Overview of the role
The archive producer’s role is to assemble the best possible footage and stills that help convey the narrative of the programme while meeting clearance and budget requirements.
The archive producer will source the most suitable footage and stills from archive houses, broadcasters, stills libraries and academic and other sources. They will view, log and label material that best fits the needs of the programme and meets the requests from the director and/or producer.
It is important to have a wide range of contacts at different archive libraries, broadcasters and other sources such as academic and governmental institutions, both at home and internationally. A good working relationship with people within these places is crucial to obtain the materials in a timely manner and sometimes at a discounted rate.
The archive producer will have to ascertain whether the material is licensable for the specific terms of the project and that the fees involved are within budget. An ability to negotiate successfully with archive suppliers for bulk discounts and cheaper rates is also key.
If the material is not licensable, then the archive producer will need to supply clearable alternatives, or advise the editorial team on the fair dealing/fair use options. A good understanding of the rules and guidance around fair dealing and fair use of archive material is necessary.
Once the programme is finalised, the archive producer will liaise with the licensors to obtain high-res versions of the archive, organise the licensing paperwork, confirm end credits, declare the exact amounts of footage/stills used and call in invoices – usually working closely with the production manager or line producer.
Core responsibilities
These core responsibilities are provided as a guide and are not exhaustive. The exact responsibilities in a particular job will vary depending on the scale / budget band / genre of the production.
- Read treatments and scripts and identify what archive materials will be best to illustrate the narrative of the programme.
- To establish what the licensing terms for archive materials are for the project and what the budget for the archive is
- To work closely with the director, producer and editor, to understand their requests and expectations and deliver archive materials that match this
- Suggest archive materials to help shape and explain the narrative of the project
- Identify the archive houses, libraries and other sources that will hold the best material most relevant to the project
- Search through their holdings to source appropriate archive
- In some instances, archive houses will carry out the research in-house and supply the archive producer with the results. The archive producer will then have to identify from these results the most appropriate options.
- View the material and log it with detailed descriptions – which will help to identify any shot that is needed at any point in the edit
- Implement file naming conventions and establish a clear and efficient work flow between yourself and the edit and post team, for both offline edits and the later stages of online, where low-res versions of archive are replaced with high-res, master versions
- Label all archive material with unique identifying names and keep an accurate and up to date log of all the material that comes in and is sent to the edit
- Pass the material to the edit for ingesting, or in some instances to the producer or director for viewing
- Maintain a log with details of the clearance status for each piece of archive and associated costs
- Through conversations with the archive sources/licensors, establish the correct fees that need to be applied that cover the licensing terms for the project
- Negotiate a discount where possible
- Follow licensors requirements if necessary to clear the material – in some instances a third party may need to give permission
- Work with the production manager or line producer to ensure all requirements are met
- Communicate clearly to production management and the editorial team any legal restrictions around using archive materials
- Establish that the materials are accurate and representative of events and the story being told
- Ensure material is dated and described clearly and accurately for the edit team
- Be aware of all the archive contained within the cuts by viewing each playout of the cut at regular intervals
- Keep an up to date log of each cut which details shot descriptions of the archive used, clearance status, cost, end credits and any on-screen credit requirements
- Feed back to the editorial team and production manager/line producer the status of all the archive being used – whether it is unclearable, out of budget, or has specific restrictions around it
- Keep an accurate running total of the archive spend
- Keep PM/line producer aware of running costs and update them regularly
- Once the cut has been finalised, an accurate log must be made of all archive materials within it
- Master, high-res versions of the archive material must be ordered where necessary
- Any on-screen graphic requirements must be noted and the online edit made aware
- End credits for each archive supplier must be noted and passed on to the PM/line producer
- Licensing paperwork must be requested from all archive suppliers and passed onto production management for legal approval and signing
- An accurate declaration of the total amount of footage and stills used in the cut must be made to all archive suppliers
- Invoices from archive suppliers need to be called in
- Depending on the broadcaster you may also be required to help fill in specific forms provided by the broadcaster that details all the archive used
Skills
Check out role specific skills, transferable skills and attributes for the role of archive producer.
- An ability to watch and judge a large amount of archival footage and still materials
- An understanding of editorial policy, accuracy and fairness when re-telling a story
- Able to prioritise a lot of different tasks that may all have the same deadline
- Able to work fast and efficiently under tight deadlines and budgetary restrictions
- Maintain a good working relationship with the editorial team, post facilities, archive sources and sometimes contributors
- Highly organised with strong administrative skills
- An understanding of technical details of archive including frame rates, audio and video formats, historical formats and how they will interact in the edit
- Communication: an ability to clearly and concisely communicate with the editorial and production management team the status of each piece of archive
- Working within a team: supporting and working closely with an editor, producer, and director to deliver a finished programme
- Problem-solving: when archive is not available, it is the archive producer’s role to provide suitable alternatives, often thinking in a lateral way to suggest different solutions that may work
- Multi-tasking: keeping the edit supplied with new archive material whilst juggling on-going requests, watching cuts and advising on running costs are often tasks that need completing at the same time during the production
- Working well under pressure: A calm, clear head whilst juggling many tasks, with tight deadlines
- Productivity: an ability to prioritise effectively and work quickly across different tasks
- Patience: often it can take time and patience to sift through and identify the most suitable archive materials, discounting many options along the way
- Editorial judgement: an eye for footage or stills that will accurately and fairly represent the narrative
- A passion for film and television: a wide knowledge and interest of past programmes and broadcasters will help to direct searches for the best material for the programme
- Good communicator: communicating clearly and supportively with other team members to help create and deliver the final programme