Film Preservation Lab is a frame-by-frame archival film digitization service for Super 8, 8mm, 16mm, and 35mm safety film, plus video tape and photo scanning. Founded in 2026 by Chris Brannan, the lab uses Lasergraphics ScanStation and MWA Flashscan Nova scanners with sprocketless transport — the same class of equipment used by UCLA, MoMA, and the Library of Congress Packard Campus — applied to family collections, documentary archives, and institutional preservation projects. Pricing is transparent and itemized; damaged film is welcome.
01 / Boilerplate
Two paragraphs you can copy and paste.
Standard boilerplate for press use. Two flavors: short for capsule mentions and longer for feature stories.
Film Preservation Lab is a frame-by-frame archival film digitization service founded in 2026 by Chris Brannan. The lab handles Super 8, 8mm, 16mm, and 35mm safety film, plus video tape and photo scanning, on institutional-grade equipment — Lasergraphics ScanStation and MWA Flashscan Nova — with sprocketless transport that safely scans shrunken, brittle, and vinegar-affected film that projector-based services reject.
The lab was built around a clear thesis: most consumer film services use projector-to-camera transfer (a video recording of projected film), not actual scanning, and most premium restoration services oversell what they can recover. FPL exists to occupy the middle: preservation-grade scanning with transparent pricing, written condition reports on every order, documented practice informed by FADGI motion-picture guidance at the Archival tier, and free pilot scans for institutional buyers.
02 / Quick facts
The fact sheet.
Lifted directly into a story. If a number or detail is missing, email the press contact and we'll fill it in same-day.
- Founded
- 2026
- Founder
- Chris Brannan
- Location
- United States
- Formats handled
- Super 8 · 8mm · 16mm · 35mm safety film · VHS — MiniDV · Photos
- Scanner class
- Lasergraphics ScanStation · MWA Flashscan Nova
- Standards
- FADGI-informed motion-picture practice, documented; FADGI 3-star and 4-star for photo and document scanning
- Press contact
- press@filmpreservationlab.com
- General inquiries
- hello@filmpreservationlab.com
03 / Story angles
Topics we’re happy to talk about.
If you're working on a story related to home-movie preservation, the consumer-vs-archival distinction, damaged film recovery, or institutional digitization, here are the angles where FPL has direct, on-the-record perspective.
Conversion vs preservation
Why the distinction matters and what most consumer mail-in services actually deliver. Includes side-by-side examples of projector-recorded video vs frame-by-frame scans.
Read the positionSprocketless transport for damaged film
How vinegar syndrome, shrinkage, and brittle splices destroy film in projector-driven services — and why sprocketless capstan transport handles what other labs reject.
Read on damaged filmHonest pricing in a tier-bundled industry
Per-intervention restoration pricing, transparent line items at quote time, and why FPL refuses to bundle services customers may not need.
See the pricing modelFADGI-informed workflow at consumer scale
How practice informed by FADGI motion-picture guidance applies to family film collections — and why the FADGI star ratings belong to still-image scanning, a distinction most home-movie services get wrong.
Institutional services04 / Brand assets
Logos, founder bio, and imagery.
Available on request. Send a note describing what you need (logo format, bio length, sample scan imagery) and we send a download link the same day.
Logos
Wordmark and stacked lockup, in SVG, PNG, and EPS. Light and dark versions. Standard usage guidance included.
Founder bio
Short (50-word) and extended (150-word) versions of the founder bio. High-res portrait available on request.
Sample scan imagery
Frame grabs from real customer projects (with permission), at original scan resolution. Useful for visual stories on archival quality.
Need something specific for a deadline? Email press@filmpreservationlab.com with the spec and the deadline. We turn around brand-asset requests same-day during business hours.
Direct line
No PR firm. One inbox.
Press messages go directly to Chris and are typically answered within two business days. For tight deadlines, mark the subject line urgent and we’ll prioritize.