1973-74 Staff Film, TV/Media, Literature Program Peter Bradley, Program Director Film: Barbara Haspiel, Program Associate; Maralin Bennici, Program Representative TV/Media: Gilbert Konishi, Program Associate); Lydia Silman, Acting Program Associate

Program Director's Statement Although economic and social forces placed constraints on many aspects of life in New YorkState in 1973-74, a healthy trend of growth persisted in film, television, and literary activities and in the size of their audiences.

Council support in these areas totaled $1,419,525, an increase of only 1 1/2% percent over the previous year, and well below the spiraling rate of inflation. Nevertheless, the funds made available from the Council were, in nearly all cases, sufficient to support a wide variety of organizations Beyond mere survival.

The fruits of the Council's commitment and support are now perceptible not only in New York State, where unparalleled opportunities exist for work in film, video, and contemporary writing, but also throughout the country, where there is an awareness and admiration for the leadership the State has taken in its pattern of support. Visiting artists and critics from other countries now almost invariably put New YorkState on their American itineraries; and informal international ties with New YorkState film and video organizations are becoming commonplace.

The Council's Literature program distributed a total of $330,-525 to twenty-four organizations in 1973-74. The growth of their programs was both impressive and heartening in this era which is increasingly though incorrectly credited with "the demise of print." Approximately one-quarter of the total funds went directly into authors' pockets as fee money for a variety of services. The largest grant, $106,000, which was 39 percent of the total, went to Poets and Writers, a statewide program providing publicreadings, workshops, or performances by poets and writers. Further discussion of this organization's activities can be found under Statewide Service Programs. In addition, 23 percent of the Literature funds went for educational programs such as the Teachers and Writers Collaborative's poets-in-the-schools program; 21 percent went toward support of small literary publications through funds to the Coordinating Council of Literary Magazines, aidingsome fifty-eight magazines and small presses across the state; and

17 percent went toward increased services for writers and their communities through organizations such as the P.E.N.AmericanCenter, the Committee of Small Magazine Editors and Publishers (COSMEP), and the PrintCenter. Of COSMEP's total membership one-fifth, or 110 magazines, are located in New YorkState. The number of publications printed at the PrintCenter in brooklyn has doubled since last year. Some ninety-two issues came from this low-cost facility, and more than 100 editors benefited from consultations with the Center's administrator.

The Film program supported fifty-five organizations with a total of $479,000. These funds were split between support for the exhibition of movies and the teaching of filmmaking in a variety of organizations and locales. In New York City, the Millennium Film Workshop, the Circle Film Forum and the New American Filmmakers Series at the Whitney Museum of American Art continued to provide exposure for the work of contemporaryindependent filmmakers. Formal study of this work was made more accessible to scholars through assistance given to the library of Anthology Film Archives. A grant to the Donnell Film Library of the New York Public Library enabled it to lease a beginning collection of avant-garde films which could serve as a model for libraries across the State that are interested in expanding theircollections in this field.

A variety of outdoor film showings was made possible through grants to White Ox Films in Rochester, which screened a series of shorts and feature films in the Highland Bowl, and to Movies-in-the-Parks, which presented short films for children and adults in a dozen parks across the State.

Repertory cinema showings of theatrical films continued to attract moviegoers in the counties surrounding Rhinebeck, home of Upstate Films, Ltd. In 1973-74, close to 14,000 people attended these showings, an increase of more than 2,000 over the previous year despite the gasoline crisis. Media Study, Inc. in Buffalo expanded its impressive archive of interviews with contemporary filmmakers who visited the organization. Their one-man and one-woman shows drew audiences from throughout western NewYork. Media Study also held two important conferences, one on women filmmakers and the other on autobiography in contemporary film. Instruction in filmmaking and video production are also among the several programs offered by this community facility.

Instruction in the craft of filmmaking, far less accessible than classes in most of the other arts, was broadly supported by aid to many film workshops, such as the Nineteenth Ward Community Youth Project in Rochester, the Hornell Area Arts Council, the Lake Placid Center for Music, Drama and Art, the Hudson River Museum, and the Women's Interart Center in New York City.

Other film related programs include: the Media Equipment Resource Center (MERC), which provides free loan of filmmaking and video equipment to artists and organizations; and the Film and Video Bureau, which sponsors film showings, exhibitions, and appearances of filmmakers and video artists. A more detailed discussion of these two groups' activities can be found underStatewide Service Programs.

The Council's TV/Media program made grants totaling $610,-000 to thirty-nine organizations. Four went to public television stations in Rochester, Syracuse, Schenectady and Garden City, and a fifth to the Television Laboratory of station WNET in New York City. Both the Syracuse and Rochester stations acquired video time-base correctors which will make possible the broadcasting of 1/2 inch videotapes produced by artists and community workshops, thus vastly enlarging the audiences for experimental and innovative work in portable television.

Video workshops continued to receive support, and theirpioneering work is more and more seen as the model for developments in other states. These workshops dot the State from Manhattan to Lanesville to Woodstock to Binghamton to Ithaca to Syracuse to Rochester to Buffalo. At the Council's encouragement, representatives of the various facilities met this year at the WhitneyMuseum in New York City to compare their programs and discuss the possibility of forming a loose confederation and network of video workshops that would enable them to broaden the scope of their services. Many of the participants are contributors to Video Resources in New YorkState, published by the Council, which disseminates information, not available elsewhere, about video activities and services.

If it is possible yet to place video in an historical perspective, then two healthy trends become apparent. Increasing numbers of workshops are enabling people to do, not just watch, TV. And more and more video artists have outgrown their fascination with the medium's technical razzle-dazzle, and are creating strong works of simplicity and purity.

An alphabetical listing of organizations receiving Film, TV/Media, Literature funds in 1973-74 begins on page 63.

-- Peter Bradley