Ron Mann fonds

1982-2004

Biographical History


Date 1958-

Documentary filmmaker Ron Mann was born in Toronto in 1958. His parents had immigrated to Toronto in 1952, and his father owned and operated an electronics store. Mann began making films at the age of 12, and by 21 he had completed his first feature (The Only Game in Town). He made his feature debut with Imagine the Sound two years later, followed shortly by Poetry in Motion.
Mann worked briefly in Los Angeles, but returned to Toronto where he created such well-received films as Comic Book Confidential, The Twist, Dream Tower, Grass, and Go Further. Over the course of his career, Mann has earned several awards including two Genies and two ‘Best Documentary’ awards from the Chicago Film Festival. Mann has also produced and directed a number of short films and features by directors such as Jim Sheddden, Robert Kennedy and Peter Wintonick. Wintonick, inspired to make his first documentary after meeting Mann and working as editor on Poetry in Motion, later went on to direct Manufacturing Consent, which has been called the most successful documentary in Canadian film history (the film has won 22 awards, been screened in more than 50 international festivals, and has been translated into a dozen languages). Mann has also worked extensively with executive producer Martin Harbury.
In the summer of 2003, Mann and Toronto film and music promoter Gary Topp launched an independent film distribution company called Filmswelike; through this project, they distributed such documentaries as The Weather Underground, Superstar in a Housedress, Dig! and Incident at Loch Ness.
Mann lives in Toronto with his wife, Paty, and their children. His production company, Sphinx Productions, is also based there.

Extent and Medium

12.3 m of textual material


9,341 photographs
· 1,119 35mm negatives (244 col., 875 b&w)
· 26 – 35mm slides (26 col.)
· 5 4x5 transparencies (5 col.)
· 10 4x3 and 4x5 negatives (10 b&w)
· 1 Polaroid print
· 23 8x10 contact sheets (1 col., 22 b&w)
· 155 prints (123 col., 32 b&w)
· 8,002 digitized photographs (8,002 col.)


714 audio recordings
· 1 35mm magnetic soundtrack (200 ft)
· 4 – 35 mm 3 track master (9,000 ft)
· 17 – 35mm optical negative (15,400 ft)
· 11 – 2 in. tapes (10 hr.)
· 49 DAT cassettes (90 hr., 50 min.)
· 1 DA8 cassettes (1 hr.)
· 162 Hi8 cassettes (80 hr., 32 min.)
· 264 CD (214 hr., 46 min.)
· 5 Micro cassettes (5 hr.)
· 7 Mini Disks (7 hr., 54 min.)
· 116 cassettes (159 hr., 19 min.)
· 2 optical discs (5 hr., 20 min.)
· 69 33.3RPMvinyl discs (32 hr., 35 min.)
· 1 45RPM vinyl disc (8 min.)
· 6 DPD cassettes (6 hr., 46 min.)


2,797 video recordings
· 66 ¾ in. tapes (35 hr., 339 min.)
· 9 HD cassettes (D5 and XD) (4 hr., 45 min.)
· 5 D1 Digital video cassettes (2 hr., 39 min.)
· 10 – 1 in. tapes (11 hr.,12 min.)
· 1 – 2 in. tape (2 min.)
· 40 HDCam cassettes (21 hr., 25 min.)
· 953 DV Cam cassettes (647 hr., 1 min.)
· 76 Hi8 cassettes (83 hr., 45 min.)
· 17 8mm video (ca. 34 hrs.)
· 14 Mini DV cassettes (9 hr., 20 min.)
· 35 – Digital Betacam cassettes (75 hr., 46 min.)
· 352 Betacam SP cassettes (198 hr., 44 min.)
· 3 Betacam cassettes (1 hr., 43 min.)
· 489 VHS cassettes (550 hr., 47 min.)
· 231 DVDs (293hr., 14 min.)
· 390 ½ in. VHS cassettes (432 hr., 13 min.)
· 55 CDs (bearing Quicktime A/V files)
· 51 DVDs (bearing Quicktime A/V files)


58 cinefilms
· 25 reels 35mm release prints (38 hr., 53 min.)
· 2 reels 35 mm film prints (1,000 ft)
· 13 reels 35 mm theatrical trailers (28 min.)
· 39 reels 35 mm negative (15, 400 ft)
· 4 reels 16 mm release print (4 hr., 58 min.)
· 12 reels16mm negative (23, 400 ft)
· 4 reels16mm film print (4,000)
· 8 reels Super 8mm (1,900 ft)


ca. 93 artifacts
Accession 2004.006 accession is divided into 3 series: the first is ‘Ron Mann’, the second is ‘Filmswelike Distribution Co.’, and the third is ‘Peter
Wintonick’.

The first series, ‘Ron Mann’, includes 6 subseries: ‘Textual Material’, ‘Photographic Material’,‘Audio Material’, ‘Video Material’, ‘Cinefilm’, and ‘Artifacts’.
-The first subseries includes research, transcripts, correspondence, web site mockups, speeches, notes, and press clippings.
-The second subseries, ‘Photographic Material’, includes photographs of Canadian bands Blue Rodeo, Motherlode and Mandala.
-The third subseries, ‘Audio Material’, consists of audio elements and research material, including a number of items pertaining to popular music of the 1950s and 1960s.
-The fourth subseries, ‘Video Material’, includes research material, video elements and video masters for several productions. Of particular interest are original DVCam shoot tapes for Go Further, which feature performances from such artists as Dave Matthews, Billy Bragg, and Dar Williams.
-The fifth subseries, ‘Cinefilm’, includes 35mm release prints of Grass and Go Further. Also included are a16mm print of The Only Game in Town, and a complete set of printing elements for Grass.
-The final subseries, ‘Artifacts’, includes posters and awards.

The second series, ‘Filmswelike’, includes 4 subseries: ‘Textual Material’, ‘Video Material’, ‘Cinefilm’ and ‘Artifacts’.
-The first subseries, ‘Textual Material’, includes press kits and promotional documents.
-The second subseries, ‘Video Material’, includes DVD and VHS screeners of films both released and submitted for consideration.
-The third subseries, ‘Cinefilm’, includes 10 35mm release prints.
-The fourth subseries, ‘Artifacts’, includes a poster.

The third series, ‘Peter Wintonick’, includes shoot tapes, masters, screening DVDs and VHS cassettes. The raw material for Wintonick’s documentaries includes tourist video tapes from Buchart Gardens in Victoria and footage of tribal militants in the Philippines.


This fonds includes textual material relating to a number of productions, including:

Grass (Film, 1999)
Go Further (Film, 2003)
Blue Rodeo in Stereovision (Film, 2004)
This fonds includes audiovisual material relating to a number of productions, including:

The Only Game in Town (Film, 1979)
Manufacturing Consent (Film, 1992)
Twist (Film, 1992)
Dream Tower (Television, 1994)
Ho Kanada! (Film, 1996)
The QuebeCanada Complex (Film, 1998)
Grass (Film, 1999)
Rivers & Tides (Film, 2001)
Seeing is Believing (Film, 2002)
The Weather Underground (Film, 2002)
Neil Young’s Greendale (Film, 2003)
Go Further (Film, 2003)
Blue Rodeo in Stereovision (Film, 2004)
Superstar in a Housedress (Film, 2004)
Incident at Loch Ness (Film, 2004)
Dig! (Film, 2004)
Accession 2006.008 consists of 3 series. These are ‘Ron Mann’, ‘Filmswelike’, and
‘Martin Harbury’.

The first series, ‘Ron Mann’, includes 6 subseries: these are ‘Textual Materials’, ‘Photographic Materials’, ‘Audio Materials’, ‘Video Materials’, ‘Cinefilm’ and ‘Artifacts’.
-The first subseries, ‘Textual Material’, includes correspondence, press clippings, and scripts as well as research, production, post-production and distribution documents from approximately 15 productions (chiefly Tales of the Rat Fink).
-The second subseries, ‘Photographic Material’, consists of research material.
-The third subseries, ‘Audio Material’, includes research material, sound elements and soundtracks.
-The fourth subseries, ‘Video Material’, includes production elements, TV masters, screening copies, and multiple versions of Tales of the Rat Fink.
-The fifth subseries, ‘Cinefilm’, includes complete 35mm release prints of Tales of the Rat Fink, and printing elements from Grass and Comic Book Confidential.
-The sixth subseries, ‘Artifacts’, includes promotional items (e.g. a package of seeds to promote Grass), posters, awards and a flag.

The second series, ‘Filmswelike’, includes three subseries: ‘Textual Material’, ‘Video Material’ and ‘Cinefilm’.
-The first subseries, ‘Textual Material’, includes posters, press kits, and assorted documentation pertaining to the films distributed by Filmswelike.
-The second subseries, ‘Video Material’, includes several VHS and DVD screening copies.
-The third subseries, ‘Cinefilm’, includes 8 35mm release prints.

The third series, ‘Martin Harbury’, includes six subseries: ‘Textual Material’, ‘Photographic Material’, ‘Video Material’, ‘Audio Material’, ‘Cinefilm’, and ‘Artifacts’.
-The first subseries, ‘Textual Material’, includes scripts, correspondence, research, production, post-production and distribution documents from ca.17 productions.
-The second subseries, ‘Photographic Material’, includes research and production photos.
-The third subseries, ‘Audio Material’, includes sound elements.
-The fourth subseries, ‘Video Material’, includes master tapes and production material.
-The fifth series, ‘Cinefilm’, includes 16mm and 35mm printing elements from such productions as Clown White and Hockey Night.


Accession 2006.008 includes textual material relating to a number of productions,
including:

Clown White (Television, 1980)
Hockey Night (Television, 1984)
The Return of Hickey (Television, 1988)
Comic Book Confidential (Film, 1988)
Twist (Film, 1992)
The Barrens Quest (Film, 1992)
Dream Tower (Television, 1994)
Milgaard (Television, 1998)
Grass (Film, 1999)
Peanuts (Television, 2001)
Go Further (Film, 2003)
Blue Rodeo in Stereovision (Film, 2004)
Tales of the Rat Fink (Film, 2006)
Accession 2006.008 includes audiovisual material relating to a number of productions,
including:

Clown White (Television, 1980)
Imagine the Sound (Film, 1981)
Poetry in Motion (Film, 1982)
Echoes Without Saying (Film, 1983)
Listen to the City (Film, 1984)
Hockey Night (Television, 1984)
Making ‘Anne of Green Gables’ (Television, 1985)
Comic Book Confidential (Film, 1988)
The Return of Hickey (Television, 1988)
Rookies (Television, 1990)
Gold (Television, 1991)
Twist (Film, 1992)
True Stories (Television, 1992)
Bermuda Grace (Television, 1993)
Dream Tower (Television, 1994)
Painters Painting (Film, 1995)
The Barrens Quest (Television, 1996)
Legend of the Arrow (Television, 1996)
Wild Bill Lishman (Television, 1998)
Grass (Film, 1999)
Airborne (Television, 2001)
Peanuts (Television, 2001)
Go Further (Film, 2003)
Blue Rodeo in Stereovision (Film, 2004)
Tales of the Rat Fink (Film, 2006)

Conditions governing access

Preservation concern may limit access, consult archivist.

Ron Mann fonds

Description
Accession 2004.006 accession is divided into 3 series: the first is ‘Ron Mann’, the second is ‘Filmswelike Distribution Co.’, and the third is ‘Peter Wintonick’. The first series, ‘Ron Mann’, includes 6 subseries: ‘Textual Material’, ‘Photographic Material’,‘Audio Material’, ‘Video Material’, ‘Cinefilm’, and ‘Artifacts’. -The first subseries includes research, transcripts, correspondence, web site mockups, speeches, notes, and press clippings. -The second subseries, ‘Photographic Material’, includes photographs of Canadian bands Blue Rodeo, Motherlode and Mandala. -The third subseries, ‘Audio Material’, consists of audio elements and research material, including a number of items pertaining to popular music of the 1950s and 1960s. -The fourth subseries, ‘Video Material’, includes research material, video elements and video masters for several productions. Of particular interest are original DVCam shoot tapes for Go Further, which feature performances from such artists as Dave Matthews, Billy Bragg, and Dar Williams. -The fifth subseries, ‘Cinefilm’, includes 35mm release prints of Grass and Go Further. Also included are a16mm print of The Only Game in Town, and a complete set of printing elements for Grass. -The final subseries, ‘Artifacts’, includes posters and awards. The second series, ‘Filmswelike’, includes 4 subseries: ‘Textual Material’, ‘Video Material’, ‘Cinefilm’ and ‘Artifacts’. -The first subseries, ‘Textual Material’, includes press kits and promotional documents. -The second subseries, ‘Video Material’, includes DVD and VHS screeners of films both released and submitted for consideration. -The third subseries, ‘Cinefilm’, includes 10 35mm release prints. -The fourth subseries, ‘Artifacts’, includes a poster. The third series, ‘Peter Wintonick’, includes shoot tapes, masters, screening DVDs and VHS cassettes. The raw material for Wintonick’s documentaries includes tourist video tapes from Buchart Gardens in Victoria and footage of tribal militants in the Philippines. This fonds includes textual material relating to a number of productions, including: Grass (Film, 1999) Go Further (Film, 2003) Blue Rodeo in Stereovision (Film, 2004) This fonds includes audiovisual material relating to a number of productions, including: The Only Game in Town (Film, 1979) Manufacturing Consent (Film, 1992) Twist (Film, 1992) Dream Tower (Television, 1994) Ho Kanada! (Film, 1996) The QuebeCanada Complex (Film, 1998) Grass (Film, 1999) Rivers & Tides (Film, 2001) Seeing is Believing (Film, 2002) The Weather Underground (Film, 2002) Neil Young’s Greendale (Film, 2003) Go Further (Film, 2003) Blue Rodeo in Stereovision (Film, 2004) Superstar in a Housedress (Film, 2004) Incident at Loch Ness (Film, 2004) Dig! (Film, 2004) Accession 2006.008 consists of 3 series. These are ‘Ron Mann’, ‘Filmswelike’, and ‘Martin Harbury’. The first series, ‘Ron Mann’, includes 6 subseries: these are ‘Textual Materials’, ‘Photographic Materials’, ‘Audio Materials’, ‘Video Materials’, ‘Cinefilm’ and ‘Artifacts’. -The first subseries, ‘Textual Material’, includes correspondence, press clippings, and scripts as well as research, production, post-production and distribution documents from approximately 15 productions (chiefly Tales of the Rat Fink). -The second subseries, ‘Photographic Material’, consists of research material. -The third subseries, ‘Audio Material’, includes research material, sound elements and soundtracks. -The fourth subseries, ‘Video Material’, includes production elements, TV masters, screening copies, and multiple versions of Tales of the Rat Fink. -The fifth subseries, ‘Cinefilm’, includes complete 35mm release prints of Tales of the Rat Fink, and printing elements from Grass and Comic Book Confidential. -The sixth subseries, ‘Artifacts’, includes promotional items (e.g. a package of seeds to promote Grass), posters, awards and a flag. The second series, ‘Filmswelike’, includes three subseries: ‘Textual Material’, ‘Video Material’ and ‘Cinefilm’. -The first subseries, ‘Textual Material’, includes posters, press kits, and assorted documentation pertaining to the films distributed by Filmswelike. -The second subseries, ‘Video Material’, includes several VHS and DVD screening copies. -The third subseries, ‘Cinefilm’, includes 8 35mm release prints. The third series, ‘Martin Harbury’, includes six subseries: ‘Textual Material’, ‘Photographic Material’, ‘Video Material’, ‘Audio Material’, ‘Cinefilm’, and ‘Artifacts’. -The first subseries, ‘Textual Material’, includes scripts, correspondence, research, production, post-production and distribution documents from ca.17 productions. -The second subseries, ‘Photographic Material’, includes research and production photos. -The third subseries, ‘Audio Material’, includes sound elements. -The fourth subseries, ‘Video Material’, includes master tapes and production material. -The fifth series, ‘Cinefilm’, includes 16mm and 35mm printing elements from such productions as Clown White and Hockey Night. Accession 2006.008 includes textual material relating to a number of productions, including: Clown White (Television, 1980) Hockey Night (Television, 1984) The Return of Hickey (Television, 1988) Comic Book Confidential (Film, 1988) Twist (Film, 1992) The Barrens Quest (Film, 1992) Dream Tower (Television, 1994) Milgaard (Television, 1998) Grass (Film, 1999) Peanuts (Television, 2001) Go Further (Film, 2003) Blue Rodeo in Stereovision (Film, 2004) Tales of the Rat Fink (Film, 2006) Accession 2006.008 includes audiovisual material relating to a number of productions, including: Clown White (Television, 1980) Imagine the Sound (Film, 1981) Poetry in Motion (Film, 1982) Echoes Without Saying (Film, 1983) Listen to the City (Film, 1984) Hockey Night (Television, 1984) Making ‘Anne of Green Gables’ (Television, 1985) Comic Book Confidential (Film, 1988) The Return of Hickey (Television, 1988) Rookies (Television, 1990) Gold (Television, 1991) Twist (Film, 1992) True Stories (Television, 1992) Bermuda Grace (Television, 1993) Dream Tower (Television, 1994) Painters Painting (Film, 1995) The Barrens Quest (Television, 1996) Legend of the Arrow (Television, 1996) Wild Bill Lishman (Television, 1998) Grass (Film, 1999) Airborne (Television, 2001) Peanuts (Television, 2001) Go Further (Film, 2003) Blue Rodeo in Stereovision (Film, 2004) Tales of the Rat Fink (Film, 2006)
Extent and Medium
12.3 m of textual material


9,341 photographs
· 1,119 35mm negatives (244 col., 875 b&w)
· 26 – 35mm slides (26 col.)
· 5 4x5 transparencies (5 col.)
· 10 4x3 and 4x5 negatives (10 b&w)
· 1 Polaroid print
· 23 8x10 contact sheets (1 col., 22 b&w)
· 155 prints (123 col., 32 b&w)
· 8,002 digitized photographs (8,002 col.)


714 audio recordings
· 1 35mm magnetic soundtrack (200 ft)
· 4 – 35 mm 3 track master (9,000 ft)
· 17 – 35mm optical negative (15,400 ft)
· 11 – 2 in. tapes (10 hr.)
· 49 DAT cassettes (90 hr., 50 min.)
· 1 DA8 cassettes (1 hr.)
· 162 Hi8 cassettes (80 hr., 32 min.)
· 264 CD (214 hr., 46 min.)
· 5 Micro cassettes (5 hr.)
· 7 Mini Disks (7 hr., 54 min.)
· 116 cassettes (159 hr., 19 min.)
· 2 optical discs (5 hr., 20 min.)
· 69 33.3RPMvinyl discs (32 hr., 35 min.)
· 1 45RPM vinyl disc (8 min.)
· 6 DPD cassettes (6 hr., 46 min.)


2,797 video recordings
· 66 ¾ in. tapes (35 hr., 339 min.)
· 9 HD cassettes (D5 and XD) (4 hr., 45 min.)
· 5 D1 Digital video cassettes (2 hr., 39 min.)
· 10 – 1 in. tapes (11 hr.,12 min.)
· 1 – 2 in. tape (2 min.)
· 40 HDCam cassettes (21 hr., 25 min.)
· 953 DV Cam cassettes (647 hr., 1 min.)
· 76 Hi8 cassettes (83 hr., 45 min.)
· 17 8mm video (ca. 34 hrs.)
· 14 Mini DV cassettes (9 hr., 20 min.)
· 35 – Digital Betacam cassettes (75 hr., 46 min.)
· 352 Betacam SP cassettes (198 hr., 44 min.)
· 3 Betacam cassettes (1 hr., 43 min.)
· 489 VHS cassettes (550 hr., 47 min.)
· 231 DVDs (293hr., 14 min.)
· 390 ½ in. VHS cassettes (432 hr., 13 min.)
· 55 CDs (bearing Quicktime A/V files)
· 51 DVDs (bearing Quicktime A/V files)


58 cinefilms
· 25 reels 35mm release prints (38 hr., 53 min.)
· 2 reels 35 mm film prints (1,000 ft)
· 13 reels 35 mm theatrical trailers (28 min.)
· 39 reels 35 mm negative (15, 400 ft)
· 4 reels 16 mm release print (4 hr., 58 min.)
· 12 reels16mm negative (23, 400 ft)
· 4 reels16mm film print (4,000)
· 8 reels Super 8mm (1,900 ft)


ca. 93 artifacts
Date Range
1982-2004