Assistant Curator, Film

Job Title: Assistant Curator, Film

Location: IWM London

Salary: £28,111 per annum

Department: Media Sales & Licensing

Normal Working Hours: 36 hours net per week. Hybrid working policy is 60% on site /40% flexible working.

Directorate: Commercial Services & Operations

Position Type: Permanent

Reports to: Curator, Film

Contract: IWM Trading Company

You can read about IWM and the work we do on our website.

Media Sales & Licensing

IWM’s multimedia collections cover all aspects of conflicts in which British, Commonwealth or former Empire countries have been involved since the start of the twentieth century. High-resolution images, audio files and archive footage are accessible to creative professionals all over the world and used in many ways; from book covers to documentary and feature films and exhibition displays. To grow revenue for the museum, we have ambitious plans to develop our licensing business, optimising the customer experience, increasing access to our digitised collection, and building new revenue opportunities.

IWM’s film collection is the oldest in the UK and holds, in its entirety, over 25,00 hours of moving images, including official newsreels, public information films, cartoons and documentaries representing over a hundred years of filmmaking.

Job Summary

The Assistant Curator – Film will sit within Media Sales & Licensing as part of a small team responsible for the access, supply, and licensing of the film collection.

The role involves:

• Advising on the content and context of the film collection, with a responsibility for revenue generation, contributing to the wider commercial offer of the department.
• Supporting the development and documentation of the film collection to improve access and use, as well as facilitating public programmes and research.
• Demonstrating an understanding of the relevant practical, legal, and ethical considerations relating to the care and use of IWM’s film collection.

The role will be based at IWM London, but the successful candidate will be expected to travel to other IWM sites, or other locations, when required.

Key Responsibilities:

• Facilitate the access, supply, and licensing of film collections material, including advice on collections content and context, use of finding aids, preservation priorities, copyright, IWM terms and conditions, policies, and usage fees.
• Advise on copyright in relation to the film collection and liaise with third party copyright holders to enable commercial use of material.
• Develop a good knowledge of the content, context, and history of the IWM film collection to provide research assistance to users and to undertake curatorial tasks.
• Develop an excellent understanding of our broadcast and cultural sector client business needs, in addition to facilitating requests from other users.
• Achieve sales targets by responding promptly to enquiries, negotiating fees within established guidelines and invoicing clients to meet deadlines.
• Build and maintain relationships with existing and prospective clients, promoting IWM content and services to them and seeking out new business opportunities.
• Develop an understanding of, and actively promote, the wider Media Sales & Licensing commercial offer, including IWM’s Digitisation on Demand service.
• Select film clips for themed packages, and support commercial projects, as required.
• Use acquired knowledge to create or enhance film database records as required, according to IWM standards, to support digitisation and documentation projects or for customer access.
• Support the creation or enhancement of database records for original film documentation, according to IWM standards, to support digitisation projects or for customer access.
• Assist with film copyright investigations and related procedures, to allow greater access for commercial use.
• Support access to the film collection by IWM internal users, including Curatorial teams, Comms and Digital Engagement in the delivery of museum programmes.
• Actively participate in team meetings, business planning and events, working across departments effectively and, where appropriate, with volunteers.
• Ensure that data protection procedures are followed for the input and management of customer data.
• Develop research skills through outputs such as web resources, fact-checking, possible peer reviewed articles, or similar activities with a view to contribution to IWM’s Research programme in the longer term.

For further details and to apply click here

Closing date for applications: July 31st 2023, 9:00 AM