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“I've been a film fan all my life. And I’ve always known the value of preservation. I think the history of motion pictures reflects who we were through the years.”
Myra Reinhard was born into the movie business. Her grandfather owned a fur shop across from Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and outfitted the stars during the “Golden Age” of Hollywood. Her father and uncle ran the Hollywood Film Company, which sold equipment to studios. “I've been a film fan all my life,” said Reinhard, a UCLA alumna. “And I’ve always known the value of preservation. I think the history of motion pictures reflects who we were through the years.”
For over two decades, Reinhard has generously funded some of the most urgent needs at the UCLA Film & Television Archive to save moving image history, personally and through the Myra Reinhard Family Foundation. “When I talk to the archivists, I want to know what they need the most at that time,” she said. Oftentimes, these are infrastructure needs and equipment—a pallet stacker, an exhaust fan, archival film cans, Digital Lab upgrades—that are not, in her words, “sexy,” but vital to maintaining the highest standards of conservation at the Archive, one of the nation’s largest repositories of moving image materials.
With support from Reinhard, the Archive has also transferred rare videotapes, scanned endangered LGBTQ+ titles in the Outfest UCLA Legacy Project Collection, preserved the work of acclaimed comedy duo Laurel and Hardy, and provided closed captions of virtual screenings. A significant grant funded a project to identify and properly store 2,000 rolls of historical footage in the Hearst Metrotone News Collection, vastly extending their lifespan and usability.
Reinhard has supported the Archive’s mission of advancing scholarship and training future archivists through the funding of internships and educational initiatives, including a recent program to train emerging preservationists across Archive departments.
“The Foundation has allowed the Archive to contribute to students’ academic and professional development by encouraging and celebrating their research and creating ways for them to gain hands-on experience,” said Maya Montañez Smukler, who leads the Archive Research and Study Center. “These opportunities are so meaningful and make the work we do come full circle by connecting with the next generation of archivists and scholars.”
To support moving image conservation at both the UCLA Film & Television Archive and the UCLA Library, contact UCLA Library Development at 310.206.8526 or giving@library.ucla.edu.