documentary industry

The Right Footage

Stock and Archive Footage: What’s the Difference?

By No Comments
Stock and Archive Footage: What’s the Difference?

We’ve all encountered stock footage whether in advertisements, or even in documentary films: ready-made footage that is used by a creator to illustrate part of a narrative or to create a certain aesthetic. However, though archive footage technically serves the same role, there are some fundamental differences between stock and archive footage that are important when trying to understand pricing, and the rights required to use the footage.

In other words, when producing a program for film or television, when am I searching for “stock,” and when is it seeking out “archive footage?”  (more…)

Licensing, The Right Footage

3 Tips for Uncovering Amazing Archive Footage

By No Comments
3 Tips for Uncovering Amazing Archive Footage

More and more archive footage is becoming readily available to license from massive commercial film and photo licensing companies like Getty, Adobe, and many others, every day. Despite this, there are worlds of unseen footage out there, and fast-growing documentary audiences crave new ways to experience the past. Today more than ever, it is extremely important for content creators and archive researchers to diversify their sources to set their productions and storytelling apart.

Here are a few ways to uncover incredible footage for your productions that will set your production apart. (more…)

Archive Researchers, Archive Valley, Documentary Festivals

MIPDoc 2018: 5 Events to Look Forward to

By No Comments
MIPDoc 2018: 5 Events to Look Forward to

Showcasing 1,600 programmes and projects to over 400 buyers and commissioners, MIPDoc is the world’s largest platform for documentary and factual content. At this year’s edition, Archive Valley will be organizing and moderating a special panel dedicated to the topic of archive footage and research: “ARCHIVES & STORYTELLING: UNEARTHING UNIQUE FOOTAGE AT A GLOBAL SCALE“. Our CEO and co-founder Melanie Rozencwajg will be moderating a 45 min talk session with James Hunt, archive researcher & director and Thorsten Pollfuss, CEO of Epoche Media. The session will be an outstanding platform to discuss the challenges filmmakers face in delving into hours of footage and the creative process that ultimately lead to remarkable films.

We are excited to be part of such an important conference and share a stage with so many key industry executives. With the help of Amandine Cassi, Executive Producer MIP Conferences, Archive Valley has prepared for you a short selection with some of the highlights of this year conference and events program:
(more…)

Archive Valley, The Right Footage

Archives and the Future of Documentary: Industry Insight from DocNYC

By No Comments
Archives and the Future of Documentary: Industry Insight from DocNYC

From November 9th to 16th this year, the documentary industry converged on New York City for DocNYC, a festival dedicated to the documentary craft that the Wall Street Journal has recently called “an essential summit for all kinds of documentary filmmaking.” The Archive Valley team went to New York to meet with filmmakers – from documentary veterans to up-and-coming talent – and to take the pulse of the industry. This year’s edition and industry program was a great opportunity for discussion around archive-driven films, which featured prominently in the the past few editions.  (more…)

Archive Valley, Licensing

Archive Industry Insight from the 2017 DMLA Conference in New York

By No Comments
Archive Industry Insight from the 2017 DMLA Conference in New York

At the Digital Media Licensing Association conference we got to take the pulse of the licensing business and hear from footage research and licensing professionals about the specific challenges we face in our industry and some tips for effective licensing. Though professional archive researchers for the film and TV industry have connections with footage libraries they’ve built over the years, directors are relying more and more on YouTube links, and not all productions have access to professional researchers. A panel discussion led by FOCAL International‘s Mary Egan gave some industry pros a chance to share their thoughts.  (more…)