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A Guide to the Collection at the Indiana University Libraries Moving Image Archive

Finding aid prepared by Katie Morrison.

Summary Information

Repository
Indiana University Libraries Moving Image Archive
1320 East Tenth Street
Herman B Wells Library
Bloomington, IN 47405-7000
Phone: 812-856-7086
Email: iulmia@indiana.edu
https://libraries.indiana.edu/iulmia

Creator
Goodman, Robert M., 1953-

Collection No.
VAE0789

Extent
7 cubic feet (7 boxes)

Language
Materials are in English

Abstract
Robert Goodman (born 1953) is a writer, director, producer, and educator from Pennsylvania. He has produced documentaries, commercials, marketing videos, and other non-theatrical film and video works since 1977. Goodman has served as CEO of Goodman Associates, Inc. since its inception in 1986. This collection contains administrative records, professional activity documentation, and production files from Goodman’s career.

Access Restrictions

Advance notice is required for access. This collection contains no files restricted to researchers.

Biographical Note

Robert Goodman was born in Pennsylvania in 1953. He developed an interest in cinema and filmmaking early, and shot several 8mm and super 8mm films in high school. He began his career in 1972 as an Associated Press stringer in Europe and the Middle East. When he returned to the United States, he worked as a commercial photographer and attended Goddard College, where he earned a BA in 1978. His introduction to video came in 1975 when he assisted a colleague with a contract to shoot an advertising campaign for the first portable ENG video camera (the RCA TK76). Goodman worked as a media specialist charged with creating films for the School of Nursing at the College of New Jersey 1980-1981; as a producer and director for the College of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance at Temple University 1981-1984; and as Operations Manager for Videosmith, Inc. in 1985. In 1986 he founded his own production company, Goodman Associates, Inc. (originally named Okovic/Goodman Productions), based in Philadelphia.

As CEO of Goodman Associates, Inc. Goodman has written, directed, and produced dozens of commissioned films and documentaries, longform infomercials, commercials, and corporate marketing videos. Goodman specialized in producing videos for telecommunications companies, the health and beauty industry, public service campaigns, and construction and infrastructure projects. Throughout the 1980’s, Goodman Associates, Inc. shot on videotape and 16mm film. Some productions, such as the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society Philadelphia Green project, were shot and edited on film and subsequently transferred on videotape. Others, such as the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s America’s Dream Highway project, were shot on professional videotape. Goodman Associates, Inc. produced America’s Dream Highway just as the industry transitioned from Beta to BetaSP. Goodman Associates, Inc. mostly used 16mm film for client-based projects until the mid-1990s, when they transitioned into using 35mm film for these projects. Goodman Associates, Inc. followed industry transitions from analog to digital and SD to HD. By the mid-2000s Goodman Associates, Inc. stopped using film in their productions.

Goodman has taken seriously professional development activities in the video production industry. He served on the Board of Directors for the International Television Association (ITVA) Philadelphia Chapter from 1985-1990, and as President of that chapter from 1988-1990. During his term of service he ran three series of professional development seminars for the Philadelphia Chapter and led workshops on scriptwriting software, client relations, and video production techniques at the ITVA International Conferences. Since his involvement with ITVA (which later became the Media Communications Association, or MECA), Goodman has led workshops for the National Association of Broadcasters, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, ABC Television Networks, and Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers. From 2009-2018 Goodman served as Professor of Digital Filmmaking and Video Production at the Art Institute of Philadelphia, where he taught and created dozens of undergraduate courses in video production, screenwriting, and digital editing. In the fall of 2018, Goodman relocated to Copenhagen, Denmark.

Arrangement

Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of paper materials, video and audiotapes, films, and equipment. This finding aid describes the paper materials in the collection. These papers include administrative records from Robert Goodman’s production companies, documents from Goodman’s professional activities, and materials from specific productions. The Administrative Files series (1958-2006) contains records from Goodman’s career, specifically his production company Goodman Associates, Inc. (formerly Okovic/Goodman Productions). These include project bids, budgetary and expense records, correspondence, script drafts, and video industry promotional mailers received by the company. The Professional Activities series (1970-1999) contains records from Goodman’s professional activities outside of Goodman Associates, Inc. and Okovic/Goodman Productions. These include documents relating to conferences, video production competitions, and educational course materials in video production. The bulk of the Professional Activities series relates to Goodman’s time as an officer for the Philadelphia chapter of the International Television Association (ITVA). The Production Files series (1970-1999) relates to specific projects Goodman worked on as writer, director, and/or producer. These productions include internal manuals and training guides for companies, educational productions for organizations and public entities, product commercials, and other marketing materials. Significant productions represented in this series are the America’s Dream Highway documentary for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, AT&T Definity Communications System sales guides, training programs for Primestar Partners, and longform infomercials for Body Beam and AB Roller Plus. The series contains records such as scripts and revisions, shot logs, correspondence with the contracting companies, research and reference materials, budgets, and rights permissions.

• Indexing Terms

• The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in IUCAT, the IU Libraries' online catalog. Materials about related topics, persons or places can be found by searching the catalog using these terms.

• • Topics
  • Industrial television
  • Infomercials
  • Philadelphia (Pa.)
  • Telecommunication systems

Separated Material

Separated from the paper materials in this collection are video and audiotapes, films, and equipment. The videotapes, audiotapes, and films relate to projects Goodman produced. Significant titles include commissions such as America’s Dream Highway (commissioned by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission), Philadelphia Green (commissioned by the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society), Edgar Allan Poe (commissioned by Elements of Literature), and Miracles and Wonders (commissioned by the Albert Einstein Healthcare Foundation); as well as infomercials for companies and products such as Body Beam, E-Force, AB Roller Plus, PagePac, and Primestar Partners. The videotapes contain elements for these productions such as raw footage and b-roll, edit masters, dubs, and transfers from other formats. The separated equipment includes video and audiotape decks, monitors, hard drives, a projector, and a slide duplicator.

Administrative Information

Container List