From: Myron Ort (email suppressed)
Date: Wed Aug 18 2010 - 17:17:31 PDT
Will do! I have had such great experiences with his work for me.
This is a blow.
Myron Ort
On Aug 18, 2010, at 2:42 PM, Mark Toscano wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> I sent this email out to a bunch of folks individually, but
> realized there may be filmmakers and archivists (etc.) on this list
> who have had great experiences with FotoKem master timer Josh
> Rushton, who was laid off (for budgetary reasons) last week.
> Apparently it may actually help if enough people lodge their
> complaints with the lab against this decision.
>
> The email I initially sent out privately is below, along with the
> emails of the higher-ups at FotoKem who would have some say in
> reversing the decision. Bottom line is that Josh is an excellent,
> sensitive, thoughtful, and creative timer, and an extremely
> efficient and dependable one too. He's been at it for about 30
> years, and knows 16mm pos-neg and reversal film very subtly and
> deeply, and his layoff is a major loss at the lab. He really has
> the understanding, patience, and openness to tackle all kinds of
> jobs, from the most conventional to the most oddball, as well as
> all the unusual archival problems that come up. I hope, if you're
> a FotoKem customer, and particularly if you've had a good
> experience with Josh, you'll take a few minutes to write the five
> people listed below. There are too few people left who are as
> capable in this area as Josh, and I feel like we can't afford to
> lose him, if at all possible. Thanks for reading!
>
> *
>
> Hi folks,
>
> I think all of you are familiar with Josh Rushton, long-time
> FotoKem timer. Some of you may have heard that Josh just got laid
> off from the lab as part of a larger layoff across various
> departments there.
>
> [you can skip this paragraph if you already don't need convincing
> that Josh's job is worth trying to save:] In my preservation and
> restoration work, I've had the extreme pleasure of working with
> Josh on dozens of projects, and was devastated by this news. I
> understand the myriad reasons that go into laying staff off, but
> because of his particular expertise in and sensitivity to
> contemporary and historical 16mm filmmaking in particular, the loss
> of Josh is a massive one. He understands how reversal film looks,
> and is sensitive to the idea that not all films strive to appear
> identical. He's also timed some of my own films beautifully. He's
> come up with some great solutions to difficult timing and printing
> problems. Betzy Bromberg tells me it was also Josh that has kept
> after the techs at the lab to keep their machines running cleanly
> and precisely. I also consider him very friendly, thoughtful,
> intelligent, and curious about the projects I give him,
> and he handled even the most difficult projects with ingenuity and
> patience. And I gave him some really hard stuff to work on! He is
> simply one of my favorite timers I've ever worked with, and is one
> of the main reasons I've been doing so much 16mm (and 35mm) work
> with FotoKem for the past few years.
>
> I wrote a personal note of protest to some of the higher-ups at
> FotoKem to express my extreme disappointment that they let Josh go,
> as did Betzy Bromberg, who has also come to rely on Josh's
> understanding and expertise for her own films. But we were
> thinking that, even if it only has a small chance of changing their
> minds, it would be worth asking as many people as possible who
> appreciated Josh's work to write a quick plea to FotoKem to try to
> get his job back.
>
> I was thinking of pre-writing something that people could just send
> with their name on it, but it would be MUCH better if you could
> write something in your own words, even the briefest protest, and
> mail it to FotoKem directly. I know it's a lot to ask, especially
> with so much other garbage going on in the world, but I hope you'll
> find the few minutes needed to do it.
>
> Here are the folks to write to (per Jerry Roskilly):
>
> Bob Roskilly, Walt Rose, Jerry Roskilly, Dan Muscarella, and Bob
> Semmer
>
> and here are their email addresses:
>
> email suppressed
> email suppressed
> email suppressed
> email suppressed
> email suppressed
>
> ***And PLEASE pass this on to as many folks as you know that have
> used FotoKem and may have worked with Josh. I just sent this to
> the people I could think of off the top of my head, and I know I'm
> missing tons of other folks.***
>
> thanks for reading,
>
> Mark Toscano
> (writing on behalf of himself)
>
>
>
>
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>
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