Less than a year ago, we founded Atlanta Film Co. around a single core principle: An affordable option to film photography. In utilizing Kodak Film Lab Atlanta’s ECN-2 processing services, we could provide a service to film photographers to have access to true ECN-2 processing for stills photography, a service limited to the motion picture industry.
When we first launched, the initial scope of the business was to provide this affordable solution to the Atlanta area. Within a month, we had requests for Atlanta Film Co. films worldwide. We experienced explosive growth our small team had never expected. Not only did orders through our site grow, but retailers and labs have started to purchase from us to stock our ECN-2 films on their shelves.
Once a niche process in the film photography community, is now growing quickly! Companies like Jobo are introducing ECN-2 kits in volumes that make the process more accessible for labs. As a result, we see labs around the country (and the world) offering ECN-2 processing in their boutique labs. Atlanta Film Co. is also speaking to more and more labs interested in ECN-2 processing. This signals that motion picture processing can be viable for stills photography.
As a result of this explosive growth, we experienced delays in shipping and processing deliverables. Our small team has been working around the clock to meet the demand. We started to look into options to seek help to expand our manufacturing capabilities, and we now have a manufacturing partner. Working with a local manufacturer will be instrumental in meeting the quantity demands for retail. This goal is to further our reach to labs and retailers worldwide and improve our availability to the customer.
With this new production capacity, AFC faces new challenges as the scales of this operation have grown: cost. When we first began, these films were spooled in the closet of a home. Orders were fulfilled on the dining room table. These humble beginnings kept the cost of our products very low and offered to our customers at a very affordable price point. Now that we are growing to meet new demand, our operations must expand. As a result, the price point will have to increase slightly.
We at Atlanta Film Co. remain committed to being an affordable option for film photography. We understand prices for film, from an industry perspective in general, have been steadily increasing. This slight increase is not a result of inflation or supply-chain issues but growth. This will allow us to expand our reach, make our films more available in more retail stores and labs worldwide, and expand our research and development. We have ambitious goals to expand our product offerings. We have completed proof of concepts for 100’ 35mm spools, 120 medium-format films using 65mm films, and most excitingly, using that same 65mm for 220.
Our team strives to remain completely transparent to the customer because our success is only possible with your support and support from the film photography community. We would like your continued support as our team works diligently to maintain amazing growth.
Thank you so much for your incredible support.
Thank you,
Atlanta Film Co. Team