Content research, licensing, rights and clearances
Our experts find the footage, photos and music for any production, then license and clear it. Our technology helps them search further and smarter and tracks every clip from first pull to delivery, so you know what the archive costs before you lock the cut. Cuts processed faster and clearances arrive with the final cut, on time and on budget.
In partnership with Archival Ninjas, whose producers have worked on projects for:
Selected work
Films and series our producers worked on at Archival Ninjas
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Skywalkers: A Love Story
All Rise Films- U.S. Documentary Competition, Sundance Film Festival, 2024
- Miami Film Festival Audience Award, Documentary, 2024
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John Candy: I Like Me
Maximum Effort- PGA Award winner, 2026
- Five Primetime Emmy nominations, 2026
- More than 1,500 archival cues, with hundreds of the family’s home movies
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In the Arena: Serena Williams
Religion of Sports- Sports Emmy, Outstanding Audio/Sound, Post-Produced, 2025
- Two more Sports Emmy nominations, 2025
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Clemente
The History Channel
- SXSW Documentary Spotlight Audience Award, 2024
- Sports Emmy nomination, 2026
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Luther: Never Too Much
Trilogy Films- Two NAACP Image Awards, 2025
- BET Award, Best Movie, 2025
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Breaking Glass: The Pat Summitt Story
ABC News Studios -
American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson
The Cut- More than 90 percent archival
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Learning to Fly
Unreasonable Studios
- Telluride Film Festival, 2025
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American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden
The Cut- 12.6 million views in five days
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The Real Wolf of Wall Street
Paramount+, Maxine Productions
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Big Star: The Nick Skelton Story
Dirty Robber
- FOCAL Award nomination, 2026
More projects
- Super League: The War for Football
Words + Pictures and All Rise FilmsSports Emmy, Outstanding Documentary Series, 2024 - Pamela, a love storyTripod MediaPrimetime Emmy nomination, 2023
- Charlie Hustle and the Matter of Pete Rose
Sports Emmy nomination, 2025 - Frontline: Documenting Police Use of Force
Trilogy FilmsTwo News and Documentary Emmy nominations, 2025 - How to Come Alive with Norman MailerAll Rise Films
- United States of Scandal with Jake TapperThe Intellectual Property Corporation
- 11 MinutesParamount+, Triage Entertainment and All Rise FilmsNews and Documentary Emmy nomination, 2023
- Into the Fire: The Lost DaughterTripod MediaNews and Documentary Emmy nomination, 2025
- Bad Influence: The Dark Side of KidfluencingDecoy Productions
- Billy Preston: That’s the Way God Planned ItWhite Horse and Whiskey Bear
- Shame of Chicago, Shame of the NationWTTW
- A Brief History of the FutureUntold
- The Murder Inc StoryBET, Visionary Ideas
- Pitino: Red Storm RisingVice TV, Freshfly and The Workshop
- HeistDirty RobberArchival Ninjas’ first project, 2020
What we do
Development and budgeting
From a treatment or a concept, we work out what material exists and where the risks are, and estimate what archive labor and licensing will cost.
Research
We search news, sports, studio, institutional and private archives worldwide, user-generated content and collections that have never been digitized, for features, series, unscripted and promos. We plan the research around what you can clear and what fits the budget.
Cut processing
We turn each cut’s EDL into screen grabs, descriptions and notes for every clip, a running archive budget, and grids formatted for counsel, the network and the creative team.
Licensing and clearance
We find the rights holders and negotiate with them, track the budget, coordinate legal review with your counsel, and find alternatives when something won’t clear.
On-set and in-frame clearance
We clear artwork, products, logos and signage on set and in frame, handle releases, and coordinate music and talent clearances with your team.
Delivery
We hand over the clearance package and promo log with the final cut, ready for E&O.
Why Pinakeys
A scope and an estimate before work startsWe start with a scope and an estimate, then fit the work to your budget. Because our software does the repetitive work, the total usually comes in well below the usual cost of archival production.Systems for logging and trackingOur software does the logging, EDL processing and tracking, so producers spend their time on research and negotiation, and more of your budget goes to research. You can see where every clip stands at any time.New cuts processed quicklyScreen grabs, descriptions, budgets and tracking grids start from the first log and are updated with each cut instead of rebuilt. Producers who have worked on hundreds of projectsTheir work spans features, series and unscripted, covering sports, music, history, true crime and biography, with credits including Super League: The War for Football, which won a Sports Emmy, and American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson. They know the librarians, estates and rights holders.Ready for counsel and E&OWe deliver legal grids in the format your lawyers need, can work directly with counsel, including on fair use, and hand over a clearance package for insurer and distributor review.
We start with a scope and an estimate, then fit the work to your budget. Because our software does the repetitive work, the total usually comes in well below the usual cost of archival production.
Our software does the logging, EDL processing and tracking, so producers spend their time on research and negotiation, and more of your budget goes to research. You can see where every clip stands at any time.
Screen grabs, descriptions, budgets and tracking grids start from the first log and are updated with each cut instead of rebuilt.
Their work spans features, series and unscripted, covering sports, music, history, true crime and biography, with credits including Super League: The War for Football, which won a Sports Emmy, and American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson. They know the librarians, estates and rights holders.
We deliver legal grids in the format your lawyers need, can work directly with counsel, including on fair use, and hand over a clearance package for insurer and distributor review.
Founders
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Jessica Schell
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
As executive vice president and general manager of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, she ran a billion-dollar global business through its move to digital. At Universal Pictures she led strategy and sat on the greenlight committee, and at NBCUniversal she ran digital business development and helped launch Hulu, the Peacock ad network and the Peacock venture fund.
- Warner Bros.
- Universal Pictures
- NBCUniversal
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Meghan Geier
Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer
She founded Archival Ninjas in 2020 and leads its archival producers and researchers. She won the 2024 Sports Emmy for Outstanding Documentary Series as supervising archival producer on Super League: The War for Football. Her team’s credits include American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson, Skywalkers: A Love Story, John Candy: I Like Me and In the Arena: Serena Williams.
- Archival Ninjas
- Sports Emmy, 2024
- FOCAL Company of the Year nominee, 2025
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Srini Panguluri
Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer
He builds the software behind Pinakeys’ archival search, EDL processing and rights tracking. He is a two-time Y Combinator founder and a former engineering manager at Oracle. He co-founded Project Wedding, which eHarmony acquired, and Zeus Living, which grew to 500 people before its sale to Blueground in 2023.
- Zeus Living
- Project Wedding
- Oracle
- Y Combinator
Projects managed by the Archival Ninjas team
Meet the team
Ways to work with us
- Full archival productionFrom budgeting through delivery, by email
- Specific phasesSuch as research, or cut processing and clearance, by email
- Support for your in-house teamWe take on overflow work, by email
- Strategic adviceProject or retainer based guidance on assessing a project, and the support you need, by email