On May 2nd, James Forsher gave a public lecture on "How to be a Film History Detective: My life journey telling stories through orphan films." Forscher is proud to call himself an archival filmmaker. Using examples from his documentary projects over the years, Forscher looked at how archival footage and paper material was integrated into stories about such wide-ranging topics as US-Russia Propaganda Wars (The Red Nightmare-in production), history of Hollywood Studio System (The Hollywood Mogul Wars-in production), the story of how Star Trek was created (Roddenberry’s Trek, 2022), Elvis Presley’s early years in Hollywood (Elvis und das Madschen aus Wien, 2017) and scandals in Hollywood (Faded Dreams, Hollywood’s Unsolved Mysteries, 1987). In the lecture Forscher explored where the footage comes from, how to legally use it, how to write a narrative that ties the old and the new as well as how to make the footage - no matter how old – feel contemporary in its usage.
James Forsher has been producing non-fiction programming focusing on Hollywood for over 4 decades. He has served as a consultant for a number of organizations, including ABC News, PBS Marketplace. He also was a producer of visual content for Pearson and Allyn & Bacon Publishers. James Forsher is also a retired Associate Professor in Communication, having taught at The University of Vienna; California State University, East Bay; Seattle University; Temple University and Florida State University. He has also served as a Fulbright Specialist at the University of Vienna and Klagenfurt University in 2015. His background is a blend of an interest in American cultural institutions and communication studies, which he has examined both in written works and as a television producer.
