The Kansas City series (47 linear feet and 1 oversized box) consists of material from the 1995 film directed by Robert Altman and co-written by Robert Altman and Frank Bahrydt. The film's actors include Jennifer Jason Leigh, Miranda Richardson, Harry Belafonte, Michael Murphy, Dermot Mulroney, Steve Buscemi, Jane Adams, and others.
The business and financial records are the largest subseries, and include files compiled for each actor, consisting of "deal memos," work forms and work agreements. CIBY 2000, a distribution company based in France, had its hand in nearly all aspects of the film's production. Legal, business and financial, and the distribution material all contain materials evidencing CIBY 2000's role in the financing, production and distribution of the film. These records also include accounts payable (arranged alphabetically by vendor name), payroll for the cast and crew, insurance coverage, and many iterations of the budget. Additionally, these records contain a high-level of detail for each day's production, and extensive information about the extras appearing in the film.
The legal materials include many agreements, in addition to actress Kim Basinger's claim against Altman relating to her replacement by Miranda Richardson. The production and post-production files contain interviews with cast members, musicians, crew members, and consultants for "Electronic Press Kits" (EPK). The interviews were conducted by Quinn Donohue, a CIBY 2000 publicist, and John Altman. Additional materials include edited prop photographs, placing characters within pictures of president Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The topical files contain vast amounts of research conducted for the film, exploring key figures and places in Kansas City in the 1930s, including information pertaining to clubs and taverns, Charlie Parker and other jazz musicians, 18th and Vine, Union Station, elections, and political "boss" Tom Pendergast.
The photographs series include several locations in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. The bulk of these materials form panoramic views of historically significant locations used in the production of the film. The photographs include a substantial amount of Polaroid pictures used for continuity purposes, ensuring consistency from scene-to-scene.
Footage filmed during Kansas City's production was used in Altman's companion piece, Robert Altman's Jazz '34: Remembrances of Kansas City Swings . The musicians' legal contracts include the performances for Jazz '34.
