UCLA Film & Television Archive

<h2 id="history">History</h2>
The UCLA Film & Television Archive was initially created as the ATAS/UCLA Television Library when the <a href="/facts/Academy_of_Television_Arts_and_Sciences/c1lwaXMI">Academy of Television Arts and Sciences</a> and the <a href="/facts/UCLA_School_of_Theater%2c_Film_and_Television/KjS8y55J">UCLA Theater Arts Department</a> worked together to create the library in 1965. In 1968, the Film Department of UCLA founded the Film Archive. After this, graduate students and staff members began collaborating to rescue copies of movies that <a href="/facts/Major_film_studios/PzIn05EM">Hollywood studios</a> were discarding. This included <a href="/facts/Nitrate_film/5NoD5eTm">nitrate film</a> prints, which are notoriously unstable.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3">3</a> The two institutions operated separately until their unification by Robert Rosen, a <a href="/facts/Film_preservationist/PK7SeNh2">film preservationist</a> who was appointed director of both the library and archive in 1976.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">4</a> The archive began its film preservation and restoration program. It hired Robert Gitt, and began restoring several classic films including <a href="/facts/Double_Indemnity/yCg9HHJd">Double Indemnity</a>, <a href="/facts/Blonde_Venus/ys8xGe9C">Blonde Venus</a>, and <a href="/facts/The_Big_Sleep_(1946_film)/Uq4HWVSl">The Big Sleep</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a>
The Archive hosted virtual screenings in lieu of its in-person presentations during the <a href="/facts/COVID-19_pandemic_in_Los_Angeles/mXw4mC1w">COVID-19 pandemic</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a>
The archive appointed its fourth director, May Hong HaDuong in January of 2021. She was the first woman and person of color to become director of the archive.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a>

<h2 id="the-collection">The collection</h2>
The Archive has hosted its collection in a <a href="/facts/Stoa/HAgVmYzG">Stoa</a> building in <a href="/facts/Santa_Clarita%2c_California/mhobzNSd">Santa Clarita, California</a> since 2015. It shares the facilities with the <a href="/facts/Packard_Humanities_Institute/LD1NNqqD">Packard Humanities Institute</a>. The building was funded and built to the specification of <a href="/facts/David_Woodley_Packard/WD4n2Tzh">David Woodley Packard</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a>
The archive's holdings include <a href="/facts/35mm_movie_film/rYmmvuLU">35mm</a> collections from <a href="/facts/Paramount_Global/7xEPvbjU">Paramount Global</a>/<a href="/facts/Paramount_Pictures/F6UIvDD9">Paramount Pictures</a> and <a href="/facts/Republic_Pictures/H1vVe5vC">Republic Pictures</a>.<a href="/facts/Walt_Disney_Studios_(division)/rdnUhzd1">Disney</a>/<a href="/facts/20th_Century_Studios/vd5eeD3S">20th Century Studios</a>, <a href="/facts/Warner_Bros._Discovery/0rV6EadW">Warner Bros. Discovery</a>/<a href="/facts/Warner_Bros./JRF3lhQ6">Warner Bros.</a>, <a href="/facts/Sony_Pictures/YxC3IxrW">Sony</a>/<a href="/facts/Columbia_Pictures/J35aASat">Columbia Pictures</a>, <a href="/facts/New_World_Pictures/RUCgCNPe">New World Pictures</a>, <a href="/facts/Amazon_(company)/YzUTUVE8">Amazon</a>/<a href="/facts/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/sQdE9Kg2">MGM</a>, <a href="/facts/United_Artists/4cSJnjrI">United Artists</a> and <a href="/facts/Orion_Pictures/gf0w2eQ2">Orion Pictures</a>, <a href="/facts/NBCUniversal/s4QPPX62">NBCUniversal</a>/<a href="/facts/Universal_Pictures/2xUCraUP">Universal Pictures</a>, and <a href="/facts/RKO_Radio_Pictures/L39uAqh7">RKO</a>. Additional film donations have been made by the <a href="/facts/Academy_of_Motion_Picture_Arts_and_Sciences/lnmVq6Uj">Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences</a>, the <a href="/facts/American_Film_Institute/DhNpmV60">American Film Institute</a>, the <a href="/facts/Directors_Guild_of_America/sr6kD2qY">Directors Guild of America</a>, and figures including <a href="/facts/Hal_Ashby/hsRMXkt9">Hal Ashby</a>, <a href="/facts/Tony_Curtis/xoRwJs6L">Tony Curtis</a>, <a href="/facts/Charlton_Heston/8xMbH326">Charlton Heston</a>, <a href="/facts/Orson_Welles/dyKjSdRJ">Orson Welles</a>, <a href="/facts/Rock_Hudson/uyBVyomz">Rock Hudson</a>, <a href="/facts/Jeff_Chandler/5w5kCouq">Jeff Chandler</a>, <a href="/facts/Radley_Metzger/WwUSy7RR">Radley Metzger</a>, <a href="/facts/Richard_Conte/pDtU18q9">Richard Conte</a>, <a href="/facts/Audie_Murphy/yAQbswMI">Audie Murphy</a>, <a href="/facts/John_McIntire/IgLNCsD7">John McIntire</a>, <a href="/facts/John_Wayne/9MIwKPdz">John Wayne</a>, <a href="/facts/Fred_MacMurray/ytwBDIuD">Fred MacMurray</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9">9</a> and <a href="/facts/William_Wyler/Bbs4ChYX">William Wyler</a>. It holds the entire <a href="/facts/Hearst_Corporation/rgMl3gAP">Hearst</a> Metrotone News Library. It holds over 300 kinescope prints from the now-defunct <a href="/facts/DuMont_Television_Network/m39SPdCc">DuMont Television Network</a>. It holds restored prints of the cartoon library of Paramount Pictures.

<h2 id="billy-wilder-theater">Billy Wilder Theater</h2>

The Billy Wilder Theater is on the courtyard level of the <a href="/facts/Hammer_Museum/A6ltqbTd">Hammer Museum</a>. Funded by a $5 million gift from Audrey L. Wilder and designed by <a href="/facts/Michael_Maltzan_Architecture/kkW5K9UH">Michael Maltzan Architecture</a>, the 295-seat Billy Wilder Theater is the home of the archive's <a href="/facts/Cinematheque/vNMkW47U">cinematheque</a> and of the Hammer's public programs, which includes artists' lectures, literary readings, musical concerts, and public conversations. The theater, which cost $7.5 million to complete, is one of the few in the country where audiences may watch the entire spectrum of moving images in their original formats from the earliest <a href="/facts/Silent_films/32MP8dLb">silent films</a> requiring variable speed projection to the most current digital cinema and video.

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="https://cinema.ucla.edu">Official website</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">Olsen, Mark (January 6, 2021). "May Hong HaDuong first woman and person of color to lead UCLA Film Archive". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 23, 2022. <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-01-06/ucla-film-television-archive-may-hong-haduong" target="_blank">https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-01-06/ucla-film-television-archive-may-hong-haduong</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">Daily, Mary (February 4, 2025). "The Past Is Present". UCLA Magazine. Retrieved February 25, 2025. <a href="https://newsroom.ucla.edu/magazine/preservation-culture-film-television-languages-music" target="_blank">https://newsroom.ucla.edu/magazine/preservation-culture-film-television-languages-music</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">Daily, Mary (February 4, 2025). "The Past Is Present". UCLA Magazine. Retrieved February 25, 2025. <a href="https://newsroom.ucla.edu/magazine/preservation-culture-film-television-languages-music" target="_blank">https://newsroom.ucla.edu/magazine/preservation-culture-film-television-languages-music</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">Susu, Alina (November 8, 2024). "Robert Rosen, pioneering director of UCLA Film & Television Archive, dies at 84". Daily Bruin. Retrieved February 23, 2025. <a href="https://dailybruin.com/2024/11/08/robert-rosen-pioneering-director-of-ucla-film-television-archive-dies-at-84" target="_blank">https://dailybruin.com/2024/11/08/robert-rosen-pioneering-director-of-ucla-film-television-archive-dies-at-84</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">"Our History". UCLA Film & Television Archive. UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved February 23, 2025. <a href="https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/our-history" target="_blank">https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/our-history</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">Rhee, Jennifer (September 16, 2021). "New online model connects LGBTQ+ media to global audience". UCLA Library. Retrieved February 25, 2025. <a href="https://www.library.ucla.edu/about/news/news-new-online-model-connects-lgbtq-media-global-audience/" target="_blank">https://www.library.ucla.edu/about/news/news-new-online-model-connects-lgbtq-media-global-audience/</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">Bicho, Ariane (January 6, 2021). "Alumna May Hong HaDuong named director of the UCLA Film & Television Archive". UCLA Newsroom. Retrieved February 25, 2025. <a href="https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/may-hong-haduong-director-ucla-film-television-archive" target="_blank">https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/may-hong-haduong-director-ucla-film-television-archive</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">Strauss, Bob (August 12, 2019). "UCLA's Film & Television Archive has a classical yet state-of-the-art home at The Stoa in Santa Clarita". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2022. <a href="https://www.dailynews.com/2019/08/12/uclas-film-television-archive-has-a-classical-yet-state-of-the-art-home-at-the-stoa-in-santa-clarita/" target="_blank">https://www.dailynews.com/2019/08/12/uclas-film-television-archive-has-a-classical-yet-state-of-the-art-home-at-the-stoa-in-santa-clarita/</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:9">Staff (June 2, 2011). "Smooth Operator: The Opulent Eroticism of Radley Metzger". UCLA Film and Television Archive. Retrieved January 28, 2016. <a href="https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/2011-06-02/smooth-operator-opulent-eroticism-radley-metzger" target="_blank">https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/2011-06-02/smooth-operator-opulent-eroticism-radley-metzger</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

UCLA Film & Television Archive open-in-new

UCLA Film & Television Archive