Cy Young
Biographical Summary
I have been professionally involved with film and television for many years. Following experience in cinema management on the Rank circuit, I joined Granada Television as personal assistant to network film buyer Leslie Halliwell, viewing feature acquisitions, and later devised several editions of the movie magazine programme Clapperboard.
Next came a long stint as Film/Video Editor for ATV in Birmingham, then a return to London, contributing as Film/Video Researcher to archive-based productions for BBC, ITV and Channel Four like Heroes of Comedy, The Unseen Eric Morecambe, British Film Forever, and The Great British Black Invasion, an oral/social history of Afro-Caribbean immigration.
Freelance writing has included: technical articles about the early days of commercial television for specialist publications 405 Alive and the FOCAL organisation's house journal Archive Zones: show business profiles for The Independent and The Dictionary of National Biography: and a 7,000 word essay on News Theatres in The Journal of British Film and Television for Edinburgh University Press.
I have also supplied biographical and title entries for the BFI's Screen Online database, and am currently working on my own long-term project, British TV Movies, a reference guide to filmed UK television dramas compiled from original research.
Supporting Statement
"I have run for BFI Member Governor on five previous occasions, each time increasing my share of the vote: meanwhile I remain a dedicated user of all the BFI's many services, including new facilities such as the Mediatheque on the Waterloo site.
"Here, one downside amongst recent innovations has been an erosion of the National Film Theatre's traditional identity and purpose, in that whenever regular cinema showings are displaced in favour of anonymous private events, with BFI Southbank 'closed to the public' (ie. to members), pressure on the programming team intensifies. Corporate bookings of the main auditoria, together with the 'extended run' strands (selected titles monopolising NFT screens with a high average of 30 showings each during one month), seriously reduce the opportunities to schedule authoritative, let alone comprehensive, seasons. If Britain's national repertory cinema cannot offer a balanced choice of films, how can a true appreciation of the medium's history be passed on to the next generation?
"In these straitened circumstances, there is a vital need for determined promotion of the NFT as the 'shop window' of the National Film and Television Archive and unrivalled venue for the unique cinemagoing experience that occurs when long-unseen titles from the NFTVA's extensive holdings are projected: not only the 'classics', but the more neglected commercial entertainments. If BFI Southbank's external 'front of house' advertising celebrated this range and diversity on a regular, accessible, and genuinely informative basis, casual passers-by en route to the South Bank's rival attractions could be persuaded to become full BFI members.
"Equally the Mediatheque operation - as generic images of British life in fact and fiction are extended, with appropriate regional variations, to major provincial cities - needs to take account of what is happening elsewhere: for instance, the BBC's plans to render its entire back catalogue viewable on the web through i-Player, and the video online project Kangaroo being developed with ITV and Channel 4. In the age of broadband and download, personal visitors to any BFI Mediatheque would value an opportunity to watch presentations that showcase the exclusive collections of the NFTVA, items which literally cannot be seen anywhere else.
"If elected, I would encourage the BFI to play to its strengths. With a far more even-handed approach to planning themed seasons (which remain the principal reason for taking out BFI/NFT membership), and with an overhaul of the Mediatheque's 'menu' to build up content not generally available to the public on domestic formats, the British Film Institute can stay ahead of the game: only, however, if optimum technical standards of exhibition, in picture and sound quality, are consistently observed and rigorously monitored throughout BFI Southbank.
"To these ends, I place at the disposal of the Board and ordinary members a lifetime's enthusiasm for the visual media, reinforced with a professional expertise gained from my long career in the film and television industry, and sound knowledge of popular culture: a blend of qualifications that guarantees a healthy perspective on the challenges facing the BFI at this time. "
