Association of Moving Image Archivists

Association of Moving Image Archivists
AbbreviationAMIA
Formation1990
Type501(c)(3)
Legal statusArticles of Association
PurposeProfessional Body
HeadquartersLos Angeles
Region served
Worldwide
Members1,017 (as of Nov, 2015)
Official language
US English
President
Andrea Leigh
Main organ
Board of Directors
Staff7
Volunteers200 approx.
Websitewww.amianet.org

The Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization established to advance the field of moving image archiving by fostering cooperation among individuals and organizations concerned with the acquisition, description, preservation, exhibition and use of moving image materials.

History

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences's Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study, 1313 N. Vine St., Hollywood - Home to the AMIA Office

Since the late 1960s, representatives from moving image archives have recognized the value of regular meetings to exchange practical information and experiences. Over the years, this group of archivists originally known as the Film and Television Archives Advisory Committee (F/TAAC) expanded from a handful of participants to several hundred archivists from over 100 national, regional and local institutions. In 1990, the name of the group was changed to the Association of Moving Image Archivists. In 1991, AMIA voted to formalize as an individual-based member-based professional association, the only one of its kind in the moving image archival field. Although AMIA's office is based in the US, its membership is now drawn from across the world.

Membership

Unlike F/TAAC's free mailing list, AMIA charged dues, and growth was initially slow: in early 1995 membership was around 200, including roughly 30 to 40 institutional members. A Membership Development Committee formed that year became a permanent committee of the board in 1996.: 113  Reported membership rose from 266 in 1995 to 419 in 1997 and 576 in 2000, and later peaked at about 1,033. Growth masked heavy turnover: between 2001 and 2003, net membership rose from 633 to 672, though 312 members joined and 273 left.

Membership is open to anyone who has an interest in the preservation of moving images and associated sound recordings: in practice, most of the membership are professional archivists (both public sector and commercial) and people working in associated professions, e.g. librarianship, the film and television industry or academics in related fields. AMIA offers both individual and institutional membership.

Governing structure

AMIA is governed by a Board of Directors, which is elected by the membership on a two-year cycle, and chaired by a president. The Board oversees and ratifies the work of the sub-groups through which the work of the organization is undertaken. The last significant changes to the governing structure were undertaken in 2009, when the present structure of committees and task forces was introduced.

Current President

  • 2026–2027: Andrea Leigh

Former Presidents

  • 2021–2025: Rachael Stoeltje
  • 2018–2021: Dennis Doros
  • 2016–2017: Andrea Kalas
  • 2012–2015: Caroline Frick
  • 2009–2011: Wendy Shay
  • 2005–2009: Janice L. Simpson
  • 2003–2005: Milt Shefter
  • 1999–2003: Sam Kula
  • 1997–1999: Linda Tadic
  • 1996–1997: Andrea Kalas
  • 1995–1996: Maxine Fleckner Ducey
  • 1994–1995: Eddie Richmond
  • 1993–1994: Ernest Dick
  • 1992–1993: Chris Horak
  • 1991–1992: Bill Murphy

Committees and Task Forces

AMIA is a volunteer based organization and projects rely on work done by its members in Committees and Task Forces.

Committees of the Board carry out the core management and policymaking functions of AMIA, e.g. running elections and organizing the conference. Chairs are appointed directly by the Board of Directors, and although their members are volunteers drawn from within the wider AMIA membership, the rosters of Committees of the Board have to be approved by the Board.

  • Advocacy Committee, Chair(s): Guillaume Boure and Valeria Dávila
  • Awards Committee, Chair(s): Andrea McCarty
  • Conference and Steering Committee, Chair(s): Leong and Louisa Trott
  • Elections and Nominations Committee, Chair(s): Jan-Christopher Horak
  • Publications Committee, Chairs(s): Melissa Dollman and Karen Gracy

Committees of the Membership are the bodies through which AMIA's professional presence in the field exists. They develop expertise, advocacy and education in the different topics and activities related to moving image archiving, e.g. preservation, copyright and cataloguing. Their rosters are volunteers from within the AMIA membership, and they elect their chairs directly. As of November 2026, six of the seventeen comittees have gone on hiatus.

  • Accessiblity Committee, Chairs(s): Hiatus
  • Cataloging and Metadata Committee, Chairs(s): Hiatus
  • Copyright Committee, Chairs(s): Jennifer Matz
  • Education Committee, Chairs(s): Jen O'Leary Hashida and Felicity Flesher
  • Independent Media Committee, Chairs(s): Hiatus
  • International Outreach Committee, Chairs(s): Hiatus
  • LGBT Committee, Chairs(s): Kristen Muenz
  • Magnetic Media Crisis Committee, Chairs(s): Brianna Toth & Libby Hopfauf
  • Moving Image Related Materials and Documentation Committee, Chairs(s): Hiatus
  • News, Documentary, and Television, Chairs(s): Karen Cariani and Alexis Scargill
  • Nitrate Committee, Chairs(s): Rachel Del Gaudio, Amanda McQueen and Oscar Becher
  • Open Source, Chairs(s): Annie Schweikert
  • Preservation Committee, Chairs(s): Susan Etheridge and Julia Mettenleiter
  • Projection & Technical Presentation Committee, Chairs(s): Spencer Christiano
  • Regional Audiovisual Archives Committee (RAVA), Chairs(s): Hiatus
  • Small Gauge and Amateur Film Committee, Chairs(s): Hugo Ljungbäck, and Agata Zborowska

Task Forces are created by the Board of Directors to carry out a specific projects which does not fall squarely within the remit of an existing committee, and are dissolved on completion of that task. The most recent completed taskforces have been:

  • Local Television Task Force (2018-2024)
  • Continuing Education Advisory (CEA) Task Force (2018 – 2023)
  • AMIA Pathways Fellowship Task Force (2019-2023)

Annual conference locations

Source:

Archival Screening Night

AMIA's Archival Screening Night is a program of film and video clips shown at AMIA's annual conference, in which members present recent acquisitions, discoveries, and preservation efforts from their collections.

See also

References

  1. ↑ For further information on the emergence of formal representation for the audiovisual preservation sector in the United States, see Anthony Slide, Nitrate Won't Wait: A History of Film Preservation in the United States, Jefferson, NC, McFarland (1992), pp. 81-84.
  2. ↑ See also Tom McGreevey and Joanne L. Yeck, Our Movie Heritage, New Brunswick, NJ, Rutgers University Press (1997), pp. 63-64.
  3. 1 2 3 Horak, Jan-Christopher (2011). "Surveying AMIA's First Twenty Years". The Moving Image. 11 (1): 113–126. doi:10.1353/mov.2011.0016. ISSN 1542-4235.
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Board + Staff". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  6. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Board + Staff".
  7. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Advocacy Committee". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  8. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Awards Committee". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  9. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Conference and Steering Committee". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  10. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Elections and Nominations Committee". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  11. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Publications Committee". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  12. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Accessibility Committee". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  13. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Cataloging and Metadata Committee". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  14. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Copyright Committee". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  15. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Education Committee". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  16. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Independent Media Committee". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  17. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - International Outreach Committee". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  18. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - LGBT Committee". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  19. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Magnetic Media Crisis Committee". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  20. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Moving Image Related Materials and Documentation Committee". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  21. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - News, Documentary, and Television". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  22. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Nitrate Committee". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  23. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Open Source". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  24. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Preservation Committee". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  25. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Projection & Technical Presentation Committee". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  26. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Regional Audiovisual Archives Committee (RAVA)". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  27. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Small Gauge and Amateur Film Committee". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  28. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Task Forces + Working Groups". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  29. ↑ "AMIA Annual Conference: Previous Conferences". 7 March 2013.
  30. ↑ "The Association of Moving Image Archivists - Archival Screening Night". amianet.org. Retrieved 2026-11-08.