LONDON: The Associated Press has today been appointed to market the iconic British Movietone News archive in Europe, North America and the Middle East. This signature deal with Newsreel Archive Pty Ltd brings to AP a vast quantity of British and international news stories covering the period 1895 to 1986 and elevates AP Archive to being the definitive source of news and historical archive footage.
Bettina Dalton, MD of Newsreel Archive and Absolutely Wild Visuals, said, “British Movietone is arguably the world’s finest newsreel collection, and certainly the best British newsreel archive. Partnering with AP’s more contemporary footage makes for a truly comprehensive news and historical resource”.
British Movietone has been in the same private ownership since 1929 but the collection was recently purchased by Newsreel Archive PTY to be managed by Absolutely Wild Visuals, Australia.
The British Movietone Newsreel archive presents some of the most memorable images of the 20th Century in a fully digitized library of more than 2,000 hours and 48,000 remarkable international newsreel clips from 1895 – 1986 categorized and fully searchable in the genres of significant historical events, war, political figures, royalty, celebrities, sport, transport, places, culture and lifestyle.
From the Hindenburg disaster to the attack on Pearl Harbour, footage of both World Wars, Nazi Germany, the Great Depression, the Korean and Vietnam wars, the Suez Crisis and the Cold War. The events, the people and the politics. Vast and valuable celebrity coverage includes iconic figures from Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. The British Royal Family is an obvious strength of the collection with incredible footage appropriate for the upcoming Diamond Jubilee, including four coronations, with Queen Elizabeth’s having been shot on 35mm color film, making it ideal for high definition use.
A prominent collection of sports from a British and international perspective – cricket, football, soccer and boxing -- British Movietone is perhaps best known for its color footage of the 1966 World Cup Soccer Final and the Donald Bradman collection. Social history is another prevalent theme with the archive documenting the socio-economic changes and trends that have shaped the modern era.
AP is also proud to offer access to the huge vault of British Movietone outtakes and unissued stories which have lain dormant in deep storage for decades, with most being unseen since the day they were created. which swells the collection to more than 6,000 hours, making it the UK’s largest single newsreel collection.
The collection originates on 35mm film and AP will be offering customers full HD transfers. AP plans to add the digital archive to its own website in due course and will offer British Movietone footage alongside its own and that of its other 19 content partners, which include ABC News VideoSource, Press Association, KRT (North Korea), RTR (Russia), and CCTV (China).
Speaking of the deal, AP’s director of international archives, Alwyn Lindsey said, “Today’s market is driven by giving customers breadth of content, ease of access, and value for money. Adding this incredible archive to the AP Archive portfolio ticks all three boxes and we believe that this deal changes the landscape of the news footage market.”
The British Movietone archive is available from AP Archive from today.
