As a film critic, I was really disheartened to learn the Academy Foundation recently eliminated its entire Oral History Projects team – all five members. Essentially, they’ve shut down the department dedicated to recording and safeguarding the stories of important figures in cinema. It’s a huge loss for film history, and I worry about how those valuable voices will be preserved moving forward.
The organization stated on Friday that two of the laid-off employees were moved into different positions within the Academy Foundation’s union.
The recent layoffs happened as the Academy Foundation, which includes the Academy Museum and is part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, reorganized its collections department. Of the four people laid off from the Oral History Projects team, all but one were union members.
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The Academy Foundation Workers Union, AFSCME Local 126, released a statement on social media criticizing recent cuts as “unfortunate and ill-considered.” They also voiced concerns about the Foundation’s lack of openness and its failure to value the abilities of its employees during the organizational changes.
The union responded to The Times, stating that the Academy’s choice to end this project diminishes the effort put into creating thoughtful and in-depth interviews and fails to recognize the lasting importance of each person’s story.
The Academy will continue to make its collection of recorded personal stories available, and will preserve film history through its museum, various collections, and online projects.
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As a total movie fanatic, I’m really excited about the new exhibit at the Academy Museum! They’re going all-out with a huge show dedicated to the film that basically created the modern summer blockbuster. They’ve collected tons of props and artifacts – it’s going to be incredible to see all that history up close.
In 1989, the Academy Foundation started a program to preserve the stories of people working in the film industry. They did this by recording conversations with these professionals, and those recordings are now kept at the Margaret Herrick Library.
The Oral History Projects department, which no longer exists, was created in 2012 to improve how interview collections were managed. Over the years, it recorded more than 185 interviews, each lasting four to five hours. These interviews offer unique insights into the lives and careers of filmmakers, and the Academy Museum frequently uses materials from the Academy Foundation’s library and film archive for its exhibits and screenings.
The Academy now serves as the main archive for filmmaker interviews collected by various guilds and other organizations, thanks to the efforts of the Oral History Project, according to its website.
The Academy’s Oral History Project collected interviews – both audio and video – with the many talented people who have shaped the history of film, including designers, documentarians, actors, and technicians. According to an email from the union, the project is no longer creating these carefully researched and well-made oral histories because the department responsible has been eliminated.
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The Academy is reorganizing its film archive and library, which includes reducing its staff by 16 people. This change is part of a plan to streamline how they preserve movies and related materials.
The Academy has had layoffs before, following the opening of the Academy Museum in 2021. Last year, a reorganization – including the creation of a new department for collections and preservation – led to the loss of 16 jobs in the archive and library.
According to an internal email from CEO Bill Kramer, the Academy is restructuring to adapt to the quickly changing film industry and the non-profit arts world, as reported by The Times.
Kramer stated that they are dedicated to achieving their goals despite the current challenges. They believe the actions they are taking will build a strong, lasting organization capable of succeeding both today and in the years to come, even though they recognize this is a difficult time.
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2026-01-24 05:01