Charles E. McCarry Film Script and Production Design Collection

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: MSS-051

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection contains 115 original production scripts and production design materials for feature films and television series in production from the 1980s through the 2000s. The donor, Charles E. McCarry, served in key roles within the art direction and design departments for each project.

Shooting scripts are included in multiple dated drafts, typically printed on color-coded paper to differentiate each draft.

Production design materials include: design drawings, blueprints, storyboards, sketches, photographic prints, location scouting documents, maps, schedules, itemized budgets and contacts lists. The collection also contains in limited quantity: letters of correspondence, a paperback novel, and electronic discs with still images and motion pictures.

Dates

1985 - 2016
Majority of material found within 1994 - 2013

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Box 26 is restricted for 75 years after creation due to privacy concerns. Contact the Emerson College Archives and Special Collections to request access to this folder.

Conditions Governing Use

At least part of this collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this collection in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holders. You may need to obtain other permissions for your intended use, such as those related to privacy, publicity, and moral rights. For questions about this statement please contact the Emerson College Archives and Special Collections.

Biographical / Historical

Charles E. McCarry is a production designer and art director for film, television and stage. He joined the Emerson College community in 2013, serving as senior production designer in residence and head of production design through 2020. McCarry was instrumental in the creation of a new Production Design curriculum at Emerson College, where he taught courses in: Production Design, Advanced Production Design, Graduate Production Design, and Graduate and Undergraduate Directed Study. He has worked and lectured in China, and initiated the development of a partnership between Emerson College and Taipei National University of the Arts.

Extent

11 Linear Feet (25 boxes total That is: 23 Hollinger boxes, 2 slim document boxes, and 1 oversized flat box.)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The entire collection has been arranged alphabetically by film title or project title.

Folder titles are derived from the titles of the feature film or TV series as they appear most often in this collection. These are not necessarily the finalized titles of the projects. For example, the collection includes the script for a feature film with the working title Uptown Girl. This is alphabetized under "U" even though the movie was eventually titled: Maid in Manhattan.

Arrangement

There is one folder of restricted materials in a slim document box labeled as Restricted.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Charles E. McCarry on October 21, 2019 to Emerson College.

Physical Description

Excellent condition overall, but some papers are folded, worn at the edges, or wavy/rippled/buckled. There are occasional stains or signs of wear and rust from binder clips and staples. All original boxes were overstuffed.

File Plan

The collection has been arranged alphabetically by film title or project title. Traditional archival series and subseries groupings do not apply. This user-driven choice was made due to lack of discernible original order, practical ease-of-use, and the desire to keep whole projects together rather than separated by the creation of artificial groupings, such as a Scripts series and Budgets series. We expect that an alphabetical arrangement will be more useful to researchers than chronological.