Archival Footage Researcher for YouTube

Posted last week

Worldwide

Summary

I run a faceless documentary channel about American geography. Long-form, 35–42 minutes, heavily researched. I write the script and produce a shot-by-shot document: every line of narration gets a row saying what needs to be on screen. Your job is to fill in the third column — find the actual footage or image for each row and paste the link. Example row: 1:32 — VO: "running 700 miles from northern California up into British Columbia" — NEEDS: a labelled map of the Cascadia Subduction Zone with the trench drawn offshore. You find it. Public domain archives, USGS, NOAA, NPS, Library of Congress, university collections, licensed stock, wherever it lives. You paste the URL and note the license. What this job is not: you are not editing. You are not choosing what the video says. You're finding the specific thing I've already specified. Hard requirements: No AI-generated images, footage, maps, or diagrams. Ever. This is the one rule with no exceptions. When you genuinely can't find something, you say so and flag it. You never substitute something close enough. Every link comes with its source and license. How this works: First job is the opening 3 minutes of a real script, paid at full rate. If that goes well, ongoing work — roughly one video a week. To apply, answer this: My script says "a wall of water sixty stories tall once rebuilt the entire state of Washington in two days." What would you put on screen for that line, and where would you find it?

  • $75.00

    Fixed-price
  • Intermediate
    Experience Level
  • Remote Job
  • Complex project
    Project Type
Skills and Expertise
Mandatory skills
YouTube Marketing
Google Sheets
Nice-to-have skills
Video Upload
YouTube Development
Activity on this job
  • Proposals:5 to 10
  • Interviewing:
    0
  • Invites sent:
    0
  • Unanswered invites:
    0
About the client
Member since Mar 1, 2026
  • USA
    Houston1:59 PM
  • $3.9K total spent
    27 hires, 25 active

Explore similar jobs on Upwork

E-commerce video editorFixed-price‐ Posted 2 weeks ago
Reel creator and marketingFixed-price‐ Posted 5 days ago
Video Production
Video Post-Editing
Video Commercial

How it works

  • Post a job icon
    Create your free profile
    Highlight your skills and experience, show your portfolio, and set your ideal pay rate.
  • Talent comes to you icon
    Work the way you want
    Apply for jobs, create easy-to-by projects, or access exclusive opportunities that come to you.
  • Payment simplified icon
    Get paid securely
    From contract to payment, we help you work safely and get paid securely.
Want to get started? Create a profile

About Upwork

  • Rating is 4.9 out of 5.
    4.9/5
    (Average rating of clients by professionals)
  • G2 2021
    #1 freelance platform
  • 49,000+
    Signed contract every week
  • $2.3B
    Freelancers earned on Upwork in 2020

Find the best freelance jobs

Growing your career is as easy as creating a free profile and finding work like this that fits your skills.

Trusted by

  • Microsoft Logo
  • Airbnb Logo
  • Bissell Logo
  • GoDaddy Logo