Never mind, I found it. TCM presented the first annual Robert Osborne Award to Martin Scorsese for his work on film preservation. The letter in question was referenced in a video teaser on the channel in advance of the ceremony. The original letter was part of a petition Scorsese, his longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker, along with staff members Mark del Costello and Donna Gigliotti sent to Kodak asking them to make permanent color motion picture film.
Here's the text, in case anybody is interested (
copied from archive.org's crawl of
The Independent):
[Show spoiler]April 5, 1980
TO: MY FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES
RE: OUR FILMS
EVERYTHING WE ARE DOING NOW MEANS NOTHING!
All of our agonizing labor and creative effort is for nothing
because our films are vanishing. I am not referring to the
terrible problem of black and white film deterioration with
which many of you are already familiar, but to something
more immediate — FADING COLOR. After only a few years
the color in our films will be irretrievably lost. The problem
of color fading in film is beyond the crisis point. We must
confront it now — it can no longer be ignored.
Your past support in voicing concern over this problem is
greatly appreciated but it is no longer enough. Merely
recognizing the fact that color film fades is useless. We must
act now or the films we make in the 1980' s will be subjected
to the same indiscriminate destruction as all those made in
the past forty years. Working with film stock that is
guaranteed to deteriorate in a matter of months is insulting
and insane. We have no choice but to take action to correct
this situation which is absolutely intolerable.
Eastman Kodak will do nothing to remedy the situation
simply because the immediate and outrageous financial
profits have priority over the quality of product. So long as
it is in their interests not to do so, Eastman Kodak, through
their total monopoly in the United States and many other
parts of the world, will be responsible for the destruction of
our past and current work. They are betraying us and will
have to account for the conscious perversion of the future
history of cinema.
We must act to speed-up and expedite the solution to color
stabilization and permanent color in film which can and
must be achieved in this decade. The scientists and
researchers working independently on this project do so
with pitifully inadequate funds. This is the only obstacle to
finding the technical solution to this problem. With our
help, that obstacle can be removed.
If we come together, organize and operate from a position of
strength, we will have the most potent means of attacking
this problem. An organization of cinematographers,
directors and other members of the film community can
wield power collectively, generate publicity and raise
money. Not only would we attract funds from private and
government institutions, but in our positions within the
industry we could enlist the support and resources of the
film producers and film manufacturers themselves.
We, the members and supporters of this organization, would
contribute annually to help fund the research and
development of color technology. We would insist on clauses
in our contracts that require a 3- strip black and white
negative to be made as an insurance measure against
unstable color stocks, and also have an answer print made
from that negative to insure proper registration. But it
should be mentioned that the 3-strip negatives are only a
temporary preservative measure because, if not properly
stored, one negative could shrink, rendering all three
useless.
The most practical preservative and economic solution is
developing a COLOR STABLE FILM. So, if you care about
your work and its future, then, for its sake, please lend
your name and support.
If you have any questions, ideas, thoughts or suggestions
please don't hesitate in responding: Martin Scorsese, c/o
Chartoff Winkler Productions, 110 West 57 Street, New
York, New York 10019.
United we have the power to find the solution.
Best regards,
Martin Scorsese
More than 200 people associated with the theatrical motion picture industry signed the petition, including Saul Bass, Bernardo Bertolucci, Peter Bogdanovich, Stan Brakhage, Kevin Brownlow, Ellen Burstyn, Vincent Canby, John Cassavetes, Michael Cimino, Jill Clayburgh, Francis Ford Coppola, Judith Crist, George Cukor, Robert DeNiro, Brian DePalma, Mia Farrow, Federico Fellini, Jane Fonda, Milos Forman, Jodie Foster, Ben Gazzara, Jean-Luc Godard, Elia Kazan, Sergio Leone, George and Marcia Lucas, Sidney Lumet, Leonard Maltin, Malcolm McDowell, Liza Minelli, and Paul Newman. Also signing were Jack Nicholson, Joseph Papp, Arthur Penn, Sydney Pollack, Otto Preminger, Burt Reynolds, Gina Rowlands, Telly Savalas, Thelma Schoonmaker, Paul Schrader, Steven Spielberg, Mary Steenburgen, Barbra Streisand, Lily Tomlin, Francois Truffaut, King Vidor, Lina Wertmuller, Irwin Winkler, William Wyler, and many other directors, producers, actors, actresses, and film critics.
All countries
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
Colombia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
India
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
That really is perplexing. Btw, we need more De Sica. 
Okay, I admit when I was younger I too was a fan boy. Mostly on Kubrick and Kurosawa. I'm too old to obsess like I used too, because I love way too many directors now.
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