2025 Seminars
in the Cardinal Room
Thursday May 22
Rob Stone, film archivist and publisher, will discuss the here and gone studio known as REELCRAFT PICTURES. From its beginnings separately as BULL’S EYE and EMERALD to its brief tenure as a supplier of Billy West, Alice Howell, Billy Franey and Marcel Perez comedies (to name a few), the talk is a look at the one of the many small studios that populated movies in the ’teens and twenties. A few examples will be screened, questions can be asked and answers will be given or made up on the spot.
3:00 p.m.
4:20 p.m.
Christopher Connolly will talk about Helen Morgan and afterward sign copies of his new book Helen Morgan: The Original Torch Singer and Ziegfeld's Last Star.
Friday May 23
9:00 a.m.
Linda Thurman (the CEO of MPA, the hobby's first non-profit) will talk about how to utilize it for tax write offs for collectors and dealers in her presentation From Collections to Contributions: Ensuring Your Legacy with Tax-Smart Donations, then follow up with Building a Legacy and Benefits of the MPA Charity Auction.
10:00 a.m.
Manny Pacheco will present Forgotten Hollywood, a media franchise that includes a podcast on Spotify, an award-winning blogsite at www.forgottenhollywood.com and award-winning books. Pacheco is a Southern California Broadcaster, an educator in three Southern California Colleges and a noted Hollywood historian.
Thomas J. Slater, author of June Mathis: The Rise and Fall of a Silent Film Visionary will be interviewed about the life and work of the silent film screenwriter who had a close association with Rudolph Valentino.
11:15 a.m.
Richard S. Greene will discuss his books on advertising screen teams including W.C. Fields, Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, and Martin and Lewis. He is a comedy fan with decades of career experience in marketing and advertising.
2:00 p.m.
Writer-Historian Michael J. Hayde discusses the unprecedented popularity of Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis, the most financially successful comedy team in show business history. Using excerpts from their radio and TV work (including from shows not commercially available), Hayde – author of Side by Side: Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis on TV and Radio will talk about their widespread appeal, dispel a few myths, and answer your questions.
3:45 p.m.
Saturday May 24
Simon Melzer is a longtime movie memorabilia collector who presents some of his collection in his book called Movie Ads which exclusively uses ads from the 1930s-1960s era. He will discuss how his unique book came to fruition.
9:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
Ed Poole of LAMP (Learn About Movie Posters) will present:
Movie Stills and Production Codes 10-11 a.m.
This is a seminar in 2 parts for everyone interested in or handling movie stills from
collectors to museum and institution archivists. Part 1 covers variations of movie stills
and their types, development and usage in movie studios. Part 2 covers development
and usage of production codes with a session on how to use these codes to help
identify unknown movie stills.
Movie Posters and Importance of Collectors 11-11:30 a.m.
This is a seminar in 2 parts for everyone interested or handling movie posters from non-collector to museum and institution archivists. Part 1 covers the development and
evolving usage of film accessories through the years. Part 2 covers the importance of
movie poster collecting and what collectors need to know about preservation.
11:45 a.m.
James Tehrani will discuss his first book, Alfalfa: The Rascal You Knew, The Character You Never Knew in a Q&A session with Caroline Breder-Watts. The book is the first in-depth look into the life and untimely death of Carl Switzer. They’ll discuss the facts and myths that have surrounded the Our Gang star for generations.
2:30 p.m.
Don Billie discusses his book Margaret Hamilton: From Cleveland, OH to the Land of Oz and how a mild-mannered kindergarten schoolteacher became one of the most recognizable villains of movie history. He follows her journey as a character actress and later a commercial spokeswoman for Maxwell House coffee.
Randy Skretvedt is one of the foremost Laurel and Hardy scholars. He met and interviewed many of the major players in the Hal Roach films for his book Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies. Caroline Breder-Watts will interview him about the process of writing the book and invite the audience to ask their own questions.
4:20 p.m.
