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Generative AI Inititiative

 “As documentary filmmakers who depend on the integrity of historical archives, and as mentors to younger filmmakers grappling with the threat–and the potential–that generative AI presents to their work, we are grateful for these guidelines. We are especially heartened by the attention given to algorithmic bias, which threatens to re-write the past and foreclose on possible futures when it comes to the representation of people of color.” – Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith, Co-Founders of Firelight Media and Firelight Films

Generative AI (GenAI) is rapidly transforming the media ecosystem and the world at large, reshaping our culture and our conversations. While there is great potential in this technology, there are also risks. The survival of the documentary industry, in all of its power and promise to help us understand and interpret our history and our present, is contingent on maintaining a truthful and transparent relationship with viewers.


Committed to this ideal, the Archival Producers Alliance set as our first task to develop guidelines in the responsible use of this revolutionary technology. We are offering them as an free resource to the documentary community in hopes that it will help filmmakers who are using, or considering using, GenAI in their work to ground their decisions in the values the documentary community has long held.

Endorsed by:

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Filmmaker Endorsements

Jennifer Baichwal

Mark Bailey

Sam Ball

Richard Berge

Ken Burns

Sarah Burns

Jason Cohn

Janet Cole

Rocky Collins

Lisa Cortés

Sophie Compton

Sophie Constantinou

Jon Else

Rob Epstein

Ina Fichman

Jeffrey Friedman

Tony Gerber

Abby Ginzberg

John Haptas

Chris Hegedus

Gretchen Hildebran

Nancy Kates

Rory Kennedy

Elizabeth Klinck

Mary Kerr

Susan Lazarus

Jim LeBrecht

Ursula Liang

Maida Lynn

David McMahon

Michael Moore

Stefano Morello

Stanley Nelson

Pete Nicks

Natasha Dack Ojumu

Nick de Pencier

Kellen Quinn

Andrew Rossi

James Rutenbeck

Kristine Samuelson

Veronica Selver

Camille Servan-Schreiber

Alyse Shorland

Marcia Smith

Martin Smith

Paul Stekler​

Kate Stilley

Brett Story

Renee Tajima-Peña

Rick Tejada-Flores

Jean Tsien

Matt Wolf

Sharon Wood

Membership of the Archival Producers Alliance

Launch Support Provided by

​The Jonathan Logan Family Foundation–empowering world-changing work.

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