Alan E. Freedman
Alan Eliot Freedman (October 12, 1889 – April 29, 1980) was a pioneer and long-time executive in the motion picture
Biography
Freedman was born in the Russian Empire in 1889. Shortly after his birth his parents brought him and several cousins to the United States, settling in New York's upper east side. He had seven younger brothers and sisters, all born in New York. Freedman retired in 1962, and died in 1980.
Career
He started his long career in film processing at the industry's infancy in 1907, a time before cameras and projectors had sprockets and film had holes to match in order to assure a constant film flow, and steady exposed and projected image. Safety film, sound, and color reversal film stocks had not been conceived. And it was a time before continuous processing; when movie film was loaded on racks, batch processed in dip tanks and dried in drums.
His first industry job was with the Wendel film processing laboratory in Manhattan. He moved to
In the depths of the depression, Freedman bought the lab from
Freedman had a great ability to forge low-key behind-the-scenes agreements which benefited all parties. One major accomplishment was to arrange financing for Robert Benjamin and Arthur Krim to buy United Artists in the early 1950s. This action had a side benefit for DeLuxe in that UA contracted to buy film processing services from the lab. During the 1950s and 1960s, DeLuxe negotiated with the union on behalf of all the New York Labs. Freedman worked behind the scenes while using his assistant and son Irwin (Buck) Freedman as the point man at the negotiating table. He was also chairman of the Motion Picture Laboratory Technicians, Local 702, Pension and Welfare Funds.
Freedman was a pioneer member of the Society for Motion Picture Engineers. He was also a member of the Will Rogers Motion Pictures Pioneers Foundation, earning a Citation of Honor for "… dedicated and distinguished humanitarian service to the people of the entertainment industry [and] augmenting his participation in matters of the board of directors,"
Sons’ Careers in Motion Picture Film Processing, Sales and Rejuvenation
Alan Freedman's three sons – Harold, Irwin (Buck), and Myron (Mickey) – all began their careers with DeLuxe.
Harold served as Engineering Assistant to the President, managed the sound department. He was instrumental in the development and implementation of numerous innovations in sound technology including the conversion from optical to magnetic processes.[5] He in addition conceived and patented the product and technique for film splicing utilizing a sprocketed adhesive backed film, a technique that is still in use today. After DeLuxe closed its New York plant, Harold finished his career with Technicolor.
Buck served both as Assistant to the President and as president of the Toronto lab. He represented the New York labs in union contract negotiations. In the early 1960s when Fox was again running into great financial difficulties Buck kept product flowing into DeLuxe by successfully selling DeLuxe's excess capacity to most of New York's independent producers. He left DeLuxe shortly after the Zanuck takeover of Fox, and was motion picture film national sales manager for Agfa-Gevaert until his retirement.
Mickey managed DeLuxe's Chicago Crescent lab. After leaving DeLuxe, Mickey pioneered and then improved film rejuvenation. He patented and implemented new techniques which improved both quality and profitability, and he served as general manager of Hollywood Film Corp.
References
- ^ New York, Wid's Films and Film Folks (January 21, 1932). "The Film Daily (Jan-Jun 1932)". New York, Wid's Films and Film Folks, Inc. – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Academy Awards Database Academy | Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-02.
- ^ "Session Timeout - Academy Awards® Database - AMPAS". Archived from the original on 2014-03-26. Retrieved 2014-07-02.
- ^ Will Rogers Memorial Hospital and Research Laboratories Board of Directors Certificate of Honor
- ^ "Obituary: Harold Julius Freedman". Archived from the original on 2014-08-08. Retrieved 2014-07-02.
External links
Media related to Alan E. Freedman at Wikimedia Commons