REELIN’ IN THE YEARS PRODUCTIONS REPPING FRIARS CLUB ARCHIVE: 1000+ HOURS OF NEVER BEFORE SEEN OR HEARD RECORDINGS OF THE BIGGEST STARS OF THE LAST 8 DECADES INCLUDING RICHARD PRYOR, ROBERT DE NIRO, ARETHA FRANKLIN, ROBIN WILLIAMS, JOAN RIVERS, JACK BLACK, AMY SCHUMER, MILTON BERLE, SCORES MORE
Reelin’ In The Years Productions has announced that it has signed an exclusive contract with the legendary Friars Club Of New York to represent its archive of filmed and recorded private events spanning 70-plus years. The Friars Archive contains nearly 1000 hours of never-before-seen or-heard video and audio recordings of comedians, actors, sports figures, and iconic musicians.
Since its founding in 1904, the famed club has been honoring comedians, politicians, actors, musicians and other luminaires at its fundraising celebrity luncheons (aka roasts), testimonial dinners and at private events.
The Friars Archive dates back to 1950 and the list of comedians whose performances were preserved on both video and audio tape is truly staggering. Some of the legendary comics that appeared at these landmark affairs include Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, George Burns, Jack Benny, Don Rickles, Bob Saget, Buddy Hackett, Milton Berle, Lucille Ball, Norm Crosby, Dick Gregory, Jerry Seinfeld, Johnny Carson, Alan King, Amy Schumer, Flip Wilson, George Carlin, Jeff Ross, Will Ferrell, Carol Burnett, Sid Caesar, Gilbert Gottfried, Bill Maher, Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, Henny Youngman, Steven Colbert, Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Hope, Lily Tomlin, Jerry Lewis, Sacha Baron Cohen, Rich Little, David Letterman, Howard Stern, Joan Rivers, Billy Crystal, Steve Allen, Martin Short, John Oliver, Lewis Black, Sarah Silverman, Phyllis Diller, Redd Foxx, Ricky Gervais, Bob Newhart, Carl Reiner and a host of others. This collection clearly establishes the Friars Archive as the Holy Grail Of Comedy.
Many of Hollywood’s greatest actors, actresses and directors are also part of this one-of-a-kind archive. Such icons as Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Tom Cruise, Sean Penn, Lauren Bacall, Samuel Jackson, Jack Black, Elizabeth Taylor, Burt Reynolds, Gregory Peck, Betty White, Harvey Keitel, John Travolta, Audrey Hepburn, Kirk Douglas, Meryl Streep, Cary Grant, Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone, Burt Lancaster, and Sylvester Stallone appeared at annual dinners to honor and celebrate their peers’ achievements in the world of film and television.
Along with famed comedy legends and Hollywood royalty that were filmed and recorded by the Friars Club, many of music’s greatest artists spoke or performed at these private events. Some who appeared were Stevie Wonder, Ella Fitzgerald, Sting, Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, The Bee Gees, Barry Manilow, Whitney Houston, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, Liza Minelli, Tony Bennett, Diana Ross and Frank Sinatra who was also the Abbot at the Friars Club Of New York from 1975 to 1996.
Reelin’ In The Years Productions has spent the last 5 months meticulously digitizing and fully cataloging the archive, which exists on a variety of obsolete media formats. With hundreds of tapes left to transfer, this will take many more months to complete.
David Peck, founder and president of Reelin’ In The Years Productions said, “I’ve been representing archives from around the globe for over 25 years; it’s quite a thrill to find an archive where a treasure trove of content has been virtually untouched for decades. It brings out the ‘Indiana Jones’ in me. and I am so honored that the Friars Club has trusted us with such an important legacy.”
“For many years we’ve been looking for the right home for our recorded legacy of laughter and entertainment,” said Friars Club Creative Director Anthony Trombetta, “and we feel that Reelin’ In The Years Productions is the perfect company to work with us on this historic archive.”
For more information about the Friars Club Archive and other footage in their vast holdings, please reach out to Reelin’ In The Years Productions at www.reelinintheyears.com
Reelin’ In The Years Productions (winner of FOCAL’s 2020 “Footage Library of The Year Award”) is the premier source for footage of musical artists, entertainers and history makers. Its unique archive houses over 30,000 hours of music footage spanning 100 years. In addition to its music footage archive, RITY has available for licensing over 10,000 hours of in-depth interviews with the 20th century’s icons of film and television, politics, comedy, literature, art, science, fashion and sports, filmed between 1962 and 2012.
David Peck (founder and president of Reelin’ In The Years) has also directed and produced more than 70 historical music documentaries and programs focused primarily on the giants of jazz, blues and rock & roll, garnering many awards in the process as well as a a Grammy nomination. In 2020, David Peck was one of the Executive Producers on the critically acclaimed documentary on the Bee Gees, “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” and is currently serving as one of the Co-Executive Producers on a multi-part documentary series on the famed record Memphis record label STAX that will air on HBO.