Pre-Production TV and Movie Materials
Digital records of the creative and production process for film and television, such as initial designs, screenplay and script, on set still photography, rushes or out-takes that are not included in the final production and therefore not available to on-air broadcast archives or film libraries.
Examples
TV and Movie production archives in digital form; outputs of script management software; drafts of a screenplay; continuity photography; costume design; set design; lighting and sound design
Hazards
Lack of custodial responsibility; Uncertainty over IPR or the presence of orphaned works; lack of appraisal; lack of recognition of preservation at executive level
Complexity LimitationsMitigations
Preservation responsibility understood and acted upon; preservation infrastructure and planning for key items; access and use of collections to inform subsequent productions
Bit List History
Added to list: 2017Last Review
2023 Review
This entry was first introduced in 2017 and noted as being ‘of concern,’ though the Jury did not have the capacity to assess the entry thoroughly. Additional expertise was recruited for the 2019 Jury, and the entry was added with the Endangered classification based on the materials not being collected in any coherent way, likely loss when not valued by production companies, costly space needed to hold them, and lack of expertise needed to catalogue and collect them. In other words, this is not primarily a technical problem and advocacy is needed urgently. The 2021 Jury added the trend towards greater risk in light of the rise of streaming services. The movie and film industry has been digitizing for a long time, but COVID has brought with it the rise of streaming services like Netflix, Disney+ etc., with productions tied to their organizations. These types of pre-production materials are great for promotion before and immediately after release; ongoing preservation after promotion finishes is unclear or uncertain. The 2022 Taskforce noted no change to the trend (they agreed these risks remain on the same basis as before).
The 2023 Council agreed with the Endangered with the overall risks remaining on the same basis as before (‘No change’ to trend) but noted an increased imminence for this entry.
2024 Interim Review
These risks remain on the same basis as before, with no significant trend towards even greater or reduced risk (‘No change’ to trend).