THE BECTU
HISTORY PROJECT

by Roy Fowler, its founder.

Noting the explosion of interest in recent years in personal minutiae one can believe that History is a subject whose time has truly come, especially for that sub-section known as Oral. Worldwide uncounted numbers on a multiplicity of machines are beavering away at capturing for better or worse the testaments of living witnesses. What began as the ACTT History Project (but transformed into the BECTU History Project after the regrettable disappearance of the film and television technicians trade union) was unwittingly an early entrant into this fascinating field. It began in 1986, the spark being a not abstemious lunch with an old friend. As is an invariable habit of production old-timers we were exchanging (and topping), over a couple of bottles of the house rouge, our respective anecdotes of the best of times, the worst of times. My experience of the film and television industries here and in the US even then went back over forty years and later that luncheon day, sipping a bicarbonate, it struck me how very sad it was that so much telling history was disappearing along with those who had lived it. There’s not much that’s predictable about film and television (unless it’s disaster) and in their ever-changing history the very times have been mirrored. So I wrote an article for the Union journal pleading that incinerators alone should not receive those vibrant memories and that we should do something about it; and we did. A small group, mostly retired technicians and production people, got together, devised a loose but responsible structure, chipped in and raised some modest cash, acquired some quality recording kit, optimistically bought a few hundred blank audio cassettes, and taught ourselves Oral History. We were soon in business; our first interviewee was veteran cinematographer Eric Cross, now 99. In November this year we fast approach and shall celebrate our five hundredth interview,

which is to be Richard Attenborough in conversation with Sidney Samuelson. The diversity of the archive is impressive. Probably all the major disciplines within our industries have been covered, some of course better than others, just as individual interviews vary hugely in length and quality. Some of the recordings have turned out to be important historical documents, including those of the now departed. Sound has been well represented, not least because Bob Allen - an early recruit to the Project - assiduously promotes its importance. We are still recording primarily on C90 cassettes, mainly for reasons of portability and inconspicuousness, but an eye is kept on developing technologies and we accept that our future is digital. The Project was presented with a DV camera which allows an occasional video dimension but opinions vary about its historical usefulness in any wide application. Our master tapes go to the National Film & Television Archive for permanent preservation in controlled conditions. A protection copy is struck and used for subsequent dubs, one of which always goes to the British Film Institute Library to be available for research purposes. Over the years the Project’s material has given assistance to a large number of diverse undertakings histories, articles and essays, biographies, theses and dissertations, even novels, and of course many radio and television programmes. Since the committee members were, for the most part, themselves active industry members whose experience in some cases goes back to the twenties they also are repositories of unique specialised information freely provided upon request. The Committee (and the operation) is, in the best sense of the word, amateur. It comprises volunteers whose dedication is to gathering and preserving an informal history of the industries in which they spent their lives, not always with due reward or recognition of their contributions. They meet once a month to discuss a varying agenda and decisions are made on a wholly democratic basis. The primary purpose, of course, is extending the archive but all kinds of peripheral and interesting matters present themselves to be dealt with and the meetings have become an enjoyable social occasion. Contacts with external bodies are extensive and rewarding. We have relationships with several universities foremost among which is Exeter whose School Of English and American Studies houses the Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema & Popular Culture. I am especially proud to be on its Board of Management and a Member of the University Court. After a lifetime in film I finally feel respectable! The BFI (or, rather, these