Project Retention

What is project retention?

Project retention is the policy that defines how long client deliveries and project files stay available, and what happens to them once that period ends. It covers both what the client can access, such as a delivery link, and what you keep internally, such as masters and raw footage. A clear retention policy turns "how long do you keep my files?" from an awkward question into a line in your contract.

Why it matters

Without a policy, retention happens by accident. Links expire before a client gets around to downloading, or files sit on paid storage for years because nobody decided to remove them. Both cause problems: frustrated clients in the first case, rising storage costs in the second.

Retention also sets expectations. Clients often assume a filmmaker will keep their footage forever. If you do not, they need to know that in writing. If you do, you may want to charge for it. Some industries, such as corporate, legal or healthcare clients, have their own data-handling requirements that affect how long you may or must keep material.

How it works

A retention policy usually answers a few questions:

• Access window. How long will the delivery stay online for the client to view and download? Many filmmakers use a fixed number of days written into their terms.

• What is kept after. Final masters only, the project file, selected footage, or all camera originals.

• How long internally. For example, masters for several years and raw footage for a shorter period.

• Restoration. Whether a client can request files after the window, and whether that costs extra.

• Deletion. When and how files are removed, especially for sensitive content.

Put the policy in your contract, repeat it in the delivery email, and send a reminder before access ends. Clients rarely read terms closely, so a short note like "Your gallery is available until 30 September; please download your files before then" prevents most disputes.

Common approaches

Some filmmakers rely on the default expiry of a transfer service such as WeTransfer, which keeps things simple but leaves little control and can catch clients out. Others share folders in Google Drive or Dropbox and leave them open indefinitely, which is generous but means storage quietly grows. A middle path is to set a deliberate access window, archive the project on your own storage afterward, and offer restores on request. There is no single right answer; the important part is choosing one on purpose.

How does DLVRD handle project retention?

In DLVRD, galleries do not expire by default, and you can give any gallery an expiry date to match the access window in your contract. That lets you choose between a permanent delivery and a fixed window per project. You can also delete delivered projects whenever you no longer want them online.