Gerry Weinbren

Photo: Gerry Weinbren (left) receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at the FOCAL International Awards 2018.

It is with great sadness we have been informed of the death of Gerry Weinbren, a driving force in the archive industry and a much-loved individual, he will be missed. With over 60 years of experience in film making and preservation, he founded Index Film & Television Library in the early 1970s to preserve production elements and to licence footage at a time when few such resources were available. He remained at the forefront of the sector continually driving up standards and anticipating future trends such as HD and 4K.

As a FOCAL Lifetime Achievement Award winner in 2018, his passion for excellence and kindness to share his great knowledge with others, both at an individual level and in group lectures could not be surpassed.

We send our deepest condolences to Gerry’s family at such a difficult time.

FOCAL International

It is so sad to hear of the death of Gerry Weinbren. He gave so much of his experience and knowledge to FOCAL. He frequently wrote for the FOCAL magazine - AZ, and regularly attended meetings and events - always with something useful and provocative to say.

It was such an honour and pleasure to accompany Gerry and his son to the 2018 FOCAL awards for the presentation to Gerry of the FOCAL Life Time Achievement award.

Gerry founded Index Film & Television Library in the early 1970s to preserve the footage he had shot at a time when few such resources were available.He continued to go on shooting wonderful footage. He remained a key figure in our industry, anticipating future trends such as HD and championing 35mm film!

So I believe Gerry has a significant place in our industry's history 'and I personally will miss his knowledge and fun observations.

There is a great interview with Gerry in the British Entertainment History Project https://historyproject.org.uk/interview/gerry-weinbren

and an update I organised in 2017 https://historyproject.org.uk/interview/gerry-weinbren-0

Sue Malden, former chair of FOCAL International

Jerry served so many years on the Focal executive and was something of a pioneer, in filming specifically for clips in the stock footage industry which really hadn’t been done Gerry and his Index Stock shot came up with the concept... One of those huge characters, boundless energy and open to all innovation whilst loving 35mm. ….miss you Gerry

Amanda Huntley, MD and Film Archivist, Huntley Film Archives