AMIA 2023 Archival Screening Night at the Circle Cinema in Tulsa.

2020 Board & Officers Election

Candidate Statements and Ballot Information

The Elections Committee submits this final slate of Candidates for the 2020 Board Election for the consideration of AMIA Members. All candidates are running for two-year terms.

Your ballot will include voting for three Board members, a Treasurer of the Board, and Secretary of the Board. They will join four continuing members of the Board of Directors.

The 2020 AMIA Board and Officers Election opens Thursday, August 27 and will close on September 27. Ballot information, including your voting password will be emailed to all eligible members by August 27, 2020. If you wish to request a paper ballot, please contact the AMIA Office and one will be sent. Paper ballots must be received no later than September 27, 2020 at 5:00pm (PDT).

All votes are anonymous and only the final election results are tallied. The ballot will require a 25% quorum to be valid, or 215 of 860 eligible votes.

The Ballot will close September 27, 2020 at 5:00pm (PDT)

Candidates for Director of the Board

Rachel E. Beattie

Rachel E BeattieRelevant Experience.  I have become more and more involved in AMIA since I joined in 2011. My first year at AMIA I joined three committees: Access, Diversity, and the LGBT committee.  That same year I was a research volunteer on the Deep Focus Database. Through the Diversity Committee I became a core member of the Community Archiving Workshop (CAW).  Currently, I co-chair both the LGBT committee and the Advocacy Committee of the Board.

I have worked for over ten years as Assistant Media Archivist at the Media Commons Archives, University of Toronto. I am still learning and growing in this job and AMIA has been so helpful in that process. At University of Toronto, I co-founded the University of Toronto AMIA Student Chapter (AMIA@UofT).  I am also a long-term volunteer for the ArQuives: Canada’s LGBT2+ Archive serving on the Community Engagement Committee where I lead historical walking tours and host trivia nights.

What would be your goals as a member of the AMIA Board?
The AMIA community – along with the rest of the world – is facing incredibly tumultuous times. COVID has changed so much and it is not remotely over. Some very tough decisions will have to be made. My goal, if I am elected to the board, is to work with fellow members to ensure that AMIA remains solvent without compromising its core values.  I will work with fellow board members to ensure that the board is still able to continue its amazing advocacy work around issues like salaries and the partnerships that it has nurtured – like the AMIA Diversity and Inclusion Fellowship Program – despite uncertain times and economic woes. I also believe a priority for the Board must be fulfilling the commitments made in its statement in support of the Black Lives Matter movement such as to continue to support local movements for racial and social justice, amplifying voices in this important conversation, and in continuing the great work that has already been done around diversity, equity, and inclusion. I will also work with fellow board members to support the excellent advocacy work done by AMIA members around the issue of fighting climate change.

AMIA was designed to be a nurturing space that offers many opportunities for learning, discussion, and community building.  I want to help continue making those ideals a reality.  AMIA has become very important to me and I would like to give back to the association even more by serving on the Board.

 

Antonella Bonfanti

Antonella BonfantiRelevant Experience. If elected to the AMIA Board of Directors, I will bring 16 years of professional experience working with a variety of moving image collections at various cultural institutions. I started my career as a projectionist in Toronto, Canada, completed the Selznick Graduate Program in Film and Media Preservation in 2008 and was then hired by the Motion Image Department at the George Eastman Museum. In 2010 I moved to San Francisco, where I have had the privilege of working at distinguished institutions such as the Prelinger Archives, Canyon Cinema and, since April, the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. I have served on the Board of Directors of the Center for Home Movies (2014-18), have been involved in countless Home Movie Days and participated in several AMIA projects and committees including the Archival Screening Night Group (2008-16) and co-organized/led 35mm Archival Projection Workshops (2014+2016).

What would be your goals as a member of the AMIA Board?
The coronavirus pandemic and the resulting economic fallout has put many of our jobs, cherished institutions and important resources at critical risk. As a member of the board I will pull on my five years of experience at the helm of Canyon Cinema, a small but mighty non-profit film distributor, to pursue and establish new sustainable earned and contributed income opportunities for AMIA to ensure that it will be there to support its members throughout and on the other side of this unprecedented crisis.

A related priority will be to build on and expand the recent and meaningful efforts to make the AMIA community and our conference inclusive to all who want to participate. This will include finding the financial resources to sustain impactful programs such as the Diversity and Inclusion Fellowship Program, and expand funding and support for scholarships as well as grants for students and members.

As a new parent I am keenly aware of the challenge of being a caregiver while trying to function as a working professional, let alone maintaining or advancing a career. Attending conferences or workshops (in person or virtually) can present insurmountable caregiving challenges for many of us.  As a board member I want to address this problem by establishing a support system for those who find themselves in these situations by organizing services such as childcare at the conference as well as caregiver support groups.

Thank you for your consideration and attention.

 

Mike Casey

Mike CaseyRelevant Experience. My current position at Indiana University is Director of Technical Operations, Audio/Video, for the Indiana University Media Digitization and Preservation Initiative. I have authored/co-authored and published a number of documents that explore media preservation and digitization issues including Why Media Preservation Can’t Wait: The Gathering Storm (IASA Jrnl), Quality Control for Media Digitization Projects (IASA Jrnl), Encoding and Wrapper Decisions and Implementation for Video Preservation Master Files (MDPI), the Media Preservation Survey Report (IU), Meeting the Challenge of Media Preservation: Strategies and Solutions (IU),  Sound Directions: Best Practices for Audio Preservation (IU and Harvard), and others. I am a member of both the IASA and ARSC technical committees. For a number of years, I have taught a graduate-level audio preservation class through the Department of Library and Information Sciences at IU and am currently completing development of an online version of this course.

What would be your goals as a member of the AMIA Board?
As a new Board member, my goals for AMIA would necessarily evolve and become more specific as I learn more about the current work of the organization. There is much excellent work already underway. In general, I believe that there are unprecedented forces and issues that impinge upon this moment in time that we occupy. These demand a response from all organizations and, I would argue, from all human beings. As a member of the Board, I would encourage, strengthen, and support existing and new projects that address issues in climate change and media archiving, diversity and inclusiveness, international outreach, and online education. These impact some of our oldest, on-going issues such as developing sustainable strategies for preservation and articulating the value of our collections that still require our attention. While the current pandemic provides us with serious limitations, it also supplies singular opportunities. For example, the need to limit our communications and meetings to online settings also points towards ways of dramatically expanding AMIA’s reach by enabling archivists with limited resources to participate more fully. It may be incumbent on us to develop hybrid ways of communicating that feature the strengths of both the online and in-person domains.

In short, I see AMIA as an already dynamic organization that will further respond to core issues in moving image archiving within the context of the broader societal issues that define our times. In doing so, I envision that we will simultaneously expand participation and deepen the richness of our discourse.

 

 

Candace Ming

Candace MingRelevant Experience.  I am a graduate of the Moving Image Archiving and Preservation Program at NYU and currently work at the National Museum of African American History & Culture as a Media Conservation and Digitization Specialist. Previously I was the Archivist and Project Manager at the South Side Home Movie Project. I am a director of the board for the Center for Home Movies and Chair of the AMIA Diversity & Inclusion Fellowship Program Task Force.

What would be your goals as a member of the AMIA Board?
My main goal for joining AMIA’s board would be to increase the diversity of our field. Increasing outreach to HBCU’s regarding our field as well as the continuation of the ADIFP program next year. Our field sorely needs diverse perspectives, not only professionally, but in the collections and archives we spotlight. Joining AMIA’s board would help me accomplish these goals and involve AMIA more directly in changing our field for the better.

 

John Polito

John PolitoRelevant Experience.  I have served on the AMIA board for the past 4 years. Working on the board for the AMIA membership has been a rewarding experience. One of my priorities was the rebranding and expanding the Vendor Cafe, now the pAVilion. Thanks to the enthusiasm of the entire AMIA board and our exhibitors, the pAVilion is now the central hub of the AMIA conference. Another focus of mine was bringing the joy of music and sound to the community via “We Are AMIA!”

My experience in growing a small business while remaining hands-on in my craft of sound restoration gives me a broad spectrum of knowledge and experience to contribute.  I graduated with honors from Stanford University in 1987 focusing on computer music and composition.  I founded Audio Mechanics, Inc. in 1991, specializing in sound restoration and mastering for the music industry.

What would be your goals as a member of the AMIA Board?
This year has brought about economic hardship for all, and AMIA is no exception. The office staff has been working tirelessly, and our primary goal as a board has been to ensure financial stability to the organization. While I am certainly not a prime mover in this regard, I understand the difficulties of navigating the current environment as I attempt to maintain financial solvency with my own organization, Audio Mechanics. I feel deeply connected to this community and am eager to continue offering any assistance I can.

As AMIA shifts to an online conference experience, I would like to continue my role as exhibitor liaison for the pAVilion to take feedback and help implement any ideas that will enable its success. I also want to continue offering my love for music and creative experiences. “We Are AMIA!” hit number one on the AMIA charts last year and you haven’t heard the last of it! Please get in touch if you want to collaborate.

Most importantly, I want to give back to AMIA for all it has given me.  I owe much of my business exposure to AMIA and specifically The Reel Thing.  Many colleagues and clients that I have come to know through AMIA have also become personal friends.  I am grateful for all the positive influences AMIA has given me, so serving on the AMIA board will be personally rewarding to me, knowing that I am working to benefit my industry and colleagues.

 

Rachel Price

Rachel PriceRelevant experience. I’m a co-founder and executive director of Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound in Seattle. Over the past six years, MIPoPS has expanded upon its key partnerships with Seattle Municipal Archives and University of Washington and, through a series of local and federal grants, has been able to reveal more of the Pacific Northwest’s moving image history. By inviting museums, archives, and historical societies to participate in the process of selecting their materials, witnessing/learning digitization, aiding in maintaining their digitized files, and screening their material, we’ve created a good model for how this can work elsewhere.

Also, after graduating from the Moving Image Archives Studies program at UCLA in 2009, Australian journalist Peter Monaghan and I started Moving Image Archive News. Peter writes long-form articles with humor and insight. Recent topics include preserving Danish silent film, FIAF’s efforts to document COVID-19, deep fakes, and an Australian documentary about Smell-O-Vision.

What would be your goals as a member of the AMIA Board?
If I were elected to the AMIA board, my first task would be to try to understand how the board functions and how best I could serve. Based on my experience and skills, I would particularly be interested in encouraging conference sessions with an emphasis on non-profit management, creatively and succinctly presented within the time-limits of the conference. While there are plenty of non-profit courses and workshops available (and soon to be MIPoPS co-executive director Libby Hopfauf and MIPoPS board member Hannah Palin just completed a nine-month one) providing insights into how archivally-oriented non-profits function would be very useful. I don’t believe I’ve seen this offered yet through AMIA? Libby Hopfauf and I were presenters at the 2018 Washington Museum Association’s annual conference in Bellingham, WA on the subject of how to write successful NEH and NEA grants. We both felt that this topic could be expanded upon for AMIA.

I’m also very interested in other people’s ideas and backgrounds and would be excited to execute ideas other than my own, and bring whatever perspective I can. I truly enjoy working with other people and would love trying to expand upon what AMIA already does well, and coming up with ways to make AMIA even better. Thanks for your consideration!

 

Juana Suárez

Juana SuárezRelevant Experience.  I am the Director of the NYU Moving Image Archiving and Preservation Program. I came to MIAP with nearly 20 years of experience teaching, advising, and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students. My research in cinema studies, Latin American cinema, archives, cultural studies, and women’s and gender studies has always been oriented to facilitate exchange among national and international communities. I am currently working on my third book, tentatively titled Moving Images Archives, Film Culture, and the Digital Turn in Latin America. With a group of colleagues and alliances resulting from the MIAP Archival Exchange Program (APEX), we are working on arturita.net, a collaborative digital humanities project that aims to enhance the flow of media archival dialogue between Latin American countries, and Latin America and the world. Hopefully, it will set a model to connect local and global communities invested in the safeguarding of audiovisual heritage.

What would be your goals as a member of the AMIA Board?
I would be honored to contribute to AMIA as a member of its Board. One of my goals would be to continue the rethinking of practices of diversity and inclusion, terms central to our mission statement, extending this to our commitment to develop critical, globally informed approaches to the study, archiving, and preservation of moving images. I would encourage dynamic conversations on the evolving nature of those terms, their meaning within the U.S. and abroad, and the societal and political events that shape them. These tasks are more pressing because the global pandemic has dramatically changed the way we work in cultural heritage institutions. COVID-19 has reaffirmed the centrality of digital environments and technologies, increasing the need for ethical, efficient, and reliable handling of information. The pandemic has exposed the stark digital divide across the planet, pushing us to reconsider the heterogeneity of archival institutions. Likewise, the current political events remind us of our responsibility to include diverse voices, stories, and life experiences, our commitment to treating everyone and every community equally, and with a genuine interest for backgrounds, achievements, and challenges. This is a timely moment for us to rethink how we interact with international archives, other than Europeans, and reconsider how we can be effective advocates and great partners of institutions elsewhere. I will be happy to help AMIA sustain a diverse membership and our ongoing engagement with the global community at a moment where creativity and innovation are key to respond to our times.

 

Candidate for Secretary of the Board

 

Taylor McBride

Taylor McBrideRelevant Experience. In my current position as Multimedia Specialist for the Smithsonian Institution’s Digital Asset Management System, I support video and digital preservation and work with collections managers and archivists across the Smithsonian. I am Vice-Chair of the Smithsonian’s Audiovisual Archives Institutional Leadership Group, through which I’ve fostered pan-institutional collaboration and co-authored grant proposals to fund institution-wide AV surveys to aid in preservation planning.

I have now been an AMIA member for 10 years (!!!). In this time, I served as Co-Chair of the Small Gauge and Amateur Film Committee for eight years. I am a graduate of NYU’s MIAP program, and remember fondly my years as a student member of AMIA, and an AMIA student chapter member. All of these components of AMIA – the committees, student chapters, task forces, and mechanisms through which we connect and work with colleagues across the field – have been so helpful in my own professional life. As a Board member this past term, I’ve seen the hard work and devotion all of our members and volunteers pour into these groups to provide value to colleagues and the field. It’s been an honor to see firsthand the giving nature of this organization and its members, and has only reinforced my commitment to AMIA.

 

What would be your goals as a member of the AMIA Board?
During my first term as AMIA Secretary, I strove to serve the membership through transparency and communication, both by sharing minutes from the Board in a timely and regular manner, and sharing agenda items for upcoming Board meetings in advance whenever possible to allow for more membership feedback and participation. My aim has been, and would continue to be, to foster more dialogue between the Membership and the Board to ensure the Board is accurately representing the values and serving the needs of the membership.

If re-elected to the position of Secretary, I would also prioritize the advancement of the organization’s ongoing efforts to provide accessible education through our online platforms and at AMIA events. Creating an accessibility policy for AMIA events is a high priority, as well as ensuring all official documents and websites meet accessibility standards.

Finally, as we find ourselves in unprecedented times as a non-profit organization navigating the two pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic racism, it is of the utmost priority that we focus on continuing to grow our DEI and development efforts. These are crucial to supporting the long-term sustainability of our organization so the AMIA Office, Board, and Membership can all continue to further the great work that AMIA does in the world of archiving and preservation.

Candidate for Treasurer of the Board

Randal Luckow

Ranal LuckowRelevant Experience. I joined AMIA as a grad student.  Since that time, my volunteer work with AMIA has been constant, if not persistent.  I’ve had the pleasure of serving as chair of the Cataloging & Metadata Committee, the LGBT Committee, the Conference Committee, and the Moving Image Related Materials & Documentation Committee.  I’ve presented papers at AMIA events, Henry Stewart, MESA, etc., and I have published papers on asset management, digital authenticity, and moving image taxonomy & ontology administration.

My day job is Director of HBO Archives, and in the past I have been a Digital Archivist and Sr. Director of Metadata & Media Services at Turner Broadcasting, and a Manager of DreamWorks, SKG Archives. I have a BFA in film and video production, with an MLIS specializing in archive administration (Go Badgers!).
What would be your goals as a member of the AMIA Board?
I’m a long-time member of AMIA.  While there have been many changes in the organization over the years, what has been a constant is AMIA’s ability to bring exceptional people together.  The diversity of interests and the depth of experience found in our membership is what makes AMIA unique among our peer organizations.
As Treasurer and Board Member, I will continue to work to ensure AMIA remains financially sustainable, continue to provide the Board with the best financial information I can, and, continue to support fiscally responsible decision making.  Despite these uncertain times, I believe AMIA can be both financially healthy and also provide affordable opportunities to our membership.