Chris talks about living in Las Vegas since he was 6 months old. He also talks about starting his own valet parking company while he was in college. Later Chris talks about Silver State Film Productions, a film company he founded. The schools Chris attended during his childhood were located in Las Vegas, Nevada at that time. Film producer Chris Ramirez moved from Colorado to the east side of Las Vegas in 1973, when he was six months old. Son of Greg Ramirez, owner and founder of Viva Zapatas restaurants, Chris and his family moved to Rancho Bel Air, where he completed his school years, in about 1980. Chris and other Clark County School District students of his age participated in a school desegregation program unique to Las Vegas. After completing fifth grade at Howard Wasden Elementary School, Chris and his classmates rode a bus for one year to Mabel Hoggard Sixth Grade Center in North Las Vegas. After sixth grade he attended Hyde Park Middle School and Bishop Gorman High School. Chris’s family and school connections combined with the barter culture in Las Vegas combined to create an emphasis on “who you know” rather than “what you know.” Chris formed his film companies on the basis of his Las Vegas knowledge and his contacts and credits Las Vegas for allowing him to be in the right place at the right time to meet and work with celebrities and become an entrepreneur. Chris enjoys the urban excitement of living, doing business, and participating in the revitalization of downtown Las Vegas.
The corporate records (1920-1990) for Hughes Productions consist of administrative, distribution, financial, and legal records, as well as records from the Motion Picture Association of America and United Artists Corporation and records pertaining to unproduced works.
Administrative records contain correspondence, as well as vault inventories, assets list, and personnel files. Distribution records contain agreements, correspondence, and information pertaining to The Outlaw's ban. Financial records include ledgers, correspondence, invoices, and international profit reports. Legal records include contracts for actors and screenwriters, as well as correspondence, agreements, and affidavits pertaining to loan information and court case proceedings.
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) records consist primarily of weekly reports from the MPAA detailing film title registration reports either held or withdrawn, as well as memoranda. United Artists Corporation records include contract analyses, settlement statements and ledgers detailing The Outlaw's domestic and international earnings. Unproduced works contain screenplays, synopses, story treatments, right's agreements, and correspondence pertaining to stories sent to Hughes Productions.
Archival Collection
Howard Hughes Film Production Records
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Collection Number: MS-01036 Collection Name: Howard Hughes Film Production Records Box/Folder: N/A
James Frey was born in Eureka, South Dakota, in 1941. His father worked in creamery and his mother was a registered nurse. When Frey was nine, the family, including his twin sister, relocated in Sioux Falls where his dad was plant manager for a dairy. He joined the YMCA in the fourth grade and ended up working for them until around the age of 22. He attended Augustana College in Sioux Falls, graduating with a major in sociology and a minor in history. After graduation, he worked for three years at the YMCA in Sioux Falls as program director.
The Jacob E. Von Tobel Photograph Collection contains black-and-white photographs of the pioneer Von Tobel family from 1900 to 1980. The collection includes photographs of the Von Tobel family, early Las Vegas, Nevada buildings and landmarks, and aerial photographs of Las Vegas and surrounding areas.
The International Food Service Executive Association (IFSEA) Records contain the organizational records from the IFSEA dating from 1916 to 2010. Included are meeting programs and minutes, menus, conference reports and proceedings, financial reports, newsletters, award certificates, scrapbooks, and stewards and caterers records focusing on the hospitality and food service industry. Materials are from both national and regional branches of the organization and include records from the United States military, with whom IFSEA has partnered with since the 1960s. Club artifacts and trophies are also contained in the collection.
The Joanne de Longchamps Papers date from 1938 to 1985 and document de Longchamps' career as a poet as well as her personal life. The collection contains photocopies of her published poems, poetry journals and magazines containing her work, and photocopies of her unpublished typewritten poetry. It also contains original correspondence from Joanne de Longchamps to her mother, Ruth Cutten, as well as photocopies of her correspondence to poet Harold Witt.