Fremantle makes Got Talent, X Factor, The Price Is Right and Baywatch. But behind those formats sits one of the most extraordinary broadcast archives ever assembled, stretching back over 100 years and spanning drama, documentaries, news and entertainment across every continent.

Gordon Craig has spent nearly two decades at Fremantle overseeing archive licensing, home entertainment and in-flight sales. In this episode he opens the vault on how a commercial TV archive at this scale actually works: the reality of digitising tens of thousands of tapes, why a production's rushes policy can make or break a licensing deal years later, what it takes to clear talent across global format shows, and why Gordon once uploaded 28,000 clips to YouTube simply because there was no search engine.

We get into the Thames Television archive, running since 1968, which contains news footage, landmark documentaries and celebrity interviews that still sell around the world today. We talk about the Take That Netflix documentary, the Angela Davis jail interview, the remastering of The Sweeney and Baywatch, and the complicated rights picture facing anyone licensing a clip from a modern co-production. Gordon also shares his take on fast channels, AI and whether authentic archival footage can hold its ground.

The video version of this episode is available on YouTube. Search The Archive Room or find the link at lolaclips.com.

The Archive Room is hosted by Dominic Dare and Sandra Coelho, produced by LOLA Clips

Tom Jennings is the founder and Chief Creative Officer of 1895 Films and one of the most decorated documentary filmmakers working today. A Peabody and Emmy Award winner, Tom has written, produced and directed more than 500 hours of programming and pioneered a format that now spans 42 films: no narrator, no modern interviews, pure archive from start to finish. His work includes Diana: In Her Own Words, Apollo: Missions to the Moon and a Peabody winning film on the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In this episode Tom takes us through the full arc of his career, from print journalist covering the OJ Simpson trial to the moment he cut a ten minute proof of concept reel and snuck into the Television Critics Association to pitch it. He explains how that single meeting with National Geographic in 2009 launched a format the industry had resisted for fourteen years.

We go deep on what it actually takes to build an archive film: throwing a wide net, going through every single tape, and why the Christa McAuliffe rehearsal footage that won the Challenger Emmy was sitting on tape 39 of a 40 tape collection that most producers never finished. Tom talks about the seven hours of Diana tapes locked in a publisher's office in London, the funeral home phone call it took to clear a song, and why he steers clear of fair use.

He also speaks candidly about what AI can now do to historical voices, why it sits like a loaded gun on the table, and what that means for audiences who trust archive films to tell the truth.

An essential listen for documentary makers, archive producers, rights professionals, researchers and anyone who wants to understand how the most powerful non fiction storytelling gets made.

The Archive Room is produced by LOLA Clips. Find us on YouTube for the full video version, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode.

What does it take to build one of the world's great music archives from scratch? David Peck, founder and president of Reelin' In The Years Productions, has spent over three decades tracking down, preserving and licensing performance footage and interview material spanning more than a century of cultural history. In this episode, he takes us through the discovery of previously unknown Doors footage at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the painstaking process of onboarding the Merv Griffin and David Frost archives, his role as a historical fact checker on major documentary films including the Bee Gees and Stax stories, and why he believes real archive will always outlast AI generated content. He also makes the case for why the music archive business is as much about cultural stewardship as it is about commerce, and shares the ethical lines he will not cross when it comes to licensing.

Andrea Kalas is one of the leading figures in global film and media preservation. She currently serves as Vice President of Media and Archival Services at Iron Mountain, where she leads large-scale preservation, digitisation, and access projects for studios, museums, and cultural institutions worldwide.

Her career spans UCLA Film and Television Archive, the British Film Institute, Discovery Communications, Paramount Pictures, and DreamWorks. She has overseen the restoration and preservation of more than 2,000 titles — including The Godfather — and is a former President of AMIA, the Association of Moving Image Archivists.

In this episode, Andrea talks honestly about the challenges facing film and media archives today: the ticking clock on magnetic tape, why digitisation is not the finish line for moving image archiving, and why below-zero storage remains one of the most powerful tools preservationists have. She also explores what AI could genuinely unlock for archive access, the impact of federal funding cuts on cultural collections, and the restoration of Wings (1927) — from deteriorated nitrate film to a full sound presentation.

Plus the principle every archivist lives by: one copy is no copies.

The Archive Room is a podcast about archival footage, film restoration, media rights, and the people who dedicate their careers to keeping the world's film and television heritage alive. If you work in documentary filmmaking, moving image archiving, or the film and TV industry, this is the conversation for you. New episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and iHeartRadio.

What does it take to run one of Europe’s biggest movie archives?

In this episode, Dominic and Sandra welcome Massimo Moretti, the longtime archive commercial lead at STUDIOCANAL UK, home to over 6,000 titles — from the beloved Paddington films to historic gems like The Ladykillers and Conquest of Everest.

Massimo shares fascinating stories from his two decades in the industry, including the legacy of Ealing Studios, the challenges of digitisation, licensing rare rushes, and how AI could transform the future of archive access. He also breaks down how STUDIOCANAL manages rights across borders and explains why the 1960s remains the golden decade of the archive.

Whether you're an archive producer, film fan, or licensing professional — this episode is full of insight into the hidden machinery behind Europe’s cinematic treasures.

In this episode of The Archive Room, we sit down with the extraordinary Elizabeth Klinck — one of the most respected archive producers and researchers working today.

With decades of experience on award-winning documentaries (Apollo 11, Stories We Tell, The Rescue, Zappa), Elizabeth shares how she blends detective work, historical instinct, and deep industry knowledge to uncover footage gold — from lost Muhammad Ali reels to rare rockabilly clips in Sweden.

🕵️‍♀️ How archive research is like private investigation

📼 Tracking down forgotten footage across borders and formats🎶 A crash course in music rights and clearance

📁 Building a global archive network — and a professionThis is a masterclass for filmmakers, researchers, and anyone curious about how documentary magic is made behind the scenes.

🔔 Subscribe for more stories from the people who bring history to screen.

In this episode of The Archive Room, Dominic Dare and Sandra Coelho are joined by Berlin-based archive producer and researcher Mona El-Bira, whose work sits at the intersection of history, ethics, and archive-driven storytelling.

Mona takes us deep inside two of the most ambitious documentary projects of recent years. First, Riefenstahl (2024), a feature documentary built entirely from archival material, drawing on the vast and previously inaccessible estate of filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. Mona walks us through the unprecedented process of organising, assessing, and ethically handling more than 700 boxes of documents, photographs, film reels, and audio recordings now held across multiple German state institutions — and how the archive itself shaped the narrative of the film.

The conversation then turns to The Six Billion Dollar Man, Eugene Jarecki’s documentary tracing the story of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. Mona discusses the realities of working with contemporary news archive at scale, navigating fair use, licensing global broadcasters, and dealing with material that is politically charged, legally complex, and often deeply distressing.

Along the way, Mona reflects on:

• Coming to archive producing “sideways” from academia and art history

• Why archives should drive the story — not the other way around

• The emotional toll of working with war footage and traumatic material

• Ethical responsibility in archive research and editorial decision-making

• Rights, personality laws, and why Germany is uniquely complicated

• Fair use: necessity, nightmare, or both

This is a thoughtful, candid conversation about the unseen labour behind archive-led documentaries — and what it really takes to turn history, power, and raw footage into responsible storytelling.

In The Archive Room Ep 4, we’re joined by Andy Gavaghan, Head of Archive & Content Library at ITV, to explore what it takes to manage one of the UK’s most significant media collections. From mislabelled film cans to 1.2 million tapes and 800 Rank films, Andy walks us through the technical, editorial, and commercial challenges of preserving British television history — including how ITV is digitizing thousands of tapes, embracing AI, and deciding what to keep… or junk.

🗂️ The true story behind “The Eagle Has Landed” archive

🎞️ Digitizing Love Island, Coronation Street & rare Rank films

💾 How ITV uses data, AI, and cloud storage to future-proof its archive

🌊 The Boxing Day flood that almost sank it all Whether you're an archivist, producer, or telly nostalgist — this is a rare look inside ITV’s vault.

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