Collections : [University of Michigan Special Collections Research Center]

Forms part of Robert Altman Archive. Includes Business and Financial records and a Chronological series (30 linear feet) that includes daily logs and correspondence for many of Robert Altman's production companies.

The Business and Financial series (68 linear feet) are business records that range from payroll, paid bills, general ledgers, insurance, banking transactions, residuals and other financial documents. There are two sub-series beginning with the Personal sub-series, and ending with the Accounting and General Business sub-series both organized chronologically. The documents range in date from 1969-2007.

The Legal series (7.5 linear feet) are legal documents with the majority of documents originating from three law firms, Lane & Mittendorf, and Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp, and Frankfort, Garbus, Klein & Selz all of which represented Robert Altman personally and professionally from 1969-2005. The series largely consists of business and financial documents. The series includes personal, business and financial, real estate and expandable file folders from Jerome Walsh's law office. The majority of files were created by Robert Altman's lawyer Jerome Walsh.

The Chronological series (30 linear feet) includes daily logs and correspondence for many of Robert Altman's production companies. Materials consist of daily logs, desk calendars, daily planners and correspondence consisting of incoming and outgoing faxes created during production of several of his films.

Forms part of the Robert Altman Archive. The Robert Altman Personal series (14 linear feet, 3 oversized boxes) ranges in date from 1945-2007. The series includes correspondence, legal, and medical documents, topical and award-related material, early work, interviews and clippings, as well as photographs. The Early Projects series contains assorted materials from early projects including movies, TV, commercials, and short films (1 linear foot and 1 oversized box). Forms part of the Robert Altman Archives.

The Robert Altman Personal series (14 linear feet, 3 oversized boxes) ranges in date from 1945-2007. The series includes correspondence, legal, and medical documents, topical and award-related material, early work, interviews and clippings, as well as photographs. The Early Projects series contains assorted materials from early projects including movies, TV, commercials, and short films (1 linear foot and 1 oversized box). Forms part of the Robert Altman Archives.

Forms part of the Robert Altman Archives. The Countdown series (.25 linear feet) consists of materials from the 1968 film directed by Robert Altman. The series includes a script, articles and reviews, photographs, contact sheets, negatives and transparencies That Cold Day in the Park series (.5 linear feet and 1 oversized box) consists of materials from the 1969 film directed by Robert Altman. The series includes legal materials, a script, publicity and distribution files, articles and reviews, on-the-set photographs, contact sheets, negatives and slides.

The Countdown series (.25 linear feet) consists of materials from the 1968 film directed by Robert Altman. The series includes a script, articles and reviews, photographs, contact sheets, negatives and transparencies. That Cold Day in the Park series (.5 linear feet and 1 oversized box) consists of materials from the 1969 film directed by Robert Altman. The series includes legal materials, a script, publicity and distribution files, articles and reviews, on-the-set photographs, contact sheets, negatives and slides.

Forms part of the Robert Altman Archive. Documentation related to unfinished and suspended projects, 1960s-2000s, that Altman had an involvement with but were never produced. Materials for a project may include correspondence, legal and financial files, scripts and publicity files.

The unfinished and suspended projects series consists of materials related to projects that Altman had an involvement with but were never produced. The reason that any specific project failed may or may not be apparent from the materials and vary greatly. Materials in this series run from the 1960's through the late 2000's.

The type and volume materials also vary greatly from project to project. These can include correspondence, legal materials, legal materials from Jerome Walsh, business and financial materials, scripts and related materials, production materials including those used for research, materials related to publicity and distribution, and articles and reviews related to both the productions and the subjects of the productions.

Robert Shaye founded New Line Cinema in 1967. The company began by distributing foreign, kitsch and art house films to college campuses and eventually grew to distribute and produce films in the Hollywood industry. The archive consists of five series: Personal, Business Documents, Projects, Articles and Clippings, and Audiovisual Materials. The documents range in date from 1958-2008.

The collection is divided into five series: Personal, Business Documents, Projects, Articles and Clippings, and Audiovisual Materials. All the series contain many of Shaye’s hand-written notes from notebooks to scraps of paper in which many of his ideas are written. Along with the notes, Shaye included many Post-it notes explaining some of the content. The majority of documents for the Projects series and all the material from the Audiovisual series are from The Last Mimzy, directed by Shaye and released in 2007.

The Personal series includes correspondence between friends and business partners as well as congratulatory cards and notes. The majority of the series consists of Shaye’s speeches made during awards ceremonies, general speeches for company events, movie premiere speeches and speeches for family and friends’ events. Many documents refer to Shaye as L.E. Moko. This reference refers to Pépé le Moko, a 1937 French gangster film directed by Julien Duvivier.

The Business Documents series ranges from 1967-2008 with documents focusing on New Line and consisting of correspondence, shareholder meeting notes, and film catalogs showcasing the variety of movies available for distribution that year. A binder with information on New Line common stock and correspondence can be found in an oversize box.

The Project series highlights some of New Line Cinema’s distributed and produced films. Highlights include storyboards for Nightmare on Elm Street 4: Dream Master, produced in 1988. The majority of documents are production documents for two films directed by Shaye, Book of Love and The Last Mimzy.

The Articles and clippings section consists of personal articles about Robert Shaye as a business entrepreneur and creative director, New Line Cinema articles, and miscellaneous film reviews along with trade magazines with issues dedicated to New Line or Robert Shaye.

The Audiovisual Materials series consists of The Last Mimzy DVD’s and a CD of video clips, trailers and publicity events. The DVD’s include production footage such as alternate beginnings, B-roll footage and different edited versions of the film.