Philip Hallman

Phil Hallman is the Film Studies Librarian and subject specialist liaison for the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library where he is responsible for building and collecting the libraries’ books and periodicals related to cinema and television studies.  He also is the Curator for the Mavericks & Makers collections housed at the U-M Library’s Special Collections Research Center.  This collection features the papers of noted film auteurs/directors working primarily within the independent film movement.  They include Orson Welles, Robert Altman, John Sayles, Alan Rudolph, Nancy Savoca, and Jonathan Demme.  Also included are two important figures in film distribution:  Robert Shaye and Ira Deutchman.  Phil has played a key role in growing the collection, working closely with the mavericks and makers themselves, as well as their families, the occasional legal team, and of course the scholars, researchers, and documentary filmmakers who use the collection materials for their work.

In addition, he curates the Donald Hall Collection, FTVM’s departmental film, DVD, & screenplay collection.  The collection, named for former poet laureate Donald Hall, contains more than 20,000 DVDs, 3,000 screenplays, and an archival film print collection.  He teaches various library research classes for the department.

Phil has a background in film history and holds degrees in film studies and library science from the University of Michigan and NYU.  He has strong interests in film exhibition, particularly drive-in movie theaters, and film festivals.

Phil has presented at various conferences including the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, the Society of Cinema and Media Studies, RBMS, ACRL, and the Radio Preservation Task Force at the Library of Congress.  For many years, he has worked on developing a database focused on film exhibition throughout the 20^th century in Detroit.  His essay "Unmade Altman:  What the Archive Tells Us "was published in the 2022 publication Refocus:  The Later Films and Legacy of Robert Altman (Lisa Dombrowski and Justin Wyatt, editors).  He is co-editor with Matthew Solomon on a new book series in conjunction with U-M Press, Out of the Archives, which celebrates the archival materials within the Mavericks & Makers collections.

Please contact Phil for assistance related to film and TV research questions.