Grant Proposal

Dear Grants Administrator,

New England Vintage Film Society, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity based in Newton, Massachusetts, is submitting this proposal for your consideration of a grant to help support our organization that is dedicated to advancing the relevancy of Americana from Hollywood’s Golden Age of film to our world today.

The organization’s mission is to preserve, restore, and present classic and vintage American films from Hollywood’s Golden Age to enlighten, enrich, and entertain. Movies educate, facilitate cultural and historical understanding, and enhance appreciation for the arts.  New England Vintage Film Society, Inc. provides many members of the community with an opportunity to recognize the significance of this segment of our nation’s history.

I will contact you soon to see if you have any questions about this proposal. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Brenda Loew, President
New England Vintage Film Society, Inc.

GRANT PROPOSAL

> Click here to download the grant proposal in .pdf format <

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

New England Vintage Film Society, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to the belief that American films created for mass audiences, particularly from the late 1920’s through the end of the studio system and beyond, serve as important historical records that document and reflect prevailing American social, cultural, economic, political, religious, and moral attitudes and assumptions. “We believe in the value of comparing our interpretations, findings, discoveries, and viewpoints relative to the these criteria to the state of contemporary American society and current state of global affairs.”

Education and awareness have always been strong tenets of the organization. Founded in 2006, the Society was conceived and organized to address the social, cultural, and intellectual needs of numerous generations, to counteract vintage film deterioration, and to assist in the provision of opportunities for historic preservation. “The mission of New England Vintage Film Society is to preserve, restore, and present classic and vintage American films from Hollywood’s Golden Age to enlighten, enrich, educate, and entertain.”

The organization’s efforts, implemented by a well-trained staff, provide many opportunities for the expansion of historical film preservation and film studies. With its goals of supporting the development of cultural awareness, social skills, and intellectual fulfillment, the New England Vintage Film Society, Inc. provides many individuals of all ages, including under-served populations, with an opportunity to share and increase their knowledge of classic American films.

Recognizing the needs that exist, the organization’s current vision is to expand recognition and appreciation of classic film throughout the local community and nationwide. Through lectures, screenings, memorabilia displays and its book, the organization seeks to preserve vintage American film culture, while inspiring appreciation of classical film among generations young and old.

The Society’s goals are accomplished by implementation of stimulating activities and materials that are organized around a well-developed prospectus. Ongoing evaluation assures progress and cost-effectiveness. Fund-raising is a continuous, ongoing effort. A grant from your organization.will assist in the triumph of the organization’s projects. We are requesting $10,000.00 This funding will be used for costs related to administrative and program expenses.

INTRODUCTION

New England Vintage Film Society is a  501(c)(3) public charity located in Newton, Massachusetts. Founded in 2006, the organization is committed to promotion and preservation of classic and vintage American films that address social, political, economic, historical and cultural issues with relevance to today’s world. “It is our mission to preserve, restore, and present classic and vintage American films from Hollywood’s Golden Age to enlighten, enrich, educate, and entertain.”

In order to achieve its mission, New England Vintage Film Society, Inc. offers a variety of programs aimed at education, awareness, and enrichment, all of which  are focused on facilitating awareness of the relevancy of classic American films to our contemporary society and world. Their programs have reached the local community via implementation of lectures and screenings at private retirement communities and adult education centers, screenings open to the general public, display case exhibits at the public library, newspaper interviews, the publication of books, a website and new media marketing and outreach and public access television productions. It is their current aspiration to expand organizational capacity in order to reach a larger, more diverse audience and expand erudition of the significant impact of classic American film.

The organization’s programs are the brainchild of a passionate individual who has spent many years dedicated to historical film promotion and preservation, and whose qualifications are demonstrated in her firsthand expertise in the realm of vintage film. Founder and President Brenda Loew’s experience with the silver screen dates back to her great uncle who owned the Loew’s chain of movie theatres and his stories of Hollywood royalty. Ms. Loew conceived of and edited Spencer Tracy, Fox Film Actor: The Pre-Code Legacy of a Hollywood Legend, the organization’s most prominent original work, endorsed by Turner Classic Movie host Robert Osborne.

The Society’s fervent efforts have been recognized and appreciated by many individuals and organizations. Their presentations have been met with acclamation at a variety of venues, including the Newton Free Library, Lasell Village, NEW-TV, Newton TAB, and The Cambridge Center for Adult Education.

NEED STATEMENT

Historic Preservation is most often defined as the protection and enhancement of buildings, sites, districts, structures, objects, and significant natural features that connect a community to the past. These cultural and historic assets are a significant part of the heritage, education, and economic base of many U.S. communities. Preserving our country's heritage fosters civic pride in the beauty and accomplishments of the past that we all share. Protection and enhancement of historic memorabilia is recognized as a necessary component of the social and economic prosperity of our nation. Traditionally, the preservation and adaptive re-use of historic objects provides a continuing economic base by promoting educational activities and tourism.

One rarely considered area in which historical preservation is essential is in the genre of vintage film. A two-year study prepared by the Library of Congress' National Film Preservation Board documented that American films are disintegrating faster than archives can save them. The types of motion pictures most at-risk are documentaries, silent-era films, avant-garde works, ethnic films, newsreels, home movies, and independent works. These are not Hollywood sound features belonging to the film studios, but "orphans" that fall outside the scope of commercial preservation programs and exist as one-of-a-kind copies in archives, libraries, museums, and historical societies.

However, the film preservation movement has also brought about the restoration of many classic films.  Film directors Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese have joined the cause of preserving mainstream motion pictures.

In addition to physical preservation of vintage films and memorabilia, ensuring the continuation of our country’s film culture is also of historical importance. Just as people need photographs and heirlooms to understand their role in their family’s history, citizens (a much larger collective) need physical representations of the past to define and make sense of their place in the country’s culture and history, industry, recreation, and habitation. The richness of the nation’s heritage, as depicted in motion pictures, encompasses its founding in the eighteenth century, its development in the nineteenth century, and its maturation in the twentieth century, and can be appreciated by and beneficial to generations young and old.

Government and individual and corporate citizens must take action to ensure preservation of films where past events and patterns of life are reflected, so that these images may continue to be a part of Americana.  Advocating stewardship for vintage films as historic resources says much about a community’s own awareness of its identity, which in turn is critical to the individual’s ability to influence and shape the perceptions of others.

The vast collection of evidence in support of classic film preservation has made it clear that there is a definite need for creative program implementation. The arts create jobs, increase the local tax base, boost consumerism, spur growth in related businesses, and improve the overall quality of life in our cities and towns. With the assistance of organizations like New England Vintage Film Society, Inc., a cost-effective plan for the continuation of vintage film promotion, advocacy, and preservation is assured.

OBJECTIVES

The primary goal of New England Vintage Film Society, Inc. is to facilitate cultural appreciation of vintage film amongst all generations through the provision of rewarding programs that enhance both educational ability and social development. “We want to share our belief that American films created for vast audiences, particularly between the late 1920’s through the end of the studio system and beyond, serve as important historical records that document and reflect prevailing American social, cultural, economic,
political, religious, and moral attitudes and assumptions.” 

In doing so, the Society plans to:

a) Increase access to vintage film education.
b) Educate and inform young and old on the value of historical American film.
c) Create opportunities for a variety of generations to observe and appreciate vintage film.

The projects being proposed will help to accomplish the Society’s goals. The following objectives are specific to the proposed film studies preservation programs.

Process Objectives
Increase organizational capacity while expanding their mission through the facilitation of sales of Spencer Tracy Fox Film Actor: The Pre-Code Legacy of a Hollywood Legend. Develop relationships with film school professors, in an effort to incorporate the abovementioned book into their curriculum. Provide film screenings, film lectures and memorabilia exhibits at a variety of community outlets, with a focal point on adult education, public access, public library and senior-focused organizations.  Extend awareness of vintage film via the internet and through the publication of more books celebrating the Golden Age of Hollywood.

METHODOLOGY

New England Vintage Film Society, Inc., will present culturally rich opportunities to individuals within their community, nationally and globally through the implementation of its variety of programs. While some of these activities have been focused on providing essential social interaction to retirees, the Society aspires to expand appreciation of this genre to audiences of all ages. To accomplish the objectives stated in the previous section, the organization will use the following methods, based on the expertise of the President, as well as the successes of other established service providers.


Spencer Tracy Classic Film and Lecture Series Project

The Spencer Tracy Classic Film and Lecture Series Project is comprised of six one-hour presentations and one two-hour screening in an effort to facilitate knowledge of the historical relevance of Spencer Tracy and his films. The lecture series covers the political, social, and economic significance of the following films:

I. Woman of the Year
Sixty-seven years ago, at the height of WWII and before television, the movie Woman of the Year was released. As was typical in the era of radio, people in the film connect with each other through a lot of dialogue and detailed communication. And communication is how the battle of the sexes begins! In the film, Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn are columnists for the same newspaper: he’s a sports columnist and she’s an international affairs columnist. Classic components of American life are depicted, and romance blooms in the workplace. The organization’s lecture discuss the meaning of family, romance, sexual politics, and traditional versus modern male and female roles, as inspired by this film. We view a few scenes for the purposes of discussion and example, but encourage participants to enjoy the whole film in advance.


II. Boom Town
This lecture discusses the meaning of wildcatting, as inspired by the 1940 film Boom Town starring Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy. Participants view a few scenes for the purposes of discussion and example, but are encouraged to enjoy the whole film in advance. Boom Town is particularly significant to modern society, as oil is essential to our economy and fuels the civilized world. In the 1860's, before the rise of major oil companies, oil was used as a disinfectant, a vermin killer, and a cure for kidney stones. Wildcat oilmen drilled for oil in unproven, unexplored locations. Until 1970, The United States produced sufficient oil to supply the nation's own demand. By 1973, the major oil companies had lost control to Middle East countries. In 1977, the United States imported almost one-half of the oil it consumed, making our economy and the supply and price of oil
dependent on an international cartel. The high price of oil together with the desire to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, has sparked renewed interest in drilling for oil in the continental United States by wildcat oilmen.

III. The Last Hurrah
In Boston today, political tensions no longer exist between Irish Roman Catholics and Brahmin Protestants. Instead, differences of opinion flare up amongst Democrats and Republicans, liberals, conservatives, the politically-correct crowd and special interest groups. Adapted from Edwin O'Connor's novel loosely based on the life of notorious Boston Mayor James Michael Curley, director John Ford's 1958 classic movie, The Last Hurrah, offers a gripping view of political machinery that pitted ethnic hatred and old-time money against poor immigrant urban slum dwellers. During this lecture, we’ll view some scenes to examine the good and evil inherent in politics, political campaigns, and the components that go into winning and/or losing an election. Participants are encouraged to enjoy The Last Hurrah in advance of the workshop and come prepared to talk the game of politics.

IV. The Actress
Many role models, events, and circumstances shape a young girl's transition from adolescence into adulthood, including parents and friends, economic, educational and career opportunities and mentors. Set in Boston and Quincy (Wollaston), the 1953 award-winning film, The Actress, depicts the transformation of a conflicted teenager to maturity when seventeen-year old Ruth Gordon Jones becomes obsessed with acting on the stage after seeing a performance in 1913 by Hazel Dawn at the Colonial Theatre in Boston. We discuss and view scenes from The Actress which stars Jean Simmons in the autobiographical role of Ruth Gordon, the Academy-award winning actress and writer best known for her roles in Inside Daisy Clover (1966), Rosemary's Baby (1968), Harold and Maude (1972) and collaborations on the screenplays for the Katharine Hepburn-Spencer Tracy films, Adam’s Rib (1949) and Pat and Mike (1952).

V. Big City
On the surface, this obscure 1937 MGM melodrama tells the simple story of a young, struggling married couple in love during New York’s taxi wars of the 1930‘s. But on a deeper level, unfair city officials -- looking for a scapegoat to pin an alleged gangland bombing on -- plan to deport Anna, the pregnant foreign wife of independent American cabbie Joe Benton, back to Russia. As part of this lecture, we view appropriate scenes and discuss immigration, deportation, naturalization, law enforcement, and constitutional rights through the Big Citylens and how these issues influence politics today.

VI.  Mans’s Castle
Man's Castle, directed by Frank Borzage, stars Spencer Tracy and Loretta Young, in a rare, pre-Code 1933 romantic drama that takes a hard look at the economic hardships of the Great Depression: pre-Code because the long list of moral restrictions required by Hollywood’s 1930 Motion Picture Production Code -- also known as the Hays Code (named for movie censor Will Hays) -- were not enforced. We witness Herbert Hoover’s America following the Stock Market Crash of 1929 but before FDR’s New Deal. Twelve million
unemployed men and women are desperately poor, powerless, homeless and hungry, living in jungles of squalor. We observe a hopeless, often abusive, base form of human existence in a world turned topsy-turvy.  Very little that is traditional is held sacred anymore. Through the Hollywood lens we observe how the spirituality of love and romance magically transforms the realistic hardships of a Hooverville shack lifestyle into a palace full of warmth and affection --  into Man’s Castle. We'll view scenes from the picture accompanied by commentary relative to that era as well as contemporary American society.

Historical Film Memorabilia Display

Through a partnership with Newton Free Library, New England Vintage Film Society, Inc. has created exhibits incorporating a variety of memorabilia from the Golden Age of Hollywood. At the library, five display cases are in place containing numerous pieces, many of which are focused specifically on Spencer Tracy. Items on display include classic publicity stills, rare glass lantern advertising slides, autographed scripts, and more. The aesthetic and educational nature of the Society’s memorabilia displays will help to shape visitors’ understanding and admiration of America’s classic films, while also facilitating the construction of a narrative of our nation’s history.

Free Classic Film Screenings
 
The Society has offered two free classic film screening programs at the local level with a focus on public access adult education and
at a senior housing community.

Public Access Television Productions

New England Vintage Film Society, Inc. recognizes that in today’s
technological age  developing digital tools to attract, engage, and mobilize increasingly diverse publics is crucial. In an effort to communicate their message to a much more broad demographic the Society will begin to implement thirty minute educational and analytical broadcasts through public access television. Social media productions such as these are serving as the core for innovative spaces and practices that mark a new kind of public media – accessible, participatory, and inclusive. Through their planned broadcasts, combined with growing web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, they will seek to engage their audience to become active participants in the Society.

Book Publishing

Spencer Tracy, Fox Film Actor: The Pre-Code Legacy of a Hollywood Legend

The Society is proud to have authored and published its initial original work, and will seek to further its mission of public elucidation on the significance of Hollywood’s Golden Age through the promotion of this one-of-a-kind document. The book contains a unique collection of essays and images celebrating legendary two-time Academy Award winning actor Spencer Tracy’s outstanding legacy of early screen performances in Fox’s lively Depression era pre-Code films – rare 1930s Americana from Hollywood’s Golden Age, re-discovered. Filled with thirty-one rare photos that capture Tracy's Depression era characterizations, Spencer Tracy Fox Film Actor: The Pre-Code Legacy of a Hollywood Legend introduces Spencer Tracy’s 1930s Fox Film
performances to Tracy admirers and classic movie cinephiles. It is a collection of well-researched, informative essays on the value of Tracy’s films from Fox's pre-Code era. The collection expands and enhances knowledge of Tracy’s little known early cinematic achievements and makes the case for returning his lost, forgotten, under-appreciated films to movie and television screens by encouraging their restoration and availability in digitized commercial formats.

Stage to Screen Book Project

The following Call for Submissions is currently located on the Playbill.com website and others:

Internet & New Media Marketing and Outreach

a) upgrade www.nevintagefilm.org to a state of the art informational, promotional and fund-raising website
b) similarly utilize Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. to market the organization

Through the aforementioned activities, New England Vintage Film Society, Inc. looks forward to providing a broad cross-section of the public with fundamental access to a rarely explored segment of our nation’s history. All programs are supervised by dedicated, trained, and enthusiastic staff to ensure the best experience for all individuals participating in our events. The President of the organization will oversee all administrative tasks, while continuously employing her years of training and experience. Overall, the organization aspires to facilitate increased appreciation of classical American film, while relating its significance to our contemporary society and world. The organization will operate on the calendar year.

EVALUATION

SUSTAINABILITY

New England Vintage Film Society, Inc. has rapidly established a strong base of support for their programs and is profoundly fortunate to have the support of individuals and organizations who have given of their time, talents, and treasures to support their efforts. The organization will continue to thrive due to diligent financial efficiency with the funding obtained.

“We are confident in the ability to receive ongoing funding for our initiatives, and expect to have the continued support of our generous donors, as well as the support of foundations interested in cultural education and historical preservation. In-kind donations will provide an additional source of revenue for all programs. A source of self-sustaining revenue for the organization will be the sale of our book, Spencer Tracy Fox Film Actor: The Pre-Code Legacy of a Hollywood Legend, through a variety of outlets.”

In addition to these monies, the Development Committee will increase the amount of unrestricted funds for the organization through direct email requests, the solicitation of corporate sponsorships, foundation grant requests, and fund-raising events. During 2009, the growth rate of the organization’s donor base is anticipated to markedly increase as a result of a renewed focus on increasing organizational capacity, thus affording the Society the opportunity to extend its mission to numerous additional strata of the community.

BUDGET

Available upon written request.