Film Preservationists Call on AMPAS to Rehire Laid Off Archival Staff

Missing Movies, whose board includes filmmaker Mary Harron and producer Ira Deutchman, asked the Academy to restore the jobs of 16 staffers laid off last month.

A group of activists dedicated to preserving film history has launched a petition asking the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to rehire 16 individuals the Academy laid off from its film archive and library staff last week.

On October 30, AMPAS let go of 16 employees — roughly 2 percent of AMPAS’ overall staff — including 14 from the Academy Film Archive and Margaret Herrick Library, and the other two from the Academy Museum collection staff.

In a petition launched on Tuesday, November 5 on Change.org, a cohort called Missing Movies protested the Academy’s decision and wrote an open letter to AMPAS CEO Bill Kramer and its Board of Governors, saying the layoffs represent a “deep disregard for the vital work of the Academy Film Archive.”

“These senior staff members have deep institutional knowledge of the Archive’s history and goals; they built the organizational structures, collections, and community outreach that allowed it to grow and thrive,” the petition reads (in part). “We are deeply concerned that these firings represent a deviation from the Academy’s stated mission “to recognize and uphold excellence in the motion picture arts and sciences, inspire imagination, and connect the world through the medium of motion pictures.”

The petition has received more than 850 signatures at time of writing.

AMPAS had no comment.

Missing Movies is an ad hoc group of film professionals that tracks films considered lost or unavailable for any sort of public consumption. It works to address contract issues, locate film masters, and advocate for proper archiving, including the creation of high-definition digital transfers.

The group is led by co-presidents Amy Heller and Dennis Doros. Its board of directors includes Nancy Savoca, director Mary Harron, Susan Bodine, Geoffrey Fletcher, Rich Guay, and producer Ira Deutchman.

As IndieWire previously reported, among the people laid off were Anne Coco, the archive’s veteran poster curator, and Mike Pogorzelski, the head of the Film Archive. Others let go were several senior archive curators, library staffers, the nitrate vault manager, and the head of cataloging.

The cuts officially came as part of a reorg — the Academy has spent the last several months working on the structure of the archive, library, and museum. The Academy also last month added to its collection with Quentin Tarantino’s handwritten “Pulp Fiction” script, some artwork from Hayao Miyazaki, and more. But there have been concerns that under the leadership of CEO Kramer, more resources in recent years have been diverted to the Academy Museum rather than to preservation efforts or the library.

The news also caught the attention of other preservationists. Leonard Maltin said trimming the staff of the library was like “cutting off its blood supply,” while Smithsonian’s Brianna Toth wrote that this was a “death knell” for the third-largest film archive in North America.

Missing Movies argues that while streaming services offer the illusion of unlimited options and choice, there are many films that are still unavailable, and archivists are still vital to the industry.

“With the rise of streaming and online access, some people may have come to believe that digitizing a film is the same as preserving it,” the petition reads. “But this is absolutely false. As film restorationists and archivists know, as technology advances, the ongoing need for access to original film and audio elements grows ever more important.”

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Matt Severson, the executive vice president of Academy collection and preservation, had been let go. We regret the error.