Historic Films Inc Launches The Museum of Motion Picture Journalism Grand Opening and $300K Fundraising Campaign to Digitize Universal Newsreels Collection
ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 10, 2026 — Historic Films Inc, a Florida based nonprofit, announced today the grand opening of The Museum of Motion Picture Journalism, a free public digital museum dedicated to making the motion picture journalism collections being preserved at the National Archives accessible to researchers, journalists. educators, students and the general public. The museum is built on the Historic Films Inc YouTube channel and opens with a collection of 125 episodes of the Universal Newsreels series.

Historic Films Inc is also launching their first fundraising campaign seeking to raise $340,667.84 to convert the thousands of remaining episodes of the Universal Newsreels archive from analog to digital format and expand the museum's collection.

"The Museum of Motion Picture Journalism is an effort to democratize access to these unique film records of the 20th century," said Jim Michael, founder of Historic Films Inc. He is a retired video editor who spent over a decade with NBC News in Washington, D.C., covering Presidents from Carter to George HW Bush and even got shot at in Nicaragua covering the Sandinista takeover. He brings 5 decades of experience in national broadcast journalism to the mission of sharing motion picture journalism with the public. His commitment to, and love for journalism is the inspiration and driving force behind Historic Films Inc and The Museum of Motion Picture Journalism.
Individuals and organizations interested in supporting the Universal Newsreels digitization campaign can learn more about donation opportunities at historicfilmsinc.org.

For additional information, contact: T. J. McCarthy Historic Films Inc [email protected] (321) 233-5499

About Historic Films Inc: Historic Films Inc, a nonprofit based in Orlando, Florida, operates The Museum of Motion Picture Journalism, a free public digital museum sharing motion picture journalism for research and public access.

Historic Films Inc https://historicfilmsinc.org/
Donate to The Museum of Motion Picture Journalism https://historicfilmsinc.org/help-build-the-museum-of-motion-picture-journalism/
Visit The Museum of Motion Picture Journalism https://www.youtube.com/@HistoricFilmsInc