Periscope Film

What Periscope Film does

Periscope Film LLC is a Los Angeles-based private company, founded in 1990 (operating under the DBA "Operation Archive"), that maintains one of the largest private collections of historic non-fiction military, aviation, railroad, and transportation film in the United States. The archive originated when two founders began acquiring government-discarded 16mm military training films from the 1940s–70s; their first submarine service collection inspired the company name. The library now spans 80+ years of world history, includes many unique or only-known prints, and is digitized to HD, 2K, and 4K resolutions on the LaserGraphics ScanStation telecine platform with ProRes HQ 23.976fps masters and H264 viewer proxies.

The company operates three product lines: (1) a searchable online stock footage library at stock.periscopefilm.com licensed for broadcast, theatrical, Internet, home video, and advertising use; (2) film digitization/scanning services using the LaserGraphics ScanStation for customer-owned 8mm, Super 8mm, 16mm, Super 16mm, and 35mm film; and (3) retail books and DVDs sold through Amazon. The underlying technology stack combines archival-grade optical scanning hardware with conventional cloud infrastructure (AWS hosting, Stripe payments) and FTP delivery, with no AI/ML components disclosed.

Revenue mechanics are transactional and micro: footage licensing is charged by the second (rates vary by use type and term), film scanning is $0.30/foot for HD with upcharges for 2K/4K and cleaning, and consumer retail runs through Amazon. Go-to-market is self-serve PLG — free viewer downloads with registration, a searchable online database, and a free research staff handling custom orders via email, phone, and chat. Customer segments span Media & Entertainment Production (primary — documentary, broadcast, streaming, feature, advertising), Film Archives & Preservation, and Education & Research, served globally with no named enterprise anchors and a horizontal segmentation approach.

Name

Periscope Film

Legal name

Periscope Film LLC

Website

https://periscopefilm.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Periscope Film LLC is a Los Angeles-based private archival stock footage company licensing historic military, aviation, and transportation films spanning 80+ years to documentary, broadcast, and film production customers globally. It also offers film scanning services and consumer books/DVDs via Amazon.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Archival Stock Footage Licensing

NAICS

Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries (512), Motion Picture and Video Industries (5121), Photofinishing Laboratories (except One-Hour) (812921)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Distribution (7822), Services-Allied To Motion Picture Distribution (7829), Services-Photofinishing Laboratories (7384)

akta.pro primary industry

Footage & Stock Media Licensing (Archival/Newsreel/Stock) (MPADALAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Archive & Library Footage Licensing (News, Sports, Entertainment) (MPABANAC), Archival Research, Rights & Provenance Services (Clearance, Chain-of-Custody) (MPADAMAI), Video & Home Movie Digitization & Conversion (HSAFAGAC)

Keywords

• Stock footage licensing
• Archival film scanning
• Historical footage library
• Motion picture digitization
• Film transfer services

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Stock Footage Licensing: License historic footage for broadcast, film festival, theatrical release, Internet, home video, advertising use. Charged by the second or fraction thereof. Rates vary by use type and term.
2. Film Scanning Services: Transfer customer film to digital formats. Standard rate $.30 per foot for HD transfer, with additional costs for prep, 2K/4K scans, and cleaning services.
3. Books and DVDs: Publisher of historic military, aviation, railroad and transportation books and DVDs sold through Amazon.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Periscope Film licenses historic military, aviation, railroad, and transportation stock footage from a searchable online library spanning 80+ years of world history, available in HD, 2K, and 4K digital masters. The company also provides motion picture film digitization services using a LaserGraphics ScanStation, transferring 8mm through 35mm customer-owned film to modern digital files. A retail line of historical books and DVDs is sold through Amazon to help fund ongoing preservation of the archive.

Product overview

Periscope Film operates as a stock footage provider and publisher offering three main product lines: (1) a searchable Stock Footage Library of thousands of historic films in HD/2K/4K available for licensing, (2) Film Scanning Services using LaserGraphics ScanStation to digitize physical film formats (8mm through 35mm) to various digital resolutions, and (3) a retail Books & DVDs line of published historical content. The core offering is the stock footage platform where users search and license historic footage, supported by internal film scanning capabilities for both library expansion and customer digitization services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Stock Footage Library Searchable online database of thousands of historic films spanning over 80 years of world history, covering military, aviation, railroad, and transportation topics. Footage is scanned in HD, 2K, and 4K resolution as ProRes HQ 23.976fps masters and licensed to media companies, documentary filmmakers, broadcasters, streaming platforms, feature film producers, and advertising agencies worldwide.
• Film Scanning Services

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Amazon AWScoreTechnology or IntegrationCloud hosting and data storage provider for the company's website and digital assets. Data stored on AWS servers in the US.
• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment processing provider for secure online transactions. Handles payment card and bank account details.
• YouTubeminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorContent distribution platform where company publishes footage previews and archival content to reach broader audience.
• Archive.orgminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDigital archive platform where company makes collection available for broader access and preservation purposes.
• LaserGraphicscoreTechnology or IntegrationProvider of ScanStation film scanning equipment - the company's primary technology for digitizing film to HD, 2K and 4K.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Shutterstock: Large publicly-traded stock media platform offering footage, images, and music. Comparable licensing model and customer base, but with massive general-purpose catalog rather than Periscope's archival niche.
• Getty Images: World's largest commercial stock footage and imagery library. Competes with Periscope across all licensing categories but operates a much broader editorial and creative catalog, while Periscope specializes in archival military/aviation/transportation content.

Direct peers

• Pond5: Online marketplace for royalty-free stock footage with a deep contributor base. Direct competitor in stock footage licensing with similar per-clip usage pricing, though Pond5's catalog skews contemporary versus Periscope's historical focus.
• Bridgeman Images: Specialist in art, cultural, and historical imagery and footage licensing. Highly comparable to Periscope's archival, rights-managed content focus and similar documentary/broadcast customer base.
• Historic Films Archive: Archival footage licensor with a large library of news, military, and historical footage. Direct competitor to Periscope in stock footage licensing for documentary and broadcast use.
• CriticalPast: Licensor of historical newsreel and archival footage for film, TV, and documentary production. Direct niche competitor to Periscope in military and historical stock footage licensing.

Others

• U.S. National Archives (NARA): Government custodian of military, aviation, and transportation footage. Provides a partial free reference point on overlapping content, setting a price floor and content-availability benchmark for Periscope's commercial archive.
• ProRes Solutions / Colorlab: Independent film scanning and color-grading labs serving archival and production clients. Comparable to Periscope's film scanning service line, sharing LaserGraphics and similar telecine infrastructure.
• Internet Archive (Archive.org): Non-profit digital library hosting historical moving images. Already a distribution partner of Periscope; competes indirectly as a free source of archival footage but lacks rights-managed licensing for commercial use.

Emerging players

• Framepool (now part of Pond5/Getty ecosystem): Was an independent stock footage platform with curated archival content. Functionally folded into larger platforms; comparable as an early-stage curated historical-footage player to Periscope's model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/periscope_film_
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCddem5RlB3bQe99wyY49g0g
• Facebookfacebook.com/PeriscopeFilm
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/periscope-film-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Periscope Film