The Film is Fabulous! team work closely with many organisations. This is a necessity for the film held in private collections to be preserved. Successful relationships have been established with the BBC Archive, the BFI, and the nine regional film archives in England. However, the closest collaboration has been forged with the archival experts, cinema and television historians, and researchers at De Montfort University, Leicester.

De Montfort University’s Cinema and Television History Research Group specialises in evidence-based methods and oral history approaches to inform ground-breaking interdisciplinary research and RCUK-funded international collaborations. It is home to many collections, including:

• the Hammer Script Archive
• the Sir Norman Wisdom Collection
• the papers of Michael and Tony Klinger
• the Tony Hancock Appreciation Society Collection
• the Palace Pictures and Scala Productions Archive
• the Peter Whitehead Collection

In April 2024, a pilot scheme was initiated, with the aim of establishing, over a period of six months, a practical methodology for assessing, cataloguing, and preserving vulnerable film collections held in private hands. Dr. Peter Lester fulfilled the role of lead archivist. He was supported by the volunteers from the Film is Fabulous! team. Five case studies were created, accessing thousands of films, ancillary items, equipment and memorabilia from:

• the Tim Beddows Collection
• the Terry Burnett Collection
• the Maurice Haynes Collection
• the David Moore Collection
• the Martyn Stevens Collection

The pilot scheme encompassed many facets, including the prepping, cleaning and scanning, to 4K (with public screening subject to licensing), of a missing episode of Saber of London (1959). Negotiations have also taken place for the broadcast of the same on a popular television channel.

A report was produced. The data, although governed by GDPR, contributed to the decisions made about the future of the service. The content has also been used to encourage other film collectors and industry professionals to come forward, and to participate in other studies.