Cinécraft Productions
Cinécraft Productions, Inc. is a privately held American corporate film and video production studio in Cleveland, Ohio. Cinécraft was one of the hundreds of production houses in the United States that specialized in sponsored films during the 20th century's middle decades.[1] In Cleveland alone there were at least 13 sponsored film studios.[2][3] Cinécraft is said to be the country's longest-standing corporate film and video production house.[4]
From 1940 to 1970, Cinécraft's major film client's included DuPont, Hercules Inc., Standard Oil of Ohio, Seiberling Rubber Company, Firestone Tire and Rubber, Goodyear Tire and Rubber, Bethlehem Steel, Owens-Corning, Ohio Bell, General Electric, Westinghouse Electric Corporation, American Greetings, Carling Brewing, and Republic Steel. Most of the studio's film business came from advertising agencies including Fuller & Smith & Ross, Inc.[5] and McCann-Erickson.
Company history and productions
The studio was founded[6] by Ray (1904–1983) and Betty (1914–2016) Culley.[7][8] Paul was a flight engineer on B-17s. His plane was shot down twice over Germany in WWII.[9]
In 2021 the studio was still operating out of the John Eisenmann designed building that started as the home of the West Side Branch of the Cleveland Public Library in 1898.[10][11]
Cinécraft was an important innovator in the early history of television. The studio was among the first to film with three cameras at the same time for television programs, editing the footage together to produce a product that would match the conventions of a live broadcast.[12] The studio helped produce The Ohio Story TV series (1953–1961) for the Ohio Bell Telephone Company. This Frank Siedel created series began as a three-times-a-week radio series from 1947 to 1953. In 1954, the format switched to two radio episodes and one television show per week, the radio series ending in 1955 (with over 1,300 episodes have aired).[13] Premiering on October 4, 1953, The Ohio Story TV series lasted nine years with 175 episodes being produced.[14]
Cinécraft was the first to film TV infomercials. Home Miracles of the 1950s[15] featured William Grover "Papa" Barnard selling Vitamix blenders. The studio made many early films featuring Cleveland-based Louise Winslow, a pioneer in television programming targeted to women, that focused on sewing, cooking, and crafts.[16] Television Televised, the five-part series created for the Austin Company in 1948, explained how live television was produced and broadcast to television sets in people's homes.[17]
The Cleveland Play House[18] was a source for many actors used in Cinécraft films, and the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra provided elaborate music scores when the need arose. Occasionally, they would recruit Hollywood actors to appear in their movies if their clients requested it. Popular personalities appearing in Cinécraft productions included Danny Kaye, Tim Conway, Ernie Anderson, Joel Grey, Chet Huntley, and Basil Rathbone.[19]
The Hagley Museum and Library acquired a "major collection" of Cinécraft films in 2021[20] and digitized the archive and make it available on their website.
Transitioning from film to video to digital technologies
In 1970, Paul Culley, along with his wife bought the company from his older brother Ray Culley, who was the original founder. Paul led the transition from film to video in the 1970s.[21] For over 50 years, a member of the Culley family ran the studio and many Culley family members worked there.[22]
In 1985, Neil McCormick, a Cinécraft employee with his wife Maria Keckan, a video producer, bought the studio.[23] Together they completed the change away from film to broadcast-quality video as industrial and commercial clients demanded faster and easier ways to make effective motion pictures.
In the 1990s, the studio embraced digital technology with interactive computer-based medical training programs. This early period of e-learning was improved upon through the years as Cinécraft Productions became known for e-learning, producing national and international projects for Fortune 1000 companies.[24]
In 2018, Dan Keckan took over as CEO, and Matt Walsh was named COO.[19]
Notable Cinécraft films
Noteworthy Cinécraft films included ARMCO's The Romance of Iron and Steel (1938), Fostoria Glass's Crystal Clear (1946), General Electric's Naturally – It's FM (1947), Standard Oil of Ohio's Milestones of Motoring (1954), Lake Carriers Association's The Long Ships Passing (1960), U.S. Air Force's C-5 Galaxy: World's Largest Aircraft (1967), United Steelworkers of America and the leading U.S. steel corporation's Where's Joe? (1972), B. F. Goodrich's Free Wheelin' (1976), and Standard Oil (Ohio) Where the River Enters the Sea (1982).
References
- Case Western Reserve University. Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, “Cinécraft Productions” https://case.edu/ech/articles/c/Cinécraft-productions-inc. Accessed November 12, 2021.
- Case Western Reserve University. Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, “Sponsored Films” https://case.edu/ech/articles/s/sponsored-films. Accessed November 12, 2021.
- "Business Screen Magazine (v. 21, no. 1)". Hagley Digital Archives. March 1960. Archived from the original on 2021-12-03. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - Hagley Library’s Collection Tells How Industry Worked,” Moving Image Archive News. March 22, 2021. http://www.movingimagearchivenews.org/tag/Cinécraft/. Accessed November 12, 2021.
- "Fuller & Smith & Ross, Inc". Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Archived from the original on 2021-11-27. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
- "Ray Culley obituary". Archived from the original on 2021-11-27. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- "Hagley Library's Collection Tells How Industry Worked". Moving Image Archive News. Archived from the original on 2021-03-23. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- Culley, Jim (2018). "Betty Buehner: A Life Fulfilled". Confluence: The Journal of the AGLSP. Archived from the original on 2021-11-20. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
- "Memories". Hagley Digital Archives.
- "Cleveland City Planning Commission". planning.clevelandohio.gov.
- "Designated Cleveland Landmarks". Cleveland City Planning Commission. Archived from the original on 2022-01-06. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
- "'Three-Camera Technique Used To Shoot TV Film' by Dodge E. Barnum". Hagley Digital Archives.
- "The Ohio Story Radio Scripts". Ohio Genealogical Society The Ohio Story Radio Scripts. Archived from the original on 2015-07-10. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
- "OHIO STORY RADIO & TV SERIES (1947–1961)". Encyclopedia of Cleveland History | Case Western Reserve University. August 17, 2021.
- "VITA-MIX CORPORATION | Encyclopedia of Cleveland History | Case Western Reserve University". Case.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
- "WINSLOW, LOUISE | Encyclopedia of Cleveland History | Case Western Reserve University". Case.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
- "Television Televised". Hagley Digital Archives.
- "An Afternoon with Cinecraft: Past and Present". Hagley Digital Archives. 17 December 1999. Archived from the original on 2021-04-21. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
- "CINECRAFT PRODUCTIONS, INC". Encyclopedia of Cleveland History | Case Western Reserve University. August 17, 2021.
- "Hagley Museum acquires major industrial film collection". Delaware Online. Archived from the original on 2021-11-27.
- "Paul Culley: War Hero and Cinecraft President". Hagley. September 21, 2021.
- "Collection: Culley family collection of Cinecraft Productions audiovisual materials | Hagley Museum and Library Archives". findingaids.hagley.org.
- "Cinecraft Oral Histories: Maria Keckan and Neil McCormick". Hagley Digital Archives. Archived from the original on 2021-12-03. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
- "Top eLearning Content Development Companies (2022 Update)". E-Learning Industry. 14 October 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-10-20. Retrieved 3 December 2021.