Activity Log

Picture this: an embargoed still appears on a gossip blog two weeks before the official release. The publicist shared it with six media outlets and three talent reps. Finding the source means digging through email threads, checking timestamps, and making awkward phone calls. Days of investigation, and you still might not confirm the source with certainty.

With an activity log, that's a five-minute problem.

Why tracking access matters

When you manage photos that are under NDA, embargoed, or subject to talent kill rights, knowing who saw what isn't optional. It's a requirement. Studios ask for it. Legal teams expect it. Insurance policies may depend on it.

But beyond compliance, there's a practical reason: you can't manage what you can't see. If 20 people have access to a project and a photo leaks, you need facts, not guesses. If a client claims they never received the files, you need proof they downloaded them.

Activity logs turn "he said, she said" into "here's the record."

What gets tracked

ReelStorage logs every meaningful action in your project automatically. There's nothing to configure or turn on. From the moment content enters your project, the system records:

Content actions

• Photo uploads (who, when, what file)
• Views (who opened the full-resolution viewer)
• Downloads (who downloaded, which format, when)
• Exports (bulk downloads, format conversions)

Sharing actions

• Share links created (who created, what was shared)
• Share links accessed (who visited, when, from what source)
• Collection shares and external distribution events

Permission actions

• Team members added or removed
• Role changes (admin, editor, viewer)
• Project access grants and revocations

Workflow actions

• Approval decisions (approved, rejected, by whom)
• Watermark status changes
• Folder moves and collection modifications
• Metadata edits

Every entry includes a timestamp, the user who performed the action, and the specific asset or resource affected.

Using the activity log

Project-level timeline

Open the activity log for any project and you see a chronological feed of everything that's happened. It's like a version history for the entire project, not just individual files.

Filter this timeline by:

• Action type: Show only downloads, only shares, only permission changes
• User: See everything a specific person did
• Date range: Focus on a specific time period
• Asset: Drill into a single photo's full history

Asset-level history

Every photo has its own activity timeline. Open any asset and you can see its complete lifecycle: when it was uploaded, who viewed it, every download event, whether it was shared externally, and any approval decisions made on it.

This per-asset view is what you'll use most in leak investigations or chain of custody documentation. Pull up the photo in question, see everyone who touched it, done.

Exporting for legal and compliance

When a studio requests documentation, or when legal needs an audit trail, export the activity log as structured data. You can filter the export by date range, user, asset, or action type to produce exactly the report that's needed.

Exports include all event details: timestamps, user identification, action descriptions, and affected resources. The format is designed for readability by non-technical reviewers.

Real-world scenarios

Leak investigation

A pre-release still appears on social media. You:

1. Open the activity log for that specific asset
2. Filter for download and share events
3. See that six people downloaded it, three through share links
4. Cross-reference timestamps with when the leak appeared
5. Identify the most likely source based on access timing

What used to take days of detective work now takes minutes.

Studio compliance audit

A network requests chain of custody documentation for all production stills. You:

1. Export the full project activity log for the production period
2. Filter to show uploads, access grants, downloads, and distribution events
3. Deliver a complete, timestamped record covering every photo from capture to distribution

No reconstructing from memory. No assembling evidence from email threads. The system already has it.

Verifying delivery

You distributed press photos to eight outlets for a premiere. Your client wants confirmation everyone received them. You:

1. Open the activity log
2. Filter by the share links you created
3. See which outlets accessed the links and when they downloaded
4. Flag the two outlets that haven't accessed their link yet
5. Follow up only with those two

Approval audit

A talent rep disputes which photos were approved. You:

1. Open the activity log for the approval workflow
2. Show the exact timestamps and decisions for every photo
3. See who submitted the approval, what they approved, and when

The record speaks for itself.

Retention and compliance

Activity logs are retained for a minimum of one year, with extended retention for assets that remain on the platform. This meets the typical requirements for production compliance, legal hold, and audit documentation.

Logs are append-only. Users can't edit or delete entries. This ensures the audit trail remains trustworthy and admissible for compliance purposes. The system manages log integrity, not individual users.

Who needs this

Producers and production managers who are accountable for content security on set. When the studio asks "who had access to those stills?", you need an answer, not a shrug.

Studio legal teams that require documentation for rights management, compliance audits, and leak investigations. Exportable, timestamped logs meet the standard expectations.

Compliance officers responsible for data governance across projects. Activity logs provide the visibility needed to verify that access policies are being followed.

Publicists managing embargoed content distribution. Track exactly who received what, when they accessed it, and whether they downloaded the files.

Technical details

• All actions logged automatically with no configuration required
• Append-only log storage ensures tamper resistance
• Per-asset and per-project views with flexible filtering
• Exportable to structured data formats for external review
• Minimum 1-year retention, longer for active assets
• Real-time log updates as actions occur