The Extras - Preserving the Past: Warner Bros. Corporate Archive

Episode Date: August 9, 2023

Ever wondered what's the difference between the Warner Archive and Warner Bros Corporate Archive?  We sit down with Warner Bros. archivist Jeff Briggs, and George Feltenstein from the Warner Archive, to discuss the differences and the part each one plays in preserving Warner Bros. film and TV history. The story originates from how an exhibit at Paris' Pompidou Center led to the birth of the Warner Bros. Corporate Archive and the pivotal role played by Leith Adams.  Jeff relates how he was brought onto the team and some of his highlights in working with archival props, costumes, and archival photos.  Along the way, we discuss the role of the Academy's new museum,  the Jack Warner collection, and the partnership with the USC Film Archive.  We also review the evolution of the studio's historic mailroom tour, initiated in the 1940s, and how it has developed into the current studio tour.  And George relates some of the recent requests he has received from the press during the 100th Anniversary Celebration.You may also be interested in our April 4th WB 100th Anniversary Podcast:Celebrating 100 Years of Warner Bros History Through Releases from the Warner Archive - The Early YearsThe Sitcom StudyWelcome to the Sitcom Study, where we contemplate the TV shows we grew up with and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Warner Archive Store on Amazon Support the podcast by shopping with our Amazon Affiliate linkMovieZyng Affiliate The BEST place to buy all of your Warner Archive and Boutique DVDs and Blu-raysDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.The Extras Facebook pageThe Extras Twitter Warner Archive & Warner Bros Catalog GroupOtaku Media produces podcasts, behind-the-scenes extras, and media that connect creatives with their fans and businesses with their consumers. Contact us today to see how we can work together to achieve your goals. www.otakumedia.tv

Hi, I'm film historian and author John Fricke. I've written books about Judy Garland and the Wizard of Oz movie, and you're listening to The Extras. Hello and welcome to The Extras, where we take you behind the scenes of your favorite TV shows, movies, and animation, and they're released on digital, DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K, or your favorite streaming site. I'm Tim Lard, your host. Today, we have two podcast regulars back on to continue our celebration of the 100th anniversary

of Warner Brothers. George Feldstein has been with Warner Brothers for 27 years and is the guiding force behind the Warner Archive. And joining him is Warner Brothers archivist Jeff Briggs, who has been with the studio for 29 years and as an archivist, deals with the studio's history on a daily basis. Hi, George, Jeff. Welcome back to the Extras podcast. It's great to be here, Tim. Hi, Sam. So it's been a few months since we were on talking about some of the titles that came out in Warner Brothers, the 1920s and 30s in celebration of the 100th anniversary. But I think today we want to talk a little bit more

about the archives and some of the work that's done, Jeff, by you and your department. George, why don't you introduce kind of what it is that you want to talk about today? Well, I think that sometimes there's a little bit of confusion between the Warner Archive collection, which is the boutique brand that is a part of Warner Brothers Discovery that sells Blu-rays and DVDs to the home entertainment market. And then there is the Warner Brothers Corporate Archive, of which Jeff is a seasoned member, that do corporate archivist work, which is completely different. And sometimes people get confused. I'll get phone calls or emails from people

that want to reach the corporate archive and vice versa so I thought it would be a good opportunity for Jeff to talk about what he does at the corporate archive and what his experiences have been and how the two have dovetailed

because we couldn't do a lot of the things we do without Jeff's input, counsel, and discoveries. Well, thanks, George. Yes, so just a little, I think we have to go into the background of the archives at the major studios. I would think, George, you would agree that the archiving wasn't really at the forefront of the studios, maybe with the exception of Disney, you know, until fairly, you know, relatively recently. The studios really didn't have major archives. And I think they kind of, in the early days, they viewed their, maybe their materials and their props, their costumes as similar to the way they viewed their films as

products that could be reused. So maybe the popularity of props and costumes, which started to bubble up by probably in the 70s and even more so in the 80s, kind of made the studios take notice of things, especially when we had auctions, you know, famous props and costumes going for, you know, a lot of money at auctions. So from a Warner Brothers standpoint, the corporate archive, which I am an employee, and I actually, I started at corporate archive, and I kind of went into different archives in the middle of my career and recently rejoined, officially rejoined the Corporate Archive, which is going strong after more than 30 years. It all started essentially with an exhibit in

1991 at the Pompidou Center in Paris. There was a History of Warner Brothers exhibit, and it was curated by a man named Leith Adams, who George and I will agree, we cannot praise more in the history of Warner Brothers, the importance of him to Warner Brothers history. He was the archivist for the Warner Brothers archives down at USC, the University of Southern California, where Warner Communications had donated a huge chunk of material back in the 70s. And he oversaw that and was asked by Bob Daly and Terry Semel to create this exhibit for the Pompidou Center. That exhibit was put on and was a huge success. And so Leith was asked to create an archive at Warner Brothers, and that became the Warner Brothers Corporate Archive in the summer of 1994. My early years at the Archive consisted mostly of looking for props, costumes, business files, which were strewn all over the various

locations of the studio. The major studios in Burbank, but there were satellite areas, there were warehouses, offices off the main lot, sometimes close to the main lot, sometimes several miles away. And we needed to go and kind of bring everything back together to a centralized location. So a lot of my first, I'd say, two or three years at the archive was going and finding this material. And that has led to the whole company benefiting from Jeff's expertise and knowledge, not only of these assets that he's found in terms of photography and various other things, but it supports every other division that is dealing with making the Warner Brothers legacy available to the people. And that's terribly important.

Yes, absolutely. To give an idea, just some examples of some of my fond memories of early in my archiving career, a lot of the work we did, and I have to thank, I'm a very big team now working and doing, you know, doing God's work, basically keeping the studio's history alive. But when I started at the studio, one of the main projects was the Warner Brothers Museum, which was on the lot and opened in 1996. Unfortunately, it closed down during the pandemic, but a lot of it has been incorporated into the new tour center. So if you take the Warner Brothers tour, you can see a lot of the material that was in the museum in this new tour center if you take the tour. But I spent weeks and weeks going through the prop department, and we have a huge four-story

gigantic building on the lot with, I would say, hundreds of thousands of props, and the same for the costume department. It's a few football fields worth of costumes. Some period, going back to the beginning of the studio, we even found stuff from the first national days there, but sometimes vintage clothing going back to, I believe, the 18th century in some cases. clothing going back to, I believe, the 18th century in some cases. Some of the highlights were, I found the, I guess you call it a screen or a divider that was in Rick's Cafe in Casablanca, which you can clearly see in the film and in stills. I found that in the prop department.

Again, somebody else probably would have found it, but I can take the bit of credit for finding it. And it's amazing. It's really exciting going through there. But after like six it's like oh i need a break i i do whenever i go by there i get this feeling of nausea from working too much there i mean just memories of that it's still a thrill to go back in there but it can be overwhelming and it's very it can be taxing at times and my fondest memory from the costume department is finding, oh, I think we had probably five or six Levi's denim shirts, black denim shirts.

And we took a look at them. And inside they had wardrobe tags for James Dean. They are the denim shirts that he wore in Giant during the scene when he strikes oil. So we have several of those. And those were on display in the museum before. That's probably the highlight of the material I found. Stay with us. We'll be right back. Hi, this is Tim Millard, host of The Extras Podcast. And I wanted to let you know that we have a new private Facebook group for fans of the Warner Archive and Warner Brothers catalog

physical media releases. So if that interests you, you can find the link on our Facebook page or look for the link in the podcast show notes. So I'm kind of curious, when you came on as an employee, there's this kind of this daunting task, it feels like. I mean, based on what I'm hearing you say, how did you figure out where to start? And were you tasked with going through the props first or photos first? Or how did that start off for you? Well, as I said, Leif Adams was the director of the archive. And he had a vision that was started even before I joined. You know, we had a very small staff.

There were only about five of us in the early years. And it was mostly, you know, getting stuff together with the ultimate goal of putting them in the museum. And the museum opened in June of 1996. And it's probably my personal highlight in terms of all the events I've been to at the studio. It was a pretty star-studded affair. Who, oh man, so many people were there. I mean, the highlights, Elizabeth Taylor was there and she actually brought her dog with her. Roddy McDowell brought her. And let's see, who else was there? Angie Dickinson was there, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. Let's see,

from the old days, Virginia Mayo was there. Gene Nelson, the director of Vincent Sherman was there. And, you know, here I am essentially working the event and answering questions. But we used to have docents that worked there who were former employees. One of our docents actually started at the studio in 1929. Wow. So he was quite old at the time. And he had some amazing stories. I remember him telling me about how he worked on Mystery of the Wax Museum. We had another employee who started in the 30s. And I used to give him rides home after he would do the

docending work at the museum and he used to be a driver for the studio and he drove everyone from Errol Flynn to Bruce Lee and he had some very colorful stories I'll tell you that and that was part of the museum as well you know just the rich history of the former employees who got to be there and talk to the guests. It was great. And so many of them loved doing that. It was just very exciting for them as well. So it was kind of a living history there as well as the items we have on display. And I think that, you know, that was a cyclical thing that kept the museum and events at the museum thriving for many, many years. And it was exciting to know what was coming next.

Yeah, the first exhibit focused on the first 50 years of Warner Brothers. So I believe the latest item we had in there was from the Wild Bunch. the latest item we had in there was from the Wild Bunch. We had the actual detonator and special effects that were used to blow up the bridge in the Wild Bunch in that famous sequence. And everything else was before that. We had borrowed stuff. We had the original Casablanca piano on display there,

the original Maltese Falcon. Those would be borrowed from their owner at the time. It was a private party owned it. And the upstairs was all dedicated to Warner Brothers animation. It was a beautiful display. The highlight for me of which we had audio recordings of that you could listen to with sound sticks of Mel Blanc vocal sessions recording for the cartoons. I'll tell you, you listen to any sound sticks of Mel Blanc vocal sessions recording for the cartoons. I'll tell you, you listen to any minute of those and you would be laughing your life off. They're magical.

Yeah, absolutely incredible. I still remember, because I think these were from the early 60s and his son Noel was with them. And at the end of his wording, you'd always say, okay, kill it, Noel. Very, very funny stuff.

And then we had a second exhibit that opened in 1999 that came up more up to date. So we included the Batman and Superman material, more of the Clint Eastwood films. We had The Door from The Exorcist and a lot of other material. And that was a that was a fun opening too, as well. Not quite a star setter, but pretty exciting. So did you find Jeff, I mean, this is just my own kind of personal interest in hearing you. Did you find that a lot of the stuff from the early movies, unfortunately had been auctioned and, and was no longer owned by the studios or wasn't even available.

And then at some point, was there more, you know, at some point later on, did they keep more of that stuff? Yeah. Well, the thing that's good from a Warner standpoint of, you know, at some point later on, did they keep more of that stuff? Yeah. Well, the thing that's good from a Warner standpoint of, I mean, to answer your question, yes, but to give it more context, Warner Brothers never had an auction like, for example, MGM had where they auctioned off all of their treasures. But I know, I'm sure that things just kind of disappeared over time. As time went on in the movies, you know, that market got more interest.

There was more interest in that. So, yes, there's a lot of things that we don't have. And who knows if, you know, it could have been something from, you know, back in the old days, they might have rented a costume from another place, from a Western costume or a different company, and it would have gone back to them. You know, but we do have a treasure trove of material that did stay. And thankfully, the wardrobe department and the prop department did reuse a lot of that material, which was, you know, maybe not the best to keep it in the good condition, but it prevented it from leaving the studio. And overall, you know, most of the material we have wasn't pretty good condition.

I'm just thinking of the stuff that we, you know, brought together back in the 90s and the team even before i came put together so um you know what we have is an is an overall very good shape but are there big pieces from warner brothers history missing of course there are and some of those we have seen up at auction you know it's like the bogart trench coat Casablanca. No one knows where that is. Is it out there? Does someone know they have it? Not sure. There are some treasures that we wish we had, but we don't. Happily, we have, again, as I said, a huge collection to share when we have exhibits. I completely agree with Jeff. I think the MGM auction, which was a horrific point in time for all of Hollywood, because it showed that the once greatest studio of them all had fallen victim to,

I'll just say it, an ignorant majority stockholder who just wanted to raise cash and have a fire sale. And if you think that they auctioned off Dorothy's slippers from Wizard of Oz, one of the six pair, for $15,000, which seemed like a fortune at the time, and now they're worth millions and millions, and everything that wasn't tied down to keeping what was left of the studio running was sold. And I think that sent shockwaves through a lot of Hollywood and got people to start thinking about how important it was to preserve this. that we have at this studio as much of our historic legacy that we do is not only I think some of it is a little bit of good luck but I would say a huge portion of it is due to the influence of Leif Adams as Jeff so rightly pointed out, and what has gone on that began as his department's work 30 years ago and continues to this day, but also the work that went on to repatriate

and bring back things that had gone astray for whatever reason. that had gone astray for whatever reason. And now you see this archival mentality, you know, leading to finally a creation of a museum of Hollywood history that the Academy got going. as far back as I think the 1940s, but definitely more aggressive action in the 1960s to try to have some kind of a preservation of Hollywood's history. And it didn't become an all-industry effort until the Academy got everybody together, but within Warner Brothers, and I think Jeff was right in making the distinction that Disney always saw the value in, and I think that came from Walt Disney himself, of keeping meticulous care of everything that went into the making of their animated films. But what we have here at Warner Brothers is remarkable,

not just in terms of props and costumes and stills, but our studio itself and the way that it is maintained and the sound stages being functional. And many of them are almost 100 years old and they're're still state-of-the-art and can do anything. This is a magical place, and the work that Jeff does, Jeff and his colleagues, they're preserving not only the past legacy, they're also promoting the current and the future. Because anytime a new movie is made or a new television program is produced, everything is analyzed as what needs to be kept. And I think that's a look toward the future. And I find all of that terribly meaningful and rewarding. Yes, it's good you mentioned, George, that about the stuff we've been able to, as you said, repatriate. One of the, for me,

one of the most exciting collections we have actually came from the, it was Jack, we have a good chunk of Jack Warner's personal collection of memorabilia and history, which we got from the Warner Mansion after Ann Warner, Jack's wife, died, I believe in 1990. We had the opportunity, and I say, this is the world we, I wasn't there at the time, but to get that material and take some of it back. And our Jack Warner collection is very impressive, and there's some amazing stuff in that. You know, I was just looking yesterday, and I'm not sure where this originally came from. It might have come from the Warner Mansion, but we have a poster. It's actually a window card for the first Rin Tin Tin film, Where the North Begins, which just came out 100 years ago last month. It's just exciting to see stuff that old.

sometimes and um in one of the scrapbooks i found a uh letter to jack warner from the comedian al saint john who silent comedy fans will recognize as being the foil of fighty arbuckle and mabel norman back in their films in the teens and he actually made some films for warner brothers before they incorporated and in this one scrapbook there's a letter to um jack from al saint john and i almost i fell over when I saw that. So very exciting stuff. You know, some of it, you know, a little more in the weeds, but I like it. And something else I'll just mention quick about, especially on the more recent films, the amount of care and work that the incredibly talented people who make the props and costumes

and design them. There are some movies that I won't mention their names that I don't think are very good that Warner Brothers made, you know, but the material from them is absolutely stunning. The work and the care and the love. And it's kind of sad when a movie doesn't do well or doesn't have a good reputation. But within that, there is magnificent work. Again, I don't want to mention any titles, but there's some in my mind where, you know, the props and costumes we have are just beautiful. They're incredible works of art. And I think working here has made me appreciate that fact that even if a movie doesn't come out as well as it was intended. There is artistry to be savored within those films

and TV shows. I'd have to agree. So Jeff, what's the best way for the average person, you know, people who are listening right now to see some of these things, to interact with some of these things. I mean, the museum is no longer running, as you mentioned. Is it through the tours that are now available on the studio lot? Yes, it's through the Warner Brothers Studio Tour. It was just finished about two years ago, and it's gigantic. I mean, when I started here, the tour center was just in a tiny building on the lot, and maybe they had about 10 tour guides.

I mean, now it's just incredible how much it's grown in the last 30 years. They've got dozens and dozens, especially in the summer months. Well over 200 tour guides. I probably should double check that number, but definitely over 100. And it's become a huge tourist attraction and it's amazing what's been done. And it's pretty spectacular. You know, it's, it's different than a Universal Studios, it's not really a theme park, it's more of a nuts and bolts look. But if you love movies and TV shows, and in the history in general, you know, the tour is wonderful. And the tour center has, you know, a ton of exhibits much bigger than anything they had in the past. And there's also

a small space on the lot, where they have some exhibits as well so for the general public yes that's the best way to see that material and there's a lot of great stuff and i i would have to say and i think this is terribly important that all of the tour guides are trained marvelously. I don't know who does the training, but they are trained to understand and speak well about the history of the studio. So whenever I'm walking past a tour bus and I hear the tour guide telling people what they're seeing, it always makes me so proud of these wonderful people that they have been enlightened to the legacy of the studio and pass on their enthusiasm for it to the people who come here for a tour. Yes, agreed. The tour guides are really fantastic.

And for those of you listening who are more into the classic hollywood there is a special classics tour that they have that is more tailored to the the classics you know it's funny when i think of a classic and what some other people younger than me think of classics probably different things but if you want to focus on more of the older stuff and not just the stuff from the last 20 years or so they do have a tour that caters to that and i'm very proud to say that they gave me a test tour to get my opinion before they went live with it and i was like you guys rock this is awesome what you put together yeah we got great people in the tours group have really done an outstanding job. There's been a tour of the lot for decades, right, Jeff? Yes, we have.

Well, I think the tours we know now started probably in the Burbank Studios era. But we have, it's funny, we have photography of a studio tour. It was called the Mailroom Tour that started, well, the photos we have were taken around 1940. So there was a tour going back to that time, maybe a little before that. It wasn't the, you know, the behemoth that it is now. And I think that was the point that I wanted to make was that, you know, from relatively modest beginnings, the opportunity was always there. Universal's tour, I think, goes back to the beginning of their studio.

Yeah, that's true. But Universal was basically a B-studio until really the 1960s, I think. They were not in the class of Warner Brothers and MGM and Paramount and 20th Century Fox. They were on a little bit of a lower rung. But their tour was always a source of revenue for them. And we don't have a theme park, and that's what Universal's tour really is.

We have a true tour of a Hollywood studio. The physical plant has been here since 19, open since 1926, when it was First National Pictures. And the company moved headquarters here after buying First National shortly thereafter. But there's living history on this lot. And then Jeff is going through and finding amazing photography of special events that happened here on the Warner lot as employee, including movie stars, events. Because it was like one big family. And Jeff, I would love for you to talk about things that you were kind enough to share with me.

Those Friday the 13th pictures, for example. I'm not talking about the movie Friday the 13th. Right, right. Well, I'll jump back a tiny bit and just say, in about 1999, there was a decision to spin off a new archive from the corporate archive and it was called the corporate image archive back then now it's uh now what do we call it we just call it the image archive now and i was asked to be the first employee of that so i jumped to that opportunity And it was a similar philosophy. We wanted to

unite all of the studio's photography, bring it back to one central place and start scanning it. So starting around 1999, 2000, we had a scan team and we started scanning material. We started with the material that we had here. And this is, you know, this is after the turner merger so this includes rko photography mgm photography and we scan the select basically we would scan the approved uh the talent or filmmaker approved images and also the historical photography and lot photography from the studio of which there's you know thousands, thousands and thousands. I mean, our system now, our digital system in the area that I oversee has close to 1.4 million images in it. That was another exciting, you know, going to find because there were, you know, as I said, the photography was strewn about somebody, you know, back in the old days, they take some photography from somewhere and never take it back. So even, you know, recently, I'm still reincorporating

some photography, finding originals. And what was exciting back then, too, was to find the original negatives if we had it. Just as an example, we, you know, because back in the days, they would, you know, dupe an image and then then hand out those dupes, which usually would fade over time. And you'd see an image that might look okay, but doesn't look great. We would find the original negatives or the original transparencies and scan those. I'll give you one great example. We have, there's, you know, the approved photography from a film is called a selection, basically. And oftentimes there would be black and white and color

for the film blazing saddles one of our the biggest movies in warner brothers history i actually prepped that for scanning uh this is probably 20 years ago and every single image and there were about i want to say 350 or 400 every single approved image we managed to scan from the original negative and they look absolutely magnificent. Wow. And you'll see that stuff on, you know, the more recent blu-rays and DVDs, basically anything from maybe the mid two thousands on, you're going to see the fruits of the image archives labor of,

you know, finding the best quality and someone, you know, who's deeply invested in Warner brothers history, finding lot photography or historical photography. Here's an example about, was it about a year ago, maybe a little over a year ago. We have photography that was taken during the construction of the first national lot in 1926. Some of that was in our system, had been scanned many years ago,

but I came across a couple files that had more images that had somehow been overlooked. So we found we had about 30 and I found about 50 additional photos. And amazingly, we had caption sheet, which I don't know how that survived over the time. And so we scanned these about 80 photos and they look absolutely magnificent. They're incredible. And you can, you know, we scan them at magnificent they're incredible and you can you know we scan them at a pretty large size so you can zoom into them and see little details like

signs on walls and construction signs it's just you know wonderful and we have we managed to maybe about six or seven years ago we had some photography that had been deposited down at USC and had been out of Warner Brothers hands for probably 25, 30 years. We got it back and scanned it, and we had all these studio publicity photos from the 20s through the 50s or 60s, and some beautiful, beautiful shots, original negatives, some of it nitrate.

Nitrate we safely put aside and store in a safe place. But that material just looks wonderful. I found some amazing shots of the Warner family standing at a train station, probably from the late 20s. And in one photo, you've got Jack Warner and Harry are in there, too. But you also have Daryl zanuck and hal wallace there and um the warner the rest of the warner family leon slessinger is there it's just really exciting to see that stuff for me and identify it and you know for the future as well and you know as i said i dig deep you know into you know some of these people who are very obscure but it's important

to note this material so the you, you know, the, the photography has been, I kind of call it my baby, that collection I've been, you know, intimately involved with for over 20 years and very excited to see people use it and use, you know, stuff that was scanned that, that, that myself and my team, you know, the team I work with were able to scan and preserve. I was going to ask you about who, who kind of does come to you or accesses those photos to use, I suppose, people who obviously do books. And documentaries as well. The recent WB100 documentary that's on Max right now, George and I were deeply involved with that boy over two years i think george right yes i that

was last summer when i was digging deep into the physical archives i would go there and you know look for particular material and that's when i came across those 1926 photos and um i found some photos of like the dedication of the columbia pictures building in the early burbank studios era and it was great to see them used in the early Burbank Studios era. And it was great to see them used in the documentary. And we get requests and there's also we get requests for, you know, office decor, you know, and hallway decors at the studio and all over the country at the Warner Brothers offices to decorate, you know, and sometimes even like create timelines to help with that. You know, a lot of, there's a lot of uses for that.

And the books, yeah, the Warner Brothers 100th anniversary book that just came out, the TCM branded book. Yeah. A lot of the material on that came from us. Yeah. There's a sleuthing element, which, you know, is kind of fun too, since some of them don't have great, great records. No, exactly. Yeah. No, that's, that's a great. That's a really fun part of it too. I just did a podcast with Gregory Orin. The updates that he did to his documentary, I know he worked with you both actually in terms of trying to get some assets in HD or some of the newer assets and some of the new stuff that he added to that release now, which just is coming

out on DVD. And then I recall, of course, working with you on the extras when we would need to use still photos. And I'll pick some from more current television shows just as an example. But when I worked on the Big Bang Theory, just going through, you can't just use any image. It has to be a selected, approved talent, approved by legal, everything. And your system there lets people like myself know, go in, select the pictures, submit them to legal, make sure that they're all good. And then we can use them in the extras or in the packaging or in things of that nature for the promotion of the extras in the home entertainment release. Right. I also internally, I share a lot of historic photos with, we have an online kind of a social media site that's used for employees. And I share a lot of historical information on that.

You know, a lot of our fellow employees, George, and I think you agree that really don't know that much about the history of the studio, but when given the opportunity to get really excited about it. So, you know, I'm always putting on like, you know, you know, like that Rin Tin Tin film, 100th anniversary. I did a little post about that and give a little historic information on it. And people seem to appreciate it, which is great because it's important to know the legacy to appreciate it, which is great. Because it's important to know the legacy of the studio, especially for employees. I couldn't agree with you more on that one.

I know, George, with the 100th anniversary this year, that you have been involved in giving some tours of the props and different archives and things of that nature. And people have been able to see some of the pieces that different archives and things of that nature. And people have been able to see some of the pieces that the videos that you were in and things of that nature. So you've been really actively involved this year, too, with with a lot of the archives and the sharing to the media outlets and other places. Without question. And it's been such an honor and a pleasure. And I've met journalists and television personalities as well from all over the world. And I've accompanied them on tours of the lot.

And then we go to the corporate archive. We had people from Poland, Sweden, more than one from France, I believe, Italy. We had also from the U.S. We had CBS mornings. We had journalists from The Guardian and various publications, several of whom interviewed me and about the company's history

and my involvement in what's been going on with the 100th, because there are certain things I was very involved with, like representing the corporation through corporate communications in these tours and press events. There are other things I had no involvement in. So I always like to be able to speak about the things I was involved in. And I have to say that everyone who came from all four corners of the globe couldn't have been nicer. And everybody was just blown away by the studio and the tour and the corporate archive and all the things that we have, and the Corporate Archive and all the things that we have, including 10 Batmobiles stretching from Keaton to Robert Pattinson.

They're all in the Corporate Archive and they all work. It's amazing to go there and see all this. And it's been so meaningful to me personally to be able to speak of the company's history to all these people. to me personally, to be able to speak of the company's history to all these people. And it's the work of the people of present day, as well as the past, who unite us all in Warner Brothers history. And that's been a delightful thing. And it's a wonderful thing to be able to talk to you about today, Tim. Well, I know that one of the great joys as an employee of Warner Brothers, and I've talked to other people recently, and they say the same thing is just walking around the lot and you look at the stages and you see those placards and you just see history right there.

and inside it's either empty or it's a brand new movie or TV show. So it's living history as well, because it keeps moving on. And on the placards, you'll see a TV show from last year or this year. And so you see the movies, the TV shows, everything that are being filmed in the sound stages. And it's a terrific lot for that purpose of just walking around and feeling the history. And now the tours, I think, really have upped the ante. And I know that I had my mom go through it, my aunt and family and relatives, and it was a great way for them to kind of just learn and see some highlights of the studio. And it's a fantastic, I love the way that Warner Brothers and the work that you guys have done to help promote the history of the studio has, I think, really helped garner more interest in the studio. The studio tour just explodes in popularity. And I think it just shows the potential of making sure that these archives are getting the history out there to the fans.

Agreed. to the fans. Agreed. Couldn't agree more. And, you know, what it all comes down to at the end of the day are the films themselves. And that's where the Warner Archive collection steps in, in terms of making the films that relate to this history we're talking about available and looking better than they ever have before.

In some cases, better than they did when they came out. And it's really a thrill to be part of the living history of this studio as it continues to grow and develop. And at the time that we're recording this, everything is Barbie. And that's a wonderful thing because you know I never thought anybody would make a movie like that and it's a remarkable clever

intelligent insightful film that hits the zeitgeist of multiple generations and people of multiple interests and it's once again very very good to have a big successful motion picture coming from our studios here

because it was a welcome return back to having excitement around a new release that is loved the world over. And I hope it is just the beginning of a new era of success for the company. So that leads into an interesting question for you, Jeff, and that is how soon does a film that is in theaters start having assets that is going to come your way? Photos, images, props, things of that nature. Usually from the corporate archive side, the props and costumes, they often will get, and this is, I'm not as involved, I haven't been as involved with this, but I know the reps really well who do deal with this material.

And they usually get them before the movie has come out. I think after the filming stops and then they get the assets because, you know, I've seen Barbie stuff here months ago. And for the photography, photography we really for the new films i'm somewhat involved with the press photography you know with the stuff that you see once again i mean it's a different world now everything once it's online it's online and then it's released right so we in our system and you know in terms of it being archived it's pretty much when it gets released to the public you know know, maybe a teeny bit before, but it's usually at the same time. And we make sure that

the material is kept safe. And, you know, I talked to the incredible photo editors for our features and they, after the film comes out, we usually try to put a little more photography in. So there's a little more to choose from going forward. Well, that's pretty interesting. I mean, that's right up to the minute of what you're working on and what's in theaters. And you have to understand that some of those props, yes, they're done with the movie, but they may ask to use them to shoot commercials or sequels or prequels or all kinds of promotional things over the next number of months or even things for the home entertainment. So everybody needs to know where those are.

Yeah. So we keep them safe, nice and safe. Well, this has been really interesting. I appreciate you guys coming on the podcast to explain just a little bit about how the archiving process goes on at the studio, because we've all seen the articles online. We've all seen the videos of you, George, giving the CBS This Morning one, especially, I think it was pretty well noted by people on our Facebook group and people who buy the Warner Archive product. It was great to see you on there and the archives in there. So that was a lot. We couldn't have a better ambassador.

Yes. And on the Guardian article too. Yeah. It was very exciting for me because for as long as I've been here, and Jeff was shocked when I told him this, I had never been to the corporate archive. I can't believe that. I knew the people there, but it just never came to my having been there. And once I was, I was like, oh, my God, I could spend days here. Yeah, it's overwhelming. And frankly, there were a lot of things that, well, almost everything that is there I didn't touch or go near. I'd be afraid to open up a box or a garment bag or anything. That's what we have archivists for. They know how to handle that kind of thing.

But the way they keep all the costumes together, there's a whole, like, Humphrey Bogart section of costumes and Dick Doris Day section of costumes and Jimmy Cagney and Edward G. Robinson and Joe Crawford and Betty Davis and Natalie Wood and it just goes on and on and on. It is astounding and they did admit they did put some of the more awe-inspiring stars in the most viewable racks, but it's three stories high in terms of the costumes. And then I see some of the costumes from some of my favorite television shows

that Warner Brothers just made, like Lucifer or Longmire, you know, and things like everybody loves, like the Big Bang Theory. I mean, there's just friends and two and a half men, and it's all there alongside, you know, the Bette Davis costume from Now Voyager. It's astounding. And there's animation. There are toys from Hanna-Barbera.

It is absolutely astounding, and it's so well cared for and so well inventoried. We're very fortunate to have a company that supports that the film and tape archival aspect of what is done at Warner Brothers is rooted in decades of preservation. And that has its roots back into the preservation program that started at MGM in the 1960s of preserving nitrate to safety. of preserving nitrate to safety. And MGM having been bought by Turner, buying the MGM library, and Warner Brothers buying Turner, that brought the sense of film and tape archival preservation to Warner Brothers

27 years ago. So there's just so much protection going on looking forward to the future. It's a very exciting time for people who like and care about the past, as well as making sure that the present is available for future generations. Right. And what's important, and George, you basically said this, but I'll say it again and underline it, is all the archivists, you know, not just the corporate archive, but the film and tape people, they really care about this stuff. I feel fortunate that we work with people who care so much and are dedicated to keeping this history alive. I feel very honored to work here and among such great people. It's really, I feel very honored to work here and among such great people. It's

really, I feel really blessed. There's nothing more I love than when I take someone to the warehouse and see them light up when they see this material. It's like when I first showed my son, you know, one of his favorite movies when he was a kid or something, just to see that reaction is just thrilling because I share in that as well. Jeff, I echo everything you said. I think we're like-minded. Big shock on that point of faith. Great minds think alike.

Very much feel the same all along, without question. And I think it's really great, Tim, and I thank you, that we've had a chance to kind of talk about this on the extras and share kind of what goes on here that a lot of people don't hear about. And specifically the work that Jeff does that contributes to so much of what Warner Brothers can offer the public in terms of having a view of its legacy. It's really quite remarkable. Well, I want to thank you both for coming on the show. And I want to thank Warner Brothers for allowing us to talk about this topic today and share that with the fans, because it really is a unique sneak peek into Warner Brothers, one of the major studios of Hollywood, and how you guys keep

the archives and the history of this great studio for the future. Tim, it's the best studio in Hollywood. Without question. And I say that without bias. I agree. Same here. Same here. So thanks to George and Jeff again and to Warner Brothers. If you haven't had a chance to listen to George and Jeff's discussion of the early films of the studio, you can find that episode in our podcast archives from April 4th.

Their knowledge of these films and the history behind them is right up there with the best film scholars in the world. So we are very lucky that they are friends of the podcast. If you're on social media, be sure and follow the show to stay up to date on our upcoming guests and to be a part of our community. And if you're a fan of Warner Brothers, you're invited to a Facebook group called Warner Archive and Warner Brothers Catalog Group. So look for that link and our social media links in the podcast show notes. And for our long-term listeners, don't forget to follow and leave us a review at iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcast provider. Until next time, you've been listening to Tim Millard. Stay slightly obsessed.

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