2013 (Production)

2013-06-13 (Production)

English (Original)

Interviewee: Irwin Young
Interviewer: Sienna McLean LoGreco

Professional production

United States

Owner of DuArt Media Services, Irwin Young is interviewed by Sienna McLean LoGreco at DuArt in New York City in 2013. The interview begins with Young’s childhood and entrance into the family business. He recalls DuArt’s founding and early film processing techniques, its technological innovations over the years, and its support of the independent filmmaking community.

Owner of DuArt Media Services Irwin Young is interviewed by Sienna McLean LoGreco at DuArt in New York City on June 13, 2013. Young begins the visual history explain how his father, Al Young, entered the film industry. Al ended up rejecting Hollywood, after a few years working there, forming DuArt in New York with two partners more associated with the business end. Young explains how DuArt evolved, including how Al helped form the Association of Cinema Laboratories and the role Al played in the technical workings of the laboratory. Young also reflects on changes in the focus of smaller film labs and how independent film labs used to collaborate, sharing technical innovations freely with each other. Young explains how developing newsreels for CBS News built DuArt’s technical strength and expertise in working with 16mm. DuArt became a leader in transfers from 16mm to other formats, receiving work from European companies where the cheaper cost made 16mm a professional choice, unlike in the US film industry. Young recalls being introduced at a conference as being from a “non-professional film laboratory,” reflecting the industry prejudice against 16mm. Young discusses his relationship with his brother Robert Young, from refusing to enter the family business to supporting Robert’s films throughout his career. Young shares how his education in engineering translated into his early work with DuArt. Telling the story of how he subsidized and developed Robert’s NOTHING BUT A MAN (1964), including promoting it at Cannes with his wife, leads Young to discuss how he has helped prominent independent filmmakers like Spike Lee and Michael Moore start their careers with cheaper access to his lab’s services. He shares his attitude of nonattachment toward having helped many new directors only to lose them to larger film labs when their career advances. He offers his perspective on the dynamics between studios, cinematographers, and more independent labs like DuArt. Young ends providing the story behind some of the more notable technical innovations he invented at DuArt, including frame count cueing. He remembers his time with the Academy’s Science and Technology Council, as well as how he felt receiving the Gordon E. Sawyer Award. He closes reaffirming his pride and pleasure working with filmmakers who are committed to art that expresses ideas.

Irwin Young (1927-2022) spent over 60 years running DuArt Media Services, where he developed new processing techniques and supported the work of many independent filmmakers, including his brother Robert Young, Michael Moore, and Spike Lee. The company was founded as DuArt Film Titling Services by his father Al Young and partners in 1922. Irwin grew up in Long Island with the lab as the family business. After studying engineering in the Navy, he joined DuArt in 1950. He took full control of the company after his father died in 1960. Irwin Young guided the company through many shifts in the industry, including integration of video post-production and the end of film processing in 2010. He played a key part in developing technical innovations adopted more widely in the industry, such as computerized frame-count cueing to make color timing safer for film elements and better documented for cinematographers—an accomplishment for which DuArt would receive an Academy Technical Achievement Award. Aside from providing low-cost processing and technical guidance to many newcomers, he produced several films, including ALAMBRISTA! (1977), the Edward James Olmos directed AMERICAN ME (1992), and his brother’s THE MAZE (2011). In 2001, Young received the Gordon E. Sawyer Award in recognition of his overall technical contributions to the film industry.

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