Periscope Film LLC

09/11/2026

So excited to have found this rare industrial film… though we’ve been warned it’s kind of crappy lol!

08/25/2026

Last year, we helped rescue the only remaining print of a 109-year-old fire prevention film called "An Unbeliever Convinced". This film was released on an obscure format called 28mm, an innovative type of safety film that was created by Pathé to compete against flammable nitrate stocks promoted by Kodak.

Working with the University of Maryland, the University of Southern California, and UL Research Institutes — who originally financed the film back in 1917! — the fragile and shrunken film was preserved, scanned, received a brand new score by composer Jon Mirsalis, and is tonight making its debut in a private screening at the Chicago History Museum. We've done a lot of work in this realm but this one really stands out!

You can see a minidoc about the film at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCD2C498Q94

P.S.: We will post a link to the scan of "Unbeliever Convinced" down the line — once it makes its official debut at the Cinecon Classic Film Festival, September 4th, in Los Angeles.

08/21/2026

70mm film is getting a lot of love nowadays. But don't dismiss 16mm, which is 4x narrower and -- the economy Ford Fiesta vs. the high performance GT. Most of the films you will see on our channel originate from 16mm, which was ideal for home movie, classroom and industry use. (Some are also from 8mm which is ½ the size of 16mm!) Also a reminder -- we are literally giving away a piece of Periscope Film 16mm leader in Cine-Light Studios SunCatchers, in celebration of reaching 900k subs. Details at: https://gleam.io/8DaFr/periscope-film-900k-subscriber-giveaway

08/17/2026

We're celebrating 900K subs on YouTube by giving away a piece of Periscope Film — literally. This beautiful SunCatcher was designed for us in a limited run by David Robson of Cine-Light Studio (www.cine-light.com). It features a used 16mm celluloid piece of our "leader" — which went through our scanner on the way to Youtube. It also contains some scrap 35mm film stock (but please note: no endangered films were harmed in the making of this product!)

This handsome item will grace the window or desk of four lucky fans. We also have ten pieces of that same Periscope Film "leader" to give to runner-up entrants!

We're old fashioned here so we originally were going to have entries via SASE sent to Battle Creek, Michigan. But instead, we've decided to go high tech and use Gleam to conduct our giveaway! Click the link below to enter, and to read all terms and conditions and official rules:

https://gleam.io/8DaFr/periscope-film...

Please note, this giveaway is not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by YouTube or Meta / Facebook, and is open to North American residents only.

08/09/2026

Today, we hit another YouTube milestone: 900k subs. We are deeply grateful to all of you: our subscribers, channel members and especially our Patreons (Patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm). It sounds cliche but — we simply could not do this without your support! Ages ago when we hit 100K subs, we thought it was amazing. Seeing this number today, our minds are completely blown. We will be celebrating, taking some time to think about what it all means, and then we're going right back to work — acquiring, scanning and preserving more rare and endangered films.

08/03/2026

Some nice press in advance of our show to benefit Pasadena Heritage next week!

Experience history where history happened on Thursday, August 13th from 5:30pm-7pm as Pasadena Heritage hosts “Pieces of America” with Periscope Film at The Raymond Theatre. Attendees will gather at Pasadena’s historic 1921 Raymond Theatre for an evening with documentary filmmaker and archivis...

07/24/2026

Evening of August 13th — join our co-founder Nick Spark as he presents films from our archive in conjunction with Pasadena Heritage. This special event will be at the historic Raymond Theater. Featuring campy travelogues, eyewateringly interesting industrial and training films, instructive educational shorts, and more!

Event details and tickets available at: https://bit.ly/4gRzaIz

P.S.: Have a venue in your home town that you think might host a similar event? Let them know and put them in touch.

07/13/2026

The World Cup is certainly full of drama, but the most exciting football/soccer might be the real-life Rocket League that started in 1930s Germany. We have a film showing a bit of this auto sport played with doorless Renaults. See it at 4:40 of this film at: https://youtu.be/jTsVMr0bwiI (Maybe when Messi finally retires he can play striker in this league -- there's no running involved and you absolutely have to use your hands!)

07/04/2026

Happy 250th America !!

06/23/2026

Blockbuster used to charge a late fee of $1 to $1.25 per day for each VHS / DVD that wasn't returned on time. That penalty seems generous when compared to the one levied by this particular library system, which (according to this sticker) charged $.25 per hour. That's $6 per every 24 hours. We estimate the current fine owed since June 21, 1976 to be $54,786.