Since its inception in 1972, the Key Art Awards founded by The Hollywood Reporter have recognized and honored the labor of the professional community who craft motion picture advertising such as theatrical trailers, posters, television commercials and internet advertising. Held annually, the Key awards profile contributions to marketing in over 30 categories, including two student categories established in an effort to recognize emerging work in the fields of trailer production and one-sheet print advertising.
In 2002, the UCLA Film & Television Archive, in partnership with The Hollywood Reporter, established the Key Art Awards Collection designed to give students, researchers and industry professionals access to select print and trailer entries from competition. The collection offers permanent records to material that, as a result of the ephemeral nature of commercial marketing cycles, are often difficult to find outside of the context of private collections.
Holdings in the collection originate from a merging of two significant sources of motion picture advertising and promotional materials. It consists of trailers acquired by The Hollywood Reporter as a result of its Key Art Awards nomination and selection process, check prints of domestic and foreign release trailers and electronic press kits for commercially released live action and animated features that were acquired as part of the Trailer Audio Standards Association (TASA) sound check program. Each of the majority of trailers distributed in the United States since 2002 is represented by an electronic press kit and a trailer print.
The establishment of the collection underscores a commitment to recognizing the value and significance of the study and preservation of marketing media produced by the commercial film industry in the United States.
Download a sample list of available titles and research resources at UCLA (PDF).
Consult the UC Library Search catalog for further listings, or contact the Archive Research and Study Center (ARSC) for assistance.
