Production designer Edward Carfagno recording his Academy oral history with Barbara Hall, 1990.

The Academy Oral History Program was established in 1989, with the goal of documenting the lives and careers of individuals who have worked in various areas of the film industry. To date, our interviewers have conducted over fifty oral histories on subjects ranging from art direction and film editing to censorship and Academy history. In addition, a number of interviewees were questioned in detail about their contribution to the filmmaking effort during World War II.

The interviews, which average more than fifteen hours each in length, are recorded on audio tape and then transcribed, edited and indexed. The completed oral histories are available for use in the Academy's Margaret Herrick Library. They are listed in the Online Catalog, and there is a master index to the oral histories, which may be requested at the reference desk. Limited photocopying is available; please request a photocopy release form from the reference staff.

All rights in the oral histories and the audio tapes, including the right to publish, are reserved to the Academy Foundation. For more information about the oral history program, please contact Linda Harris Mehr at (310) 247-3000 extension 201, or by e-mail at lmehr@oscars.org.