For journalists and researchers
Media kit: Visual Memory Index 2026
Everything needed to cover or cite the Index: approved findings with their exact basis, embeddable figures, downloadable aggregate data, and attribution guidance. Questions about the data or the archive: contact Stockfilm and mention the report ID.
Press summary
Stockfilm digitizes twentieth-century home movies and licenses them to filmmakers, producers, and researchers. The Visual Memory Index is its recurring research publication built from that work: a measured account of what survives in the archive (162,603 searchable clips from 1,615 cataloged physical reels), what 5,145 on-site searches asked for, where demand outruns the surviving record, and which subjects actually get licensed. All published numbers are aggregates; raw queries and customer data are never released.
Approved headline findings
- 41.9% of the searchable catalog was shot in the 1960s, the peak of home-movie survival; the archive effectively ends in the late 1980s when video replaced film.
- 19.9% of archival footage searches name an exact year and 25.7% name a specific place; demand for the visual past is time-and-place specific.
- The clearest supply gap is a craft element, not a subject: title cards and film leader draw 0.9% of searches against 0.3% of the catalog (gap index 2.88).
- 6.1% of searches return no results at all.
- School and graduation footage is licensed at 2.4 times the catalog base rate; licensing does not simply follow supply.
- 46.1% of searchable clips trace to one of 1,615 cataloged physical source reels.
Each finding's underlying table is in the edition report; each figure's N and window are printed on the figure itself.
Figures: download and embed
Figures are available as SVG downloads and as responsive iframe embeds. Embeds carry a visible source line and a link back to the report, and set no cookies.
What survives, by decade. Share of the searchable Stockfilm catalog by the decade the footage was shot, 1930s through 1980s.
<iframe src="https://stockfilm.com/embed/research/visual-memory-index/2026/survival-by-decade" title="What survives, by decade (Stockfilm Visual Memory Index)" width="100%" height="420" style="border:0;max-width:760px" loading="lazy"></iframe>What people search for. Share of on-site searches mapped to each subject theme during the demand window.
<iframe src="https://stockfilm.com/embed/research/visual-memory-index/2026/demand-by-theme" title="What people search for (Stockfilm Visual Memory Index)" width="100%" height="420" style="border:0;max-width:760px" loading="lazy"></iframe>Where demand outruns the surviving record. Coverage Gap Index per theme: demand share divided by supply share of the searchable catalog.
<iframe src="https://stockfilm.com/embed/research/visual-memory-index/2026/coverage-gap" title="Where demand outruns the surviving record (Stockfilm Visual Memory Index)" width="100%" height="420" style="border:0;max-width:760px" loading="lazy"></iframe>What actually gets licensed. Share of clips from each decade with at least one lifetime marketplace license, versus the catalog base rate.
<iframe src="https://stockfilm.com/embed/research/visual-memory-index/2026/licensing-by-decade" title="What actually gets licensed (Stockfilm Visual Memory Index)" width="100%" height="420" style="border:0;max-width:760px" loading="lazy"></iframe>Aggregate data downloads
- supply-by-decade.csv
- supply-by-country.csv
- demand-by-theme.csv
- coverage-gap.csv
- licensing-by-decade.csv
- release.json
(c) Stockfilm. Figures and aggregate data may be quoted and republished with attribution and a link to the report. Formal open-data licensing is under review.
Suggested attribution
Stockfilm Visual Memory Index 2026, v1.0. Stockfilm Research. https://stockfilm.com/research/visual-memory-index/2026In running text: "according to the Stockfilm Visual Memory Index" with a link to https://stockfilm.com/research/visual-memory-index. Chart embeds already include the source line.
Methodology in brief
- Supply: the searchable catalog of 162,603 published clips, snapshot dated 2026-07-15.
- Demand: 5,145 on-site searches, 2026-02-27 to 2026-07-14, mapped to a versioned taxonomy with deterministic rules; themes under 10 searches suppressed; raw queries never published; click data excluded this edition.
- Licensing: lifetime marketplace outcomes per clip; no revenue published.
Full detail: methodology. Archive standards: Archive Integrity.
Footage behind the findings
For coverage that needs the footage itself, these entry points map to the report's themes. Screeners and licensing questions: contact Stockfilm.
- Family life and children82,704 clips
- Christmas and winter holidays6,964 clips
- City streets and urban life23,154 clips
- Cars, driving and road trips24,496 clips
- Nature and the outdoors52,427 clips
- Birthdays and parties9,010 clips