In this episode of Perf Damage, we sit down with Jeff McCarty, a Senior Preservation Manager on Charlotte’s team at Paramount, to talk about his incredible journey to get into film preservation. Jeff shares the story of how he got his start from attending the USC film school, to working at Technicolor and he walks us through the many twists and turns that led him to Paramount. Along the way, he’s worked on some major restorations, including The Godfather (1972), the silent classic It (1927), The Day of the Locust (1975), and King Kong (1976).

Jeff gives us an inside look at what it really takes to preserve and restore films—from the technical challenges to the unexpected surprises in the archive, and reflects on what it means to care for cinematic history. It’s a conversation packed with behind-the-scenes stories, deep knowledge, and a whole lot of film love.

Plus, Charlotte and Adam geek out about nitrate, color timing, and what it’s like to work with someone who knows his way around a vault reel like nobody else.

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