Making Kodak Film: The Book

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Robert Shanebrook has cracked the "Silver Curtain"—the details of how it makes film—with his new book, Making KODAK Film: The Illustrated Story of State-of-the-Art Photographic Film Manufacturing. With film becoming the realm of specialists and craftspeople as the masses have moved on to digital technology, Shanebrook wrote a 94-page book that, according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, "spells out a process that the outside world, let alone Kodakers, have typically not seen from start to finish."

Shanebrook worked at Kodak for 35 years and retired in 2003. He worked in many positions and learned different parts of the business. He pitched the book idea to the company, which, amazingly gave him an employee badge and full access to the facilities and allowed him to interview company experts.

Here's how Shanebrook describes the book on his web site:

"The technology required to make photographic film has been a secret held by a few companies. This book explains, for the first time, at this level of detail, how Eastman Kodak Company makes film. Photographic film is one of the most technically sophisticated chemical products that is used in everyday life. Over 200 complex chemical components are coated on to film base in up to 18 unique, precision layers which in total are half the thickness of a human hair.

"This insider’s view explains in simple terms how the operation works. It is a picture book with over 25 diagrams and over 130 photographs of Kodak’s production materials and equipment. Sixty percent of the printed surface area is illustrations. The book is unique; nearly all the illustrations were made specifically for this book."

Shanebrook doesn't spill the beans on any recipes or processes but if you're a film geek like I am, this looks like a compelling read. I'm ordering a copy, which you can only get via Shanebrook's web site, makingkodakfilm.com...how about you?