The Field Guide to Sponsored Films

The Field Guide to Sponsored Films is the first modern overview of the films commissioned by businesses, charities, and advocacy groups over the past century.
The Field Guide to Sponsored Films is the first modern overview of the films commissioned by businesses, charities, and advocacy groups over the past century.

Children Who Labor (1912), an advocacy film produced by the Edison Company for the National Child Labor Committee, dramatized the exploitation of children in textile factories. The NCLC alerted the public to child labor practices through mass mailings, photo-illustrated newsletters, and movies. The U.S. census estimated in 1910 that 18% of American children between the ages of 10 and 14 were in the workforce.
Children Who Labor (1912), an advocacy film produced by the Edison Company for the National Child Labor Committee, dramatized the exploitation of children in textile factories.

Once Upon a Honeymoon (1956) a Technicolor musical short commissioned by AT&T to promote its color decorator telephones
Once Upon a Honeymoon (1956) a Technicolor musical short commissioned by AT&T to promote its color "decorator" telephones.
 


The Field Guide to Sponsored Films:
A Cooperative Project Funded by
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Some segments of American motion picture production are still so poorly documented that there are few reference publications to guide archivists deciding which titles to save first. One of the most problematic areas has been sponsored films. Over 300,000 are estimated to have been commissioned or "sponsored" over the past century by corporations, trade associations, state and local government units, advocacy groups, and charitable organizations to explain their programs, highlight products, and promote causes. Today these works are significant historical documents that reveal as much about the culture that produced the films as about the subjects themselves.

Thanks to a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Film Preservation Foundation has produced an annotated filmography introducing this relatively unknown type of film. Compiled by Rick Prelinger of the Internet Archive with the help of scores of scholars, collectors, and archivists, The Field Guide to Sponsored Films singles out 452 sponsored motion pictures notable for their historical, cultural, or artistic interest. The 152-page annotated filmography includes indexes, repository information, and links to works viewable online. To view the contents, download a copy, or request the printed book from the NFPF, click here.

The publication builds on the work-in-progress presented at the Orphan Film Symposium held at the University of South Carolina from March 22 to 25, 2006, in Columbia, South Carolina. Representatives from NFPF, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, the University of Georgia, the University of South Carolina, and the University of Notre Dame served on the project team. Many organizations and individuals generously contributed information. Thanks to all who lent a hand.