Film files

Description

This series contains project files kept for each of the Workshop's completed film projects. Typically these files contain administrative papers on funding, research, animation, production, post-production and dissemination of the films.


This series highlights the administrative processes behind the Workshop's filmmaking and the way in which this evolved from the 1970s to present day.


Files may include storyboards, scripts, funding applications, correspondence, contracts, sketches, budgets, financial statements, project proposals, project reports, newspaper cuttings, grant information, press releases, curriculum vitaes and feedback forms. They range in size and detail, with the older film files containing fewer documents.


Highlights of the series include: project proposals that illuminate the aims and objectives of the Workshop; correspondence with BFI during their sponsorship of the Workshop in the mid-1980s; correspondence from experts providing opinions on elements of storyboards and the final films; detailed funding applications that give information about budgets, Workshop members and international project partnerships.

Biography or history

"Leeds Animation Workshop is a not-for-profit, cooperative company, run by women, which produces and distributes animated films and films on social and educational issues. The organisation began in 1976 as a group of women friends who came together to make a film about the need for pre-school childcare. After completing WHO NEEDS NURSERIES? - WE DO! the group was formally established in 1978 as Leeds Animation Workshop. Throughout its history the Workshop has been run by women, who have carried out all stages of the production process, from initial research to final distribution."


[Source: www.leedsanimation.org.uk/about, accessed January 2023].

Provenance

In Summer 2022, the paper records of the Leeds Animation Workshop that had accumulated over its forty-year history, were appraised on site in the offices of the Workshop, in Harehills, Leeds. In October 2022, the appraised selection of material, including all the available physical film files from the office's filing cabinet, were transfered to the Special Collections at the Leeds University Library to be catalogued.

System of arrangement

These files remain in tact, as arranged by members of the Workshop. A new physical file was added for each film project undertaken. The film files run largely chronologically and are labelled with the name of the film to which they relate.


The items within the film files are mostly arranged chronologically. Some of the larger files are split into categories: funding; distribution; and pre- and post-production. These additional file categories, where they existed, are listed in the individual file catalogue records under "sytem of arrangement".


The material in these files was largely compiled as the projects were ongoing. However, other items were added to the files by Workshop members after the completion of the films, where they relate to the projects. For example in some film files, reviews, correspondence and occasionally obituaries have been added at a later date.

Access and usage

Reproduction

Access

Access to this part of the collection is protected under the Data Protection Act. You will need to complete a data protection access form and return it to Special Collections for review by staff before access can be granted

Material in this collection is in copyright. Photocopies or digital images can only be supplied by the Library for research or private study within the terms of copyright legislation. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain the copyright holder's permission to reproduce for any other purpose. Guidance is available on tracing copyright status and ownership.