Kodak Films vs Kodak Eastman Films - What's Going On?

Those of you who spend lots of time online might have noticed a recent uptick in rumours about Kodak. Specifically there is lots of speculation that European supply of your favourite Kodak films is under threat from a big commercial fallout. This is not true - but it does highlight some important complexities of the global film production chain that is worth exploring. So come with me on a fascinating journey of corporate structures and how they impact our hobby! 😂  (I promise to make it fun...)

Important Context 1 - why trust me?

You might be thinking 'how can I trust Paul and Analogue Wonderland over any other source?' and that's a great question.

Fortunately there's a simple answer: we are a direct customer of Kodak Alaris and have been for years. We talk every week about different ideas, evolving markets, and plans for the future, and I have similarly strong relationships with the other key players in the industry (which you will see is very relevant later...)

Titans of industry! Giles from Harman Tech and Andy from Kodak Alaris. Taken by Paul McKay on a Pentax 17 and Kodak Gold 35mm at the AP Awards dinner

Another important point is that my motivation in this discussion is to bring clarity and calm to the chat. I'm NOT trying to win online views or engagement or upvotes - all of which are highly correlated with 'hot takes' versus reality.

This doesn't mean I have perfect insight, and I obviously can't predict the future, but I do have those direct lines.

Important Context 2 - what's the difference between Kodak Eastman and Kodak Alaris?

There is a longer answer that goes back to the famous 2012 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing but I won't recap the past 15 years here. Instead I'll summarise life 'today' in a little table:

The most important point for the rumour mill today is that Kodak Alaris has a global network of distributors and retailers for getting their films into the hands of film photographers, and Kodak Eastman fully manufactures those films from their Rochester base in the USA. The companies rely on each other to get you your film fast and fresh 😉

So without further ado, on to the questions currently filling certain parts of the internet!

Has Kodak Alaris 'Fired Everyone'?

No.

You must have been on Reddit recently 😅 where some helpful person announced the mass layoffs of a workforce...that never happened. So the short answer - NO. None of this is correct:

In fact when I phoned my contacts to commiserate on their misfortune 😂 they were rather surprised to learn that they weren't meant to be at work, especially as they were in the middle of a budget meeting agreeing future sales targets with Kodak Eastman!

Has Portra been discontinued?

No.

But someone in the community is taking rather strange delight in regularly updating the Wikipedia page for Portra, claiming that it's done. It keeps getting corrected back, but some people have more time than sense and so the cycle continues.

So please don't panic-buy Portra or any other Kodak film from this unfounded fear.

(The salesman in me has to add: feel free to normal-buy Portra though! 😂)

yummy!

Are other people buying master rolls and finishing different Kodak emulsions in [country/city/secret location]?!

No.

The number of factories able to 'finish' a film master roll can be counted on the fingers of one hand. It is sadly not as simple as taking a ruler and stanley knife out to the car park under cover of night 😂

You won't be surprised to hear that the owners of all these factories talk to each regularly (legally) and would absolutely know if someone was Walter Whiting the global film supply.

So is ANYTHING changing?

As far as Kodak Alaris are concerned - no. They continue to hold the licence to sell their films worldwide. They got new owners in August 2024, who are doing what new owners often do: poke around for a bit and then make some changes to improve the business health. I know this involved some organisational change (not recent) and some complicated property deals designed to release cash - but they bought Alaris to make money from selling film, and that's not changed.

For Kodak Eastman they have taken the opportunity to make some of their own-branded films! Which is awesome: more emulsions is nearly always good news for film shooters.

I don't know if there have been any formulation changes between films marketed 'Kodacolor' vs 'Gold' or 'Ektacolor Pro' vs 'Portra' - recipes are confidential information but we can probably make some smart guesses.

My personal opinion (different from the facts I've been reporting so far) is that it's a sensible move for a manufacturer to have the ability to make their own-label products. In most industries it is common practice and provides a diversified income in case of an unexpected external issue (trade wars, tariff issues, government regulations).

And I'm not surprised that the past few years have provoked enough concern about 'unexpected external issues' for them to make this move now!

What's the future for Kodak film?

In the short-term: absolutely the same as the past ten years!

Specifically I think we'll continue to see the fantastic portfolio of colour and B&W films available around the world, hopefully with some new additions/upgrades along the way.

In the long-term: harder to tell. Will the partnership between manufacture (Eastman) and distribution/marketing (Alaris) remain exactly the same forever? Probably not - just because very few things last forever! But that doesn't mean your film supply is going to be affected overnight (who would that benefit?!) and any corporate changes would happen as they usually do...in a slow and boring way that minimises day-to-day disruption for their consumers.

Sorry to be so non-incendiary! I've just never seen a big company deliberately blow up its distribution network or commercial relationships before, and I can't imagine it's about to start now.

I must also admit some personal frustration that people are choosing to spread false rumours about film. This drives real anxiety - some of my team were texting me late last night saying 'is this going to be ok?' - and we've had customers phone all day wondering what they should do.

So please...don't feed the trolls, ask people with good sources if you're worried, and keep shooting!

Are there any other rumours or fears you'd like me to specifically address? Comment below!