David Peck founded Reelin' In The Years in 1992 with a passion for music footage and a collector's instinct. Three decades later, his archive spans over a century of performance footage, landmark talk shows, and some of the most significant historical discoveries in documentary filmmaking. In a vault in Australia, he found what was at that point the last known performance footage of Jim Morrison. In a storage facility in LA, he tracked down the Merv Griffin and David Frost collections in the same building. His archive formed the backbone of the landmark series David Frost Versus, celebrated on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, and his producing work has earned a Grammy nomination, a Peabody Award, an Emmy nomination, and FOCAL's Footage Library of the Year. In this episode, David talks about what it takes to build a world class archive from scratch, his role as producer on major films including those on the Bee Gees and STAX, the ethical lines he draws when licensing footage, and why he believes real archive will always outlast anything AI can generate. Dominic Dare (00:23) Welcome to the Archive Room. I'm your host, Dominic Dare, and this is our co-host, Sandra Coelho Today's guest is David Peck. He is founder and president of Reelin' In The Years Productions, one of the world's leading music, entertainment and historical archives. Since founding the company in 1992, David has built an extraordinary collection spanning over a century of performance footage and decades of in-depth interviews with cultural icons from across music, film, television, politics and the arts. His producing work has earned major industry recognition, including a Grammy nomination, a Peabody Award, an Emmy nomination, and his company has even received Focal's Footage Library of the Year. Most recently, his archive formed the backbone of the landmark series, David Frost Versus, an achievement celebrated on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange itself. It's a real pleasure to welcome you. David, welcome to the Archive Room. David Peck (01:19) Thank you. And yes, that was, that was a really strange moment in my life to also have my, then 16 year old son, Stanley. was, that was his spring break from school. And he had some stories to tell him when he got back. Yes. That was Wilfred Frost, David's son, asked us to join him. And I didn't realize we were going to be up on the, whatever you want to call it, overlooking the New York stock exchange. There are moments in life that are utterly surreal. That was probably the most because it's so out of Dominic Dare (01:43) Yeah. David Peck (01:46) anything that I do. I mean, it has nothing to do with tapes and what have you, but it was pretty cool. I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty cool. Dominic Dare (01:54) doesn't really get much cooler than that. A lot of noise as well. And so on the back of that, mean, to get to that height, David, you've been working in this industry for years. Can you just take us through from beginnings to where you are now and how you've built this amazing archive collection David Peck (02:09) Well, you know, I've been a fan of music since I was an infant. Now, my older brother, who got the into music 10 years older, tells me this story, although I have no recollection. Apparently, when I was two years old, I could tell you which Beatles song was on what single. well, that's Revolution, that's Hey Jude. And before I could read, Heath tells me the story. I don't remember it. So. Dominic Dare (02:25) You David Peck (02:33) It was almost like I was destined to do something in music and related. And when I was 18, I met a guy here in San Diego who showed me literally bootleg copies of The Beatles and Stones and Ed Sullivan, this is 1984. And I just got hooked. I just was like, wow, there's footage of these bands that I love. it was because I wasn't, I was alive in the sixties, but not mentally alive. Born in 66. it was always like a winner of the past. So to me archive and all of that was like, wow, something that was captured on film and tape, what have you, and to experience it. And I was just bitten. So I was just, you know, the longest time just trading with people and so forth. And then in 1989, Jessica Berman Bogdan of global image works. I'll never forget this day phone rings and this woman I had never spoken to. goes, well, this is Jessica. I'm working with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. I understand that you have material that you've collected and we'd like to find out more about it. And I said, well, I don't own any of it, but it didn't matter. And so I remember getting my first check and it was like, I don't know, 400 bucks, whatever it was. And my name like in an insert in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame program. Then it was like, huh, maybe there's some money in this, you know? The thing is, even though I run this professional company, I'm still a collector, but not in a negative connotation. It's still like I get, when I see something that moves me, the fan in me goes, wow, that's an amazing performance. I can't believe that was shot. And then the business side says, ooh, what documentary is going on that I can immediately call and say, you need to see this piece of footage? So that part of me always... always exists. And I think in many ways, and so it sets me apart about a lot of people in the industry is that I'm just in my heart, I'm this diehard fan. I everyone loves their work. Don't get me wrong. I'm just saying it's like, I think I'm a freak of nature in that regard. And so it went from there to just doing like research and, so forth. And then eventually in 1998, I signed my first representation deal and then, you know, Dominic Dare (04:33) Yeah David Peck (04:47) And it went from there. I, because there was so many libraries in America, there's at the time it was research video, now retro and historic. think it was a R I Q then whatever. But I figured that there was all those guys already had like all of whatever archives to be had in America were kind of locked up. And so I went and looked at Europe. And so all of these government run television stations. I started approaching and just flying there and calling them at three o'clock in the morning because of a time difference from here in San Diego and just slowly sort of built it up from that. But all the while, mean, I can remember every time I would find something in these European archives, this is, you know, long before YouTube or anything. So it was just like people had no idea of the wealth of material in Europe because all of these bands toured all of these countries. And there were, you know, dance shows. And also in Europe, for the most part, since these stations weren't commercial, they'd put an artist on for half an hour or an hour. And, you know, you get to really experience them. yeah, I was just, I mean, I, you know, taking a short story and making it long, I guess. Sandra Coelho (05:58) David can I ask, how did Jessica know, how did she know you had this material? David Peck (06:03) Let me think, you're making me go way back now. I think just word of mouth, I think I was just so, as this young person was so motivated and Jessica was a seasoned researcher in clearance by that point. So she was, know, one of, still is obviously, but was certainly one of the best in the business. And there weren't a lot of people doing it at that point. You know, she was... definitely leading the pack. a lot more researcher and clearance people here in 2026 than there were in 1989. so I'm not quite sure, but you know what, you have Jessica, which I'm sure you will on a future episode of this, because obviously global image works is great. Yeah. And she may not remember either. Dominic Dare (06:48) Just talk a little bit about, what exceptional moments, over the years where you found something from a collection you've just gone, my goodness, you know, that's just gold. What stands out? David Peck (06:58) One of them was at, just comes to mind as many examples, I was with Phil Galloway, Vice President of my company, major shout out to Phil. And we were in Australia at Australian Broadcasting Corporation, which I've worked with now for, I think 2002. Anyhow, I was there and I remember sitting at a desk and the gentleman that worked there, he's not there anymore. was like, there's some stuff, you know, and he goes, what is this? This is just some doors footage. And I'm looking and I'm sitting there and I had this moment I went. And I go, I look at the guy, go, do you know what this is? He goes, it's the doors. I go, no, no, no, no, no. Yes, it's Jim Morrison. But what it was was at that point, this would have been, and I were there in September of 2004. I know, cause my daughter was born a few months later as a parent, you remember these things. And at that point, the last known, Dominic Dare (07:52) Ha ha ha ha. David Peck (07:58) performance footage of the Doors to exist at the time was their performance at the Isle of Wight Festival in August of 1970. And that's what everyone thought was the last moment that Jim was seen on stage with the Doors. Well, Australian Broadcasting Corporation sent their film crew, they have a really cool show called GTK, getting to know, they sent their film crew to Los Angeles in the Doors rehearsal space and their is Jim Morrison with the group doing a Johnny Hooker song, Crawling Kingsnake. And I'm just like, I just can't believe this. And I remember at the time I was dealing with Danny Sugarman, who was then the manager of the Doors. And ironically now I represent the Doors archive, which is kind of funny turn of events, but with Jeff Jampol and so forth. I immediately, I'm not even from Australia, I was like, May I cuss on here? it okay? I'm gonna, holy shit. was just like, know, the F-bombs were flying, let's just say. And he was like, what? And I go, yes. goes, are you sure? I go, I'm positive because Jim had his full on beard was just like, you know, he didn't look good because he died what? Four months later. And so I think at the time, Rhino Records, which was the label that had their master, Dominic Dare (08:56) Yeah, go for it. Hahaha! David Peck (09:20) when they were in Electra, Warner's and all that, were doing some type of box set. They go, want to put this out. And I remember we were friendly with Ray Manzarek and I spoke to Ray and Ray saw it and he goes, yeah, I don't want it out. Jim looks like he's about to die. And we're like, he did. And we realized that the significance of this piece of footage, which just to... sideline for a second. That's one of the things about discovering moments like this for me is that I get to by discovering something or you guys discovering someone or someone else is change the narrative of what we think either this person was like, what they did or did not do. you know, archive without AI doesn't lie. And so in this case, we changed the narrative of what existed of this band. And Ray didn't want it out. I think it was probably too painful for him, but Danny Sugarman was like, no, no, this is coming out. And it did. It was like a bonus on a CD box set with a DVD. I can't remember. It's been a few years. But that one comes to mind. The other one was the American Folk Blues Festival material from Germany, which Dominic Dare (10:15) Mm-hmm. David Peck (10:33) we had found and turned into this release, which got my one and only Grammy nomination that you alluded to in your intro, Dom. So it's just finding moments, you know, are just like, I mean, I'll give you a perfect example, non-music in the David Frost archive that we have. David, of course, interviewed the Shah of Iran, which is relevant today with everything going on in Iran. Well, he interviewed the Shah of Iran, which Dominic Dare (10:41) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. David Peck (10:58) when he was in exile in January of 80 in an island up in Panama. Well, we found in Frost vaults all the raw material. you know, program that aired was, you know, 50 minutes or something. We found all nine hours at the end of the Shah. But the other thing we found was in 1976, he had done this program called the Crossroads of Civilization. was expensive. And it was the base of the history of Iran up to that point. And they had a film like reenactments that looked pretty damn good, but it was fascinating, especially watching it now where Iran is since the Islamic revolution. But he interviewed the Shah when he was in power in his palace. And you you've seen it in your archive. You see a sound bite. You're like, oh, wow. And David Frost asked the Shah of Iran in 1976, some two and a half years before. Dominic Dare (11:35) Mm-hmm. Wow. David Peck (11:52) the Islamic revolution, he says, and I quote, what would happen if the mullahs took over? And the Shah looks at him and says, it would set this country back 1000 years. you know, just moments like that. So yes, I love discovering music, but I'm, I'm love history. And I also love how history intersects. So like when you watch, you know, hullabaloo or shindig, Dominic Dare (12:03) Wow. David Peck (12:17) And you see these go-go dancers, you know, at the same time that's going on in Vietnam, people are dying. It's just, it's very, you know, weird. And so you see documentaries a lot of times that say, well, this is going on over here and that's going on over there. And I always find that fascinating with archive, how these things just kind of connect. My brain works that way too. Sandra Coelho (12:25) Yeah. Dominic Dare (12:39) Yeah, I I just don't know if you've seen the John and Yoko film that Rosemary Rotondi did recently. But that changed my perception of a lot of Yoko. mean, it's an incredible archive. I think that's a beautiful thing that we're in that space that we can kind of add to the historical record effectively. David Peck (12:56) think people don't, I think people who aren't deep in this industry don't appreciate what it is that we do. And they think, you know, well, oh, come on, it's just 30 seconds, you know, of a videotape, whatever, you know, what's the big deal? Well, it's the work that goes into making this tape, this drive, what have you, the two inches, the one inches, the digital cams, the film, and that, you know, to run the archive. It's, you we're either chasing stuff or waiting for the phone to ring, but we're in the meantime, we're all investing money. I mean, you guys are doing obviously amazing work, but all the money you invest in your drone footage and your incredible footage like that, that that doesn't just happen. You know, you have to go shoot that footage and you have to hope someone licenses it to justify the money you're spending to not only shoot it, but to catalog it and all the rest of the things that you as an archive do. Dominic Dare (13:51) Yeah, mean, absolutely. I think we should go into that a little bit more So take us through a case study effectively of how you take on an archive. You've got a scent for them, I think would be a fair thing to say, David. You do seem to turn over and find collections that people haven't found. so, just talk us through, how you on board and what you actually do to bring an archive that's not been seen before to life. David Peck (14:12) Well, he was Merv because Merv was, you know, insanity. So what happened was, long story short, at the time, this would have been 2011, Merv had passed sadly in 2007. Dominic Dare (14:26) Can you just explain who Merv Griffin is to people just culturally if people don't know? David Peck (14:29) Oh, good point Merv Griffin was a, not just a legendary talk show host, but he created Jeopardy, created Will of Fortune, wrote the theme for Jeopardy, bought hotels. mean, you know, but he, he was a talk show host basically from 1962 to 86. And the interesting thing is that he, it was rumored that he might've taken over Johnny Spot. I mean, not Johnny Spot, but instead of Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, but NBC didn't want to lose him, so they gave him his own show in the afternoon in the same studio that Johnny Carson taped his first show, and they would switch the set out every day. Anyhow, that didn't last very long, but then in 65, syndicated. And so he did about 5,000 shows. And of course, Anyone watching this who is in the archive community knows that not everything was saved. And so out of 5,000 shows that were done between 1965 and 1986, I think we found somewhere close to 2000. know, so you, you know, I try to be the class half full, but you whenever the phone rings and go, Oh, I understand so and so was on Merv. It's just like, it's just like a knife to the chest. And not because, okay, I lost a license, but just that that history is gone. It's not here anymore. It's not here to be there for a director, producer to tell the story that they might've told differently because this piece of archive was there for them. So in the case of Merv, Phil and I walked into the vault where the tapes were stored in LA. And it literally was like the end of... Dominic Dare (15:52) Yeah, yeah. David Peck (16:11) Raiders of a Lost Ark, know, Indiana Jones. It was, I mean, floor to ceiling, a warehouse full of betas, one inch, two inch films, VHSs, U-Matics cassettes, paperwork. mean, just like, and my way of just tackling things is rather than look at the totality of something, go, okay, I'm going to do, I'm going to do this shelf today. I'm going to just take these. Dominic Dare (16:12) Hahaha David Peck (16:37) And so what happened was the two inch stuff and I invested a lot of my own money. I said to who I think is the best in the business at this type of stuff. got him David Crossthwait in LA. He runs Burbank, runs a company called DC video. He's like a mad scientist because he has every format you could ever think of. And sometimes he has to literally, I'm not exaggerating, wear a hazmat suit because some of the particles on these old tapes will get you really bad. Dominic Dare (16:52) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yep. David Peck (17:06) But Dominic Dare (17:06) Yep. David Peck (17:06) anyhow, so the two and stuff would go to David but everything that I could do on my own, I did one inch and betas And so I would have Mark DeCerbo in my office. He would go to LA once a week, load up his car, would come down to San Diego. I would transfer everything. He'd go back and it you know, it took quite a while, but then, okay. Well, now I got the tapes. So now what? This is great. I have them here, but then I have to go through them all. And so, you know, going through them all, it's a talk show. So in a talk show, you've got people like Dr. King, serious and then you have Juggling acts I mean, you know, because Merv would do shows in Las Vegas and of course everything in between. And so if it's an artist, you got to figure out every song they're doing. If it's a medley, I break down medleys. I don't just write medley because I realized that If they're doing a medley of Frank Sinatra's hits or whatever, and maybe they sing, you know, 15 seconds of my way or fly me to the moon. Well, some may want that, but if I just have my database medley, I don't know what's there. So I'm, I'm pretty meticulous about that type of stuff to know it. So it's available for the end user. They're looking for that. so cataloging everything took. Dominic Dare (18:01) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. David Peck (18:22) a lot of work. one of the people that helped me, she worked with me 17 years and everyone out there knows her, is Jackie Clary. She was very instrumental in helping, know, catalog, not just Merv, but Frost and a lot of other stuff. And, you know, she's gone on to do great things in the archive community and research and clearance and producing and whatnot. But yeah, so Jackie worked, Jackie Clary worked here for quite a long time. Dominic Dare (18:23) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. So I mean, it's a huge amount of work and, you know, has that been similar with the Frost archive? Was that in a similar vein? David Peck (18:54) The irony is they were in the same storage facility in LA. Yeah, but I didn't realize the time. And it's funny because I told Wilfred this not too long ago, because Wilfred said something like, I just, you know, I happened to bump into David by chance in the aisle. And I went, it wasn't by chance. The person that ran the vault, you know, had mentioned it and said he was going to be coming in the following week. said, Dominic Dare (18:59) really? Stalked him. Sandra Coelho (19:13) hahahaha David Peck (19:20) Are you okay if I come and look at some tapes?" goes, sure, I'll introduce you. So I literally met Wilfred in the aisle. mean, yeah, a little bit a deception, but you know, hey, but you know, we've worked together now for, gosh, 12 years. Yeah, 12 years. But yeah, and obviously I was very instrumental because of the work I did building his archive, and he was able to fulfill his dream of doing this program to honor his father's legacy. Dominic Dare (19:25) you That's cool. Hahaha! David Peck (19:46) with the David Frost Versus. Dominic Dare (19:46) Yeah, I mean, so the Frost versus has been huge success. know, so I think, you know, certainly from a lot of people on the outside, I mean, the ability to become a producer and use this knowledge base, I mean, which is effectively what you've created a knowledge base. You know, talk us through a little bit about your production side and, know, how do you get a nose for what you think will work for something like STAX or... one of the show or the Bee Gees and so forth. mean, how do you, how does that progress? How do you go from holding the assets to actually developing from them? David Peck (20:19) Well, in the case of BeeGees and STAX I had worked with Nigel Sinclair for a while, but not in that capacity, but as a footage holder. But we've always had a really good rapport. And I remember it was, I think this was, I want to say 2019. He called me up and said, I'd like and my staff to come down to your office. Dominic Dare (20:29) Mm. David Peck (20:40) I mean, a big producer like that was like, okay. Of course, made my office by less. It's just like, okay. And it's like you're bringing a girl home for the first time on a date. Like my apartment better be just, better be perfect. And I'll never forget, yeah, it was Nigel, Nick, Cassidy and Jeannie, had the production team there. And basically what he said was, look, David, we want to... Dominic Dare (20:43) Mmm. Sandra Coelho (20:53) Yeah David Peck (21:06) We want to work closely with you, with your archive, but beyond that, your knowledge about the subjects. And I said, you know, look, I said, just, wanted to make sure that he wasn't trying to do some deal where, you know, the archive would be free because I can't do that. I have to, you know, can't say to my clients, oh, by the way, I'm, I'm getting a producer credit and sorry, I gave all your footage for free. So they said, no, no, no, we understand that. I mean, you know, I give them. Dominic Dare (21:23) Yeah. David Peck (21:32) better deal than others because it's volume, of course, but not, you know, barring engagement to where I'm gonna upset my clients by that. so with my role in the films that I've done with them, whether it's executive producer, co-executive producer, generally that title is someone that wrote a check. You know, here's $100,000. That's not me. I'm not that guy. It's like, I... Dominic Dare (21:56) Yeah. David Peck (21:57) I don't want a credit if I didn't earn it. I don't need to see my name on a television. Yes, of course, when we license footage, it's got to be Reelin' in the Years because we did something with licensed footage, but I don't want a special thanks. I don't want to produce a credit if I don't feel I contributed something. My role in their films has been to look at the various cuts and talk to them about ways to save money. It's like, well, you why, why you can use this Mike Douglas clip, a paramount that's going to cost you, you know, and it's not a clip that's crucial to your film. And there are things where I realized, okay, that's midnight special, but I understand why you want to use it. Fine. So I'll make suggestions like that. Dominic Dare (22:28) Yeah. David Peck (22:41) I will look for historical inaccuracies. know, there was one in the Stax one. This is how it just twisted my brain is there was a stock footage shot of a record store rack in the sixties. It was supposed to be the sixties, mind you. And I went, said, guys, you got to find another stock footage. What's wrong with that? Then go, there's an ELO record right in front. That's telephone line. That's 1976, 75, excuse me. Oh. Dominic Dare (22:43) Mm-hmm. Right. Ha ha ha! David Peck (23:07) And the other one was one of my favorites in the Bee Gees film. There was a scene where they were trying to convey the inner city for the groove of jive talking. And that was when Bee Gees started to get into R &B and so forth. And this great B-roll of African-American teenagers walking in Manhattan with their walkmans on. And I go, guys, that's wrong. What's a great shot? I go, yeah, but the walkman didn't exist yet. Oh. Dominic Dare (23:31) Yeah. Sandra Coelho (23:32) Ha ha ha ha ha. David Peck (23:33) So I said, go find a boom box or something that would be more of the time. And I don't know if that was either. And so they did. things like that. And I'll suggest Archive and I'll go, well, gosh, Retro's got a great piece that's going to fit here or LOLA or Historic or Jessica or something more or us or the KCV. So when I'm in that role, I have to kind of take off my owning an Archive hat. as well, but it's also, you know, I'm not gonna lie and say it's not a blessing to be inside that tent, so to speak, because I am able to have the direct communication with the directors and go, have you seen this? This is really cool. This will really, I think, bring this scene to life. I can't say what the film is because they're still doing it, but there's a film on a major artist that we discovered some really cool footage and they went. Dominic Dare (24:10) Yeah. David Peck (24:26) my God, that's like near the end. That's not even the film. That's brilliant. And I'd seen the rough cut and I thought this might really work there. so, you know, that makes me feel good because when I see the end work and I go, that was me. One of my favorite stories on the Bee Gees film that I tell is again, going back to historical accuracy all of the Bee Gees' career, they had always told this story about how they had written to love somebody after Otis Redding asked them to write a song. And I had done an artist writing film in 2007. like, this didn't happen. This is just, it's just, it's BS. But I don't think it's deliberate BS. It's just, you you tell a story enough time and you kind of believe it. So I got the rough cut of the BGs and they had the story in it. went, guys, this didn't happen. Well, no, no, Barry says it did blah, And I knew that I had to find a way to prove not just say it didn't happen. had to present evidence. Like you're a lawyer in a courtroom. I okay. I said, first of all, when the Bee Gees met Otis Redding, this was April of 1967, I go, they had one hit, New York Mining Disaster. Their music was so far removed from American soul, not even funny. There was nothing. Second of all, Otis Redding didn't need a songwriter. He wrote all of his songs with Steve Cropper. Ironically at the Lorraine Motel where Dr. King was killed, which is just bit of trivia there. And I said, he was a very accomplished songwriter. And when Otis Redding did covers and I showed him the albums, he would do R &B covers or standards. He didn't do new stuff. Now, he covered the Beatles with Day Tripper and the Stones with Satisfaction. But primarily I go, why would he ask someone to write a song for him? I said, here's what I guarantee happened. Dominic Dare (26:06) Mm-hmm. David Peck (26:13) They met him backstage at the Apollo. know, Barry may have said something, oh, we'll write a song for you. And Otis polite like anyone went, oh, that'd be great. You know, and the other argument was in the story that they wrote it for Otis Redding and he died before they had a chance to record it. And I said, well, Otis Redding died in December of 1967. Bee Gees recorded it in May of 67, think in June. I go, Otis Redding had plenty of time. I said, in the weeks up to his death, Dominic Dare (26:20) Yeah. David Peck (26:39) He recorded three albums worth of material, including covers. If he had wanted to record that song, he would have recorded that song. And so they saw the story and they went, okay. And they modified it. It's still a little bit there, but not, and I just felt good because, okay, let it be truthful, whatever that story is. their film, but I at least presented to them. And so it was very cool to be able to do that. Dominic Dare (27:10) Are we gonna lose the historical record because we're not really having a way to archive the stuff, you know? And there aren't these kind of like top of the pops and these shows going out where they're kept, you know? David Peck (27:20) But I guess my concern is, you know, the people that have these tapes, they're withering away and they're only going to last so long. And, you know, They don't want to spend the money to do it. mean, like this morning, well, it aired this morning, your interview with Andy from ITV and you know, that I'm so happy that they're, that they're investing, you know, millions of dollars to preserve these tapes. And, know, whether or not anyone sees them or not is secondary to the fact preserve the history, preserve it. know, history is important to preserve, whether it's visual, Dominic Dare (27:41) Yeah. David Peck (28:00) recording, what have you. And I think that's what all of us do here. mean, you know, the two of us, you know, we run mom and pop companies represent and have new, new material. But then there's the people that do the research and clearance and they're just as important because they're the liaison between us and person making those films. And, you know, I think people, a lot of times, you know, not us, but maybe more of the, more of the bigger companies or corporate. Dominic Dare (28:14) Mm-hmm. David Peck (28:27) lose sight of the importance of the Jackie Clarys, that Jessica Berman-Bogden's Cathy Carapella's and Kate Griffiths and whatnot. And shout out to everyone, if I didn't mention your name, just off the top of the dome as it were. Dominic Dare (28:39) Hahaha. Sandra Coelho (28:42) can you talk us about the step-by-step guide of the best way to work with Reelin' in the Years If I'm an archive producer and I'm working on a music doc, what's the best way to work with you? David Peck (28:49) Not Well, we always prefer, you know, that was like different, different opinions in our industry. I, and maybe because I'm going to be 60 this year, so I've got an older mentality, which could be a blessing and a curse depending on how you know, how you look at things. But my philosophy is I think of myself as a salesman, right? We're salespeople, you know, someone comes to LOLA you're putting your thinking cap on. What can I show them? from my archive that I think they're use. And so there's two ways. There are archives that just have it all in the database. Don't bother me. I want to be bothered. I enjoy being bothered. I insist you bother me because I cannot tell you how many times someone has come to me for one thing and said, we need, Jimmy Hendrix doing purple haze I'm making that up, but that's an example. Well, wait, what are you working on? Oh, we're doing, you know, greatest guitarist of all time. Wait a minute. Why not Prince? Why not Clapton? not Tom? Yeah, but we've got enough stuff. go, yeah, but you haven't seen my stuff here. You know, and then it will turn into a sale. Whereas my philosophy is stock footage I realize is very different. So that's, that's a different piece, but I'm talking about interview based performance based archive right now. If I have a chance to communicate with you and understand can putting me my director, producer, you know, hat on and go inside your project. Have you thought about this? This is a really cool piece of footage. And so that's, you know, kind of not quite the way you expected the answer to be because you asked best way to work. But generally, if I get an email from someone, I usually like to speak to them on the phone, but if it's pretty obvious and I know them really well, then I'm just like, okay. we require anyone who wants to get our archive to sign a screener agreement. And that screener agreement is basic. It just simply says, you're an inner obligation to use anything of us, but from these archives, and we list the archives, you may not claim fair use, fair dealing, regardless if you pull it off YouTube or something else, because it's just. too much of that going on. So that's one of the main things that we insist upon where I realize other archives don't, but we don't charge for screeners, which most people don't, some do. you know, they have corporate policies and I totally respect that. And so our goal is to get the footage to the client as soon as humanly possible, you know, and clean and neat and that it makes sense. Dominic Dare (31:14) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Sandra Coelho (31:28) quick question. mean on so this you have like the official documentaries that are coming out, you know, with I think there's one on Marianne faithful this those type of documentaries, but then you have a lot of these unofficial docs that make a difference when you're choosing and how how do you approach both those because if you're working with the artist, it must be difficult. It's an unofficial David Peck (31:54) Well, I don't work with the artist directly, obviously. And with any archive, you know, and I'm sure you have the same in your agreements, you know, we're only licensing the footage. And if it's a live recording, okay. But any underlying rights, image and likeness, music publishing, unions and guilds, which don't apply as much in Europe as they certainly do in America, the end user has to indemnify me and my clients. Now... I will say we don't do tabloid and we got numerous calls about P Diddy footage. And we have this great footage of him innocent that my client shot at like a youth camp in the nineties. And it was, he had set up some summer camp for underprivileged kids and you know, all jokes aside about Diddy, obviously the footage is innocent, this footage, but I knew well damn well what they wanted to do with it. And while I have my feelings on Diddy as we all do. I don't ever want to be part of that. Like I don't license footage Michael Jackson when it deals with the allegations against him. Or if it's, Jimmy Hendrix, how he died. It's like, I don't care. It's celebrating. So what I've found is even projects that don't necessarily have the artist braval per se, if it's a positive, Dominic Dare (32:49) Hehe. David Peck (33:10) project, know, there's the artists don't have issues. It's, it's when it's you're slandering them. And so I don't want to be in a situation where not only put myself, my clients and legal risks, but equally important. I don't feel it's morally right. I don't feel it's right that an artist that appeared on a television show 50 years ago, regardless of whether they're guilty or not, should have that piece of footage. Sandra Coelho (33:13) Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. David Peck (33:35) beaten up head and I had someone recently in England doing something on Gary Glitter I went, no, could we have great Gary Glitter footage? I go, I know. And for those that don't know, just type in Gary Glitter in Thailand and we'll leave it at that. We'll just leave it at that. Like you notice sporting events stop playing his rock and roll song. You don't hear that. Hey, put it this way. I cringe when I have footage with Jimmy Saville And so I won't even license Jimmy Saville. Sandra Coelho (33:47) hahahahah Dominic Dare (33:48) Yeah, I think he's in Vietnam now. Yeah. Yeah. David Peck (34:04) introducing the stones. And Brits, I don't need to tell. For those who are not in England, go, Jimmy Saville. Again, I don't have to, you'll understand. you know, but even so, if someone, all joking aside, was going to do a documentary on Saville, no, I'm not doing it. Even though it seems that, you know, and he died before, you know, you can never be tried in the court of law, but certainly the evidence. does not look good in his favor without saying he's slanderous on here. And I won't do it. I don't post political stuff on my business. like, you know, I'm not here to drive customers away. Someone disagrees with me politically. It's not. Dominic Dare (34:44) David, we want people to come away with a real knowledge of what you've got. What corners of the archive, what corners of the collections aren't being found David Peck (34:52) Wow, that's a real tough question. Cause I don't, you know, I don't necessarily think, cause I have so many clients. And of course, when I'm negotiating, have to compartmentalize, right? Cause I've looked at the contracts, but when I'm, if it's a subject, I'm just thinking about, okay, well, what's from this archive? What's from that archive, that archive back there that's going to be relevant to the project. So, you know, it's funny. Dominic Dare (35:01) Yeah. David Peck (35:15) because prior to 2011, I was just music. I mean, that's all I did. wouldn't, I didn't even touch it. And I remember when the Merv Griffin collection came on my radar. I said, I went to Phil and it was Phil's, Phil's the one that changed this company. And he goes, David, get it all. We haven't done non-music. He what are you kidding me? Take the whole damn thing and we'll figure it out. I went. Dominic Dare (35:20) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. David Peck (35:40) Okay. And so, you know, it went from obviously 100 % of my clip licensing was just music to where now... Dominic Dare (35:41) Yeah David Peck (35:50) 35 to 40 % of my overall clip revenue is non-music, which is pretty amazing to jump. so we have talk shows, but even beyond talk shows, we have press junkets and all these different types of things. And they're all really important. I I can't say what the product is, but we did just do a very nice license for a major, product. Dominic Dare (35:56) Mm-hmm. Yeah. David Peck (36:16) And it'll be out in a couple of weeks. And those don't happen too often, as you well know. But when those happen, it's like, it's Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaai, Ramadan, all in one. It's a beautiful day. But yes, it was nice. But that was a soundbite of a well-known actor. We'll leave it at that. Trust me, you've heard of this individual. And when it comes out, Dominic Dare (36:20) Yeah. Yeah. We'll leave it, we'll leave it, we'll watch this space for more. this. Okay. David Peck (36:41) In a couple of weeks, I'm like, ah, yes. Yeah, yeah. Dominic Dare (36:44) Okay cool, we look forward to that. So listen, we have a quick fire round that we do to kind of put you in the hot seat. David Peck (36:52) Okay, wait a minute, me get my water here. Sandra Coelho (36:54) Okay, so David, are you ready? This is... This is the Archive Lightning Round. So quick questions, quick answers. Just say whatever comes into your head first off. Yeah? David Peck (36:57) I feel like this is Stephen Colbert's questionnaire thing. Okay. Dominic Dare (37:00) Hahaha! Yeah, kind of. David Peck (37:11) Yeah, but if I don't like what's, I'm going to censor myself, which people don't, about me going, he censors himself? Trust me, myself. Okay, go ahead. Sandra Coelho (37:13) Hahaha! Dominic Dare (37:14) you Sandra Coelho (37:17) Okay. Okay. Dominic Dare (37:17) You Sandra Coelho (37:20) Okay. First one. First word that you associate with the word archive. David Peck (37:25) History. Sandra Coelho (37:25) Okay. Music performance or music interviews, which pulls you in more? David Peck (37:31) performance. Sandra Coelho (37:32) Okay then, so performance footage or behind the scenes? David Peck (37:37) behind the scenes, which would depend what that behind the scenes is, but yes, behind the scenes. Sandra Coelho (37:41) Okay. The footage that still gives you chills. David Peck (37:44) It's not even mine, but to this day, I mean, I have an audio recording of it. It's from a show called Soul, which is handled by WPA and it's Al Green in late 1972 doing, which he never recorded. We've only just begun into Let's Stay Together. I mean, now I have chills. mean, Google it. It's there. Sandra Coelho (38:04) wow. David Peck (38:08) It is just, you know, the only time that I, to my knowledge, if he ever did it, maybe in concert, but in front of the camera. And it's just, so it's not even an archive that I handle, but it's just one that like, I mean, it's on my playlist, put it this way, in my, my favorite R &B songs of all time. And I mean, it's just, yeah, it's, go just Google Al Green. We've only just begun on soul S O U L exclamation point. It's, it's you be like, Dominic Dare (38:25) Beautiful. Sandra Coelho (38:37) Yeah. David Peck (38:37) Yes, it's good. I mean, it's not mine, but you know, again, archive is archive. Sandra Coelho (38:42) Okay archive that feels more powerful today than it when it was filmed. David Peck (38:48) I mean, you know, something simple like the, have a dream speech. I think, you know, things of that nature. Sandra Coelho (38:56) the most understood thing about archives. David Peck (39:01) The most understood thing or misunderstood? Sandra Coelho (39:03) Misunderstood. David Peck (39:04) that it's easy, anyone could do it and, know, it should be for free. That it should just be given out to everyone. So I think that, that, and I think everyone who owns an archive, runs an archive, works at archive, I can all see you now going, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. What he said. Sandra Coelho (39:23) Yes, a moment you can't believe has been captured on film. David Peck (44:00) But it was, it's pretty horrific to see that that was done. But here's the thing. You can look at it and go, that is just, Ooh, that's really bad. did it. But with an archive going, what an amazing piece of archive. Both things can be true. Both. mean, I mean, look, if you had an interview with Adolf Hitler talking about why he wanted to kill the Jewish population, it would be horrific, disgusting on and on and on. Dominic Dare (44:13) Yeah. David Peck (44:24) But a piece of archive it would be to illustrate how horrible a person he was and so forth. Dominic Dare (44:31) It's incredibly powerful. I mean, in so many ways. David Peck (44:33) just, and it's only, I mean, imagine if you will, and now we're almost 25 years later, but imagine if you will, on some show, they brought out, you know, and they're alive, one of the masterminds of 9-11, and there's someone who, you know, survived the towers or something, you know, because most people didn't survive that day, you know, or the Pentagon or whatever, and brought that person out as a surprise. I don't think that would sit too well with the American public. So, I mean, obviously we're different time now, but wow. know, but another one that was interesting, not quite in the same vein, but on the Merv Griffin show in 1965, he brought on, one of the architects of Pearl Harbor. And he came on Merv's show. Dominic Dare (45:04) Yeah, yeah, yeah. David Peck (45:17) Which, and I remember in the introduction, Merv saying something like, you know, to the audience, just hear him out. Now this individual became a born again Christian, I guess in 49. And so that was kind of the narrative, but he did talk about this, but you know, only 20 years later, you know, 24 years after attack on Pearl Harbor is pretty amazing. okay, I'm going to turn the tables on you. I'm going to ask you, well, you run an archive, so I'm going ask you guys something in your archive that you feel like, you know, in the same way that I just described this being moving and powerful and so forth. Something in your archive. Dominic Dare (46:01) I we were watching Logging Something the other day, which is an ITV world in action report from the 1960s. And they're outside of CIA headquarters. And they're talking about the hidden kind of agenda of the CIA at the time. And the police come out and move this kind of British, very British crew out the way from reporting in front of the CIA building. it's like, wow, how the world hasn't changed in like so 50 odd years. But it's the power of archive. David Peck (46:22) Ha Wow. Yeah, I was just, was, that's really cool. Sandra Coelho (46:32) Yeah. Dominic Dare (46:33) I think, you know, we are coming towards the end of our time, David. And so I want to firstly say thank you very much for taking the time sharing. It's been brilliant. we're delighted that you've come on. What one thing that we always kind of try and end on and just, you know, your crystal ball moment, you know, David Peck (46:42) It's been a real lot of fun. Dominic Dare (46:51) as a whole the industry where the things look in 10 years time, what's the future look like for you either for the industry as a whole or for your company either one. David Peck (47:01) I mean, obviously at the moment, and I think we're all feeling it, it's certainly slower than any of us would like it. Because I know if I'm doing well, you're doing well. If you're doing well, retro is doing well. If retro is doing well, global image works are doing well and on and on and on. So, you know, I talk to my clients, give them statements like, well, you know, it's not as much that, it's okay, it's decent, but it's definitely, so I do think, you know, you heaven flow, but at the end of the day, I do think that, and we talked about this a little bit, uh, Sandra at, um, the private round table we had about AI at footage Fest is that, you know, sure. AI could, I guess, recreate the collapsing of the towers on 9 11 could certainly recreate bombing in Vietnam and at some point it may be believable AI, but they're not going to recreate Marlon Brando on the Dick Cavett show. They're not going to create the Beatles, you know, in front of the Queen, for those with cheaper seats, Rodeo Jewelry, or Frost Nixon, or what have you. And so I feel that people want reality and they want truth. And AI, the way I've described it, is, and you can quote me on that, is a fucking lie. And so I think Dominic Dare (48:20) Yeah. David Peck (48:22) After a while, people are going to get tired. it's really cool. That kind of sort of looks like John Lennon. That's kind of, but then it's like, well, I want to see John Lennon or I want to see whoever that may be. I want to see reporters getting shuffled away in front of the CIA building in 1967. And so I think, I think AI is a curiosity. I'm not dismissing the good that AI can do and I'm dismissing what it's doing to the industry. Dominic Dare (48:39) Yeah. David Peck (48:49) But I still think people want real. I guess I would say it this way. If you're a guy and you go into a bar and you're like, you want to find a nice woman to date, are you going to go to the one that seems natural or the one that has so much freaking Botox and everything else? she may look attractive for a while, but just, you know what I mean? And by the way, that applies to women, to men as well, both ways. I think people want real. And so, I hope that what's going on with will help when restoring a film, maybe get scratches out of the film, bring the colors up, those types of things, but not put an image in that it isn't there. We all remember Forrest Gump and how crude that was. Tom Hanks playing ping pong with the Chinese in 73 or whatever it was. It was cute. Never thought we'd ever be here. So for the future. I think people always want to look back. I think they always want to look back, whether it's a documentary in the CIA or a documentary in the Beatles or what have you, and the archive that we collectively have in this world and represent and whatnot, I think is there. And I think, you know, obviously we run a business, but I think all of us are doing good work. I think we're all doing important work. collectively to preserve it for my kids and their kids and so forth because without this documentation, someone else is going to write the narrative of what happened. mean, look, we have places in this country where they're trying to rewrite what slavery was about. And in the case of slavery, there are some photographs, but there's not moving image. And there is some footage that I've seen of people that were slaves interviewed. early 1900s or whatever, but that part of history could be open to interpretation because people need to see with their own eyes, which is ridiculous. so I do think all of this archive is important. I would encourage all libraries, what ITV is doing and other ones, spend the money. You made it, preserve it. Sandra Coelho (50:51) It's a good, good ending, I think. A good message to end. Dominic Dare (50:55) Yeah, All right, well listen, David, thanks again. We really appreciate your time it's been a delight to have you on. So thank you very much. David Peck (51:01) Yeah, I hope that it was informative and not too much in the weeds for people that aren't in our industry.