The Archive Room

The Archive Room

🎙️ The Archive Room Step inside the hidden world of archive footage — the material that powers documentaries, feature films, and visual storytelling across generations. Hosted by Dominic Dare and Sandra Coelho, The Archive Room brings you conversations with the producers, researchers, curators, and detectives behind the reels. From NASA’s 70mm moon footage to lost music performances, each episode reveals how history is uncovered, restored, and brought to screen — one frame at a time. 📼 Featuring award-winning guests from film, TV, and the archive industry. 🎧 New episodes drop weekly.

Episodes

  1. 4 FEB

    Mona El-Bira - "Riefensthal and Assange: The Curse of the Pharaoh" (Ep.5) Audio Only Version

    In this episode of The Archive Room, Dominic Dare and Sandra Coelho are joined by Berlin-based archive producer and researcher Mona El-Bira, whose work sits at the intersection of history, ethics, and archive-driven storytelling. Mona takes us deep inside two of the most ambitious documentary projects of recent years. First, Riefenstahl (2024), a feature documentary built entirely from archival material, drawing on the vast and previously inaccessible estate of filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. Mona walks us through the unprecedented process of organising, assessing, and ethically handling more than 700 boxes of documents, photographs, film reels, and audio recordings now held across multiple German state institutions — and how the archive itself shaped the narrative of the film. The conversation then turns to The Six Billion Dollar Man, Eugene Jarecki’s documentary tracing the story of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. Mona discusses the realities of working with contemporary news archive at scale, navigating fair use, licensing global broadcasters, and dealing with material that is politically charged, legally complex, and often deeply distressing. Along the way, Mona reflects on: Coming to archive producing “sideways” from academia and art history Why archives should drive the story — not the other way around The emotional toll of working with war footage and traumatic material Ethical responsibility in archive research and editorial decision-making Rights, personality laws, and why Germany is uniquely complicated Fair use: necessity, nightmare, or both This is a thoughtful, candid conversation about the unseen labour behind archive-led documentaries — and what it really takes to turn history, power, and raw footage into responsible storytelling.

    38 min

  2. 21 JAN

    Andy Gavanagh - 'The Eagle has Landed' (Ep.4) Audio Only Version

    In The Archive Room Ep 4, we’re joined by Andy Gavaghan, Head of Archive & Content Library at ITV, to explore what it takes to manage one of the UK’s most significant media collections. From mislabelled film cans to 1.2 million tapes and 800 Rank films, Andy walks us through the technical, editorial, and commercial challenges of preserving British television history — including how ITV is digitizing thousands of tapes, embracing AI, and deciding what to keep… or junk. 🗂️ The true story behind “The Eagle Has Landed” archive 🎞️ Digitizing Love Island, Coronation Street & rare Rank films 💾 How ITV uses data, AI, and cloud storage to future-proof its archive 🌊 The Boxing Day flood that almost sank it all Whether you're an archivist, producer, or telly nostalgist — this is a rare look inside ITV’s vault. 🔔 Subscribe for more archive industry stories from The Archive Room.

    40 min

  3. 7 JAN

    Jo Griffin - 'The Condom in the can' - (Ep. 3) - Audio Only Version

    Jo Griffin, Director of Digital and Restoration at Restore Studios (now part of UV&S), joins us in The Archive Room for a deep dive into the fascinating world of film and tape restoration. From scanning reels in a Kansas salt mine to reviving The Singing Detective in 4K, Jo shares behind-the-scenes insights into workflows, weird finds (yes, including a vintage condom in a can), and the ethical choices involved in preservation. We explore: How fragile formats are assessed, cleaned, and scanned The real work behind "before and after" restorations What it takes to keep decades-old media alive for future audiences The growing conversation around open-source archival formats Whether you're a footage pro or archive curious, this episode shines a light on the rarely-seen effort behind what you see on screen.

    25 min

  4. 17/12/2025

    Jodi Tripi: "Hollywood Calling" (Ep 2) Audio Only Version

    🎙️ The Archive Room — Jodi Tripi: From Clearance to Creative Powerhouse Stories behind the footage. In this episode of The Archive Room, we sit down with Jodi Tripi, a top-tier archive producer whose career spans blockbusters (Catch Me If You Can, Elvis, The Eyes of Tammy Faye), biopics, and franchise films. Jodi shares the real work behind the reels — from wrangling footage rights and navigating legal grey zones, to collaborating with directors, VFX teams, and editors to shape iconic scenes. 🎧 What we talk about: – How she got her start on Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can – The creative and legal puzzle of archival storytelling – What “playback,” “full screen,” and “montage” footage really mean – Managing expectations in Hollywood (and saying no without killing the vibe) – The role of archival material in fiction vs. documentary – User-generated content, social media clips, and the future of AI in archives Whether it’s building a fake newsroom, finding the perfect riot shot, or cutting a news montage with audio and visuals in sync, Jodi brings unmatched precision, wit, and insight into the world of archival producing. 🎥 About Jodi: She’s worked on everything from Mission: Impossible to King Richard, and is currently on major studio projects with Spielberg, Ryan Reynolds, and Charlie XCX. Known for protecting both the image and the industry, Jodi is a master of the art and ethics of visual storytelling. 📌 Subscribe for more deep dives with the people who shape what we see on screen. 🎙️ The Archive Room is a podcast about the people, processes, and footage that bring film and television history to life.

    40 min

  5. 01/12/2025

    Stephen Slater - Apollo Rising (Ep 1) - Audio Only Version

    In our very first episode of The Archive Room, we sit down with award-winning archive producer Stephen Slater (Apollo 11, Moonage Daydream) to explore how he brought real NASA mission footage and audio to life on screen. Stephen shares: How he sourced rare NASA footage and synced it with mission audio The thrill of uncovering new moments from the Apollo archive Why authenticity matters in recreating space history And how it feels to contribute to the historical record itself Audio-only version for podcast platforms that require MP3

    32 min
  • 5 Episodes

About

🎙️ The Archive Room Step inside the hidden world of archive footage — the material that powers documentaries, feature films, and visual storytelling across generations. Hosted by Dominic Dare and Sandra Coelho, The Archive Room brings you conversations with the producers, researchers, curators, and detectives behind the reels. From NASA’s 70mm moon footage to lost music performances, each episode reveals how history is uncovered, restored, and brought to screen — one frame at a time. 📼 Featuring award-winning guests from film, TV, and the archive industry. 🎧 New episodes drop weekly.

Information

  • Creator
    The Archive Room
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    5
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Archive Room
  • Provider