Ms. Rotondi is an archival film, photo, network news,
headlines and articles researcher with 30+ years of experience. Ms. Rotondi believes at the heart of any successful documentary is solid research.

Rosemary works with local, nationwide and international archives. Her wide range of experience includes working as researcher on the documentaries: ATTICA by Stanley Nelson (2021), BECOMING COUSTEAU by Liz Garbus (2021), RECORDER: The Marion Stokes Project (2019), OUR NIXON(2013), TEENAGE (2013), RISK (2017), BOSS: The Black Experience in Business (2019), DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD (2016), MAKING THE BOYS (2011), and Academy Award-nominated documentaries REGRET TO INFORM(1999), INSIDE JOB (2010) and CITIZENFOUR (2014) among others. INSIDE JOB by Charles Ferguson was awarded an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2011. CITIZENFOUR by Laura Poitras was awarded an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2015.

“The archival footage is the foundation of the film so before we even figured out what story we were going to tell, we started doing archival research and that process was led by an extraordinary researcher named Rosemary Rotondi and she worked with a team of researchers in Washington DC, Germany and England. And basically, we gave her a vast, expansive list of topics when we started working together and she returned an incredible amount of footage. From there, it gave us a sense of the scope of what we could cover - what periods we could cover, what storylines that were yielding results and then would refine that list and go further and get more material.”
Matt Wolf, director of TEENAGE,
Eye for Film, January 31, 2014 interview

“The archival riches, as well, cannot be overestimated
(crack New York-based archival researcher,
Rosemary Rotondi, really outdoes herself).”
BERLINALE ‘10 WRAP-UP’, a 2010 festival review

"Assiduous research ... also unearths some
amazing archival material."
The Village Voice, March 9, 2011 issue

"I also worked very closely with our chief archival researcher, Rosemary Rotondi, who is first rate."
Crayton Robey, in an interview with
Nick Orlando's column, TalkinBroadway.com

UPCOMING SCREENINGS

Toronto International Film Festival 2021
Tickets and screening calendar released on August 24th.

ATTICA
Stanley Nelson examines the largest prison uprising in US history, conducting dozens of new interviews with inmates, journalists, and other witnesses.
tiff.net/events/attica

BECOMING COUSTEAU
Liz Garbus dives into the archives of the undersea explorer who tried decades ago to warn the world about the climate crisis.
tiff.net/events/becoming-cousteau

[ See Resume ] [ View Highlights of Credits ]

Hiring an archival researcher is an
indispensable investment.

Experienced researchers add considerably to the quality of a documentary, film, commercial or video art tape. A skilled researcher is able to identify and evaluate imagery, better matching the visuals to your requirements. An adept, skilled researcher saves a client money and time.

An experienced researcher knows how to access sources more quickly. Just as important, researchers bring with them talents as visual assessors. Accurate research fleshes out a documentary, enriching it. One also avoids receiving prepackaged visual images, a system which accounts for the high incidence of documentaries sharing similar themes often utilizing the same archival footage.

Using an inexperienced intern or in-house assistant to do an experienced researcher's work can result in lower quality and less access to material due to lack of experience. This will have an impact on the entire production.The experienced archival researcher brings an individualized focus to your work in order to get you the best footage or photograph available, as quickly as possible, on deadline — and within your budget. Experienced researchers such as Ms. Rotondi also enjoy "preferred vendor" relationships with the archives with whom they work.

Be it for a historical or contemporary documentary, a skilled researcher is necessary and a worthy investment.