Historic Movies of Martha’s Vineyard, a pioneering effort of the Vineyard Gazette, works with members of the Vineyard community to digitize and present moving pictures shot on the Island over the last century. Created in 2012 by co-producers Tom Dunlop and John Wilson to ensure this dynamic record of the Island is preserved, the collection now holds more than one hundred hours of Martha’s Vineyard film footage, some dating back to the 1920s.

Here’s how it works. The Gazette obtains an estimate from a specialist to transfer your original home movies or film to digital files. In most cases, the owner pays these costs. The Gazette collects and ships the movies and oversees the transfer. Digital copies are returned to the owners along with the original reels or cassettes, which some owners choose to donate for permanent storage to the Martha’s Vineyard Museum. The Gazette pays for its own digital copies of the films and enters into a license with the owners so that selections of film can be included in public presentations. It then researches the clips, archives them and presents highlights on its website as well as at Island theaters and other venues around the Vineyard.

The project won an Innovator’s Award from the New England Newspaper and Press Association in 2015.

Here’s a short video about the project:

For more information or to discuss preservation of your old films, please contact Tom Dunlop at historicmovies@mvgazette.com

Please do not run old films through a movie projector as they may be damaged or destroyed.