The School of Communication announced on March 20 that it has acquired the Raymond J. Regis Motion Picture Archives, an archival collection of several thousand rare original prints of theatrical motion pictures and related materials, one of the largest privately held collections of its kind in the country. UM intends to utilize the archives as a primary resource for the School of Communication.
“Great film studies programs have easy access to substantial film collections,” said School of Communication Dean Sam L Grogg, a former producer and executive producer. “It is critical that scholars of the moving image have the opportunity to view motion pictures in their original form. This archival collection and our state of the art Bill Cosford Cinema will be wonderful resources for our students, scholars, the university and the region.”
The collection, valued at more than $6 million, consists of more than 2000 feature films. The holdings are diverse in nature, with emphasis on classic American motion pictures and a growing component of international and Latin American cinema. Also in the collection are 4,000 trailers and 900 shorts, documentaries, newsreels and commercials.