KITTLESON APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF UCLA FILM AND TELEVISION ARCHIVE

July, 1999 - After a wide-ranging international search, Timothy Kittleson has been named Director of the UCLA Film and Television Archive. He succeeds Robert Rosen, who held the position for some twenty-five years before becoming Dean of the School of Theater, Film and Television last August.

Kittleson worked from 1980 to 1998 at the American Film Marketing Association, the non-profit parent organization of the American Film Market. Serving as Executive Vice President of AFMA and AFM Executive Director, he oversaw the AFM's growth into an important international force in independent film distribution. He has extensive contact with motion picture and television production and distribution industries and has developed strong relationships with both government agencies and private sector organizations in the United States and abroad. Earlier in his career, he had been a documentary film producer under contract to UNESCO, and worked as an advertising executive in New York, London and Paris.

In announcing the appointment, Robert Rosen, Dean of the School of Theater, Film and Television, said: "Tim Kittleson brings to the Archive an impressive record as a manager, as an industry statesman and as a friend of preservation. I am confident that he will provide the leadership required for the Archive of the next century."

Film director Curtis Hanson, who serves as the Archive's link to the creative community in his role as Chairman, was also enthusiastic: "The American Film Market experienced great growth under Tim's leadership; I look forward to working with him as he applies his energies to the Archive."

For his part, Kittleson expressed excitement about starting his new position: "Film is the most dynamic record of this century, both historically and artistically. The opportunities for the Archive's vast collection of motion pictures, television and news footage are enormous, especially as new technologies develop. The Archive's screenings of both archival treasures and cutting-edge programming from around the world are without parallel. I look forward to working with this dedicated, professional staff regarded as world-class in the field."

The UCLA Film and Television Archive is the largest university-based collection of motion pictures and television programs in the world. Its holdings comprise more than 200,000 feature-length, short-subject and animated films, television shows, news programs and the entire 27 million foot collection of Hearst Metrotone Newsreels. The Archive is internationally acclaimed for its painstaking work in film preservation, and has led the archival field in such areas as color, tinting and sound restoration. It is equally known for its commitment to making the collection accessible to students and scholars, and for its ambitious year-round public screenings of the best in American and international cinema.