Cy Stapleton' HOTLINE Newsletter #3
Historical Video's
Copyright January 8, 1996
I have had an idea for a number of years about doing a video
interview with old time printers. I'm not talking about something
that is professionally produced but a one-on-one interview with
not only key players in our industry such as the world reknown
type designer, Hermann Zapf, but with the little printer that is
90 years old, having started as an apprentice when he was 10 or
12 years old. Still living are some who were involved in the
discovery of the diffusion transfer process, the development of
the Photon phototypesetter, etc., but they won't be around long.
It should be more like a fireside chat or a home movie
where the interviewers have a strong working knowledge of the
history of the industry.
We perceive taking about four to five hours of video tape
and have that professionally edited to between a half hour and 45
minutes, with the entire unedited interview also archived. The
tapes should be put in the permanent care of some entity that can
be responsible for their distribution.
A friend, Harry Benson in Houston and I, have had this dream
for over a decade but neither of us have the finances to make
this dream a reality. We would be interested to see if there are
other printers who feel such an archive might have a place in our
industry and have ideas as to how we might come up with the
funding to make it a reality. Harry and I feel we could do
several interviews each month. We would need to have a committee
to help determine who we should interview, a secretary to handle
the paperwork, and a professional editor to put the interviews
together. While neither of us want to get rich off the program,
we would need to be figured into the budget for our effort. We
are looking at an estimated average budget of approximately
$2,500 per interview plus any out-of-pocket travel expenses. This
would include a part-time secretary, our compensation, original
tapes, and the services of a professional editor to produce the
final edited master. We perceive an original funding to do 100
interviews with the selections being made by a committee made up
of industry members and including Harry and myself. The selection
committee could work together via mail or email. Credentials
should include a proven interest in the history of our industry.
We should probably start with a time frame of about 1950 and
earlier for most with strong consideration given to older
industry leaders who have made major contributions since that
period. While it is important to record the earliest days
possible, it would be a shame to miss out on the major players in
the quick printing industry just because it came along a couple
of decades later. This is an area that would take a great deal of
thought.
Between the two of us, Harry and I have the equipment that
is required and both of us have a deep knowledge of the history
of our industry. Does this sort of thing hit anyone's hot button?
If so, we would appreciate hearing from you. This project
might not seem too important now, but can you imagine how
important it would be today if we had available to us such an
interview with Gutenberg, Aldus, Plantin, Franklin, and Isaiah
Thomas when they made their contributions to mankind? Or even a
pressman or typographer that worked during that period. We are
beginning to stir up a little interest but nothing firm as of
yet.
The Quick Printing Industry started less than four decades
ago, but some of the major players in this industry have already
left us. We need their thoughts, problems they encountered, etc.
for future members of our industry. The longer we wait the less
basic resource material we will have. While many have written
books, in many areas a book can't compare to actually watching an
interview with that individual.
If you have any ideas, I would like to hear from you. Just
address your email response to hotlinecy@aol.com.
To receive a brochure describing how you can have the Helene's Hotline database on your own computer, Email me at hotlinecy@aol.com and give leave your fax number. The Hotline databases, BFP and Ad Specialty BFP give you the ability to easily shop numerous vendors for your outsourcing requirements.
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Date inserted: Monday, February 19, 1996 4:58:04 PM