Saving TV Classics

NAB Seminar offers tips for preserving television history. Solana Productions, Inc. videotapes session for internet streaming.

Las Vegas, Nevada (PRWEB) April 30, 2006 -- What happens to those Saturday Night Live episodes after the laughter stops? What becomes of the mountains of tape slowly disintegrating in storage rooms around the world? And how can it be turned into a productive asset?

That was the subject of a recent seminar at the National Association of Broadcasters annual meeting. Gathering in Las Vegas, over 100,000 participants had a chance to see the latest equipment and get problem solving tips from experts.

Fujifilm and Peter Shaplen Productions called on Solana Productions, Inc. to videotape the event for internet streaming. Panel participants included representatives from Warner Brothers, Turner Broadcasting, the Library of Congress, ESPN and Broadway Video.

Ken Boudreau, ESPN’s Director of Media Assets revealed how they had discovered gems in the process of transferring aging 16mm film to tape. This including finding the original game film of a Texas basketball team’s stunning national championship game which was over forty years old.

Several old clips of Saturday Night Live episodes played during the seminar demonstrated the ability of Broadway Video to capture, enhance and preserve library footage.

The Library of Congress is currently building a facility dedicated to preserving tape and video. Some of the oldest material is even too delicate for transfer and is simply archived for later restoration.

The discussion covered the latest form of recording medium, holographic discs with storage capacity that until a few years ago was more Star Trek fantasy than reality. Amazingly, they are already in use on a limited basis and should be available this year.

The seminar produced one consensus, that the task of preservation is an on-going process. New mediums and devices will always be developed that offer improvements over what is currently considered “state-of-the-art.”

About Solana Productions, Inc.:

Solana Productions, Inc. provides field production crews for broadcast, cable, internet and corporate clients. For more information, visit http://www.solanaproductions.com

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