Frequently Asked Questions

Stockfilm specializes in restored 8mm and Super 8 home movie footage from the 1930s through the 1980s. Our archive includes family events, travel scenes, street life, holidays, and everyday moments captured by amateur filmmakers across 121 countries.

115,000+ Stockfilm clips can be licensed directly on Stockfilm.com, and the rest are available through Pond5. Browse our curated collections or search by keyword, decade, and location. When you find a clip, use the License Direct button on Stockfilm or follow the Pond5 link to complete licensing and download.

Clips can be licensed directly on Stockfilm.com (115,000+ clips) or through Pond5, both under a standard royalty-free license. Direct licensing is a flat $149 per clip for the 4K master, and Pond5 clips run $79 to $299 (most around $177 to $199). Volume discounts and subscription plans are available through Pond5. For custom licensing needs, contact us directly.

Most clips are available in HD (1080p) and 4K resolution. Original 8mm and Super 8 films have been professionally scanned and restored to provide the highest quality possible while preserving the authentic vintage look. Downloads are typically delivered as MP4 or MOV files.

It depends on the clip's status, shown on every clip page and grid card. Clips marked "Commercial and editorial" ($149 · Commercial) come with a royalty-free license that covers advertisements, social media content, corporate videos, broadcast productions and documentaries. Clips marked "Editorial only" ($149 · Editorial only) are limited to documentary, news and educational use and cannot be used in advertising, commercial or branded content, or broadcast promotion. Clips marked "Pond5" are not licensed by Stockfilm; Pond5's own license applies. Review the applicable license agreement for specific terms.

No credit is required under the standard royalty-free license, whether you license directly on Stockfilm.com or through Pond5. However, if you would like to credit the archive, we appreciate a mention of Stockfilm or the original filmmaker when possible.

Our archive is organized by decade, location, and theme. You can browse curated collections for themed selections, use footage landing pages for location-and-decade combinations, or search by keyword with year and location filters.

The archive spans 121 countries and 900+ cities worldwide. Major coverage areas include the United States (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Florida, Hawaii), Europe (Paris, London, Rome), Asia (Tokyo, Hong Kong), and Latin America (Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro).

Yes. Use our Request Footage form to describe what you are looking for, including the era, location, and subject matter. Our archivists will search the full catalog and respond with matching options or alternatives.

Downloads are available immediately after licensing, whether you buy directly on Stockfilm.com or through Pond5. Once you complete your purchase, the clip files are ready to download from Stockfilm or your Pond5 account. There is no waiting period for standard royalty-free licenses.

Clips licensed directly on Stockfilm.com or through Pond5 are covered for worldwide use under the royalty-free license. The footage is everyday home-movie scenes, but recognizable people, trademarks and other third-party interests can still appear in a frame, so clip pages carry content flags to help you screen for them. Contact us if you need additional rights confirmation for a specific project.

Our 8mm and Super 8 films are professionally scanned at high resolution and digitally restored. The process preserves the authentic film grain and color palette while removing dust, scratches, and stabilization issues. The result is clean, usable footage that retains its vintage character.

Yes. All clips include preview thumbnails on Stockfilm, and watermarked preview videos are available on Pond5 before purchase. You can review framing, color, motion, and content quality before committing to a license.

Yes. For projects requiring more than 10 clips or ongoing production needs, contact us to discuss volume pricing, custom licensing agreements, and dedicated support. We work with documentary teams, agencies, and broadcast networks on larger engagements.

Reach us through the Contact page or email phil@stockfilm.com directly. Include your project timeline, intended usage, and the era or location you are interested in so we can respond quickly with relevant options.

Stockfilm focuses exclusively on preserved home movie archives. Every clip in our catalog is an authentic amateur film from a real family collection, professionally restored and cataloged with a date and location, each labeled with how confident we are in it. This specificity means you get genuine period footage, not recreations or staged content.

Absolutely. Our footage is widely used in documentaries, independent films, museum exhibits, and educational productions. The royalty-free license, whether obtained directly on Stockfilm.com or through Pond5, covers theatrical and festival distribution. For broadcast-specific requirements, contact us to confirm coverage.

The catalog is a fixed, fully digitized collection of 162,000+ searchable clips. Every reel in the physical archive has been scanned and published, so there is no backlog waiting to appear. If we acquire new reels, this page and the blog will say so.

Stockfilm has been preserving and licensing real home-movie film since 2015. The archive now holds 217,000+ restored digital masters scanned from physical 8mm and Super 8 reels, and it is run on a hundred-year horizon: the site, the clip URLs, and the preserved film are meant to stay available for future generations. The full commitment is published at stockfilm.com/permanence.

Yes. Permanence is the point of the archive. Clip pages keep stable URLs so citations and bookmarks never break, the physical reels are cataloged and kept after scanning, browsing stays free, and the site is committed to remaining online for the next 100+ years as a reliable record of how ordinary people actually lived. Read the commitment at stockfilm.com/permanence.