An inside look at the Archive's interview process

Backstage at the Archive by Sunny Parich

In 1996, during its pilot phase, the Archive of American Television interviewed television legends Milton Berle, Dick Smith, Elma Farnsworth, Leonard H. Goldenson, Ethel Winant, and the late Sheldon Leonard. It was an impressive start. Since then, we've added over 50 interviews to our videotaped collection of stories from directors, actors, producers, executives, composers, choreographers, make-up artists, reporters, writers, crafts, and other allied professionals. With our goal of capturing and preserving hundreds of first-hand accounts, our task is just beginning. OUR PROCESS The first step to ensuring a complete oral and video history of television is choosing our subjects. This is done by the ATAS Archive of American Television Interview Selection Committee. Its mission is to narrow our massive list of potential interviewees to a number that is within our budget. Once an individual is selected, our office contacts the candidate and requests an interview. If the subject agrees to be interviewed, we set up an interview appointment. Now our work really begins. To keep the Archive accurate, it's important that we do our homework. Each interview requires at least one week of detailed research Ð reading books and articles, watching archived television shows, probing internet sources, and making phone calls. To supplement the research, a pre-interview is often done to clarify dates and names. Once the research is complete, a comprehensive timeline is constructed. The timeline gives us perspective on the person's entire life, not just his or her television work. From there, a lengthy list of questions is written. Often, individuals are surprised by the detail of our questions but appreciate our thoroughness. FROM THE BEGINNING We always start at the beginning: "Tell me about where you grew up. Tell me about your parents. Your siblings." These questions are important. How else could we learn, for instance, that choreographer/director Tony Charmoli's family (including eight siblings) used to roll back the living room rug so that the young Tony could dance for them? Our questions also acknowledge world events: The Depression, World War II, The Black-list, etc. It all pays off during the interview. For example, in his interview, director Delbert Mann compares his time spent as a bomber pilot during WWII to sitting in a director's chair during a "Philco Playhouse." Our goal is to get to the heart of television history. While it's interesting to note that writer/producer Sherwood Schwartz started in radio only after he was denied admission to medical school (due to the university quota systems of the era), we spent ample time asking him about "Gilligan's Island" and "The Brady Bunch" Ð shows that made Mr. Schwartz a household name. In his six-hour 1997 interview, we got the whole story. THE INTERVIEW ITSELF Most interviews are conducted in an individual's home. The interviews average about four hours, with most between two and eight hours. Those we have interviewed rarely expect to talk for hours, but once they begin recalling their years in television, the stories quickly add up. When the interview is complete, we wrap in about 30 minutes, leaving the house as it was before we arrived. So far, most interviews were conducted on the West Coast, but we've also traveled to New York, Connecticut, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Utah, Washington, and Florida. Interviews will be stored in a publicly accessible computer database for generations to come. Until then, we continue to collect and preserve the unique stories of television's pioneers. - Sunny Parich is the Archive's Director of Production and Research.