As the owner of this company, I am so honored that we have won FOCAL’s 2020 Footage Library Of The Year award. Reelin’ In The Years Productions has been in this business for nearly three decades, and while we have won numerous awards for various projects, this one is very special because it speaks to the work we’ve done (and continue to do) to preserve this filmed history and make it available to an ever-growing community of filmmakers.
We feel very strongly how important footage is and why it needs to be preserved so that filmmakers today and in the future can, through great archive, accurately tell the story of the subject they are focused on. Whether it’s archival footage of musicians, sports heroes, politicians, authors, or something as powerful as the cell phone video that captured of the death of George Floyd and all the subsequent protests in the streets across America, the filming and preservation of footage is one of the most important things we can do to accurately reflect and preserve our collective history. How would we all view the Kennedy assassination were it not for the Zapruder film? How would we remember The Beatles debut in America had CBS not preserved the 2-Inch tapes of their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 and how will the world view 2020 years from now if not for the many people who document the events in the streets (and the hopeful preservation of those moments). My point is that there’s so much great archive still sitting on obsolete formats that needs to be transferred before its too late so I hope those that have archives that are withering away on old formats please invest and preserve it so we don’t lose these precious moments of history.
I am once again so honored to win with this award and to be part of this industry with so many amazing archives across the globe.
Sincerely,
David Peck
Reelin’ In The Years Productions & Photo Archive