Brian Belak

Los Angeles, CA

brianbelak.com

brianbelak@gmail.com
Linkedin |

Education

MLIS, Media Archival Studies

University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

   •  Co-Chair, Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) Student Chapter, 2020 to 2021

   •  Theresa and Roy Aaron Fellowship, 2019 to 2020

BA, Cinema and Media Studies

University of Chicago
Chicago, IL

Professional Experience

Video Archivist & Post-Production Specialist

USC Libraries Digital Repository, Los Angeles, CA

Assistant Conservator

UCLA Library AV Preservation & Conservation, Los Angeles, CA

Archivist and Member of Board of Directors

Al Larvick Conservation Fund, New York, NY

Mellon Foundation Community Archives Intern

Skid Row History Museum and Archive, Los Angeles, CA

AV Scholar, Center for Primary Research and Training

UCLA Library Special Collections, Los Angeles, CA

Digital Resource Development Initiative

June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives, West Hollywood, CA

Collections Manager and Client Services Director

Chicago Film Archives, Chicago, IL

Presentations and Curation

"DVRescue: The Community Speaks""

Association of Moving Image Archivists, Pittsburgh, PA

“IS Media Lab Workshop: DVRescue”

UCLA Information Studies Department, Los Angeles, CA

“Albert E. Smith at UCLA Library Audiovisual Preservation”

Basement Tapes Day, Los Angeles, CA

"Synanon on Film: Unraveling the Outtakes of a California Community"

Association of Moving Image Archivists, Virtual Conference

"Virtual Talk-Shop: Los Angeles Home Movie Day 2020"

L.A. as Subject, Los Angeles, CA

"In Our Time: New Taiwan Cinema"

filmfront, Chicago, IL

"Rare Experience: Projecting Original and Unique Materials"

Association of Moving Image Archivists, Portland, OR

"CollectiveAccess 101"

Creating Community Through Digital Futures, Chicago, IL

"Out of the Vault: Secrets of Nature"

Chicago Filmmakers, Chicago, IL

"Archiving Your Family History"

Arts Incubator, Chicago, IL

"The Woman Behind the Camera: Uncovering an Overlooked Perspective"

Association of Moving Image Archivists, New Orleans, LA

"The Archive as Artists' Source"

Alternative Histories, Alternative Archives, Chicago, IL

"[Untitled Nudist Film]"

Association of Moving Image Archivists, Pittsburgh, PA

Volunteer Work

Co-Organizer

Home Movie Day, Los Angeles, CA

Student Volunteer

Visual Communications, Los Angeles, CA

Volunteer and Co-Organizer

Home Movie Day

Film Cataloger

Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum, Fremont, CA

Projectionist, Fireguard, Show Captain, Web Chair

Doc Films, Chicago, IL

Animal and Bird Care

Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Chicago, IL

Resource Center

Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago, IL

Pre-screening Reviewer and Programming Assistant

Chicago International Film Festival, Chicago, IL

Festival Programming Assistant

Chicago International Children's Film Festival, Chicago, IL

Production Assistant

Filmspotting, Chicago, IL

Skills

Film Handling, Projection & Scanning

35mm, 16mm, 8mm, Super 8mm, DCP

Video Preservation

VHS, Betacam, Betamax, U-Matic, Hi8, ½” open reel video, DV

Audio Handling & Reformatting

1/4" open reel, audiocassette, vinyl record

Digital Preservation

File integrity, digital forensics, disk imaging, file analysis, emulation

Archival Systems

CollectiveAccess, ArchivesSpace, Airtable, Filemaker

Editing & Design

Adobe Premiere, Photoshop and Audition, Final Cut Pro, Open Broadcaster Software (OBS)

Programming

FFmpeg, Bash/Command Line, GitHub, HTML, CSS

Affiliations

Association of Moving Image Archivists

Member since 2015

Association of Recorded Sound Collections

Member since 2020