More Treasures from the Archives

Once again, here are more rare materials from the archive! These materials cover projects from the last fifty years of independent TV and portable video, many available on Media Burn’s website.

First we have a flyer from Ant Farm regarding their plans to bury a time capsule in 1975 to be dug up in 2000. However, this was no ordinary time capsule—Ant Farm buried a station wagon filled with items representing the average person’s values & culture. The car was buried Sept. 14, 1975 at Art Park, Lewiston, New York.

Next is a memo about the planning stages of “The Overnight Man,” a documentary about Chicago radio reporter Joe Cummings. Written by Tom Weinberg before shooting, the memo outlines the “essential shooting elements,” and includes a shooting schedule. This document emphasizes how quickly projects can be put together, as the documentary was completed in January 1978, mere weeks after this memo was drafted.

Below is a clip from the documentary, which can be seen in its entirety here. Raw footage is also available on the Media Burn website. Or buy the brand new dvd from Tribeca Film Institute.

This is an editing plan from the making of “Vito,” a documentary about Vito Marzullo, former Chicago alderman. Comparing this editing plan to the description on the Media Burn website, one can see the similarities between the finished product and the editing plan. Or buy the brand new dvd from Tribeca Film Institute.

Below is the “Vito” trailer. The finished documentary can be seen here. Raw footage is also available on the Media Burn website.

Last is a rundown sheet from “Time Out” which was a weekly sports program with various Chicago area commentators. The commentators that week were Sports Illustrated writer Rick Telander, WBMX Sportscaster and Assistant Coach for DePaul University’s Men’s Basketball team Kenny McReynolds, WIND reporter Fran Spielman, and former NBA star John Mengelt. Bill Veeck was also a frequent commentator. This material details the outline of the episode and its segments. The episode this rundown sheet refers to, originally aired Nov. 2, 1984, can be seen here.

Keep an eye out for more archive blog posts in the future! This project was supported in part by an award from the Illinois State Historical Records Advisory Board, through funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), National Archives and Records Administration.