(Zoé Macheret_INA): More and more, we enhance the quality of our archives using AI-based upscaling. We rely on external tools that we train with dedicated prompts. For example, nearly one thousand pieces of content available on our streaming platform INA Madelen will soon be upscaled to higher quality.

Colorization, however, is more complex because it requires approval from all rights holders. Nonetheless, we have conducted tests. For instance, the documentary Il suffit d’écouter des femmes, produced by INA and released in 2025, was fully colorized with the help of AI (and also with significant manual work from our archival researchers to correct imperfections).

(Katrina Stokes _British Film Institute): The BFI’s restoration policy is to preserve and present works as closely as possible to how the original creators intended them to be seen, while enabling new audiences to experience them through careful digital restoration.

We also recognise that there is an appetite for colourised or creatively reinterpreted versions of archive material, and the BFI has occasionally collaborated on such projects. This is done on the clear understanding that audiences are made aware they are viewing an artistic reinterpretation, not an authentic restoration. The original material is always preserved and available in its true form within the BFI National Archive.

A good recent example of this approach is the documentary feature Endurance (2024), available on Disney+, which utilised material from the BFI’s 1919 restoration of South — the original film created from Frank Hurley’s extraordinary photography shot during the 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton. The BFI provided access to the preserved original b/w footage and granted permission for the produce to colourise sequences for use in the film, ensuring the creative version could reach new audiences while maintaining the authenticity and integrity of Hurley’s original work.

(Louise Broch_DR Denmark): My colleague Sarah Udsen has replied to part of the question: It depends on what you mean by “commercializing” the content. We don’t consider ourselves a stock agency. But we allow external parties such as production companies and publishers to purchase content from DR for use in new productions, as long as these do not have a political purpose or can be regarded as advertising for a cause or a product.

Louise Broch has further replied: We have had several digitization projects throughout the years, often with external supplier companies and funded by public funding. Although colourization is appealing and a way of making history alive, there is always a discussion about changing the original and about the authenticity of the colours: Was the dress red in reality? But with correct metadata telling when the original was changed into colour, what tool was used, and on what purpose the original was changed, it is a way of getting more attention to old footage. You will find opinions both in favour of and against colourization.

(Billy Segal_ IPBC–KAN): Certainly. The digital restoration of valuable archival footage has the potential to significantly enhance its cultural and economic value, particularly for use in documentary production. Within our digitization project, we deliberately allocated budgetary resources to the restoration of historically important materials, guided by considerations of long term reuse and future revenue generation.

At present, however, colorization remains a costly and resource intensive process. Given the limitations of currently available tools, I would not recommend substantial investment in colorization, as its cost effectiveness cannot yet be reliably established. That said, rapid developments in artificial intelligence suggest that more efficient and financially viable colorization technologies may emerge in the near future, potentially enabling the creation of visually compelling archival footage suitable for commercial distribution.

(Katrina Stokes _British Film Institute): The BFI Archive Sales team is largely a reactive unit, responding to info and access enquiries from around the world and supporting a wide range of users — not all of them commercial. We also take a proactive approach by attending markets and engaging with established B2B clients such as producers and researchers. At the same time, we know that we need to explore new ways to extend our reach through social media and other channels. We are going to re-launch e-newsletters as a result of hearing from the others on this panel!

(Bobby Dicks_CNN): Yes, we actively engage in proactive sales initiatives while also serving as a resource for clients who approach us directly. Our goal is to support the archival community and, at the same time, drive revenue in a sustainable and collaborative manner.

(Billy Segal_ IPBC–KAN): Our archive acts more as a service unit selling clips to various productions all over the world.

(Katrina Stokes _British Film Institute): The BFI Archive Sales team is largely a reactive unit, responding to info and access enquiries from around the world and supporting a wide range of users — not all of them commercial. We also take a proactive approach by attending markets and engaging with established B2B clients such as producers and researchers. At the same time, we know that we need to explore new ways to extend our reach through social media and other channels. We are going to re-launch e-newsletters as a result of hearing from the others on this panel!

(Bobby Dicks_CNN): Yes, we actively engage in proactive sales initiatives while also serving as a resource for clients who approach us directly. Our goal is to support the archival community and, at the same time, drive revenue in a sustainable and collaborative manner.

(Katrina Stokes _British Film Institute): Archive Sales income and cost tracking is based on a long track record of clip sales for broadcast and related revenue streams. Since a peak in 2012, partly linked to the London Olympics, footage sales revenues have remained largely stable. Whilst our sales to traditional UK PSB commissioned documentaries have declined, there has been modest growth in other areas, notably from streamer-funded productions and an increased demand from museums, galleries and mixed media events. We have been able to diversify by licensing footage into new sectors, including digital products for higher education and libraries in North America, Hong Kong, and other parts of the world. Assessing overall market size remains challenging, and calculating return on investment is not an exact science, given the limited availability of comparable data. Monitoring developments in the UK production and commissioning sectors has been a key focus in recent years, and we are now developing a broader strategy to expand our reach and strengthen relationships in larger markets.

(Bobby Dicks_CNN): Our financial targets are informed by historical performance as well as current market analysis.

(Louise Broch_DR Denmark): My colleague Sarah Udsen has replied to this question: In DR Archive Sales in Denmark, we are obliged to generate an annual profit target that is set from above. This profit target has been the same for many years and is therefore not dependent on how the previous year has turned out. However, it is set at a level that is a very good average of the profit we generate in a year. Since we are not proactive, but solely carry out inbound sales, some years we will earn more than our profit target and other years less. During the budget year, ongoing adjustments are made, and if towards the end of the year we can see that we will not be able to meet the earnings requirement, we report an adjustment, which is then considered in the other budgets in the area.

(Katrina Stokes _British Film Institute): Not my team personally, but it’s certainly an interesting idea to develop. Recently, the BFI partnered with Mawaan Rizwan, who began his career on YouTube and is now a celebrated British actor and comedian. This collaboration included a fashion shoot featuring Mawaan and his talented actor brother, Nabhaan Rizwan, at the BFI Conservation Centre, accompanied by a feature in Vogue both online and in print. The focus was reaching new audiences and engaging the public with the work of the BFI, rather than on monetisation.

(Katrina Stokes _British Film Institute): Yes, over the years the BFI has occasionally sold footage — notably for a few car adverts, a pension company using early 20th-century footage, and one high-value campaign with a luxury watch brand. While it is possible to charge premium rates for this type of use, these opportunities are relative few for us. I’m thinking we should focus on inspiring and finding creatives, encouraging them to use authentic archival materials. However, one does wonder if some sectors may increasingly rely on Gen AI — for example, I’ve just heard about a backdrop feature being used instead of shooting at historic sites in the UK. This has implications for film locations, which often rely on revenue generated from on-site shoots. On the other hand, I do think that corporates are increasingly recognising the long-term value and equity in preserving and digitising their moving image heritage, including older adverts, corporate films, and in-house film unit materials. This represents a business opportunity for organisations that hold and preserve such materials or can provide the digitisation and restoration services.

(Bobby Dick_CNN): We do make some of our library available for licensing purposes. That content is determined on a case-by-case.

(Billy Segal_ IPBC–KAN): As a public broadcasting archive, we don’t generally promote the use of our footage for advertising. That said, we do allow limited commercial use in cases where the advertising context aligns with our editorial standards and public service values. So while advertising isn’t a major focus for us, it does represent a modest and carefully managed source of revenue.

(Louise Broch_DR Denmark): No, we don’t have metrics for this, it would be difficult because our archive grows every day. What we know as archive researchers is the fact that journalists always want to find archive footage which has not been used before. For me it doesn’t matter if only 10 percent or less is used regularly. If one clip, which has never been reused before, is the rare jewel for a new production, the value of the archive item has been proven. As a public service broadcaster it is important to produce programs both for broad and narrow audiences. It is also important to be able to dig deep into the archives to find rare footage. I believe that better searchtools will soon help us revealing more of this invaluable content which can be difficult to find at the moment.

(Billy Segal_ IPBC–KAN): That’s a good question. We don’t have exact metrics, but the archive is used intensively every day—both in internal radio and TV productions and by external researchers. Even so, this represents less than one percent of our total holdings. Due to budget limitations, online access is growing ,but still limited, so many important archival materials have yet to be revealed.

(Zoé Macheret_INA): Publishers share very limited information on views and revenue related to FAST channels — most likely because the market is still immature. Three years ago, everyone wanted to launch a FAST channel, but this is less true today as we’ve realized that the European digital advertising market is significantly smaller than the US one. As a result, FAST revenues are still often disappointing. That said, we still believe FAST offers a great opportunity to expose our content to a large audience, and at INA we are always eager to test new product formats.