About
About FrameThrower
FrameThrower is a cinematography reference library that lets filmmakers, animators and agency creatives search 2,380,615 frames and 1,946,140 clips from films, animation and commercials by describing the shot.
Its mission is to educate the next generation of creatives: to help them learn from the greats in film, advertising and animation.
Frames from thousands of films and anime, with motion clips, searchable by lighting, lens, shot size, colour or a plain description of what you have in your head. Finding a reference takes seconds instead of an evening of scrubbing, so more of your time goes into the work.
What FrameThrower does
- Search by what you see: describe a shot, pick a colour, or drop in an image.
- Study a film shot by shot: browse a film, a director or a cinematographer frame by frame.
- See it move: anime titles come with every cut as a clip, to study motion and pacing.
- Build boards and decks: collect references into mood boards and lookbooks for a pitch or a crew.
- Plug it into your tools: a REST API, an MCP server for AI agents, an npm SDK and a ComfyUI node.
Who uses FrameThrower
- Film, animation and art students
- Teachers and film schools
- Directors
- Cinematographers
- Gaffers
- Production designers
- Art directors
- Colorists
- Editors
- Storyboard artists
- Animators
- Commercial and agency creatives
- Producers pitching a project
- AI filmmakers
- Developers building creative tools
The team behind FrameThrower
FrameThrower is built by senior filmmakers and ads creatives (people who have shot, cut and pitched for a living) for working film professionals.
Every one of us learned by looking: pausing films, studying how a scene was lit, copying frames into notebooks. That habit is how the craft gets passed on, and it should not depend on owning a shelf of Blu-rays or knowing which film to pause. We built the library we wished we had when we started, and kept building it because the work kept needing it.
How it is meant to be used
These are copyrighted frames.
They are shown in reduced resolution for inspiration, learning and commentary. We do not own them, and all rights remain with their owners.
Use it for
- Studying lighting, composition, colour and blocking, the way you would in a library.
- Private mood boards, references and pitch decks for your own work.
- Teaching, critique and commentary.
Not for
- Training or fine-tuning a model on frames, or bulk-feeding them to one.
- Selling, licensing or redistributing frames as if they were yours.
- Passing any frame off as your own original work.
Who is behind it
Founder
Creative engineering for film and advertising for over 20 years.
- Brands
- Coca-Cola (FIFA campaign), Amazon, SC Johnson, Monks (MediaMonks)
- Partner programmes
- EAP / Creative Partner at Google, Adobe, ByteDance, Runway, Kling, Luma, Flora, KREA, Hailuo and others
- Reach
- 50M views across LinkedIn, Instagram and X in 2025
- Featured in
- Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, Google, NBC (Peacock)
What makes FrameThrower different
- A larger library: 2,380,615 frames and 1,946,140 clips, including 35,887 commercials, against about 1.79 million stills at ShotDeck.
- Curated and deeply indexed: frames are picked by an in-house film team and indexed on about 50 data points each: lighting, lens, framing, angle, colour and mood.
- More ways to search: describe the shot, drop in an image, pick a colour or upload a script.
- Free to start: a free plan with no card, and Pro at $84 a year (ShotDeck $99.95, Flim $173.99).
- Built for other tools: the only one of these libraries with a public API and an MCP server.
How FrameThrower works
- Sign up free: no card: 10 searches a day and 5 downloads a week.
- Search: type what you are picturing, or start from an image or a colour.
- Collect: save frames into mood boards, shot boards and lookbooks, and export them.
- Upgrade when you need more: Pro is $14 a month or $84 a year, with a 5-day free trial; film schools use it free.
- Questions: email contact@framethrower.ai.
Key facts
| Company name | FrameThrower (FrameThrower AI, Inc., a Delaware C-Corporation) |
|---|---|
| Type | Cinematography reference library and visual search: web app, API and MCP server |
| Founded | May 2026 |
| Founder | Leo Kadieff |
| Website | https://framethrower.ai |
| Core offering | Search frames and clips from films, animation and commercials by describing the shot, by image or by colour, and collect them into mood boards and lookbooks |
| Library | 2,380,615 frames and 1,946,140 clips: 5,490 films, 1,723 animated titles, 35,887 commercials |
| Pricing | Free: 10 searches a day, 5 downloads a week. Pro: $14 a month or $84 a year, 5-day free trial. API and MCP: 200 free credits, then $1 buys 500 searches |
| Billing | Monthly or yearly |
| Products | Web app (search, mood boards, lookbooks), REST API, MCP server for AI agents, npm SDK, ComfyUI node |
| Who uses it | Directors, cinematographers, production designers, agency creatives, animators, students and film schools, developers |
| Education | Free for film and animation schools |
| Competitors | ShotDeck, Flim, FilmGrab, Frameset, StillsLab, MovieStillsDB, shot.cafe; for commercials, Ads of the World and AdForum |
| Contact | contact@framethrower.ai |
| Social | LinkedIn (framethrower_ai), Instagram (frame_thrower_anime), GitHub (framethrower-ai) |
Frequently asked questions
What is FrameThrower?
FrameThrower is a cinematography reference library that lets filmmakers, animators and agency creatives search 2,380,615 frames and 1,946,140 clips from films, animation and commercials by describing the shot. It was founded in 2026 by filmmaker Leo Kadieff.
How much does FrameThrower cost?
FrameThrower has a free plan with 10 searches a day and 5 downloads a week. Pro is $14 a month or $84 a year with a 5-day free trial, and the API and MCP server start with 200 free credits.
How is FrameThrower different from ShotDeck?
ShotDeck is a paid library you filter by tag, with no free plan, from $99.95 a year. FrameThrower has a free plan, costs $84 a year for Pro, lets you search by describing a shot, by image or by script, and adds animation, commercials and an API. ShotDeck covers TV series and music videos, which FrameThrower does not.
Who founded FrameThrower?
FrameThrower was founded in 2026 by Leo Kadieff, a filmmaker and creative technologist with over 20 years in film and advertising, including campaigns for Coca-Cola, Amazon and SC Johnson with Monks.
What does FrameThrower offer?
FrameThrower offers a web app to search, save and build mood boards and lookbooks from film, animation and commercial frames, plus a REST API, an MCP server for AI agents, an npm SDK and a ComfyUI node for teams building their own tools.
Can I use FrameThrower frames commercially?
No. FrameThrower frames are copyrighted by their owners and shown at reduced resolution for reference, learning and commentary. Use them in private mood boards, pitch decks and teaching, not for publishing, resale or training AI models.