. The panel will emphasize best practices for acquiring news and documentary collections, highlighting the importance of addressing rights at the point of acquisition.

4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
The Community Speaks: Engagement & Experiences from the DVRescue Project
Libby Hopfauf, Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound/Seattle Municipal Archives
Dave Rice, City University of New York
Kelly Haydon, Human Rights Watch & XFR Collective
Tim Lake, BAVC Media
Austin Miller, MARMIA
CK Ming, National Museum of African American History & Culture, Smithsonian Institution
Siobhan Hagan, CAW/Memory Lab
Morgan Morel, Library of Congress

This panel will focus on community engagement and participation in the DVRescue Project. Since 2019, MIPoPS and RiceCapades has worked on the NEH funded DVRescue project, developing the procedures, tools and documentation to assist audiovisual archivists with preserving their DV videotapes. Through this work, we have developed, tested and modified a variety of tools and documentation that encompass a set of best practices we recommend to the greater archival community for all aspects of DV videotape preservation, including capturing, troubleshooting, analyzing, and quality control. The DVRescue team will provide some updates on the project and demonstrate the latest builds. Members of the archival community participating in the DVRescue project will describe their experience and practical application of the tools.

4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Contemporary Challenges for Nitrate Film Collections – Storage, Use and Access
Prue Castles, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia
Courtney Holschuh, Library of Congress
Akane Nohara, Imagica Entertainment Media
Catherine Cormon, Eye Museum

Nitrate film is often one of the oldest materials held in audiovisual collections. It is a challenging format; stable when stored in good conditions but potentially dangerous when poorly managed.  With the development of scanning technology that captures the unique tints and tones of nitrate many archives are pursuing active programs of digitisation and access. This raises some interesting challenges with the movement and handling of nitrate materials and whether our current procedures accurately reflect the actual risks of the format. Do we really understand when nitrate is dangerous? Should we reconsider storage conditions when building new facilities? Do we have the right information available to determine and manage the risks AND to ensure that beautiful nitrate film content is available to our audiences.

4:30 PM – 5:00 PM
No Past-Proofing: Eliminating Film Printing from Motion Picture Archiving
Larry Blake, Swelltone

Film was the best and only choice shooting, finishing, exhibition, and archiving of theatrical motion pictures for over a century, and has been eclipsed in the past 25 years by digital technologies. However, in spite of the near-obliteration of film infrastructure at every step of the process, that long history has led many to believe that film remains that best choice for long-term archiving,     This paper will detail the “before” (the starting points of restorations and contemporary movies) and the “after” (what deliverables will be needed in 100 years). Focus will also be given to three often-overlooked factors: the long-term cost of film and its migration problems; the inability of film to archive sound; and the reliability of digital archiving, including how common mistakes can be avoided.    The goal remains to make, finish, and archive motion pictures in a truly future-proof, and not a past-proof, manner.

5:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Insights from the Cinema’s First Nasty Women Audience Demographics Survey
Russell Zych, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Maggie Hennefeld, CFnw Project Director
Laura Horak, CFNW Project Director

Cinema’s First Nasty Women is a multi-part research, curation, and outreach project focused on expanding critical engagement with long-overlooked feminist films and filmmakers of the silent period. This session will present the results of the project’s most recent study: a demographics and attitudes survey of contemporary silent cinema audiences. The anonymous online survey was issued in spring of 2024, and received more than 3,000 responses. Survey questions covered basic demographic data, film viewing habits, exposure to silent cinema, familiarity with silent cinema organizations, and interest in feminist film scholarship. Presentation attendees can expect to come away with a more accurate understanding of the silent film community’s social profile in terms of gender, race, sexuality, age, and class. Analysis and discussion will explore practical takeaways for marketing, outreach, and advocacy decisions–but also raise questions about the purpose and impact of public programming.

 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Buses Loop to theatre

7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Archival Screening Night

Archival Screening Night is a showcase for AMIA members’ recent acquisitions, discoveries and preservation efforts.  The program represents the magnificent spectrum of media formats, works, and collections protected and preserved by the AMIA community.

8:30 PM – 9:45 PM
Buses Loop back to hotel

9:00 AM – 4:00 PM – Separate Registration Required
Community Archiving Workshop
Grace Lile
Pamela Vakadan, California Revealed
Amy Sloper, Harvard Film Archive
Guadalupe Martinez, California Reveaked
Kaitlyn Palone, University of Central Oklahoma
Justin Lemons, University of North Texas

Community Archiving Workshop (CAW) provides moving image archivists the opportunity to serve the community of Milwaukee and work with local volunteers to help an organization gain intellectual and physical control over an endangered audiovisual collection. The workshop provides a space for conference attendees to partner with local volunteers to conduct basic processing, inspection and cataloging, and in doing so, learn how to identify risk factors and make preservation recommendations.