Born: Established: 1948
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Australia,c
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The Shell Film Unit and the Government Postal Office (GPO) Film Unit are two of Britain's pioneering documentary filmmaking companies. Of all the private corporations that established links between industry and the media in the early to mid-twentieth century, the Shell Film Unit (funded by the Shell Oil) is certainly the most celebrated and arguably one of the longest lasting. Shell's involvement in cinema began in the early 1920s, when it became actively engaged in sponsorship. In 1934, the company created its own film unit. Instrumental in setting up the British unit was Shell's publicity head Jack Beddington (later head of film production at the Ministry of Information). Edgar Anstey was installed as the first producer. This position was later taken on by Arthur Elton. While Shell's film activity was initially focused on the United Kingdom, it ultimately became international in scope.
The Shell Company of Australia has deposited much of its own film holdings with the National Film and Sound Archive for preservation. The collection also includes a significant amount of additional material, including publicity booklets, scripts, production stills, posters, and film notes.
