Northeast Historic Film
Northeast Historic Film is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit archives founded in 1986 in Bucksport, Maine that collects, preserves, and shares northern New England's moving image heritage through film transfer services, cold storage, stock footage licensing, and community programming at the historic Alamo Theatre.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1986
- HeadquartersBucksport, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What Northeast Historic Film does
Northeast Historic Film (NHF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit archives founded in 1986 and headquartered in Bucksport, Maine, that collects, preserves, and shares northern New England's moving image heritage. Core services include moving image transfers converting 8mm, 16mm, and 35mm film to DVD, Blu-ray, or HD digital formats; climate-controlled cold storage vault rental at 45°F with low humidity and tiered pricing from $27.19/month minimum to $3.65/cubic foot at higher volumes; and stock footage licensing for filmmakers, scholars, and television producers. The organization operates the historic Alamo Theatre in Bucksport as both a community cinema (general admission $10, members $6) and an event venue hosting the Maine Silent Film Festival, concerts, private rentals, and corporate-sponsored screenings.
NHF holds one of the largest collections of home movies in North America, with 1,045+ collections described in a publicly searchable online database (collection.oldfilm.org) spanning from the 1900s through the 2020s, including local television news, amateur film, industrials, and documentaries. The technology stack consists of traditional film preservation infrastructure including specialized transfer equipment, climate-controlled vaults, an online catalog with browse/filter/search functionality, and a Shopify-based e-commerce storefront for DVDs and merchandise. The organization distributes content through its website, Vimeo, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and publishes the Moving Image Review newsletter (originally biannual print, 1988-2009, now electronic).
The organization is governed by a 10-member volunteer board and employs approximately 7 staff members covering executive direction, vault management, theatre operations, business management, technical services, cataloging, and facilities. Revenue derives from theatre admissions, membership dues, film transfer and cold storage service fees, stock footage licensing, e-commerce DVD sales, venue rentals, and individual donations, supplemented by foundation and government grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Film Preservation Foundation, Maine Humanities Council, Maine Community Foundation, Betterment Fund, and other regional funders. Academic partnerships with NYU's Moving Image Archiving and Preservation program, University of Maine, Rhode Island School of Design, and Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum support an active internship pipeline.
Northeast Historic Film firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Northeast Historic Film
- Legal name
- Northeast Historic Film
- Website
- https://oldfilm.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1986
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Northeast Historic Film is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit archives founded in 1986 in Bucksport, Maine that collects, preserves, and shares northern New England's moving image heritage through film transfer services, cold storage, stock footage licensing, and community programming at the historic Alamo Theatre.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Northeast Historic Film industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Film Archival Services
- NAICS
- Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Historical Sites (71212)
- SIC
- Services-Allied To Motion Picture Distribution (7829), Services-Photofinishing Laboratories (7384), Services-Motion Picture Theaters (7830)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Archival Preservation & Conservation (Handling, Storage, Environmental Controls) (MPADAMAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Public Media Archives, Libraries & Content Preservation (MPABADAL), Access & Distribution for Archives (Restored Masters, DCP Creation, Screening Deliverables) (MPADAMAJ), Historical, Biographical & Archival Documentaries (MPADADAE)
Keywords
Where Northeast Historic Film is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Bucksport
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Northeast Historic Film business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Others
Revenue model
- Membership Dues: Annual membership program offering benefits including free subscription to Moving Image Review newsletter, ability to borrow videos, and member pricing at Alamo Theatre ($6 per movie).
- Theatre Admissions: Revenue from Alamo Theatre ticket sales. General admission $10, Students $8, Seniors $8, Members $6. No reserved seating or advance sales.
- Moving Image Transfers: Film and video transfer services converting user-provided films and videos to DVD, Blu-ray or HD Digital video formats.
- Stock Footage Licensing: Reuse licensing for moving and still images from the collection for filmmakers, scholars, television producers, and other users. Reuse of materials requires permission.
- E-commerce Sales: Online shop selling DVDs including featured titles like From Stump to Ship and Dead River Rough Cut.
- Foundation and Government Grants: Grant funding from organizations including Maine Humanities Council, National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), National Film Preservation Foundation, Maine Community Foundation, Betterment Fund, and others. Historical grant: $9,632 from Maine Humanities Council for From Stump to Ship project.
- Donations: Individual donations, film and equipment donations, and the William S. O'Farrell Fellowship program.
- Venue Rental: The Alamo Theatre is available for private event rental.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | 45° Cold Storage - Up to 3 cubic feet |
| Subscription | Monthly | 45° Cold Storage - 4-9 cubic feet |
| Subscription | Monthly | 45° Cold Storage - 10-24 cubic feet |
| Subscription | Monthly | 45° Cold Storage - 25-49 cubic feet |
| Subscription | Monthly | 45° Cold Storage - 50-99 cubic feet |
| Subscription | Monthly | 45° Cold Storage - 100-249 cubic feet |
| Subscription | Monthly | 45° Cold Storage - 250-499 cubic feet |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Cold Storage Intake Processing |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Cold Storage Retrieval |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Supply Costs - Film Cores and Cans |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Alamo Theatre - General Admission |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Alamo Theatre - Students and Seniors |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Alamo Theatre - Members |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels9 records
Northeast Historic Film product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Northeast Historic Film operates a nonprofit film archives that collects, preserves, and shares northern New England's moving image heritage. Its primary offerings include professional film-to-digital transfer services, climate-controlled cold storage vaults, stock footage licensing for reuse, an online collection database, and community cinema programming at the historic Alamo Theatre in Bucksport, Maine.
Product overview
Northeast Historic Film operates as a nonprofit archives offering a portfolio of interconnected services centered on film preservation and regional moving image heritage. The core offerings include Moving Image Transfers (converting film/video to DVD, Blu-ray, or HD Digital), Cold Storage (climate-controlled vault storage at 45°F with tiered pricing), and Stock Footage Licensing (for reuse of collection materials). The organization maintains an Online Collection Catalog with 1,045+ collections browsable by decade, genre, and subject. The Alamo Theatre serves as both a historic venue and revenue-generating service. Physical products include DVDs and merchandise featuring notable regional films like From Stump to Ship. Additionally, NHF publishes the Moving Image Review newsletter and scholarly works such as the Wabanaki Film Holdings Bibliography. The product ecosystem is unified by NHF's mission to collect, preserve, and share northern New England's moving image heritage.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Moving Image Review: Northeast Historic Film's newsletter published from 1988 through 2009, describing recently received collections, grant projects, and organization development.
Quantifiable outcome
- From Stump to Ship premiere drew 1,100+ attendees and 8,000 viewers over 5 months across 22 Maine towns
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Northeast Historic Film
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Northeast Historic Film technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Northeast Historic Film partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- Art House ConvergenceminorOrganization supporting independent cinemas and art house theatres, aligning with NHF's Alamo Theatre operations.
- National Alliance of Media Arts CentersminorNational organization supporting media arts centers, aligning with NHF's regional moving image archive mission.
- New York Women in Film & TelevisionminorProfessional organization supporting women in film and television, potential collaboration on archival access and programming.
- Town of BucksportminorLocal municipal government partner providing support for NHF operations.
- Hancock CountyminorCounty government providing support for NHF operations.
- University of MainecoreAcademic partner that received original donation of From Stump to Ship film. Hosted premiere event with 1,100 attendees. Provided in-kind match ($12,490) for Maine Humanities Council grant.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Northeast Historic Film competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Museum of the Moving Image: A museum dedicated to the art, history, and technology of film, television, and digital media. Comparable to NHF in combining moving image exhibition, preservation programming, and educational outreach.
- Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research: A regional film and theater archive affiliated with the University of Wisconsin. Comparable to NHF as a similarly scoped state-level moving image archive with preservation, research access, and educational programming missions.
- Academy Film Archive: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' film preservation arm. Comparable as a nonprofit film archive providing preservation, restoration, and public access to moving image collections.
- Center for Home Movies: A nonprofit dedicated to preserving and providing access to home movies. Directly comparable to NHF as a mission-aligned amateur/regional film preservation organization focused on the same content type and similar stakeholder base.
Emerging players
- Internet Archive: A digital library offering permanent access to historical moving image collections. Comparable to NHF in preservation mission but focuses on digital-born and digitized content at much greater scale with a global online distribution model.
Regional players
- Northeast Document Conservation Center: A nonprofit conservation center serving libraries, archives, and cultural institutions in the Northeast. Comparable to NHF as a regional preservation services provider operating in the same geographic territory with conservation expertise.
Broad incumbents
- George Eastman Museum: A major museum combining film preservation, exhibition, and collections on photography and cinema. Larger and broader than NHF, but operates a comparable film archive with public access programs and conservation facilities.
- Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center: The U.S. national audiovisual archive with extensive moving image collections. Operates at vastly greater scale than NHF but shares the core mission of preserving and providing access to America's film heritage.
- WGBH Open Vault: The public media archive of Boston's WGBH, providing online access to historical broadcasting and documentary content. Comparable to NHF as a public media archive with online collection access and educational programming.
- UCLA Film & Television Archive: One of the largest moving image archives in the world, housed at UCLA. Comparable to NHF in mission and service offerings (preservation, screening, research access) but at substantially greater scale and resource base.
Market position
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Northeast Historic Film social profiles
Digital presenceNortheast Historic Film financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Northeast Historic Film leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
Northeast Historic Film funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Northeast Historic Film M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Northeast Historic Film
What does Northeast Historic Film do?
Northeast Historic Film operates a nonprofit film archives that collects, preserves, and shares northern New England's moving image heritage. Its primary offerings include professional film-to-digital transfer services, climate-controlled cold storage vaults, stock footage licensing for reuse, an online collection database, and community cinema programming at the historic Alamo Theatre in Bucksport, Maine.
Is Northeast Historic Film a public or private company?
Northeast Historic Film is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Northeast Historic Film founded?
Northeast Historic Film was founded in 1986. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Northeast Historic Film based?
Northeast Historic Film is headquartered in Bucksport, United States, in the North America region.
How does Northeast Historic Film make money?
Eight revenue lines are on record. Membership Dues are the primary driver. The others are theatre Admissions, moving Image Transfers, stock Footage Licensing, E-commerce Sales, foundation and Government Grants, donations and venue Rental.
Who are Northeast Historic Film's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Museum of the Moving Image, Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, Academy Film Archive and Center for Home Movies. Internet Archive is listed as an emerging player. Northeast Document Conservation Center is listed as a regional player. Broad incumbents are George Eastman Museum, Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, WGBH Open Vault and UCLA Film & Television Archive.
Does Northeast Historic Film have an API?
No public API is recorded for Northeast Historic Film.
What industry is Northeast Historic Film in?
Northeast Historic Film's product category is Film Archival Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPADAMAF, Archival Preservation & Conservation (Handling, Storage, Environmental Controls), with a secondary code of MPABADAL, Public Media Archives, Libraries & Content Preservation. Its NAICS code is 712 and its SIC code is 7829.