AFI Opens Millions of Assets to Its Staff

HOW ORANGE LOGIC AND AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE WORK TOGETHER

AFI OPENS MILLIONS OF ASSETS TO ITS STAFF

For the first time, millions of AFI assets are available to their whole staff using their digital asset management system’s artificial intelligence.

A collection half a century in the making

For 50 years, the American Film Institute (AFI) has worked to promote and preserve the history of American cinema, from seminars with luminaries such as Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick to the AFI Conservatory, which produces around 100 narrative films annually. Over its history, that amounts to 40,000 video assets, 30,000 audio recordings, and more than one million still images.

Emily Wittenberg, AFI’s Archivist, manages all of these materials, physical and digital, and helps creative, marketing, and education teams find what they need. Until recently, she managed it all without a DAM.

The goal

“What I wanted to gain in having a DAM was a central repository, one place where everyone could go, find the asset that they're looking for, and know that it is the correct asset.”
— Emily Wittenberg, Archivist, AFI

The system had to support a large library of audio and video, be easy for staff (and eventually the public) to use, and offer strong AI to tag millions of assets.

The challenge

AFI relied on spreadsheets, a library catalog, and several servers. Digitized content arrived on disorganized LTO tapes, and the photo archive lived on a single computer that only one user could access at a time.

The solution

Facial recognition: AI tagged more than a million assets, and the batch confirm tool saved countless hours.

Auto-captioning: 700,000 video and audio recordings run through AI captioning, making speakers, award winners, and alumni searchable.

Subclipping: Users download only the pertinent clip from video files as large as 400 GB.

User interface and search: An intuitive UI and faceted search led to wide adoption across AFI.

Version control: Refined versions sit on top of originals so users always find the most current file.

“I could just sit here all day and list off all the things that Orange Logic is allowing us to do that we previously have never been able to.”
— Emily Wittenberg, Archivist, AFI

The results

AI features made huge swaths of AFI content searchable for the first time. Speech-to-text means Emily can find not only Sidney Poitier’s own seminars, but also when other speakers, like Diahann Carroll, talk about him.

The web-based interface gives staff self-service access for the first time. “I think that it's been really good for morale as well because they don't feel disconnected from the content.”

Lessons learned

AI improves search. AI helped tag the collection and deliver value faster.

An easy-to-use interface boosts adoption. Users adapted quickly to an intuitive, tailored interface.

Advanced video and audio isn’t optional. Previews, scrubbing, and subclipping unlock value from large files.