Kodak built the first digital camera in 1975. It invented the colour filter pattern still used in most digital cameras, and in 2005 it sold more digital cameras in the United States than anyone else. In January 2012, it filed for bankruptcy.
This film follows why: a business built on film that people bought again and again, a digital world where pictures cost nothing to take, and the decisions Kodak made as its film profits disappeared.
Chapters
0:00 Cold open
1:03 You press the button
2:23 The camera Kodak built
4:05 The arithmetic
5:42 The photo album online
6:30 Winning the wrong race
8:04 Cutting back
9:07 Selling the past
10:06 Chapter 11
11:31 What was left
12:41 The last chapter
13:31 The last line
Sources
Kodak Form 10-K for 2005 (digital vs traditional revenue, net loss, film volumes, employees): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000031235/000120677406000357/ek111562.htm
Kodak Form 10-K for 2010 ($838m from IP licensing): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/31235/000003123511000025/ek2010_10k.htm
Kodak Form 10-K for 2011 (revenue, net loss): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000031235/000003123512000036/ek2011_10k.htm
Kodak Form 10-K for 1997 (1996 and 1997 revenue): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000031235/000003123598000001/0000031235-98-000001.txt
Kodak 8-K, exit from capture devices (9 Feb 2012): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000031235/000003123512000030/exitofcapturedevicesbusiness.htm
Kodak 10-K for 2013 (emergence from Chapter 11, 3 Sep 2013): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/31235/000119312514106388/d693724d10k.htm
U.S. Patent 4,131,919, “Electronic still camera” (Lloyd and Sasson): https://patents.google.com/patent/US4131919A
U.S. Patent 3,971,065, “Color imaging array” (Bayer): https://patents.google.com/patent/US3971065A
IEEE Milestone, Handheld Digital Camera, 1975: https://ethw.org/Milestones:Handheld_Digital_Camera,_1975
Shutterfly Form 10-K for 2012 (Kodak Gallery purchase): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001125920/000112592013000022/sfly-12312012x10k.htm
Facebook, “Facebook to Acquire Instagram” (9 Apr 2012): https://about.fb.com/news/2012/04/facebook-to-acquire-instagram/
UK Pensions Regulator, section 89 report on Kodak: https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/
TechCrunch, patent portfolio sale (19 Dec 2012): https://techcrunch.com/2012/12/19/kodak-to-sell-digital-imaging-patent-portfolio-for-525m/
CNN Money, Dow Jones changes (1 Apr 2004): https://money.cnn.com/2004/04/01/markets/dow/
Reporting cited and attributed in the film: Britannica and Duke University Libraries on the 1888 camera and Brownie; Harvard Business School case figures as cited by Columbia CaseWorks; Rochester Business Journal; Motley Fool (1997); IDC via Photography Blog (2005); Photonics.com (2007); PCWorld/IDG (ITC ruling, 2012); Financier Worldwide; Fortune and Bloomberg on Fujifilm; WXXI, CNBC and CFO.com on the 2020 DFC loan.
Images
George Eastman with a Kodak camera, 1890 (Frederick Church) and Eastman c. 1903: public domain.
Kodak and Brownie advertisements, 1900 and 1905: public domain.
Patent drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Kodak Tower, Rochester: Lherb3 (CC BY-SA 3.0) and B137 (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons.
Diagrams and charts are original illustrations of figures in the sources.
Photo sources and reuse:
Lherb3, Kodak Tower at Night (2012): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kodak_Tower_at_Night.JPG
CC BY-SA 3.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
B137, Kodak Tower from Red Wings game (2018): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kodak_Tower_(Rochester_NY)_from_Red_Wings_game_May_2018.jpg
CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Photos cropped and colour graded; adapted photos retain their respective CC BY-SA licences.
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