A Quick Chat With Austin Divine
founder of filmcuts.io, the world’s first shot-on-film library
When I discovered Filmcuts.io, I immediately knew it was something special.
Created by filmmaker and entrepreneur Austin Divine, the platform is fully dedicated to footage shot on film — a vision that deeply aligns with the mission of Archival Footage Service. Part of our archive will soon be available there, expanding its collection of authentic, analog visuals.
Born in Colorado and now based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Austin spent the past decade directing films for international brands before returning to his roots: pure creativity and emotional storytelling.
With Filmcuts, he’s creating a space where film artists can share their work, reach the right audience, and keep the magic of real film alive in an increasingly digital world.
Let’s start with your background, what’s your story, and how did you get into working with film?
My name’s Austin Divine. I grew up in Colorado, U.S.A, however, for the past eight or nine years I’ve been living in Thailand. I’m currently based in Chiang Mai, which is a beautiful, laid-back city up in the north.
I run a boutique production company here that’s worked with several notable brands from around the world — some of my favorites have been Aman, Amway, and Park Hyatt, among many others. Those projects taught me a lot about high-level production and visual storytelling, and they really shaped the way I approach creative work.
More recently, I’ve been on a mission to build the the world’s best video & photo library made entirely from footage shot on real film with our new platform Filmcuts.io
Looking at your work on Filmcuts Studio, one immediately notices the high level of quality and attention to detail. How have these experiences, often with international and luxury brands, influenced your decision to launch a project like Filmcuts?
Honestly, when I first started creating videos, it wasn’t because I dreamed of working with luxury or international brands. Like most people, I got into it simply because I loved it — because video felt like this amazing way to express myself, to tell stories, and to share experiences.
But once you decide to turn that passion into a career, you quickly realize you’re no longer just creating for yourself — you’re creating for other people, for brands, for companies & corporations. And using your creative passion purely in exchange for money can come at a cost. You have to pour your heart and energy into bringing someone else’s vision to life – and sometimes those values or topics don’t align with your own. Doing that over and over again, for a wide range of brands, can really wear you down.
Now, I’m not saying that’s true for everyone — but it was true for me. Over time, I felt myself slowly falling out of love with creating videos. The paid work just wasn’t fulfilling anymore, and it didn’t feel connected to my purpose on this earth.
So I started asking myself what was next — what I could evolve into that would reignite that passion again. That’s really what pushed me to build Filmcuts. I wanted to create a platform where film creators can share the work they love making, get it seen by the right people, and actually earn from it — without having to constantly chase client projects. The whole idea is to give them a way to turn their passion into a passive income stream, so they can focus on creating the kind of work that inspires them, instead of only creating what a client tells them to.
Tell us a bit about Filmcuts how it began and what your vision was starting out.
When I first started Filmcuts, it all really began with this one video I stumbled upon on Danny Geverts’ YouTube channel. It was a Super 8 film he shot in Uganda, and it completely stopped me in my tracks. The way he edited it, the way the sound pulled you in — and the look of it… it was unlike anything I’d seen before. I don’t think I’d ever really noticed Super 8 until that moment.
Right after watching it, I went online, ordered a Super 8 camera and some film, and had them shipped to me in Thailand. From the very first roll I shot, I was hooked. It felt nothing like digital — which was all I knew at the time. It was imperfect and grainy and unpredictable, yet somehow it felt more real.
Not long after, I worked it into a client project as this little documentary-style throwback sequence, and it transformed the whole piece. It instantly transported viewers into the past, and it gave the story so much depth and emotion. The client loved it. I loved it. And from there, I just kept weaving film into my projects whenever I could.
But I noticed something: there was no real platform for this kind of footage. You might find the occasional clip buried on a stock site, but nothing cohesive, nothing that celebrated the artists creating this work. And yet film was clearly having a resurgence — and has only grown more popular since
So that’s where Filmcuts came from. I wanted to build a platform that does two big things:
- First, it gives film creators a way to earn passive income from the work they want to make, not just what clients pay them to make. They can follow their inspiration, shoot what excites them, and still make a living from it.
- And second, it gives brands, agencies, and other creators access to this rare, magical medium — something you can’t just replicate. Film is hard, it’s expensive, it takes time… and that’s exactly what makes it special and valuable.
The whole vision is to create a space that uplifts film creators while giving the industry a powerful new tool — and hopefully, keeping this beautiful art form alive.
I imagine this is a huge project, with long timelines and significant technical challenges. What have been the biggest obstacles you’ve had to face so far?
Honestly, the hardest part for me has definitely been the web development side of things. Most of the work that’s gone into Filmcuts over the past two years has actually been building the platform itself. We launched a beta version early on, which worked as an MVP and helped us get feedback, but it was built on the wrong foundation. The original advice I followed just wasn’t right, and we ended up on a platform that wasn’t scalable for what we’re trying to do.
So after launching the beta, we basically had to go back and rebuild everything from scratch as a proper web app — which is a much more powerful and efficient way to handle what we’re building. That’s been a massive challenge, especially because I’m not a developer myself. I’ve had to really learn how to communicate my vision clearly and trust the people I’ve hired to bring it to life, and that’s been a big learning curve.
The other major challenge has been getting people to believe in the idea early on. I was asking creators to send me their film footage — which is incredibly personal and valuable to them — before there was even a finished platform to show them. That took a lot of trust-building and sharing the vision in a way that made people feel excited to be part of it.
Thankfully, we’ve gotten through those early hurdles, and now I have an amazing team around me — including my friend and photographer Fin Matson, who joined as co-founder and creative director. Having his support has made a huge difference, and I really feel like we have a strong shot at making this something special.
In a world saturated with stock footage — and now with the rise of AI-generated content — how much do you think Filmcuts’ identity can make a difference?
We’ve actually joked plenty of times that AI could just destroy this whole project — because, let’s be real, AI video is an incredibly powerful tool. You can literally type a few words into a prompt and have it generate exactly what you described. It’s amazing technology, and it’s already changing how videos get made.
But at the same time, I think that actually works in our favor — because we’re the complete opposite of that. We bring authenticity. And authenticity is not something AI can create.
So while brands and production companies will absolutely use AI as a tool — and they should — I think there’s also going to be a growing demand for the opposite: for something real, something human. That’s where Filmcuts comes in. We’re giving them a way to tap into that authenticity with just a click of a button.
And I honestly think that as more of the content we see starts to drift toward artificial and AI-generated, there’s going to be a big swing back. People are going to crave work that feels alive, nostalgic, emotional — content that has a soul. AI doesn’t have that. But the footage we’re curating is full of it. These are pieces created by real artists, on their own time, with their own vision, using real film — with all its grain, richness, and unpredictability. That’s what gives it life.
What’s next for Filmcuts — both short-term and long-term?
In the short term, it’s all about building. We’re onboarding more film creators every week and aiming to grow our library by the thousands. We’re also building out the new version of the platform from the ground up — faster, more powerful search, multi-resolution downloads, and a much smoother experience overall.
Long term, I see Filmcuts becoming the go-to hub for film-based visuals — not just stock, but a whole ecosystem. We want to support creators with education, resources, and collaborations, and also give brands and agencies a trusted place to find authentic, cinematic content. Ultimately, it’s about preserving this art form and proving it still has a huge place in modern storytelling.
Thank you, Austin, for sharing your journey and vision. I couldn’t agree more, in a world increasingly filled with AI-generated content, the authenticity of film has the power to stand out like never before.
I truly believe in your project, and I’ll be glad to contribute part of my archive to Filmcuts.
Wishing you all the best, and I look forward to seeing what’s next.