Be Safe: Films by Jim Lawless and Chuck Fey

Jim Lawless was a professional industrial filmmaker, writer, producer and director working in Seattle from the 1950s until the 1990s. His company Jim Lawless Motion Picture Consultants, Inc. produced a number of safety related films that were sponsored and distributed by Safeco Insurance Company. Several of these films were produced in collaboration with Mountain Rescue Council of Seattle, an early proponent of using film for training starting in the 1950s with Ira Spring’s film, Mountains Don’t Care, 1957 which was written by Jim Lawless. The camera work on all these films was mostly that of Chuck Fey–a well-known cameraman in the Northwest since the 1950s who worked on many films–from industrial, television (Exploration Northwest), to Hollywood movies (Frances, Harry and the Hendersons). Films shown will be The Thermal Wilderness (1975, 29min), Ripple (1971, 28min), Climbing Country (1980, 28min) and The Bicycle Driver (1973, 15min).

This was presented at the Northwest Film Forum’s 2011 Local Sightings Film Festival

Cool Stuﬀ, But Can I See It?

Chair:

Hannah Palin, University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections

Speakers:

John Vallier, Media Center in Suzallo Library
Phil Borgnes, Sidewalk Cinema
Paul Ivester, Paul’s 16mm Film Collecting Pages
Dennis Nyback, Dennis Nyback Films
Michele Kribs, Oregon Historical Society

Archivists and film collectors are after the same thing: preserving moving image collections. Both run into problems when it comes to accessibility, however, with archivists being accused of taking in material that never again sees the light of day, and collectors accused of hoarding. In recent years, Northwest archivists and collectors have been trying to break these stereotypes to make access to amazing film collections a priority, bringing their films out of the closet and onto a computer or into a screening room near you. Local archivists and collectors discuss their innovative approach to access.