Caitlin Hammer, Film-makers' Coop, Fall 2011, AMPAS
Founded in 1962 as the distribution arm of the New American Cinema Group, the Film-makers' Coop is dedicated to the promotion of experimental film and video by providing non-profit distribution services to filmmakers and by organizing screenings and events. Over its fifty years of existence, the Coop has grown into a symbolic hub for New York City's experimental film scene. In the years since its founding, the Coop has inspired similar non-profit film cooperatives all over the world. Collectively these institutions have been a major force in the shaping and sustaining the experimental film community as it exists today. In recent decades the Coop has also distinguished itself as a source of distinctive programming and, increasingly, as a resource for historians of the avant-garde.
The primary goal of my work at the Film-makers' Coop was to provide functional support and recommendations as the institution prepares to expand its preservation efforts and establish an institutional preservation program with special attention towards the needs of the 8mm and Super 8 materials.