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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today the newest acquisitions to its expansive Academy Collection, the largest film-related collection in the world, comprising more than 52 million items. The Academy, through its Academy Foundation, is a global leader in the conservation, preservation, and exhibition of film-related objects and materials. The Academy also announced today that its collections and museum work will now be more organizationally linked via the elevation of Amy Homma to the new role of Director and President, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Academy Collection. Homma will work directly with Executive Vice President, Academy Collection and Preservation, Matt Severson, and the teams at the Academy Film Archive and Margaret Herrick Library. “The preservation of our global film history is a core focus of the Academy, and we are honored to add so many exciting items to our ever-growing Academy Collection. The collection serves as an important tool for research, scholarship, exhibitions, and programs,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer. “Bringing our collections and museum teams together is a logical evolution of our preservation and conservation work. Amy Homma is a fantastic leader who, along with Matt Severson and his stellar collections teams, will greatly expand the reach of our Academy Collection—just as she has done with the Academy Museum.” “With our library, archive, and museum, the Academy is the world’s premier place to celebrate, preserve and learn about our cinematic history,” said Amy Homma, Director and President of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Academy Collection. “I am honored to work with each of these incredibly talented teams and, alongside Matt, unite them under one common vision to bring these valuable resources to our global community.” “Through this alignment of our institution-wide preservation efforts and of the Academy Collection, we will have the opportunity to make film history more accessible to the next generation of filmmakers,” said Matt Severson, Executive Vice President, Academy Collection and Preservation. “I am so excited to welcome Amy and to strategically work to move this critical work forward.” Recent acquisitions in the Academy Collection include Paul Reubens’ screen-used hero bicycle from Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985); a collection of rare scripts and correspondence belonging to Orson Welles from collector James Pepper, including a Citizen Kane (1941) script and wrap party invitation, and Touch of Evil (1958) scripts annotated by Welles; behind-the-scenes photographs from the set of Jaws (1975) from production boom operator Frank Meadows; filmmaker Arthur Dong’s personal collection of film materials focused on Chinese representation and filmmakers in Hollywood; and the couture gown worn by Cicely Tyson during the 91st Oscars® with the sketch illustration by designer B Michael. Personal collections containing scripts, correspondence, storyboards, photographs, and production materials donated from filmmaker Allison Anders, film executive Sherry Lansing, set decorator Marvin March, photographer Mary Ellen Mark, producer Walter Mirisch, documentary filmmaker Freida Lee Mock, casting director Marcia Ross, and Steadicam operator Elizabeth Ziegler have also been added to the Academy Collection. The Academy Collection has also added the Kobal Foundation Collection of Photograph Negatives, which comprises approximately 20,000 original negatives, including portraits and behind-the-scenes images by some of Hollywood’s greatest photographers. In addition, new acquisitions to the Academy’s core reference collection include more than 600 books, 2,600 magazines, and 2,200 posters from 46 countries. New costume, production, and technology object additions include a costume designed by Charles Lemaire worn by Katharine Hepburn as Bunny Watson in Desk Set (1957), a costume designed by Mark Bridges worn by Heather Graham as Rollergirl in Boogie Nights (1997), life casts of Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, and Al Pacino, as well as an ARRI camera used by documentary pioneer Robert J. Flaherty. New Oscar® statuettes include John Alcott’s Oscar for Cinematography for Barry Lyndon (1975), among others. The Academy Film Archive has added over 1,000 audio and visual elements to its holdings this past year. New items include casting sessions from casting director and Academy governor Richard Hicks, featuring such notable actors as Zac Efron, Andrew Garfield, Jennifer Lawrence, and Saoirse Ronan; a 35mm print of His Three Daughters (2024); and a newly created 35mm print from the original negative of 8 ½ (1963). Through its preservation efforts, the Academy Film Archive has added over 30 new film prints and digital 4K restorations to the collection, including Mysterious Skin (2004), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), and Saint Joan (1957), all of which had their West Coast premiere screenings at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. The Academy’s growing collection remains a valuable resource for research, exhibitions, and cultural exchange worldwide. In the last year, the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library supported 30 exhibitions, including six at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, providing more than 400 items to exhibitions, including Stories of Cinema, Color in Motion: Chromatic Explorations of Cinema, and Cyberpunk: Envisioning Possible Futures Through Cinema . Additionally, 779 objects from the collection were loaned to institutions across North America, Europe, Asia, and South America. In the last year, the Academy Film Archive also loaned films from the Academy Collection for over 300 screenings at cinematheques and festivals in 20 countries, including over 100 screenings at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. These efforts underscore the Academy’s commitment to preserving global film heritage and promoting public access to the cinematic arts on an international scale. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been collecting and preserving film and film-related material since 1927. Its unparalleled collection contains items reflecting all components of the moviemaking process—costumes, photographs, scripts, posters, production art, sound recordings, books, film and video assets, props, cameras, projectors, clippings, makeup and hairstyling tools, visual effects technologies, promotional materials, and more. Through its conservation program and dedication to high-quality collections care, the Academy ensures the integrity, longevity, and accessibility of these valuable cultural artifacts for generations to come. The public can access components of the Academy Collection through:
A selected list of new collection items includes: COSTUMES AND OSCARS® FASHION
PRODUCTION OBJECTS
TECHNOLOGY
OSCAR® STATUETTES
AUDIO AND VISUAL ELEMENTS
ARCHIVAL PHOTOGRAPHS, DRAWINGS, SCRIPTS, AND PRODUCTION MATERIAL
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Image Credits: (L-R) Bicycle from Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985): ©Academy Museum Foundation, Photo by: Joshua White/JWPictures; Arthur Dong Collection – Photograph of Anna May Wong signed to singer Frances Chun (Kan): Image courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library; James Pepper Collection on Orson Welles – An invitation from Orson Welles to Paul Stewart to attend the wrap party for Citizen Kane (1941): Image courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library; Frank Meadows photographs – Behind-the-scenes photograph from Jaws (1975): Image courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library; Still from Mysterious Skin (2004); B Michael fashion design drawing for Cicely Tyson: Image courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library, Academy Awards show photographs – Cicely Tyson at the 91st Academy Awards: Image courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library, Photo by: Kyusung Gong; Still from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) ABOUT THE ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES ABOUT THE ACADEMY MUSEUM OF MOTION PICTURES ABOUT THE MARGARET HERRICK LIBRARY ABOUT THE ACADEMY FILM ARCHIVE FOLLOW THE ACADEMY |