Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research
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| Established | 1960 |
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| Purpose | Archive for performing arts research |
| Headquarters | 816 State Street Madison, Wisconsin 53706 |
| Coordinates | 43°04′31″N 89°24′00″W / 43.0752°N 89.4°W |
| Website | http://wcftr.commarts.wisc.edu |
The Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research (WCFTR) is a major archive of motion picture, television, radio, and theater research materials. Located in the headquarters building of the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison, Wisconsin, the WCFTR holds over three hundred collections from motion picture, television, and theater writers, producers, actors, designers, directors, and production companies. These collections include business records, personal papers, scripts, photographs, promotional graphics, and some twenty thousand films and videotapes of motion picture and television productions.
The WCFTR is regularly visited by researchers from around the world.
In 1955 the Wisconsin Historical Society established the Mass Communications History Center to document the importance of journalism, broadcasting, advertising, and public relations in the United States. Recognizing that initiative's value, the University of Wisconsin's Speech and Theater Department formed the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research in 1960. Today the WCFTR is part of the university's Communication Arts Department and is operated in partnership with the Wisconsin Historical Society.
The film collection contains a variety of American and international cinema with rich holdings of Hollywood films from the 1930s to the 1960s, independent films from the 1960s to the 1980s, post-World War II Soviet films from the 1950s to the 1970s, and Taiwanese films from the late 1970s to the 1990s. Highlights of the film collection include
Complementing the films are paper records usually organized by the donor's name. Prominent examples include these collections:
The largest of the WCFTR television collections consists of 3500 shows produced by Ziv Television Programs, the most successful producer of action/adventure programming filmed for first run syndication from 1948-1962. The Ziv library includes viewing copies and printing elements for every episode of Boston Blackie, I Led Three Lives, Highway Patrol, Sea Hunt, Bat Masterson, and thirty-two other series. Scripts, production, and promotional materials for these and additional Ziv series can also be examined at the WCFTR.
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