(Los Angeles, CA) - AMIA will present a Film Projection Workshop in partnership with the Alamo Drafthouse to offer expert-led training for managers, curators and projectionists presenting 35mm film in theaters. The workshop will be held October 28, 2014 in Austin at the Alamo South Lamar location.

As digital technology has presented new opportunities to filmmakers and exhibitors, it has also impacted the availability of prints for theatres showing 35mm film. Fewer prints are available, and many of those come from archives and similar institutions that cannot replace these valuable assets should they become damaged. This makes the handling and projection of film prints critical, and the need for training vital.

"While digital has become the primary exhibition format, many theaters continue to show 35mm film prints. A number of films are simply not available in digital and showing them in their original 35mm format allows new audiences to appreciate rare prints, archive films, and titles from private collections," noted AMIA board member Elena Rossi-Snook. "But it also requires special skills to work with rare and archival prints." 

The workshop will offer a hands-on tutorial for projectionists and theater staff working with 35mm film prints and will focus on film preparation and projection as well as special stipulations for archival projection, coordinating with lending institutions, and paperwork. Class size will be limited to 20 participants. 

"I love digital projection for new release films, but only a tiny sliver of our vast film history will ever make it to the DCP format," said Alamo Drafthouse CEO Tim League. "As an industry, we must continue to preserve, protect and carefully screen 35mm films and maintain our 35mm projection equipment.  The day we stop is the day cinema as we know it is dead."

Participants will receive industry-wide recognition for completion of the workshop, indicated by a certificate from AMIA. Participants may find more information and register at www.projectionworkshop.org. Registration opens August 10, 2014. 

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ABOUT AMIA

As the world's largest international association of professional media archivists, AMIA is uniquely poised to bring together a broad range of experts. Members represent film studios, corporate and national archives, historical societies, labs, post production, universities, footage libraries and more. Because of this diverse membership, AMIA provides an opportunity to interact with every facet of the field and a single forum to address the best ways to preserve and provide access to our media heritage in digital and analog formats. For further information, visit www.AMIAnet.org.

ABOUT ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE

Tim and Karrie League founded Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in 1997 as a single-screen mom and pop repertory theater in Austin. 17 years later, the now 20-location chain has been named "the best theater in America" by Entertainment Weekly and "the best theater in the world" by Wired.com. The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has built a reputation as a movie lover's oasis not only by combining food and drink service with the movie-going experience, but also introducing unique programming and high profile, star studded special events. Alamo Drafthouse Founder & CEO, Tim League, created Fantastic Fest, a world renowned film festival dubbed "The Geek Telluride" by Variety. Fantastic Fest showcases eight days of genre cinema from independents, international filmmakers and major Hollywood studios. The Alamo Drafthouse's collectible art gallery, Mondo, offers breathtaking, original products featuring designs from world-famous artists based on licenses for popular TV and Movie properties including Star Wars, Star Trek & Universal Monsters. The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is expanding its brand in new and exciting ways, including Drafthouse Films, which has garnered two Academy Award nominations in its short three-year existence and Badass Digest, an entertainment news blog curated by veteran journalist Devin Faraci.

More information about the Alamo Drafthouse is available on the official website at www.drafthouse.com. 

Media Contact for AMIA:

Chris Purse

ignite strategic communications

818.980.3473

chris@ignite.bz