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Luddy (Tom) Papers
PFA.MSS.004
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
BAMPFA Film Library
Title: Tom Luddy program notes, correspondence, and related Pacific Film Archive material
creator:
Luddy, Tom
creator:
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
Identifier/Call Number: PFA.MSS.004
Physical Description:
3 cartons
3.75 linear feet; 165 folders
Date (inclusive): 1972-1980
Language of Material: Collection materials are in English
Physical Description: Some of the documents were originally printed on tracing paper and are torn or heavily creased. These documents have been
photocopied.
Physical Location: UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Film Library and Study Center
The collection is open for research use.
It appears that this 3-carton collection is quite complete as it is. It contains all of the Tom Luddy papers that have been
stored at the PFA since his departure in 1980.
The material is arranged in four series:
Series 1, Film programming
Series 2, Film collection
Series 3, Film festivals and conferences
Series 4, Correspondence
Some folder titles reflect the date of the program event rather than creation dates.
Tom Luddy became the Pacific Film Archive's second director following Sheldon Renan's departure in 1975. Luddy graduated from
the University of California at Berkeley where he obtained a B.A. and during his time as a student he operated several film
societies. Upon graduation, Luddy began his career by distributing international films at Brandon Films in New York City.
In 1972, he returned to Berkeley where he served as program director at the PFA, before becoming archive director and curator
in 1975. Luddy remained in this position until 1980, when he left to join Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope Studios as director
of special projects.
[Identification of item]. Tom Luddy program notes, correspondence, and related Pacific Film Archive material, 1972-1980. [PFA--MSS--004].
UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, University of California, Berkeley.
The collection consists of correspondence, internal memoranda and notes generated in the course of Luddy's work at the Pacific
Film Archive. The earliest material begins with Luddy's first official position at PFA as program director in 1972, and continues
through his appointment as archive director and curator in 1975, ending with his resignation in 1980, when he left to pursue
a film producing career.
Coverage is primarily over the period 1975-1980. The majority of the material covers the day-to-day logistics of scheduling
programs. The cycle Luddy used to accomplish this became increasingly well defined over time. He would develop ideas, often
by scanning reviews, initiate correspondence with holders of rights, contact directors to propose a personal appearance, negotiate
rental, honoraria and transport, schedule the series, and finally print the calendar and introduce the event.
At any particular time, Luddy would be working on a small number of large-scale projects in conjunction with programmers at
other institutions, most notably the Museum of Modern Art in New York. These projects, which typically centered on films of
a national cinema never or rarely seen in the United States, often involved travel to, and negotiation with, the national
film archives of those countries. Notable examples of this are the Indian and Soviet Film series presented in 1974. In between
these large projects, Luddy would program series rented from other institutions, retrospectives of known directors, other
short series and single showings. A great deal of interesting anecdotal material was generated in the course of his daily
correspondence, often as an aside in a letter dealing with PFA business. Some examples of this include letters describing
the funeral of Henri Langlois, events that happened during personal appearances at the PFA (Howard Hawks, Kenji Mizoguchi,
and others) and day-to-day events in the lives of Luddy's associates (Sterling Hayden, Agnes Varda, Francois Truffaut).
In addition to film programming, a significant proportion of the material deals with benefit screenings Luddy organized on
behalf of the PFA, most notably for Francis Ford Coppola's film
Apocalypse Now and Werner Herzog's
Nosferatu. There is also some material relating to the acquisition or copying of prints for the PFA collection.
Property rights reside with the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Literary rights are
retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Head of
the BAMPFA Film Library and Study Center.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Film archives
Film festivals
Motion picture film collections
Motion picture producers and directors--California
Experimental films--United States
Luddy, Tom
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive