About
A New York AI film studio telling history, briefly.
Past Briefly is a New York-based AI film studio. We make short historical documentaries. Each film runs under a minute, roughly 35 to 60 seconds, and tells one real, documented moment.
AI-assisted visuals, real sources.
What we make
One moment per film, told from the record. Some of the stories on the site now:
- The Apollo 11 landing
- The first American football game
- Columbus crossing the Atlantic
- The Buttonwood Agreement that began the New York Stock Exchange
- The Salem witch trials
- The Mary Celeste
- The lost colony of Roanoke
- Washington's first oath
- Caesar's final morning
How a film is made
- Research first. Before any script, we build a fact sheet of claims, each tied to a source.
- Write from the record. The script is written from that fact sheet.
- Make the film. Visuals, narration and score are AI-generated.
- People in charge. People direct and review every cut.
Our visuals are AI-assisted reconstructions, not archival footage. Names, dates and quotes come from the documented record, and we never make up a person, a quote or an event.
Corrections
When a viewer catches a mistake, we check it against sources, thank them, and fix it in future work.
Where to watch
Find Past Briefly on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky and X. Links are at the foot of this page.
Or watch the full catalogue at pastbriefly.com, on the timeline and the map.
Contact
Write to us at [email protected].
Past Briefly, LLC · New York