Professionals in the industry fear the prospect that numerous digital files may one day become obsoleteWhile tax optimization strategies, like those employed by David Zaslav and Bob Iger, have stirred controversy by deleting content from streaming platforms, the real concern lies in the deterioration of digital archives, echoing the archival tragedies of the celluloid era. Behind closed doors and nondisclosure agreements, industry professionals fret over the fragility of these archives, fearing that master files of contemporary pop culture could vanish, much like silent movies of the past such as Alfred Hitchcock’s second feature The Mountain Eagle and Ernst Lubitsch’s Oscar-winning The Patriot.Initiatives such as Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation underscore the importance of preserving every art form, but there’s a misconception that digital files are immune to decay. In reality, issues like corruption, improper data transfer, hardware failures, and changing formats plague digital preservation efforts. Linda Tadic, CEO of Digital Bedrock, describes it as a “silent fire” noting that every preservation attempt uncovers issues.For example, in 1998, a Pixar employee accidentally typed a fatal command function, instructing the computer system to delete Toy Story 2, which was then almost complete. Fortunately a supervising technical director who had been working from home had a 2-week-old backup file, saving the film from potential destruction.Source:  (ICE LOS ANGELES)

Fonte notizia: The Hollywood Reporter