James Vincent D'Arc was born in Los Angeles, California on August 7, 1950. In the early 1970s, D'Arc was accepted into Brigham Young University, where he majored in history. A film appreciation class taught by Dr. Charles M. Metten in 1973 motivated D’Arc to receive a PhD in film history from BYU in 1986. During his time as a student, he was also hired in what was then called the "Archives and Manuscripts Division” at BYU, where he began gathering film-related materials for the Archives. During 1990 D'Arc was also employed as a professor of film in BYU's Theatre and Media Arts College in addition to his position as a curator. James D'Arc retired from BYU in August 2017.

Calvin Johnson was born July 4, 1923, in Kanab, Utah. From age 10 he worked with the crews of western films that were filmed in Kanab. He used the money to buy his farm and ranch land. He attended Brigham Young University for a short time before going back to Kanab. He married Anna Robinson in 1941. Calvin Johnson died July 4, 2015 in Kanab, Utah.