October 24, 2000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:  Leslie Unger - (310) 247-3000

                         lunger@oscars.org

Beverly Hills, CA - Michael Pogorzelski, who has held the position of Film Archivist and Preservation Officer at the Academy Film Archive since 1996, has been named Director of the Academy Film Archive, Academy Executive Director Bruce Davis announced today. Pogorzelski had been serving as Interim Director since the departure of Michael Friend in August.

Director of the Academy Film Archive Michael Pogorzelski

"We had an extraordinary pool of applicants," Davis reported, "and our executive administrator, Ric Robertson, and I made our decision very carefully. At the end we concluded that the guy we had inside gave us an irresistible combination of strengths: an excellent rapport with our existing staff, absolutely first-rate technical skills, innate diplomacy and an energetic approach to the job. We think Michael is going to insure that the Academy's archive will be a leader in the field for decades to come."

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Pogorzelski has already served as restoration supervisor or co-supervisor on several prominent projects for the Academy, including "How Green Was My Valley," "Oliver!," "All about Eve," "All the King's Men," "Primary," "The Hoodlum" and "The Story of G.I. Joe." He started his career as a volunteer archivist at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.

"I'm looking forward to maintaining and further enhancing the world-class reputation of the Academy Film Archive," said Pogorzelski. "We have several exciting projects in the works now and I think our relationships with the archival community will continue to evolve in ways that will bring us even greater distinction in the fields of preservation and restoration."

In addition to being actively engaged in preservation and restoration of motion pictures of all genres and from throughout the world, the Academy Film Archive now contains over 15,000 film and video titles dating from the earliest era of the cinema to the latest achievements in visual effects. The scope of the Archive's activity continues to expand, through partnerships with other archives, studios and laboratories, and through organizations including the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA), the Film Foundation and the Sony Preservation Committee.

Please note that a publication-quality photograph of Pogorzelski can be downloaded from the Academy's website at http://www.oscars.org/press/photos/