Finances

Right from the start, as the Early Personal Notes demonstrate, the need for money became apparent. A decision had to be made fairly quickly. Is the Archive to be organized as a nonprofit entity, or is it to develop on a traditional business model? On the one hand, working with Ned Scott’s original material was never intended to be a revenue producing enterprise, especially at the beginning. Due to this feature, a nonprofit profile might have appeal. On the other hand, however, this archivist felt nauseous at the idea of soliciting donation funds from organizations and individuals just to research and develop Ned Scott’s photographic history. Plus, no clear indication surfaced at the beginning which gave any hint that large sums of money might be needed to follow through with such a project. Choosing a more traditional, for profit model seemed the way to go given that whatever monies might be required here and there as research proceeded would likely be fairly modest, and it was thought, manageable at the personal level. This was a gross underestimation. But, nonetheless, a traditional financial organization of the Ned Scott Archive was set. And, as it was later learned, grant applications to appropriate government entities could always tried if push came to shove.

No more than a few weeks after reading Ned Scott’s 1935 letters in October, 1993, the writer was contacting major photo labs in Louisville for specific tasks. These early jobs were those needed to produce the Christmas Gift binder mentioned in the narrative. Original negatives were given over for processing to these labs, and cheap resin coated (RC) contact prints were made. As time went on into Winter and Spring, 1994, more specific work was being done. This involved the processing of large, 8 x 10 color transparencies from Hollywood movies which Ned had worked, and then saved in his collection. These were Kodak “Safety” kodachromes. Decent prints of a select few of these images were made for the record, framed in a presentable manner, and stored away. This early activity was spotty and undisciplined, but necessary to set the stage for later developments in the archive. By the end of May, 1994, the archivist had spent $7,070. Along with travel expenses, paid vendors included Metro Group Photographic, Kinetic Corporation, First Color (all labs), Framers Supply, Whittenberg Photographic Supply and Light Impressions (archival storage supply).

Legal assistance and professional consulting soon followed. By November, 1994, a director for the archive had been secured. Further consultations with attorneys as to the development of the archive took place. The Palace Theater in Louisville had just been restored at great expense. Managers there became interested in a display of Hollywood personalities from the Classic Era, and the archive was recommended to them. The archive developed a display of 13 each 30 x 40 double matted and framed prints for the Palace. Further consultations with Anthony Montoya at the Paul Strand Archive lead to the borrowing for processing of several of Ned Scott’s prints from their Wave file. A value of $500 was assigned for each of these prints for this procedure. Thus, for the first time in their existence, each Wave print had a certified value. This was important for insurance purposes.

Processing with labs in town continued. At the suggestion of the director, two new activities for the archive were instituted. One was the development of a photographic darkroom for neg printing and proofing, and the other was a copyrighting program. As 1995 wore on, both of these programs saw serious accomplishment. By the end of September, 1995, the financial outlay had increased significantly with these new activities. Besides the vendors listed earlier, payments were made to new entities: Bohn Fiberglass, Randell Elkins (director), Rita Kent (custom framer), Chubb Insurance, Calumet Photographic Supply, Aperture Foundation, Reliable Lab Supply, Yellow Freight, Photographic Systems, Paul Strand Archive, Masters Framing, Maple and Associates, (legal) Wheat, Camoriano, Smith and Beres (legal) and various local hardware companies and building supply companies. This period of time, June 1, 1994 through September 30, 1995, saw an outlay of $24,952.00. So it was that in the first 18 months of existence, over $30,000 was spent to develop the archive.

A need quickly emerged for a dark room, office space and storage area.  Personal funds were expended and these needs were met.  The creation of demonstration files (based on the diffeent topical categories within the negative file) was accompished to lay the foundation for displays and photo showings.  Several formal showings were conducted.  These were themed shows with write-ups in the Louisville Courier Journal Art Section, written by Arts Editor Diane Hilenman.  Travel jaunts were taken for fact-finding purposes.  By the time the Louisville based archive was disbanded in 2002, a rough total of $250,000 was spent.  $104,000 of that amount went for archive director compensation. 

Afterwards, the archive continued in Honolulu to the present day.  Though it’s reach is primarily electronic, research continues.  The Ned Scott Archive site was created to provide a platform for this research.  Since its inception in 2007, the site has steadily expanded to include more material which pertains to Ned Scott’s film career, what it consisted of in the context of the 30’s-’40’s timeframe, and its relevance to the study of film today.  Numerous books have recently been pubished which include Ned Scott film images along with scholarly discussion of scene portrayals and their importance to film themes.  The internet age is a welcome development, enabling many film aficionadoes and researchers quick and easy access to the details of Ned Scott’s career.  And expenses to maintain this site are far less than those of earlier years.  On top of that, an aggressive acquisition program has netted the archive at least 270 original Ned Scott prints for the files.   Costs for these prints vary widely, but the total expenditure to date (2016) is roughly $33,000. Working with such partners as the Internet Movie Database (IMdB), the Archive has greatly expanded the list of Ned Scott film credits from a total of three in 2007 to one hundred and seven today (2016). Today, hundreds of interested readers are accessing the site every month to learn about Ned Scott and the period in which he worked and to enjoy viewing the many fine images he created.