Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1967 - 2007 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
34.5 m of textual material
4,183 photographs
· 3,511 prints
· 2 contact sheets
· 89 slides
· 285 negatives
· 443 digital images
· 4 rolls microfiche
131 audio recordings
· 2 reels 16mm magnetic track
· 10 – reels 35mm magnetic tracks
· 74 ¼ in. tapes
· 15 2in. tapes
· 12 cassettes (ca. 5 hrs.)
· 17 DAT cassettes (ca. 17.5 hrs.)
· 1 CD (ca. 1.25 hrs.)
1,794 video recordings
· 16 1in.magnetic tapes (ca.1.25 hrs.)
· 243 – ½ in. Betacam SP cassettes (ca.150.5 hrs.)
· 21 – ¾ in. cassettes (ca.14.75 hrs.)
· 8 BetaMax cassettes (ca. 3.75 hrs.)
· 51 Digital Betacam cassettes (ca. 41 hrs.)
· 3 Hi8 cassettes (ca.5 hrs.)
· 263 MiniDV cassettes (ca.263 hrs.)
· 4 SVHS cassettes (ca.1.75 hrs.)
· 1,033 VHS cassettes (ca. 945.5 hrs.)
· 28 CDRs (ca. 19.5 hrs.)
· 39 DVDs (ca.39.75 hrs.)
· 9 DVDRs (ca.5 hrs.)
· 76 floppy discs (bearing audio files)
575 cinefilms
· 61 reels Super 8mm cinefilm
· 1 reel 8mm cinefilm (print)
· 504 reels 16mm cinefilm (print)
· 7 reels 16mm cinefilm (negative)
· 2 35mm reels (negatives)
54 artifacts
books (130 titles)
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
Associated Producers Ltd. was founded by Simcha Jacobovici and Elliott Halpern in 1983. As a writer, producer and on-air presence, Jacobovici has long been the company’s guiding force, and he also serves as the most visible media representative. Jacobovici was born in Israel in 1953. His parents, Joseph and Ida, were Romanian Holocaust survivors and Jacobovici and his sister were raised in a religious home. The family moved to Montreal when Jacobovici was nine, and he graduated from McGill University with an honours degree in philosophy in 1974. In 1978, Jacobovici enrolled in an MA program at the University of Toronto and while there became involved in activism (in 1979 he served as president of the International Congress of the World Union of Jewish Students, and in 1980 he was awarded the Knesset Medal for his Zionist work on North American campuses). He graduated in 1980 with a MA in international relations. Jacobovici had been interested in the problems of the Falasha (a community of Ethiopian Jews who were being persecuted in that country) since 1978, and in 1982 he secured funding from CBC’s Man Alive series to travel to Ethiopia and Sudan to document their plight. He was accompanied by former National Film Board of Canada director Peter Raymont and a production crew, and the film that they produced, Falasha: Exile of the Black Jews, was released in 1983. Following its release, the Israeli Knesset launched Operation Moses, the airlift of the Falasha to Israel. When Jacobovici began his next film, he realized that he needed a writer to produce the script. He ran into Elliot Halpern, whom he had known during his time at the University of Toronto (and where Halpern had served as the editor of The Varsity). Though he was by that time working as a lawyer, Halpern was convinced to write the script. The project was never completed, but the new production company, Associated Producers Ltd., would go on to great success.
Over the next several years, the company produced a number of well-regarded (and at times controversial) films. These included Deadly Currents, a two-hour feature documentary about the Palestinian Intifada that won a Genie Award for best feature-length documentary. In the 1990s, Associated Producers made several films on topical medical issues, including Plague Monkeys and Plague Fighters about the Ebola virus, and Frozen Hearts which explored the use of hypothermia during heart surgery. Jacobovici’s interest in Israeli and Judaic issues shaped later projects, such as Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies & the American Dream, Quest for the Lost Tribes, The Struma and Impact of Terror. In 1999, Associated Producers entered into a five-year agreement with England’s Yorkshire Films to co-produce new documentary series.
Halpern left the company in 2002 to form Yorkshire Associated Producers (YAP) while Jacobivici kept the original company. Associate Producers Ltd. also includes Producer/Director Ric Esther Bienstock and Producer Felix Golubev.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Received from Associated Producers Ltd.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
This fonds is divided into 6 series, divided by format. These are: Textual Materials, Photographs, Audio Materials, Video Materials, Cinefilms and Artifacts.
The first series, Textual Materials, consists of documents from every phase of the production process. These include: proposals for various series, treatments, synopses, draft scripts, finished scripts, story boards, series presentations, and promotional kits. Legal and financial papers are also included.
The second series, Photographs, includes a number of prints used for research and promotional purposes.
The third series, Audio Material, includes sound elements and research material.
The fourth series, Video Material, comprises raw footage, edits, masters and viewing copies of completed productions. Of particular interest is the footage shot for Hollywoodism, which includes interviews with several Hollywood directors and producers who are now dead.
The fifth series, Cinefilms, includes raw footage and elements. Some personal films on Super 8 are also included.
The sixth series, Artifacts, includes posters, clothing, props, awards and a large Canadian flag.
This fonds includes textual material relating to a number of productions, including:
Falasha: Exile of the Black Jews (Film, 1983)
AIDS in Africa (Film, 1990)
Burden on the Land (Television, 1990)
Deadly Currents (Film, 1991)
Ms. Conceptions (Film, 1995)
The Plague Fighters (Television, 1996)
Selling of Innocents (Television, 1996)
Expulsion and Memory (Television, 1996)
A Mother’s Grief (Television, 1997)
The Dancing Game (Television, 1997)\
Hollywoodism (Television, 1997)
Quest for the Lost Tribes (Television, 1999)
Scandal! Then and Now (Television, 1999)
Drag Kings (Television, 2000)
The Struma (Television, 2000)
Betrayal! (Television, 2004)
Tell It Like It Is (Television, ca. 2004)
Sex Slaves (Television, 2005)
The Naked Archaeologist (Television, 2005)
Yummy Mummy (Television, 2005)
This fonds includes audiovisual material relating to a number of productions, including:
Falasha: Exile of the Black Jews (Film, 1983)
Burden on the Land (Television, 1990)
Ms. Conceptions (Film, 1995)
The Plague Fighters (Television, 1996)
Selling of Innocents (Television, 1996)
The Dancing Game (Television, 1997)
Hollywoodism (Television, 1997)
Quest for the Lost Tribes (Television, 1999)
Scandal! Then and Now (Television, 1999)
The Struma (Television, 2000)
Betrayal! (Television, 2004)
Impact of Terror (Film, 2004)
Tell It Like It Is (Television, ca. 2004)
The Naked Archaeologist (Television, 2005)
Yummy Mummy (Television, 2005)
Sex Slaves (Television, 2005)
The Exodus Decoded (Television, 2006)
Charging the Rhino (Film, 2007)
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
2 accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Preservation concerns may limit access, consult archivist.
Conditions governing reproduction
Media Commons does not own copyright of collection materials. Consult rights holder for reproduction(s).
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Contact archivist for further finding aid information.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Dates of creation revision deletion
Created Mar. 23, 2015
Data copied from Drupal by Adam Cavanaugh 2022/04/29
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Associated Producers Ltd. website http://www.apltd.ca/
“Simcha Jacobovici.” Biography Resource Center Online. Gale, 2008.
Posner, Michael. “Undercover in the sex trade.” The Globe and Mail, September 19,
2005, R.3.
Posner, Michael. “Filmmakers link with British company.” The Globe and Mail, October
7, 1999, C.2.
Vincent, Isabel. “The other children of Moses.” The National Post, April 15, 2000, B.11.