Year book of motion pictures (1951)

EDUCATIONAL SERVICES THE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES DE PARTMENT, established in 1946, functions as the liaison between the motion picture industry and educational agencies and organizations. This is a two-way program, through which 1. The industry makes contacts with educational leaders for cooperation in the exploitation of feature films and shorts which haye educational application, and 2. Extends to educational agencies such seryices of the industry as will contribute to educational objectiyes. The seryices to the industry include: A. The preparation, selection and distribution of display materials on current features. These materials are displayed on school and classroom bulletin boards to stimulate student attendance in local theatres. B. Preparation of special study materials based on current films for use in photoplay appreciation classes. C. Publication in teacher education journals of educational review materials designed to encourage teachers to stimulate theatre attendance. Through this Department, the industry is able to render a variety of services to education. These services greatly expand the use of the motion picture in schools and colleges, and give to the motion picture an increasing acceptability within the educational world. This program of educational services is based largely on the program of Teaching Film Custodians. Inc., the non-profit distribution affiliate of the industry, organized a dozen years ago to make short subjects available to schools. These short subjects, not available from other sources, were selected by groups of subject matter specialists, and are licensed on a long-term basis to educational film libraries maintained by state, county and city school systems. The program is carried on without compensation to the producing companies and without profit to any education institution responsible for implementing this service. This program implements the statement, "developing the educatioal. as well as the entertainment values and general usefulness of the motion picture," which was included in the purposes for which the Motion Picture Association was formed in 1922. Under this program, nearly 500 non-current theatrical short subjects were made available in 1939. These were selected from about 15,000 short subjects, then in the vaults of the member companies, for use in educational institutions in strictly classroom work. The selections were made under the supervision of the .Advisory Committee on the Use of Motion Pictures in Education. For the purpose of handling the physical distribution of the films, the educators who were members of this .\dvisory Committee foimed themselves into a non-profit corporation known as Teaching Film Custodians. Inc. In 1943 the member companies of the Motion Picture .Association of .America authorized Teaching Film Custodians, Inc. to excerpt non-current feature pictures in the interests of making classroom verions for study in classes of English Literature, social science anti other curriculum areas. The excerpted versions of feature photoplays are distributed for classroom use under the same licensing terms which govern the distribution of short subjects. Under the terms and conditions of the contracts with the producing companies, the trustees of Teaching Film Custodians, Inc. are permitted to license non-current short subjects and excerpted versions of feature pictures to schools for limited periods with stated limitations as follows: "Prints will be fiunished only to bonafide educational institutions and agencies; the exhibitions shall be before classroom or kindred groups composed only of bonafide students or enrolled members of such educational institutions or agencies, and such exhibitions shall be an integral factor of class or group study and discussion. "Admission fees, directly or indrectly, shall never be charged or permitted to be paid for admission at the door or otherwise in advance or afterwards, for the right to attend either single exhibitions or a series of such exhibitions." Under the contract, these classroom pictures must be projected without change or alteration. The unauthorized copying of these films is a violation of the United States copyright law. Any unauthorized exhibition of these pictures would also be a violation of the copyright law. The advisory committee has prepared a Handbook of Films for Classroom Use, listing and describing the short subjects and excerpted versions of feature pictures which, under this plan, are made available for educational purposes. The Advisory Committee wishes to emphasize the expermiental nature of this work and invites the cooperation of all teachers who use these films. It is hoped that records of the responses of pupils will be kept and that copies will be sent to the office of the Managing Trustee. These reports will be used as guides to the selection of additional pictures which are not now available. Schools of education and other research agencies are invited to send in the result of any investigations that they may make on the educational value of these pictures. .\\\ funds over and above actual handling and distribution costs which accrue from rental fees for Teaching Film Custodians pictures are devoted to the further development of audio-visual education. .Among the experimental and research projects to which Teach 841