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Title: An Afternoon with Cinecraft: Past and Present [transcript], Remembering How It All Began
Date(s): 1999-12-17
Contributor(s): Culley, Paul (interviewee), Haviland, Robert E., 1914-2003 (interviewee), McCormick, Neil (interviewee), Haviland, Jim (James R.) (interviewer), Cinecraft, Inc. (originator)
Description: In this two-part interview, Paul Culley and Bob Haviland discuss their experiences at Cinecraft Production in Cleveland Ohio. Culley, the company's former owner, and Haviland, the former executive producer, discuss the company's start and its founder Ray Culley. (Ray Culley sold the company to his brother Paul in 1970). They discuss Ray Culley's time working in Hollywood and how he returned to Cleveland to found Cinecraft. Included in this part of the interview are recollections of Tri-State...
Show moreIn this two-part interview, Paul Culley and Bob Haviland discuss their experiences at Cinecraft Production in Cleveland Ohio. Culley, the company's former owner, and Haviland, the former executive producer, discuss the company's start and its founder Ray Culley. (Ray Culley sold the company to his brother Paul in 1970). They discuss Ray Culley's time working in Hollywood and how he returned to Cleveland to found Cinecraft. Included in this part of the interview are recollections of Tri-State Pictures, an industrial film company in Cleveland.

Bob Haviland recounts how he started as an industrial photographer and how he became involved in motion picture film making. His early career included work producing slide films for industrial training and education. The company he worked for bought Tri-State, and that is how he met Ray Culley and eventually starting work at Cinecraft sometime around 1950.

Paul Culley describes his start at Cinecraft working for his brother after returning from serving in the Second World War. Paul worked in the sound department, and he talks about the technical challenges of producing sound for motion picture films with a limited budget on 16mm film stock.

The interview then steers towards specific film projects, including The Spoilers (Supermarket Institute), Milestones of Motoring (Standard Oil of Ohio), The Ohio Story (Ohio Bell Telephone), Long Ships Passing (The Lake Carriers Association), Magnificat (Sisters of the Humility of Mary), and Where's Joe (steel industry). They also talk in detail about working with and producing TV commercials for Papa Barnard, the founder of Vita-Mix.

During discussions about specific jobs, Bob and Paul talk about the technical and logistical challenges of shooting and producing films. They also touch on some business aspects of industrial film productions, including hiring professional actors to appear on film. Among the Hollywood actors mentioned are Merv Griffin, Joe E. Brown, Reed Hadley, and Otto Kruger.

About three-quarters through the interview, Neil McCormick, the then-current Cinecraft co-owner joins the interview. This part of the discussion focuses primarily on the equipment and technical aspects of filmmaking and its evolution during the company's history. Bob Haviland details a job for U.S. Steel that involved using high-speed film to capture a steel cable's breaking. U.S. Steel used the footage to defend a lawsuit against the company.

Throughout the interview, the participants discuss the positive working conditions at Cinecraft and the professionalism among those who worked there. They also emphasize the creativity needed to produce compelling products for their clients.

The interview was conducted at the Cinecraft Studios on Franklin Blvd in Cleveland, Ohio, on December 17, 1999. Jim Haviland - Bob Haviland's grandson - conducted the interview.
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Collection ID: Culley family collection of Cinecraft Productions audiovisual materials (Accession 2018.201)
Hagley ID: AVD_2018201_01_23
Collection: Culley Family Cinecraft Productions Collection

Title: Maria Keckan and Neil McCormick
Date(s): 2020-08-10
Contributor(s): McCormick, Neil (interviewee), Keckan, Maria (interviewee), Spohn, Benjamin (interviewer)
Description: In this interview Keckan and McCormick talk about their careers pre-Cinecraft, their early time at Cinecraft and the changes that have happened in the film production industry since they purchased the company in 1984. Before coming to Cinecraft, Keckan worked as a producer making medical education films. McCormick joined Cinecraft in 1977 after attending graduate school at CUNY. He has always been interested in filmmaking. McCormick talks about evolving film production technology from joining...
Show moreIn this interview Keckan and McCormick talk about their careers pre-Cinecraft, their early time at Cinecraft and the changes that have happened in the film production industry since they purchased the company in 1984. Before coming to Cinecraft, Keckan worked as a producer making medical education films. McCormick joined Cinecraft in 1977 after attending graduate school at CUNY. He has always been interested in filmmaking. McCormick talks about evolving film production technology from joining the company in 1977. Both Keckan and McCormick talk about the challenges of buying the company and upgrading the existing equipment. Their troubles were financial and personal as existing employees were wary of the new management. McCormick provides a start to finish descriptions of some of the productions he worked on including Where the River Enters the Sea and Sohio Today and Tomorrow. They talk about some of Cinecraft's more recent developments, and how production has changed since the 1980s. McCormick explains that Cinecraft had always specialized in sound and producing high quality sound recordings to accompany their films. McCormick explains how the work Cinecraft does has become less segmented as one person can do multiple jobs, and that company employs more people now than it did in 1984. Both Keckan and McCormick talk about the importance of e-learning to Cinecraft's current work. Keckan explains the her son, Dan, is responsible for driving the growth of e-learning to the point of where it has become Cinecraft's largest source of business. McCormick offers his thoughts on digital media and the importance of non-destructive editing allowing for multiple lossless cuts. Keckan talks about some of Cinecraft's work with non-profit organizations. Keckan and McCormick talk about their philosophy of running a business and working with clients as the company hits 80 years in operation. They talk about how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted work at Cinecraft. They talk about their future hopes for the company, and how Keckan's son and his business partner have expanded the company from local, to national, and then international.
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Collection ID: Cinecraft oral histories (Accession 2021.206)
Hagley ID: MariaKeckanandNeilMcCormick08102020
Collection: Cinecraft Oral Histories

Title: An Afternoon with Cinecraft: Past and Present, Remembering How It All Began
Date(s): 1999-12-17
Contributor(s): Culley, Paul (interviewee), Haviland, Robert E., 1914-2003 (interviewee), McCormick, Neil (interviewee), Haviland, Jim (James R.) (interviewer), Cinecraft, Inc. (originator)
Description: In this two-part interview, Paul Culley and Bob Haviland discuss their experiences at Cinecraft Production in Cleveland Ohio. Culley, the company's former owner, and Haviland, the former executive producer, discuss the company's start and its founder Ray Culley. (Ray Culley sold the company to his brother Paul in 1970). They discuss Ray Culley's time working in Hollywood and how he returned to Cleveland to found Cinecraft. Included in this part of the interview are recollections of Tri-State...
Show moreIn this two-part interview, Paul Culley and Bob Haviland discuss their experiences at Cinecraft Production in Cleveland Ohio. Culley, the company's former owner, and Haviland, the former executive producer, discuss the company's start and its founder Ray Culley. (Ray Culley sold the company to his brother Paul in 1970). They discuss Ray Culley's time working in Hollywood and how he returned to Cleveland to found Cinecraft. Included in this part of the interview are recollections of Tri-State Pictures, an industrial film company in Cleveland.

Bob Haviland recounts how he started as an industrial photographer and how he became involved in motion picture film making. His early career included work producing slide films for industrial training and education. The company he worked for bought Tri-State, and that is how he met Ray Culley and eventually starting work at Cinecraft sometime around 1950.

Paul Culley describes his start at Cinecraft working for his brother after returning from serving in the Second World War. Paul worked in the sound department, and he talks about the technical challenges of producing sound for motion picture films with a limited budget on 16mm film stock.

The interview then steers towards specific film projects, including The Spoilers (Supermarket Institute), Milestones of Motoring (Standard Oil of Ohio), The Ohio Story (Ohio Bell Telephone), Long Ships Passing (The Lake Carriers Association), Magnificat (Sisters of the Humility of Mary), and Where's Joe (steel industry). They also talk in detail about working with and producing TV commercials for Papa Barnard, the founder of Vita-Mix.

During discussions about specific jobs, Bob and Paul talk about the technical and logistical challenges of shooting and producing films. They also touch on some business aspects of industrial film productions, including hiring professional actors to appear on film. Among the Hollywood actors mentioned are Merv Griffin, Joe E. Brown, Reed Hadley, and Otto Kruger.

About three-quarters through the interview, Neil McCormick, the then-current Cinecraft co-owner joins the interview. This part of the discussion focuses primarily on the equipment and technical aspects of filmmaking and its evolution during the company's history. Bob Haviland details a job for U.S. Steel that involved using high-speed film to capture a steel cable's breaking. U.S. Steel used the footage to defend a lawsuit against the company.

Throughout the interview, the participants discuss the positive working conditions at Cinecraft and the professionalism among those who worked there. They also emphasize the creativity needed to produce compelling products for their clients.

The interview was conducted at the Cinecraft Studios on Franklin Blvd in Cleveland, Ohio, on December 17, 1999. Jim Haviland - Bob Haviland's grandson - conducted the interview.
Show less
Collection ID: Culley family collection of Cinecraft Productions audiovisual materials (Accession 2018.201)
Hagley ID: AVD_2018201_History_of_Cinecraft_combined
Collection: Culley Family Cinecraft Productions Collection, Cinecraft Oral Histories

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