The Archive Room

She Found the Secret NYPD Surveillance Footage of John and Yoko — with Rosemary Rotondi

What does archival research really look like on some of the most powerful documentaries of the last decade? Rosemary Rotondi is a New York based archival producer and researcher with over 30 years of experience. Her credits include Attica (Oscar nominated), John & Yoko: One to One (Apple TV+), and American Murder: Gabby Petito (Netflix, 90 million views worldwide). In this episode she takes us behind the scenes of all three films. We hear how she tracked down NYPD surveillance footage of John and Yoko at anti-Vietnam War protests in the New York municipal archives, how Attica footage had simply vanished from upstate New York's small local archives through years of neglect and lack of resources, the story of a film crew who felt threatened filming drone footage outside the prison, and the reality of working on the Gabby Petito police body cam case — including what happened to the officer in that footage two years later. Rosemary also reflects on the emotional toll of working with traumatic archive material, who makes the ethical decisions around disturbing images, the stark lack of diversity in true crime documentary coverage, and what it actually takes to break into archival research. If you work in documentary film, care about film history, or want to understand how archival storytelling really works — this is essential listening.

Gordon Craig: Inside Fremantle's Secret Archives (Ep.11) - Audio Only Version

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: Peabody Winner on Making 42 Archive Films Without a Narrator (Ep.10) - Audio only Version

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.

Reelin' In the Years - 'Music, History and the Archive Hunt' (Ep. 9) - Audio Only Version

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 — Digital Preservation & the Future of Film Archives (Ep. 8) - Audio Only Version

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.