Eric Schwartz awarded the Alan Stark Award by the Association of Moving Image Archivists
Congratulations to Eric Schwartz on being the 2023 recipient of The Alan Stark Award by the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA). Eric was honored at this year’s AMIA Annual Meeting, where four awards were presented by the organization to individuals and organizations who have demonstrated exceptional work in the areas of preservation. The honorees were also highlighted in an article recapping the event.
From the article...
The Alan Stark Award honors individuals who have made a significant contribution through their efforts on a special project that contributes to, and supports, the work of moving image archives and/or the operations of AMIA. In 1988, Eric J. Schwartz helped in the formation of the National Film Preservation Board at the Library of Congress, served as senior staff for the Board from 1988 until 1994 while working at the Library, and has served as pro bono counsel from then to the present. He helped draft the 1992 re-authorization act which re-focused the Board’s work from “colorization” issues to film preservation issues and proposed and assisted in guiding the Film Preservation Study of 1993 that included public hearings and submissions by experts from around the country demonstrating the critical need for film preservation work and funding, for theatrical films, but also for “orphan” films. In 1997, he helped to found the National Film Preservation Foundation – dedicated to raising and distributing monies to help preserve America’s film heritage, with an emphasis on orphan film preservation. He served as the Founding Director of the NFPF and continues to serve on the Board (currently as Vice Chair). He has taught copyright law at the Selznick School for over 20 years. A long time AMIA member, Schwartz shares his expertise with the field as a full-time copyright lawyer at MSK, assisting myriad archives and rightsholders with copyright matters, including issues pertaining to archiving and back catalog access.