4K Stock Libraries

[Mark Thorpe]

Hi Guys,
Just thought I'd chime in. Now I know we are all gonna be looking after and cuddling our footage, as and when the cams start rolling. That said my main intention will be to shoot for stock. Didn't wanna get jumped at the gun so I have now registered the domain: www.4koceanstock.com which will be the name attributed to the commercial library I am hoping to establish.

Initially I want to look at setting this up and finding the correct way to deliver the potential for clients to view, massively downrezzed, online footage clips prior to purchasing, similar to www.oceanfootage.com. Again this will initially be a representation of my work but in the future once I have established the site and service I would like to invite representation of other shooters of the Ocean environment in the service.

To expand on the theme I have also registered:

www.4knaturestock.com - For all things natural history
www.4kactionstock.com - For all things action sports / adrenalin related

Just thought I'd share it with you all to let you know that I plan to develop the potential of 4k Stock Libraries at the outset. The initial ocean site will be starting at a very, very basic level and there should be some web presence on that soon.

Hope all is well.

Cheers,
Mark.

[Blair S. Paulsen]

Sounds like a plan. If all goes well I will be shooting 4k stock at six National Parks in the western USA this summer. Perhaps it could find a home on 4knaturestock.com...

[Jared VanLeuven]

Sounds like I'll be bumping into you this summer, Blair. :)

[Michael Schrengohst]

It's gonna get crowed with RED users running around the world!
We are already established with a stock house and they are already setting up more servers to handle the influx of 4K footage....but I doubt they will put a lot of 4k footage on-line. They have already been selling footage to Nat Geo Channel and a bunch of the news stations that have been going HD.
My plan is to continue stock shooting and set-up for B-unit feature film shooting with the RED.....

[Jeff Kilgroe]

I plan to shoot stock as well. I haven't decided yet all the various ways I may try to sell/distribute what I shoot, but I will be looking into this more over the next few months. I will no doubt attempt to sell much directly through my own sites, but will probably have to link up with some of the larger more established stock houses in order to move a lot of footage.

[Jason Francois]

I think it sounds like a good idea.

I think I'm going to shoot 4k stock footage of other shooters shooting 4k with their RED cameras. :)

[Ralph Oshiro]

Hmmm . . . great minds think alike!

[Steve Gibby]

Very cool CamDiver…and a good business move.

The most valuable asset of any production company, big or small, is it's accumulated footage library, assuming that they hold copyright to the footage. If it's marketed correctly, it is a renewing resource - "The gift that keeps right on giving". I call it "mailbox money", because once you have it rolling for you, you get nice surprises regularly when you visit the mailbox - licensing checks.

For those who haven't made the move to license out their footage, here are the basics:

Representation
You can try to license out your own footage, using your web site, but be prepared for a ton of screening, logging, coordination, dubbing, re-sizing, storage, promoting, contracting (contracts need to airtight), and collection payments. To do it right and maximize the revenue potential of your library, it is a full time job. Remember this analogy: "If it’s fruit you’re after, a slice of watermelon is a lot more fruit than a whole grape!” The point being you may keep 100% of the revenue from your stock footage licensing if you do all the work by yourself, but that can be a lot less money for you than if you have a stock footage house represent you, let them do all the tasks I listed, and you simply get your “mailbox money”. That’s how I market my stock footage. It frees me up to go shoot more stock footage, and to do the many other production jobs I do. Think about it…you can easily lose money trying to save money.

Types of representation
Some stock houses insist on exclusive representation of your footage. If you agree to that, it better be with an established stock house who you know will push your footage – and I’d suggest no long contracts, but rather short renewable contracts. That way, if they don’t perform, you can bail out. Other stock houses are fine with non-exclusive representation, leaving you free to also have your footage marketed by other companies. That’s the path I have taken. I like the latitude to be represented by multiple companies if I choose. Read the fine print on contracts and make sure you understand everything on them. If you’re not experienced with contracts, having it read by an attorney is a good choice.

Representation rates/percentages
If you do some checking you’ll find a wide variety of percentages, ranging from 20% (you) 80% (them), to 50% (you) 50% (them). Usually the smaller companies will give you a better percentage – but they may also license less of your footage out.

Copyright
I can’t emphasis this enough – you want to retain copyright of your stock footage no matter what. Read the fine print of contracts! Your footage should be licensing out, not being sold.

Licensing fees
Licensees pay a fee for use of your footage that is based on the length of the clip, it’s format/resolution, it’s use, and the duration of the license. RED 4k and to a lesser extent 2k footage should command real good licensing rates. It will be super high resolution, and usually be used in high profile projects.

Royalty checks
Most stock footage agencies pay licensing fee checks within 30 days of shipping the footage to the licensee. Some pay within 2 weeks – even better for you.

Promotions
Stock footage houses, whether big or small need to promote themselves, your footage collections, and new collections coming online. Make sure you select a stock house that will seriously promote your footage. There are ones who just list it on web sites, and basically forget about it. Others aggressively advertise, distribute press releases, etc. You should ask your footage reps what subject matter and resolution of footage they feel will license the best – then shoot that. Everything licenses, but some genres license way more than others.

Summary
If you do it right, pay attention to contracts, choose good stock footage representatives, and shoot footage that licenses easily, then stock footage licensing can be a great revenue stream for any motion media shooter. I love shooting stock footage because I get to work alone…just me and my camera. I’m really happy with the stock house that represents my footage. They are establishing a specific footage bank of RED One collections, and the first footage will be promoted and marketed immediately after RED One starts to ship. They represent me on a non-exclusive basis, so I’ll also be looking for additional licensing avenues for my RED One footage – maybe CamDiver, Ralph Oshiro, Omen, and others!


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I hope this short primer helps some of you as you approach licensing out your RED One footage. If you do it right it may be one of the best business moves you’ll ever make, or have ever made. I’ll be happy to answer any further questions anyone has – just PM or email me.

Cheers!

[Mike Devlin]

Excellent info Gibby. I would be interested in any good (or bad) experience with particular stock footage houses. I have not seen anywhere that rates or reviews the them either, so any comments are helpful.

[Steve Gibby]

Sure thing Mike, I'll PM or email you some thoughts on that later today. Its 1:30am and time for me to get some sleep...

Cheers!