If stock footage is the canned soup of production, then the pantry is packed and growing easier to access. Meanwhile, the flavors are changing, and with them, the way Canadian television is produced.

The business of stock footage and archival images for production is in flux. Broadband, Internet, changes in the Canadian production scene and new ownership for two of the biggest stock providers on the continent have helped the business evolve to its current state.

Gone are the long waiting times and difficult days of searching out a production’s needs. Gone is the time when stock footage was just about documentary, commercial and television producers looking for nature shots, time lapse and sport footage.

The National Film Board of Canada, arguably one of Canada’s top archival resources, reports huge increases in the demand for stock footage. Says Sylvie Menard, co-ordinator of the stock shot library at the nfb: ‘Wow! Five years ago we were talking about $150,000 and now we’re talking about nearly $700,000.’

However, Menard is quick to point out that despite the ballooning figure, the nfb is not about profit. ‘It’s just a recovery of our costs to keep the collection active,’ she says.

Menard attributes the increase in demand for stock footage at the nfb to the increase in Canadian specialty networks. ‘There is more original content being produced in Canada than we had five years ago. And a lot of the documentaries that are produced are historical. They need the old stock footage.’

The nfb still operates under the old paradigm for the acquisition of its film stocks, not actively seeking out, commissioning or purchasing any new stock.

‘We just take all the shooting from nfb films. So, whatever is left, we go through that and we just pick what we think would be worth it to re-use in a new production,’ explains Menard.

However, the nfb is looking toward the future. ‘You have to be present on the Internet. We’re working on tools in terms of development, but it’s more like creating better access. We’re looking at making the moving images accessible through the Net.’

The Image Bank Canada is already an extremely large Internet player. Andy Roeder, president, describes the company’s web play: ‘Right now, you might go onto a website looking to do research on Martin Luther King and you get text and a picture. But it’s inherently more rich to get the media of the actual address with him speaking with the audio and the motions.’

Even with the Image Bank’s cutting-edge footage preview and delivery system, it must still be selective about the footage it digitizes.

‘It’s not something where you just digitize everything. You have to make some choices for the stuff that’s most salable or most important for whatever reasons: sociological or business. But, we’re still somewhat in the earlier stages in terms of prioritizing the material,’ Roeder says.

Despite its role as a leader in the trend to ‘e-footage,’ the Image Bank Canada is still at an ‘evangelical stage.’ Says Roeder: ‘When I say we’re in the evangelical stage, we still need to do a lot of educating the clients as to the nature of the libraries. What content is available? How can it be used and the different variants, various mediums and so forth?

‘Stock has traditionally been perceived as content inclusive of: time lapse, wildlife, archive and the types of things you can’t shoot on demand. That’s sort of the traditional perspective of stock. And it still plays a major role in our business, of course. But we’ve really developed the library into much more cutting edge, highly stylized commercial cinematography,’ Roeder explains.

The Image Bank president cites a number of perks associated with this outlook. ‘It really has developed into some great spec shooting and we go out now and produce stock footage to sell as stock footage. Also, a lot of the people who are shooting the stock footage we have in the library are very difficult to get. We have the flexibility to use them when they’re available.’

Roeder works hard to let the agencies know the Image Bank has this kind of footage available. He contacts them, ‘giving them an idea about what commercials have been done using stock footage that are just top-notch.

‘We’ve got it in the can already,’ says Roeder. ‘They know it was a good weather day and they know that the exposure was right. And this, at least, has an element of predictability. [In terms of] speed of access, you can see running footage on our website today and have it in your hands [almost immediately].’

With the core of their business in the ‘tv commercial side,’ the Image Bank also must concentrate on issues of rights and clearances.

Roeder explains: ‘For fair, educational or documentary-type uses we don’t have to worry so much about the clearance issues. But for commercials, clearly, you can’t just put in anything you want. Some small companies exist for the sole purpose of clearance and research. But we have [one, right here,] under the Image Bank brand. If you want Bruce Lee in a commercial, we know where to access him. We can negotiate the fees and we can get the ‘outs’ from a studio.’ A strong research and clearance division, says Roeder, ‘is part of the total product.’

‘The intellectual property side is a very complicated area. [For example], if you shoot a stadium crowd, you most likely don’t need any clearances. But if you shoot more or less close-ups of five people in the stadium crowd, you’ll need releases from those people. It’s a bit in the eye of the beholder. When you see the shot, do you see the people? Or do you see a crowd? We can provide considerable experience and expertise in getting these things cleared.’

This experience and expertise changed hands this year as the Image Bank and its sixty-two franchises including the Image Bank Canada (all formerly owned by Eastman Kodak) were purchased by Seattle-based Getty Images. Getty also snapped up the Energy Film Library this year and is positioning the organization as a true leader in the stock image business.

‘There are some things going on between Energy and Image Bank, now that they’re both Getty brands,’ says Paul Smart of Flack Public Relations, explaining that ‘what will be what, in terms of company responsibilities’ is still being sorted out. ‘Our sense is that Energy will end up becoming the more ‘upscale’ of the brands,’ he says.

Smart explains the trends in stock footage, from Getty Images’ perspective: ‘They’re preparing for broadband and shifting everything over to high def format,’ he says. ‘Also, they’re starting to put reels together for Internet companies and for the advertising industry to play footage in banner ads. That’s kind of the biggest thing.’

During what appears to be a consolidation of the larger image houses, some smaller Canadian firms are feeling a bit of heat.

Robert Bocking Productions’ Bob Bocking, who boasts one of Canada’s best nature footage libraries, laments, ‘It has really slowed down this year. Budget cutting at cbc and tvo has reduced the demand for stock footage.’

Despite the slowdown, Bocking’s business is far from dead. ‘I still get requests for commercials and have an ongoing relationship with Energy.’

The Image Bank Canada’s Roeder takes the broadcaster cutbacks from a different angle. He says, ‘I think they have cut their production resources at cbc. So, it may in fact lead to some additional stock footage requirements. The cbc has its own stock library but it’s more newsreel type stuff and more tape-driven material that they archive for themselves and other organizations.’

There is no question that the stock footage business is evolving. And if the smaller Canadian libraries don’t digitize and ride the trends, they may fall victim to the huge American mega-corps which are slowly taking control of the business.

Bottom line – if you’re going to serve canned soup – it better be made from good stock.