Guide to the George A. Romero Archival Collection, 1962-2017, SC.2019.03

Arrangement

Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
George A. Romero Archival Collection
Creator
Romero, George A.
Collection Number
SC.2019.03
Extent
100 boxes
Date
1962-2017
Abstract
George Andrew Romero (1940-2017) was an American filmmaker and author, best known for horror films produced in Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas. Romero wrote and directed feature films, television, industrial films, and commercials. He also wrote comic books, a children's book, short stories, and a novel. The collection documents his career as a filmmaker and writer, with manuscripts and production materials for both produced and unproduced projects, promotional materials, press clippings, legal documents, photographs, film and video, and correspondence. NOTE: ONLY THE MANUSCRIPT MATERIAL, PRINTED PHOTOGRAPHS, AND PROPS FROM THE COLLECTION ARE FULLY PROCESSED AND AVAILABLE FOR RESEARCH AT THE PRESENT; ADDITIONAL TIME IS NEEDED TO INCORPORATE THE BORN DIGITAL ITEMS, MOVING IMAGE MATERIALS, AND REALIA.
Language
English .
Author
Ben Rubin and Adam Hart.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System
Archives & Special Collections
Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Business Number: 412-648-3232 (Thomas) | 412-648-8190 (Hillman)
Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist
URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections

Access Restrictions

Night of the Living Dead Shooting Script, 1967 located in Box 21 Item 1 -- is only accessible through the digital reproduction.

Acquisition Information

Acquired from Suzanne Desrocher-Romero, Tina Romero, and Peter Grunwald on April 19, 2019.

Arrangement

The collection consists of records that were maintained by three different individuals. The arrangement reflects the original order of the bulk of the paper-based materials, which was by document type. Whenever possible, materials that were found outside of that filing method were integrated within the established arrangement.

The collection is arranged into the following series:

I. Scripts, circa 1964-2017

II. Production Materials, circa 1962-2008

III. Publicity Materials, 1962-2009

IV. Promotional Materials, circa 1967-2009

V. Legal Documents, 1970-2012

VI. Correspondence, 1970-2012

VII. Photographs, circa 1950s-2017

VIII. Moving Image Media (forthcoming)

IX. Props and Realia, circa 1983-2017 (in-progress)

Scope and Content Notes

The George A. Romero Archival Collection documents the career of the writer and director through scripts, production materials, publicity, promotional materials, props, photos, and audio-visual materials. It contains materials for Romero's most successful films, including Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, as well as lesser known or unreleased projects like Jacaranda Joe and The Liberator and numerous unfinished or unfilmed projects. The largest series is devoted to scripts and other writings, covering the entirety of Romero's career, from the early 1960s to the 2010s. Materials devoted to the development and production of these projects primarily come from the latter half of Romero's career, after he began his partnership with producer Peter Grunwald.

Copyright

The University of Pittsburgh holds the property rights to the material in this collection, but the copyright may still be held by the original creator/author. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.

The University of Pittsburgh Library System reserves the right to limit or prohibit reproductions from the George A. Romero Archival Collection due to copyright concerns and other restrictions. To produce, perform, or publish any manuscripts, scripts, production documents, and personal information contained within the George A. Romero Archival Collection, permissions must be sought through the individual copyright holder, the estate of George A. Romero, and/or the George A. Romero Foundation.

Related Material

Daniel Kraus Papers, 1987-2016, SC.2020.01, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Ben Rubin and Adam Hart in 2020.

Preferred Citation

George A. Romero Archival Collection, 1962-2017, SC.2019.03, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Biography

George Andrew Romero was born on February 4, 1940, in the Bronx, New York. A young cinephile with a strong interest in theater, he started making movies as a child with a camera given to him by his uncle. Romero moved to Pittsburgh to attend the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in 1956, where he became involved in the school and the city's theater communities. In 1962, he co-founded The Latent Image, a production company that made a number of TV commercials and industrial films for local and national campaigns. In 1968, using money earned from commercial work and support from Pittsburgh-based investors, Romero directed his first feature film, Night of the Living Dead, on which he also served as co-writer and cinematographer. Filmed in Evans City and other locations in and around Pittsburgh,Night was the first feature film produced in the Pittsburgh area to receive international attention. An unprecedented success for a low-budget film produced outside of Hollywood or New York,Night invented the modern zombie and proved to be a milestone in the history of both the horror genre and American independent cinema, as well as a foundational effort in the establishment of a film industry in Southwestern Pennsylvania. In 1999, Night was added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

After the success of Night, Romero remained in Pittsburgh, where he would produce and direct films and television until the early 2000s. Following mixed financial returns on his post-Night work, which included a romantic comedy (1971's There's Always Vanilla), a feminist film about witches (Season of the Witch, 1972), a film about a rapidly-spreading deadly virus (The Crazies, 1973), and a vampire film (Martin, 1978), as well as a series of television documentaries about sports figures (The Winners, 1973-1976), Romero returned to zombies for Dawn of the Dead (1978), filmed at the Monroeville Mall in Monroeville, PA. Dawn was quickly acknowledged as a milestone, beloved by horror fans and hugely influential within the genre. The mall became a destination for horror fans and in 2018 a bronze bust memorializing Romero was installed in recognition of the film's enduring popularity and influence.

One of Dawn's most vocal champions was author Stephen King, who collaborated with Romero as a writer and actor on the cult favorite Creepshow (1982), which spawned a sequel (directed by Michael Gornick) in 1987 and a television series (created by longtime Romero collaborator Greg Nicotero) that premiered in 2019 on the streaming platform Shudder.

Romero continued to work in Pittsburgh, including a third "Dead" film, Day of the Dead (1985). He also directed the modern-day Arthurian fable Knightriders (1980), the psychological horror film Monkey Shines (1988), the Dario Argento collaboration Two Evil Eyes (1990), and the Stephen King adaptation The Dark Half (1993). He also co-created the anthology TV show Tales from the Darkside (1983-1988) and co-wrote and produced a remake of Night of the Living Dead (1990), directed by longtime collaborator Tom Savini. In 2000, Romero directed Bruiser in Toronto, Canada, his first movie produced and filmed entirely outside of Southwest Pennsylvania.

Romero would move to Toronto shortly thereafter, where he would direct his final three feature films. These films – Land of the Dead (2005) (set in downtown Pittsburgh), Diary of the Dead (2007) (about a group of University of Pittsburgh film students and their professor), and his final feature, Survival of the Dead (2009) – revisited and, to a certain degree rewrote, the subject of his then-iconic "Dead" trilogy. In the last years of his life, Romero worked on a number of projects, including several unproduced film scripts, the comic books Toe Tags (2004-2005) and Empire of the Dead (2014-2015), and a book that remained unfinished at the time of his death in 2017. That book, The Living Dead, was planned to retell and extend the stories told in his "Dead" films. It was completed by novelist Daniel Kraus and published in 2020.

Romero died on July 16, 2017, after a brief battle with lung cancer. He died with his family nearby while listening to the soundtrack for one of his favorite films, John Ford's The Quiet Man. As an independent filmmaker working outside of the customary centers of production, Romero reached unprecedented commercial, artistic, and cultural success in the horror genre. He brought sophisticated and often hilarious social critique to the genre, with a style that would be foundational for subsequent generations of horror filmmakers. He helped establish a film industry in the city of Pittsburgh, while bringing a Pittsburgh sensibility to movies, grounded in a working-class sense of humor and community. In the words of the Pittsburgh City Paper, "no other major filmmaker has had such a long history in Pittsburgh or shown such devotion to the city." In 2018, on the 50th Anniversary of Night of the Living Dead's premiere at Pittsburgh's Fulton Theatre (now the Byham Theatre), Mayor Bill Peduto honored Romero's legacy by declaring October 1 to be "George A. Romero Day" and declared that Romero "left no doubt that he loved and respected Pittsburgh. The feeling is mutual."

Subjects

    Personal Names

    • Romero, George A.

    Geographic Names

    • Motion Pictures -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Film -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh

    Genres

    • Independent films
    • Horror Films
    • Business correspondence
    • Personal correspondence
    • Newspaper Clipppings
    • Screenplays
    • Television Plays
    • Promotional Materials

    Other Subjects

    • Horror Films -- Production and direction
    • Horror stories
    • Independent Film -- Production and direction -- Pennyslvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Motion Picture Producers and Directors -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Zombie Films -- Production and direction

Container List

Series VIII. Moving Image Media (forthcoming)