Did you attend the 1967 premiere of Bonnie & Clyde in Denton, Texas? Were you an extra on the set of “Necessary Roughness”? Do you have photographs of the many celebrities that visited Denton County? Do you collect theater advertisements or ticket stubs? Do you own a local business and still have commercials that were shown on television? Join the University of North Texas Libraries and the Texas Archive of the Moving Image for the unique opportunity to become part of North Texas film history while also preserving your family’s photographs, home movies, and more. From ticket stubs and theater advertisements to home movies of local parades and festivals, this free community digitization event will help to preserve Denton County’s extensive but disappearing film heritage.

Residents of Denton County are invited to participate in a special encore presentation of “Spotlight on North Texas,” on Sunday June 05, 2016 at the Emily Fowler Central Library (502 Oakland, Denton, Texas) from 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Families are encouraged to get their photo albums and scrapbooks off the shelves and out of the closet to see if they captured parts of our Texas film history. Items eligible for free digitization include historic photos of Denton County movie theaters, ticket stubs, and memorabilia related to movies shown in Denton County. UNT Libraries staff will scan these items onsite and immediately return the original materials along with a free digital copy.

The Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI) will be onsite to collect your family film and videos, which will be digitized off-site and returned by mail to the owners at no cost, along with a digital copy.

To qualify for free digitization, print materials must:

• Document the motion picture history of Denton County including photographs, ticket stubs, and print advertisements.
• Be submitted by the copyright holder, who grants permission for the films/videos to be shared by TAMI and UNT or be in the public domain
• Total no more than 25 items per household.

To qualify for free digitization, films and videos must:

• Be one of the following formats:
  • Film - Super 8, 8mm, and 16mm films
  • Video - VHS, VHS-C, SVHS, Beta-SP, ¾” U-matic tapes, Hi-8 tapes, 8mm tapes, and mini-DV cassettes

• Relate to the history and culture of Texas because they were filmed in Texas, filmed by a Texan, or featured Texas or Texans
• Be submitted by the copyright holder, who grants permission for the films/videos to be shared by TAMI and UNT or be in the public domain
• Total no more than 20 film reels and no more than 5 videotapes per household.

We regret that we cannot accept:

• Any format not mentioned above, including Betamax, open reel video, or audio tape
• Copyrighted material (i.e., programs recorded from television or commercial films)
• Items that are in too poor condition for us to digitize using our equipment

The sponsoring organizations will retain a digital copy of the materials for long-term preservation. With a selection of digitized items, UNT will create a community collection on the Portal to Texas History which will document or local and regional heritage. A selection of materials will also be placed online as part of TAMI’s digital collection. Thousands of materials have already been preserved by these institutions and can be viewed online at www.texashistory.unt. edu and www.texasarchive.org.

UNT encourages Denton County residents to start digging their films, videos, and photographs out of their attics and garages and bring them down to the “Spotlight on North Texas” event for this free digitization program and unique opportunity to be part of film history.

If you have questions about the program or whether your materials qualify for free digitization, please contact the Program Director, Laura Treat at laura.treat@unt.edu or (940) 369-5293. Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SpotlightNTX and Twitter @Spotlight_NTX.

This event has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this project do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.