Add stock footage providers to the growing list of players seizing opportunities in the burgeoning world of new digital technologies.

Archival image banks are finding new markets in which to license and package content in the multi-platform universe.

‘This is an exciting time in our industry,’ says Kristy Manning, director of sales at BBC Motion Gallery, a division of the U.K. pubcaster with an office in Toronto. ‘Our content isn’t needed just for traditional networks anymore, but also for cell phone, Internet, video-on-demand, in-store rights and outdoor broadcast – the whole gamut of technologies. The hunger for content is amazing.’

Stock footage companies are finding that their value is not merely in licensing archival shots for these new mediums – they are actively repackaging stock footage in bite-sized form for the various services.

‘We are creating new product for aggregators – three- to five-minute episodes using stock footage,’ says Manning, who is based in L.A. ‘Some content providers, such as mobile aggregators, don’t want raw clips. They may not have production staff in-house, so we can offer edited packages.’

She notes that clients are particularly high on comedy, natural history, sports, and educational material. BBCMG is providing prepackaged video content to broadband members of the AOL Internet service, with programs ranging from short features on wild animals to historical themes.

The company also has a deal with a digital content aggregator for mobile download of its programming in Europe.

Another international image bank with a strong mobile strategy is Getty Images, which has signed deals with several U.S. companies, including Sprint, Boost Mobile and Kargo, a mobile content distributor based in New York.

‘The mobile user wants continually engaging and refreshed editorial content every day, and Getty Images is one of the few original sources of compelling content,’ says Kargo CEO Harry Kargman.

He points out that raw images on their own are not enough to entice cell phone customers to subscribe to the Kargo service, which costs up to $4 a month. Instead, his company takes the visual material and makes specific themed content packages in the areas of news, sports and celebrity entertainment.

‘Images are better when mixed with editorial and packaged as a product,’ he says. ‘People have select interests, and if you can figure out services that meet those interests, then you have better results than by just sending out stock photos on a cell phone.’

While the market for Internet and mobile download is still in the early phase, Kargman points out that he already has ‘tens of thousands of subscribers.’

BBCMG, meanwhile, is exploring new licensing opportunities in VOD. For example, in a deal with Winnipeg-based Entara Dental Media, BBC Motion Gallery has packaged archival content for the the DentaVu! Network, which provides patients with relaxing videos at dentists’ offices throughout North America. It has inked similar deals with U.K. hair salons and British commuter trains.

Elsewhere, the National Film Board is looking to the educational market to exploit its large archive. It has partnered with Discovery Canada, NHK Japan and Film Australia to produce 10 short films – completely from stock imagery – for the educational market.

The shorts range in topic from natural science to natural disaster, says Christian Ruel of the NFB’s distribution division.

‘The shorts are interesting, fun and quirky, but with valuable content that teachers can work with,’ he says.

The shorts should be ready for launch this fall at MIPCOM.

Going forward, it won’t be enough for consumers to be able to download content from the Internet or onto their cell phones. Interactivity and community will become increasingly important.

Customer-created content

‘Consumers will want to create their own content and share it,’ says BBCMG’s Manning. ‘So we are looking at ways that consumers could tap into our online library and take content, create something, and share it with their friends. The educational online networks are already doing this, providing content for kids to download and mash together to create their own video.’

The NFB is also experimenting in this arena, having digitized footage of both world wars from its archive and packaged it into thematic segments for free public consumption on its website. The interactive Make Shorts, Not War! contest was launched as part of the package.

‘It is a nice test to see how you can make stock footage interesting in a two-minute time frame,’ Ruel says. ‘These initiatives allow us to test out emerging platforms so we will be better prepared to exploit them commercially in the future.’

New digital technology is also making the sourcing and downloading of stock footage faster and easier for content producers.

‘We are continuously developing solutions to help creatives expedite their production workflow,’ BBCMG’s Manning says.

BBCMG has introduced a new ‘search widget’ to allow Mac-based customers immediate search access to its online archive without opening a web browser. Instead, researchers can source clips directly from their desktop with a clip preview window.

Currently, files can be downloaded from the BBCMG site in QuickTime 6.5, but the entire online collection is being upgraded to QuickTime 7, allowing clients to view and download larger preview files at a faster speed.

Just as stock footage companies look to the future of wireless and Internet platforms, they also point out that the immediate future of their business is in HD.

‘Our next biggest marketable product is HD footage,’ says Geoffrey Hopkinson, director of libraries and archives at CBC.

‘Over the next couple of years, there will be big demand for HD stock,’ he says. ‘We are already getting requests from ad agencies and American broadcasters for high-definition footage. Visual researchers are saying they want material on HD or they don’t want it at all.’

While HD is only a small portion of the CBC stock footage library at the moment, Hopkinson says its HD collection will expand considerably over the next year.

With similar goals, BBCMG has inked a deal with NHK to bolster its HD catalog.

‘We have a huge demand for HD content, so we partnered with NHK, because more than 96% of its TV broadcasts are shot on high definition.’ Manning says.

She adds that BBCMG is also transferring its own 35mm footage to HD. ‘The BBC has premium 35mm footage, so it makes sense,’ she says.

The emergence of new digital platforms is good news for archival footage companies, as producers and broadcasters are now expected to offer companion content for web and mobile download to complement their TV projects.

‘Clients aren’t repurposing their programs for additional media – they are creating new product for these platforms, so it has to be fresh and exclusive,’ Manning says. ‘With the cost and time it takes to shoot extra content, we think stock footage will become an increasingly viable option.’

www.bbcmotiongallery.com

creative.gettyimages.com

www.kargo.com

www.nfb.ca

www.cbc.ca/archivesales