Sponsored film

Sponsored film, or ephemeral film, as defined by film archivist Rick Prelinger,^[1] is a film made by a particular sponsor for a specific purpose other than as a work of art: the films were designed to serve a specific pragmatic purpose for a limited time.^[2]

A behind the camera look at the cast and crew filming the 1949 Sherwin-Williams Company sponsored film “Sell the Facts.”

Prelinger estimates that 300,000 industrial and institutional films were made in the U.S. – far more than theatrical films.^[3] Many of the films are orphan works since they lack copyright owners or active custodians to guarantee their long-term preservation.^[4] Sponsors often did not bother to register their productions with the copyright office.

Types of sponsored film

Films that fall under the sponsorship genre include industrial video or business films, industrial musicals, training films, advertising films, educational films, religious films, travelogues, medical and scientific films, government films, and advocacy films by social service organizations and/or trade organizations.^[5][6]

While some may borrow themes from well-known film genres such as western film, musicals, and comedies, what defines them is a sponsored rhetoric to achieve the sponsor's goals, rather than those of the creative artist.

Ronald Reagan and Fran Allison starred in “How will you rate in ’58?,” a General Electric dealer training film.

Prominent actors and other notables, including Basil Rathbone, recognized for his many portrayals of Sherlock Holmes, appeared in sponsored films.

Theatrical actors and other notables frequently appeared in sponsored films.^[7]

Sponsored films were usually loaned at no cost, except sometimes postage, to clubs, schools, and other groups.^[8] America's largest companies - AT&T, DuPont, Ford, General Electric, General Motors, Republic Steel, Standard Oil, and Westinghouse Electric Company - were for decades active sponsored film producers and distributors; others included airlines who offered travelogues on their destinations.

History

Sponsored films have been produced since the early years of the motion picture industry. Early sponsored films include Edison Studio's The Stenographer’s Friend (1910) or, What Was Accomplished by an Edison Business Phonograph;^[9] The Worcester Film Corporation's The Making of an American (1920)^[10]—a primer on how to be a good citizen—for the State of Connecticut Department of Americanization, and the Rothacker Film Manufacturing Company's The Heart of Cleveland (1924) for the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company.^[11]

The post-World War II period through the 1950s is considered the golden age of sponsored films. In that period, the sponsored film industry employed thousands and supported two long-running trade journals, Educational Screen (1922-1971)^[12] and Business Screen (1938-1982).^[13][14]

In the early years of commercial television, local television stations often used sponsored films as "filler" programming.

In the 1950s, almost every American city of any size had at least one sponsored film studio. Cleveland, Ohio, for example, was home to over a dozen sponsored film studios.^{[15] [16]}

Theatrical film studios, including Walt Disney Pictures, produced sponsored films along with hundreds of studios that specialized in the genre.^[17]

Awards

The 1948 Cleveland Film Festival was the first American film festival dedicated to recognizing the importance of sponsored films.^[18] By 1956, dozens of cities and organizations were running sponsored film festivals, and the organizers of the Cleveland Film Festival stopped running the festival. Sponsored film festivals continued on but never regained their popularity or influence.^[19]

A number of sponsored films have been nominated for Academy Awards, and several have won Oscars, mainly in the Documentary Feature and Documentary Short categories.^[20]

Sponsored Films That Have Won an Academy Award

Film Title / Year Released/ Sponsor
A Time for Burning (1966). Sponsor: Lutheran Film Associates. Oscar for Best Documentary Feature (1967)[21]
Benjy (film) (1951). Sponsor: Los Angeles Orthopaedic Hospital. Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject (1952)
Giuseppina (1959). Sponsor: British Petroleum Company. Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject (1959)
Skyscraper (1959). Sponsor: Tishman Realty & Construction Co.; Reynolds Metals Co.; Bethlehem Steel Co.; Westinghouse Elevator Co.; York Air Conditioning. Oscar for Best Live Action Short Subject (1959)[22]
The House I Live In (1945). Sponsor: Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith. Honorary Academy Award for director Mervyn LeRoy (1946)[23]
The Redwoods (1967). Sponsor: Sierra Club. Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject (1967)[24]
To Be Alive! (1964). Sponsor: S. C. Johnson & Son. Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject (1965)[25]
Why Man Creates (1968). Sponsor: Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corp. Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject (1968)[26]
Wild Wings (1965). Sponsor: British Transport Films. Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject (1966)

At least a dozen sponsored films have been selected for the Library of Congress National Film Registry because they are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."^[20][27]

Sponsored Films Selected for the National Film Registry

Film Title / Year Released/ Sponsor/ Year Inducted
A Time for Burning (1966). Sponsor: Lutheran Film Associates. Inducted into the National Film Registry in 2005[21]'
All My Babies: A Midwife's Own Story (1952. Sponsor: Georgia Dept. of Public Health. Inducted into the National Film Registry in 2002[28]
Louisiana Story (1948). Sponsor: Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey. Inducted into the National Film Registry in 1994[29]
Master Hands (1936). Sponsor: Chevrolet Motor Co. Inducted into the National Film Registry in 1999[30]
Powers of Ten (1977). Sponsor: IBM Corp. Inducted into the National Film Registry in 1998
The City (1939). Sponsor: American Institute of Planners, through Civic Films Inc., with funding from Carnegie Corp. of New York. Inducted into the National Film Registry in 1998[31]
The Forgotten Frontier (1931). Sponsor: Frontier Nursing Service Inc. Inducted into the National Film Registry in 1996[32]
The House in the Middle (1954). Sponsors: National Paint, Varnish, and Lacquer Association; National Clean Up–Paint Up–Fix Up Bureau; Federal Civil Defense Administration. Inducted into the National Film Registry in 2001[33]
The Making of an American (1920). Sponsor: Dept. of Americanization, State of Connecticut. Inducted into the National Film Registry in 2005[34]
To Fly! (1976). Sponsor: Conoco Inc. Inducted into the National Film Registry in 1995[35]
Westinghouse Works, 1904. Sponsor: Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co. Inducted into the National Film Registry in 1998[36]
Why Man Creates (1968). Sponsor: Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corp. Inducted into the National Film Registry in 2002[37]

Significant collections of sponsored films exist in the Anthology Film Archives, A/V Geeks, George Eastman Museum, Hagley Museum and Library, The Museum of Modern Art, National Archives and Records Administration, Northeast Historic Film, the Orgone Archive, Prelinger Archives, the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, UCLA Film & Television Archive, and the USC School of Cinematic Arts Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive.^[38]

See also

• Prelinger Archives
• Internet Archive § Moving image collection
• Industrial musical