​At a time when trust in media is at an all-time low, Generative AI provides powerful new tools that can easily be exploited to sow doubt, rewrite history, and manipulate the public’s understanding of truth. Documentary film and archival media—long relied upon as trusted sources of evidence— face an existential moment.

The Archival Producers Alliance (APA) was formed to meet this challenge. Our mission is to ensure that documentary and archival media remain credible, verifiable, and accessible in the future. 

​

The APA's GenAI Initiative is developing standards, resources, and collaborative frameworks to protect the integrity of and access to the audio-visual record. We published the first industry guidelines for filmmakers in 2024, followed by a supplemental Tool Kit and Case Studies in 2025. Now in use by film productions, public television stations, industry organizations, and classrooms, these resources help nonfiction mediamakers navigate transparency, legal questions, and ethical challenges at a time where there is a lack of guidance from most distributors around the use of synthetic media in non-fiction content. 

​

We hope you will explore and use these tools in your own filmmaking work. And please feel free to check back regularly as we continue to expand these resources to keep pace with the rapidly evolving technology, industry standards and legal landscape.