Any way it’s sliced, this onion has rings going back to 1986 and more than 20 years of being a nonprofit with its hand out. It’s against this backdrop that earlier this year the AMIPA board voted to “cease operations”—not to be confused with outright closing—after operating for nearly a year with no executive director. Now they want the Alaska Legislature to give them $300,000, and promise to make things right by seeking a larger partner in their mission.
The request, says AMIPA founder Francine Lastufka Taylor, “is an acknowledgement in a sense that the organization is going to need some funding for a time, with the guarantee that AMIPA is going to find a partner.” (Lastufka-Taylor recently came back to the AMIPA board, and says she is also a volunteer.)
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Lastufka-Taylor has been a well-known figure in Alaska film preservation since 1986, when a UAA video production facility she was working at closed due to budget cuts. (Times were tough. The state also closed a prison at Goose Bay that year.) She began singing a song about protecting film and video to anyone who would listen, and in 1991 AMIPA had become a legit nonprofit able to accept tax-deductible contributions.
“We started right in the middle of that depression,” Lastufka-Taylor says, adding that while AMIPA was talking up the importance of preserving film and video as historical records, university librarians in Fairbanks were working toward similar ends. “When we went for money for our vault, Fairbanks was going for money for their vault. It was a ripple effect, and I cannot say what would have happened if we had not existed.”
Right now, the 20,000 items in the vault at UAA are not in any danger, despite the AMIPA board’s decision in January to “cease operations.” Kevin Tripp, an archivist and former employee, is volunteering at AMIPA. (He was in Juneau Wednesday, presumably trying to explain AMIPA’s situation to legislators.) “The doors are closed, and there is just no staff to respond to anything in a timely manner,” Tripp says.
One former board member says now is the time for AMIPA to close its books and instead ask politicians to fund a permanent archivist job at UAA Consortium Library. “It’s not a very popular view,” says Christopher Constant, who served on the board for almost a decade and was board secretary before resigning. “I think that the best thing for AMIPA is for all of us usual suspects to just get out of the way and let the university take over,” Constant says.
But even Constant admits there are plenty of loose ends. For one thing, there are privately held films in the vault. “Those collections can’t be donated [by AMIPA] to the university, but what we can do, is come up with the money to pay Kevin [Tripp] for half a year or so to do that work, to write those letters and contact those private individuals.”
The official AMIPA line is that the $300,000 is “bridge funding” and the current board’s goal is to seek a financial partner such as the university. No one knows how long that will take, but Lastufka-Taylor estimated one or two years.
Whether the legislature responds to such a request is anybody’s guess—especially if they think of AMIPA as one of the usual suspects.
scott@anchoragepress.com
Comments
Becky Larson wrote on Apr 15, 2010 12:27 PM:
The much touted “archives at risk of being lost” are little more than a fund-raising prop for Ms. Taylor.
The films are already physically located next to the UAA archives in a humidity controlled vault. They are certainly not at risk of being lost.
And what has AMIPA actually accomplished in 19 years?
Here is a partial list of accomplishments from the AMIPA website.
June 2008, Restored 2 reels of 16mm film. Work completed in 2009.
Grant amount: $5,370.00
Awarded grant to restore “East of Siberia”, a documentary film.
Grant amount: $18,100.00
June 2009, restored 3 reels of 8mm film. Scheduled for completion in 2010.
Grant amount: $9.000.00
Are you kidding me? $9.000.00 to restore 3 reels of film? On what planet?
The years of squandering taxpayer and grant money needs to end.
Now AMIPA is asking the Alaska legislature (you and I) to give them another $300,000.00 in tax money so that Ms. Taylor can go back and try to read her undecipherable handwriting for a year or two.
Wow. " "
Jonathan Butzke wrote on Mar 2, 2010 11:32 PM:
"-Most Rev. Sr. Alarmist and Senior Righteous Alarmist-" their comments are representative
of a typical closed minded group of people that live just outside normal society. I come from a multi-generation alaskan family (I guess I don't fit into their labeling of carpet-bagger" type).
I care about my state and social visual histories.
and I do not write and then hide behind my unidentified comments. "
Most Rev. Sr. Alarmist wrote on Mar 1, 2010 11:44 PM:
CityKid wrote on Mar 1, 2010 8:39 PM:
AMIPA doesn't create any access, unless you like looking at broke down equipment and cans of film on shelves (the state of 'preservation')
This is a bald-faced lie. Numerous organizations that receive tax revenue actually utilize AMIPA resources. To mention a few: Alaska State Libraries, UAA Special Collections, National Park Service, PBS, USGS, Bureau of Indian Affairs and more. Further, AMIPA has playback capabilities, at least for legacy video formats, that surpass those of some name brands you mention near the end of your post (hey and the equipment works too).
Lip services and feel good platitudes are are more battlecries of the self-backslapping and egomania. They could be a coin collecting club, for all the good they do... l
Sounds to me like your carrying a grudge, rather than really being concerned with preservation or access.
WHo is giving access, actively showing collections? NARA, LoC, UW and UA to name a few stellar examples. End users of subsidies,perhaps, but EFFECTIVE ones.
All of those institutions you mention receive support from tax dollars totaling in the millions of dollars to pay for their operating expenses. Again, AMIPA has done much with little and has amassed a significant collection of film, video and audio media of relevance to anybody interested in the history of Alaska. history. "
Senior Righteous Alarmist wrote on Mar 1, 2010 6:33 PM:
WHo is giving access, actively showing collections? NARA, LoC, UW and UA to name a few stellar examples. End users of subsidies,perhaps, but EFFECTIVE ones. "
CityKid wrote on Mar 1, 2010 2:47 PM:
I was defending AMIPA against Alaskan Taxpayer's attempt to cast doubt on the nature of AMIPA's expenses. AMIPA was awarded an Effective Organizations grant and AMIPA's request for funding from Alaska is part of the process initiated by the recommendations that a paid consultant put together under the requirements of that grant. AMIPA, as far as I know only rec'd the report from the consultant, not any of the money.
CK "
jonathan butzke wrote on Mar 1, 2010 2:46 PM:
So becky larson, who commented below that the collections are safe, why fund it? AMIPA makes this important history available with open doors, if the doors are closed, and there are no caretakers, the collections and equipment will deteriorate.
New collections are created every day for use of the next generation too. "
jonathan butzke wrote on Mar 1, 2010 2:34 PM:
City Kid... since you so adamantly feel saving video and film media history of Alaska is not good for our city and state.
What have you done for this cause? "
jonathan butzke wrote on Mar 1, 2010 2:29 PM:
Research would show Government run will increase costs.
AMIPA will not. Any public funding of this group helps the culture of our state as a whole.
If AMIPA was not here, all the history AMIPA has saved would be in the landfill. BELIEVE IT! "
CityKid wrote on Mar 1, 2010 2:26 PM:
Consultants $69,005
Most was probably to pay for the costs of an "Effective Organizations" grant ($60,000) from the Rasmuson Foundation; The Foundation paid for this (no cost to the public); the balance may have been for private contractor's to work on AMIPA's catalog and playback equipment.
Special event expense $15,245 Perhaps the cost of 3 fund raising events that netted AMIPA a gain in its operating budget?
a) Annual Mayor's Banquet
b) Secret Garden Party and Auction
c) The Mayor's Charity Ball and Auction.
None of the expenses on your list strike me as odd or extraordinary. All are normal expense for a non-profit that has to provide its own funding. I said before that AMIPA has proven to be cost effective for Alaska and Alaskans considering that much of the funding has come from private sources. "
jonathan butzke wrote on Mar 1, 2010 2:24 PM:
I gave a huge amount of equipment and $1,000 of my own money one year to this group and will do it again if they need it.
A lot of people provide donation of services to this group because what they do IS needed, even with government groups duplicating some of the things AMIPA has been doing.
GET with it and find out the facts.
JONATHAN BUTZKE "
Not an Alaska Taxpayer wrote on Mar 1, 2010 1:42 PM:
No state income tax. No sales tax in Anchorage.
If you were supporting AMIPA with Pick. Click. Give, maybe then I'd understand, as it's coming out of your PFD.
Alaskans should rightly be concerned with where the budget is spent, but let's not kid ourselves...it's not our "tax" money, unless you're talking about the Federal grants. "
Alaskan Taxpayer wrote on Mar 1, 2010 10:43 AM:
http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990_pdf_archive/920/920137768/920137768_200806_990.pdf
Meals and entertainment $ 1,780
Marketing and promotion $ 5,415
Special event expense $15,245
Insurance $ 6,485
Training $ 173
Consultants $69,005
Dues and subscriptions $ 2,230
Office supplies $ 1,472
Miscellaneous expense $13,394
Equipment rental $ 260
Gift $ 1,574
Fundraising $ 1,779
Media expense $ 0.0 "
Becky Larson wrote on Feb 27, 2010 8:48 PM:
Funny how these folks presume that we Alaskan’s are “ripe for the picking.” Or that because we are not from Hollywood we couldn’t possibly comprehend the intricate and mysterious complexities of film archiving. I don’t know which is worse, the arrogance or the ignorance. "
Just an Alaskan wrote on Feb 27, 2010 6:28 PM:
Maybe if you had been as tenacious while working for AMIPA as you are tying to defend against your detractors, AMIPA would still be in business. Sounds to me like Another Mismanaged Institution Pumping Alaska.
Just an anecdotal observation. "
CityKid wrote on Feb 27, 2010 3:58 PM:
You are kidding right? Sounds to me like you are most worried about the….wait for it….”$$$.”
I was responding to what Concerned Filmmaker wrote:
Enough is enough and it is time to turn this material over to the proper folks at UAF and stop wasting our time and money! "
Worth noting that AMIPA has been a pretty good deal for Alaska. AMIPA's total cost over the year has been significantly lower than the Stated owned institutional archives.
Don't hold your breath waiting for AMIPA to go away - you'll turn blue. "
Just an Alaska wrote on Feb 27, 2010 1:55 PM:
The AMIPA collections are certainly not accessible now because AMIPA’s doors are closed. Shipping them to Fairbanks would be a vast improvement. Their doors are open.
If AMIPA's collections are to be preserved it will cost money. Moving AMIPA's collections to Fairbanks would not represent the best of the many possible outcomes; and it would cost $$$. Throwing the baby out with the bath water would be just plain stupid and would represent a waste of the efforts of many, many people who have worked, often without pay, to collect, preserve and maintain film, video and audio. "
You are kidding right? Sounds to me like you are most worried about the….wait for it….”$$$.” "
CityKid wrote on Feb 27, 2010 1:38 PM:
" If after 20 years they can not sustain themselves, then it is time to throw in the towel. We have a film archival facility at the University of Alaska Fairbanks that is funded and does far more than AMIPA ever dreamed of.
Dirk Tordoff, Film Archivist, and his staff at UAF have certainly put together a valuable collection of Alaska Media Resources. AMIPA and UAF are not in competition, rather they compliment each other. AMIPA has actually been very successful at collecting and preserving materials that might have been lost if the only major media collection in Alaska were located in Fairbanks. Anchorage is the most populous and for many in Alaskan's the most accessible geographic location in our state. Moving AMIPA collections to Fairbanks would mean that the media AMIPA holds would become inaccessible to many. Further, without a South Central media archive seeking out media collections and providing state of the art media storage vaults WILL result in the loss of media as it rots in garages, basements and closets or worse gets thrown away. Like it or not, that's simply reality.
Saving cultural artifiacts costs money, be they in Fairbanks, Juneau or Anchorage.
If AMIPA's collections are to be preserved it will cost money. Moving AMIPA's collections to Fairbanks would not represent the best of the many possible outcomes; and it would cost $$$. Throwing the baby out with the bath water would be just plain stupid and would represent a waste of the efforts of many, many people who have worked, often without pay, to collect, preserve and maintain film, video and audio. "
Concerned Filmmaker wrote on Feb 27, 2010 8:23 AM:
CityKid wrote on Feb 26, 2010 11:34 PM:
http://www.youtube.com/user/AlaskaMovingImage "
CityKid wrote on Feb 26, 2010 11:10 PM:
* Larry Holmstrom, executive producer of Jay Hammond's Alaska, his daughter Maria, and cameraman Ron Eagle died while working on a segment for the show.
See:
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/09/us/3-die-in-alaska-raft-accident.html?pagewanted=1 "
CityKid wrote on Feb 26, 2010 10:50 PM:
I'm sorry that you feel the way you do! AMIPA does have a large collection of Alaska's Moving Image and Audio Cultural material amassed over the 2 decades. AMIPA collections include both amateur produced material and professionally produced material. For example - AMIPA has tapes recorded off of the radio in Anchorage shortly after the '64 quake (amateur) and Jay Hammond;s Alaska - part of the Larry Holmstrom* collection (both out takes and final edits) just to provide some contrast. Have a look at http://amipa.org/collections.html to get a better sense of the value of AMIPA collections.
If you think the collection is safe at UAA, think again. UAA has made it clear that they lack the resources to absorb or manage the collections held by AMIPA or to provide engineering support to maintain and acquire the equipment needed to play back obsolete formats. AMIPA holdings will become inaccessible if AMIPA goes away. Further, the material that AMIPA holds on mag stock (film and video) is rapidly approaching the stages when can no longer be retrieved - even though it is being stored in a climate controlled environment (the tyranny of the clock). The technology that was used to produce video and audio tape stocks was not designed to last. Shut down AMIPA and much will be lost. Your living in a fools paradise if you think that you can close AMIPA and still save the cultural history it holds. Oh, and one last thing. If AMIPA is closed more than a few films, videos and audio tapes will probably end up in the waste stream because part of the AMIPA mission is to seek out and collect material related to Alaska - if closed nobody can add to the collections. "
Becky Larson wrote on Feb 26, 2010 10:20 PM:
AMIPA supporter wrote on Feb 26, 2010 6:21 PM:
see for example:
http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?s=6822230
or
http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1043&Itemid=1 "
AMIPA supporter wrote on Feb 26, 2010 5:51 PM:
icreatewahoo.net wrote on Feb 26, 2010 5:40 PM:
CityKid wrote on Feb 26, 2010 5:21 PM:
Also, you are wrong - there are wet-gate scanners and there are wet-gate printers; both are still in use. As for which is better, well - in a nutshell film. Problem with bumping 8mm up to 16mm from a scan is that you can't get by with a 2K or a 4K scan. "
Becky Larson wrote on Feb 26, 2010 4:35 PM:
The Association of Moving Image Archivists has some excellent information posted on their website explaining this in further detail. "
CityKid wrote on Feb 26, 2010 3:44 PM:
Oh if that were only true. You forgot to add in cleaning and the cost of using a wet gate to reduce scratching (scan or no scan). Then of course the fact that the film you mentioned is 8mm complicates matters because most labs are only set-up for 35mm and some for 16mm.
Oh, and like I said non of the grant money goes to AMIPA - it goes to the labs.
Not sure what your beef REALLY is - maybe you'd like to make that clear? "
Becky Larson wrote on Feb 26, 2010 3:17 PM:
The cost to scan film in the condition which you described is $300.00 - $500.00 per hour at a typical facility. If the film requires significant restoration work, perhaps 5-6 hours of transfer time may be required in a worse case scenario. So, it would cost $3,000 at most, not $9,000.00. "
CityKid wrote on Feb 26, 2010 1:57 PM:
Jeeez... "
CityKid wrote on Feb 26, 2010 1:52 PM:
Umm, Earth. If you can get 1000 or so feet of shrunken color sound film duplicated and restored for less money - post the name of the lab. I'm surprised that you, and others choose to shoot off your mouths about something you obviously know nothing about - but that of course is OH so very Alaskan ;) "
Ken Bilky wrote on Feb 26, 2010 1:19 PM:
Becky Larson wrote on Feb 26, 2010 12:40 PM:
The much touted “archives at risk of being lost” are little more than a fund-raising prop for Ms. Taylor.
The films are already physically located next to the UAA archives in a humidity controlled vault. They are certainly not at risk of being lost.
And what has AMIPA actually accomplished in 19 years?
Here is a partial list of accomplishments from the AMIPA website.
June 2008, Restored 2 reels of 16mm film. Work completed in 2009.
Grant amount: $5,370.00
Awarded grant to restore “East of Siberia”, a documentary film.
Grant amount: $18,100.00
June 2009, restored 3 reels of 8mm film. Scheduled for completion in 2010.
Grant amount: $9.000.00
Are you kidding me? $9.000.00 to restore 3 reels of film? On what planet?
The years of squandering taxpayer and grant money needs to end.
Now AMIPA is asking the Alaska legislature (you and I) to give them another $300,000.00 in tax money so that Ms. Taylor can go back and try to read her undecipherable handwriting for a year or two.
Wow. "
Film Guy wrote on Feb 26, 2010 12:00 PM:
Do you have anything transferred to digital for students and historians to access? Or was that too much trouble as well?
Don't give these people any more money, all they're doing is fleecing the public and taxpayer's money for their own ends. AMIPA needs to give the films to the University (they are already housed there) and shut their doors for good. "