Archival Collections

The following Research Collections are available at Media Archives. For information regarding finding aids and collections access, please contact a Media Archivist, during regular business hours. You can also perform advanced search of research collections from the Media Archives in Discover Archives.

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Biographical History

ROBERT LANG is an internationally recognized, award-winning filmmaker and television producer whose work has covered many documentary topics, from music programs and interactive media to science and social documentaries.

Lang founded the production company… more

This fonds consists of a single series Robert Lang Early Films that includes Robert Lang’s film productions from the 1970s.

The series includes the… Read full scope and content
Biographical History

Robert Sandler is a Canadian writer and producer with many memorable Television credits to his name. Sandler is credited as ‘Bob Sandler’ in some scripts and Television credits. He is most well-known for his writing in children’s programs such as Fraggle Rock,… more

The Robert Sandler Fonds is separated under series based on the production of various TV series and movies.

Series 1: Northrop Frye Lectures (Frye)… Read full scope and content
1950-1985
Biographical History

Hungarian-Canadian poet and radio producer Robert Zend was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1929. Zend majored in Hungarian and classical literature and received a Bachelor of Arts from Péter Pázmány Science University in 1953. Zend immigrated to Canada in 1956 and… more

This fonds includes a collection of personal and professional papers relating to Zend’s career and life in Canada. It includes holograph and typed… Read full scope and content
Biographical History

Roman Bittman was born on June 5, 1941, in Fort Vermilion, Alberta. He grew up in a hunter-farming community with his German father and Metis mother. He later moved to Hay River, Northwest Territories. He entered the world of media when he started the first northern… more

The Roman Bittman and Marily Belec Bittman Fonds is separated based on Roman and Marilyn’s projects and business under these series:
Series 1 – 11… Read full scope and content
1982-2004
Biographical History

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… more

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… Read full scope and content
1989-2000
Biographical History

Rosie Levine is a Canadian journalist who has been covering the Toronto social scene since the 1980’s. After graduating from the University of Toronto, she began her career in 1980 as the Director of Guest Relations at the Festival of Festivals, now known as the… more

Biographical History

Roy Kenner is a singer, songwriter, and voice over actor. Born in Toronto in 1948, he gained popularity when he was the lead singer for the Toronto band Mandala, an up and coming R&B band. In 1967 they had their first hit “Love-it is” off of their only album more

Biographical History

Rush Productions was a corporate subsidiary of SRO/Anthem, specifically concerned with Rush’s touring expenses and coordination within Canada. Over the years, various other corporate entities were set up to handle American and International touring expenses, including… more

This fonds consists of one series, arranged according to the creator’s system. Boxes 1-33 represent the accounting files of Rush Productions, ORS… Read full scope and content
1985-2002
Biographical History

S & S Productions was founded by husband-and-wife comedy team Steve and Morag Smith in 1980. The company was founded just as Canada’s broadcasting industry was experiencing unprecedented growth; the new cable market was just developing, and smaller companies like… more

This fonds includes 6 series, divided by format. The series are: Textual Material, Photographic Material, Audio Material, Video Material, Cinefilm… Read full scope and content
1999-2001
Biographical History

Dr. Sam Stedman received a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto’s Graduate Drama Centre in 2007. Since then, Dr. Stedman has worked as a sessional lecturer affiliated with the Department of English and Drama at the University of Toronto Mississauga, while also… more

This fonds includes audiovisual material relating to the following theatrical productions:

Sick – A Chamber of Horrors (2001)
Phalanx (1999)
1993-2007
Biographical History

Shaftesbury Films was founded by Canadian Film Centre alumnus Christina Jennings 1987. The initial goal was to produce feature films with strong Canadian content and identity; their first feature, Camilla, was produced in 1992 and followed by Swann and Painted Angels… more

This fonds is divided into 3 series, based on format. These are: Audio Material; Video Material; and Cinefilms.

The first series, Audio Material, is… Read full scope and content
Biographical History

Shirley Hughes (b. 1960) is a high-profile member of Toronto’s vintage film community. She has been active in the Toronto Film Society since 1979 and served as vice-president for nearly a decade. In the late 1990s, Hughes co-founded Goddess Film & Entertainment… more

This collection consists of 14 series arranged by format and subject matter. Several of the films included in Series 1 and Series 3 are incomplete.… Read full scope and content
Biographical History

William Harry Petts (1954 – 2014) was a film collector and member of Toronto’s vintage film community. He had a life-long passion for film and collected films for many years. Until his death, Petts was a staff member at East York Collegiate Institute, where he was… more

This collection consists of 14 series arranged by format and subject matter. Several of the films included in Series 1 and Series 3 are incomplete.… Read full scope and content
Biographical History

Sol Dworkin was born and raised in Winnipeg, MB, to a Russian-Jewish immigrant family. By 1930, his father was forced to relocate the family to Ottawa where Dworkin attended high school. The family spoke Yiddish, and chose to continue to live in a primarily Jewish… more

Biographical History

Ralph C. Ellis, father of Stephen, was born July 11, 1924, in Milton, Nova Scotia. After serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War, he began his career at the National Film Board as a field representative working out of the Halifax, Ottawa,… more

1999-2001
Biographical History

Canadian poet Susan Helwig was born and raised on a farm in Grey County Ontario, and currently resides in Toronto. Helwig has served as a programmer and host for the CKLN FM 88.1 literary issues radio show “In Other Words”. She is the author of two published works of… more

This fonds includes audiovisual material relating to the following poets:

Amabile, George
Arima, Phlip
Baillie, Martha
Barlow, John
Bates, Judy Fong… Read full scope and content
Biographical History

Born in 1954, Susan King grew up in Toronto and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Mount Allison University, and a Masters of Fine Arts degree from York University. After graduation, King opened XOX Artist’s Postcards, a retail store whose stock was… more

Biographical History

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) was established in Toronto in 1993. In addition to consular services, its mandate is “to promote exchange and cooperation between Taiwan and Canada within its jurisdiction over Ontario, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New… more

Collection consists of film prints and video materials held by the Toronto TECO office.

Fonds includes the following Series:
Series 01: 16mm Movie… Read full scope and content
Biographical History

The Toronto Film Society (TFS) is one of Canada’s oldest non-profit film organizations. The TFS was established later when in 1934, the National Film Society in Ottawa was founded, prompting many other film societies to come up in cities all over Canada. One of those… more

Scope and Content: Series 1 – 5
Series 1: “People” Clippings Files
Series 2: AGE Series III
Series 3: Film Company Catalogues
Series 4: Dorothy and… Read full scope and content
1976 - 2004
Biographical History

The Canadian rock band Triumph formed in Toronto in 1975 following a chance meeting between musicians Rik Emmett (guitar/vocals), Mike Levine (bass guitar/keyboards), and Gil Moore (drums/vocals). Levine and Moore had played together since the early 1970s, and after… more

This fonds is divided into two series, Textual Material and Audiovisual Material.

The first series, Textual Material, includes handwritten lyric… Read full scope and content
Biographical History

True North Records, founded by Bernie Finkelstein, is Canada’s longest-running independent record label.

Finkelstein, the son of an Air Force warrant officer, was born in Toronto in 1944. He became involved in the Yorkville music scene in 1963, taking odd jobs… more

This fonds, which documents all aspects of the start-up and ongoing activities of a popular record label and management company based in Toronto, is… Read full scope and content
1947-1989
Biographical History

Reginald Valentine (Val) Clery was born on January 26, 1924 in Dublin. After serving as a commando in the British army during World War II, Clery worked as a radio producer for the CBC’s London bureau. Clery eventually immigrated to Canada and Toronto in 1965 where he… more

This fonds consists of three series, divided primarily by subject matter and reflecting Clery’s working division of his files. The series are: ‘… Read full scope and content
Biographical History

Virginia Kelly is the founder of VK & Associates, a Toronto-based public-relations firm that specializes in film and television events. The company was founded in 1989. Over the years the company has established itself as one of the country’s leading public… more

Biographical History

Avid collectors of the Golden Age of Radio and the early years of the American film industry.

1978-2009
Biographical History

Wayne Grigsby was born in 1947 in Calgary, Alberta, and is an award-winning Canadian writer and producer. Grigsby started his career in writing as a journalist, mainly in the arts and entertainment sector, for many publications such as Maclean’s magazine and the Globe… more

Series 1 – 4
Series 1: Script and Screenplays
Series 2: Correspondence and Awards
Series 3: Data Files
Series 4: Journalism

The First series are… Read full scope and content
1909-2021
Biographical History

Frank Ferguson was born in 1905 in Stoughton, Saskatchewan, to George Ferguson and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Fairlie. After Elizabeth passed away in the 1919 influenza pandemic, George sent Frank and his siblings to live with their aunt in Beeton, Ontario. Frank attended… more

This fonds consists of six series, the first five arranged by aspects of Frank Ferguson’s life, interests, and career, and the last series covers the… Read full scope and content
Biographical History

The World of Comedy Film Festival was founded by Carla Nolan (1957-2017) in 2003. The Toronto based festival was unique in that there were only two other comedy film festivals in the world when it began. Nolan wanted to create the festival so as to offer “some much… more