{"id":401,"date":"2025-05-01T19:09:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T19:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/?p=401"},"modified":"2025-05-01T19:10:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T19:10:19","slug":"dumpster-diving-hollywood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/?p=401","title":{"rendered":"Dumpster Diving Hollywood"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"401\" class=\"elementor elementor-401\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-36af6c3 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"36af6c3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b6d0f19 elementor-nav-menu__text-align-center elementor-nav-menu--dropdown-tablet elementor-nav-menu--toggle elementor-nav-menu--burger elementor-widget elementor-widget-global elementor-global-343 elementor-widget-nav-menu\" data-id=\"b6d0f19\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;layout&quot;:&quot;horizontal&quot;,&quot;submenu_icon&quot;:{&quot;value&quot;:&quot;fas fa-caret-down&quot;,&quot;library&quot;:&quot;fa-solid&quot;},&quot;toggle&quot;:&quot;burger&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"nav-menu.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<nav aria-label=\"Menu\" class=\"elementor-nav-menu--main elementor-nav-menu__container elementor-nav-menu--layout-horizontal e--pointer-underline e--animation-fade\">\n\t\t\t\t<ul id=\"menu-1-b6d0f19\" class=\"elementor-nav-menu\"><li class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-home menu-item-308\"><a href=\"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/\" class=\"elementor-item\">Home<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-333\"><a href=\"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/?page_id=325\" class=\"elementor-item\">Blog<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-127\"><a href=\"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/?page_id=85\" class=\"elementor-item\">Bio<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-131\"><a href=\"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/?page_id=5\" class=\"elementor-item\">Shop<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-130\"><a href=\"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/?page_id=6\" class=\"elementor-item\">Cart<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\t\t\t<\/nav>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-menu-toggle\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"Menu Toggle\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n\t\t\t<svg aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"elementor-menu-toggle__icon--open e-font-icon-svg e-eicon-menu-bar\" viewBox=\"0 0 1000 1000\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M104 333H896C929 333 958 304 958 271S929 208 896 208H104C71 208 42 237 42 271S71 333 104 333ZM104 583H896C929 583 958 554 958 521S929 458 896 458H104C71 458 42 487 42 521S71 583 104 583ZM104 833H896C929 833 958 804 958 771S929 708 896 708H104C71 708 42 737 42 771S71 833 104 833Z\"><\/path><\/svg><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"elementor-menu-toggle__icon--close e-font-icon-svg e-eicon-close\" viewBox=\"0 0 1000 1000\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M742 167L500 408 258 167C246 154 233 150 217 150 196 150 179 158 167 167 154 179 150 196 150 212 150 229 154 242 171 254L408 500 167 742C138 771 138 800 167 829 196 858 225 858 254 829L496 587 738 829C750 842 767 846 783 846 800 846 817 842 829 829 842 817 846 804 846 783 846 767 842 750 829 737L588 500 833 258C863 229 863 200 833 171 804 137 775 137 742 167Z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<nav class=\"elementor-nav-menu--dropdown elementor-nav-menu__container\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t<ul id=\"menu-2-b6d0f19\" class=\"elementor-nav-menu\"><li class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-home menu-item-308\"><a href=\"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/\" class=\"elementor-item\" tabindex=\"-1\">Home<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-333\"><a href=\"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/?page_id=325\" class=\"elementor-item\" tabindex=\"-1\">Blog<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-127\"><a href=\"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/?page_id=85\" class=\"elementor-item\" tabindex=\"-1\">Bio<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-131\"><a href=\"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/?page_id=5\" class=\"elementor-item\" tabindex=\"-1\">Shop<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-130\"><a href=\"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/?page_id=6\" class=\"elementor-item\" tabindex=\"-1\">Cart<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\t\t\t<\/nav>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e9f1bde elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e9f1bde\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maybe it\u2019s the researcher in me, but I\u2019m fascinated with the notion of dumpster diving into Hollywood history. Beyond inferring a quest to retell a particular moment or chapter in cinema history, it can also address the rather egregious practice manifestly found in Hollywood of simply tossing-out historical documentation and records of what actually transpired. (The most recent example: Technicolor tossing their original corporate minutes from 1915.) On the other hand, there are those intrepid souls willing to get their hands dirty by literally climbing into a dumpster to save those artifacts of Hollywood history for future generations. <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-71ffbb9 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"71ffbb9\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-26c3c30 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"26c3c30\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"442\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/moviealchemy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/LANTON-MILLS-STILLFRAME.jpeg?resize=640%2C442&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-408\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/moviealchemy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/LANTON-MILLS-STILLFRAME.jpeg?w=640&amp;ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/moviealchemy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/LANTON-MILLS-STILLFRAME.jpeg?resize=300%2C207&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/moviealchemy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/LANTON-MILLS-STILLFRAME.jpeg?resize=306%2C211&amp;ssl=1 306w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/moviealchemy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/LANTON-MILLS-STILLFRAME.jpeg?resize=600%2C414&amp;ssl=1 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7b6ae9d e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"7b6ae9d\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1d0ed27 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1d0ed27\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One such individual is my old friend Marc Wanamaker who created the Bison Archive in the early 1970s. I\u2019ve known Marc most of my life. We both attended Emerson Junior High School then University High School in the first half of the 1960s. We both attended Cal State Northridge, but I don\u2019t recollect ever seeing Marc there during my 3 years. I spent most of my free time in the basement of the chemistry building processing black and white negatives or making prints for the various courses in photography I was quite passionate about.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-26511e8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"26511e8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"493\" height=\"481\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/moviealchemy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Marc_Wanamaker.jpeg?resize=493%2C481&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-407\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/moviealchemy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Marc_Wanamaker.jpeg?w=493&amp;ssl=1 493w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/moviealchemy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Marc_Wanamaker.jpeg?resize=300%2C293&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/moviealchemy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Marc_Wanamaker.jpeg?resize=306%2C299&amp;ssl=1 306w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 493px) 100vw, 493px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4304d5e e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"4304d5e\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-05fe931 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"05fe931\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Where Marc and I reconnected was at The American Film Institute at Greystone in Beverly Hills&#8230;the Los Angeles home of the AFI Conservatory during the 1970s. In 1970, I was accepted into a work-study program \u2013 my job was recording audio interviews with many of the filmmakers who were the focus of seminars regularly conducted at the Institute.\u00a0 Marc, on the other hand, was part of the group of archivists at Greystone helping build the AFI Library then being put together by Anne Schlosser. I spent a lot of time in the library trying to catch up on the literature of cinema being assembled by Anne, Marc, Gary Essert, I believe, David Shepard, and others. Down the hall from the library, Marc was assembling the materials he saved for posterity by diving in dumpsters on the Columbia Pictures lot, at Sunset and Gower, before the studio finally relocated to the north end of the Warner Bros lot in Burbank \u2013 that became the Burbank Studios until Warner Bros got it back upon Columbia\u2019s move to Culver City after Sony bought the old MGM lot from Lorimar Pictures.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Should you think that Marc quixotic career dumpster diving was outside the norm, he recently recounted a wonderful story to me. It was in 1971, if memory serves, and Marc was reclaiming materials from a dumpster the Columbia Pictures marketing department was using, when he became aware that there was another intrepid \u201cresearcher\u201d in an adjacent dumpster \u2013 director Peter Bogdanovich who was diving for extant materials from the legendary career of his close friend, director Orson Welles who made <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Lady from Shanghai <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">at the studio.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7576ce6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"7576ce6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/moviealchemy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/75.jpeg?resize=640%2C360&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-406\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/moviealchemy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/75.jpeg?w=640&amp;ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/moviealchemy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/75.jpeg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/moviealchemy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/75.jpeg?resize=306%2C172&amp;ssl=1 306w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/moviealchemy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/75.jpeg?resize=600%2C338&amp;ssl=1 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-048d2d5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"048d2d5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Preservation was a major focus of AFI\u2018s at that moment, and Institute director, George Stevens Jr. allotted space for the library, Marc\u2019s nascent Bison Archive, and also space in the basement where Lillian Michelson, arguably the most famous cinema researcher in America at that time, had been given space to house her research library after having been forced to relocate from a prior location. I remember quite fondly an almost magical pull on me emanating from Lillian\u2019s archive in the Greystone basement. And later, it certainly informed my first jobs in Hollywood &#8230;doing research for David Wolper Productions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AFI in those days was a bastion for cinema scholarship. James Silke and Jim Kitses were leading the Critical Studies department. Paul Schrader was arguably the most prominent fellow in the department but there were a number of other noteworthy cinema scholars in the fellowship program. They included future screenwriter Robert Mundy; future UCLA Cinema Studies professor Steven Mamber; and author Donald Knox who was working on his masterwork, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Magic Factory: How MGM Made an American in Paris.<\/span><\/i><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s certainly not lost on me that that period in my budding career informed the years of research I put into <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alchemy in Technicolor<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 a copy of which now resides in the AFI Library in Hollywood.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maybe it\u2019s the researcher in me, but I\u2019m fascinated with the notion of dumpster diving into Hollywood history. Beyond inferring a quest to retell a particular moment or chapter in cinema history, it can also address the rather egregious practice manifestly found in Hollywood of simply tossing-out historical documentation and records of what actually transpired. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=401"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":415,"href":"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401\/revisions\/415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviealchemy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}