STOCK FOOTAGE
Artbeats
What's new: Based in Myrtle Creek, Oregon, Artbeats specializes in the esoteric and the everyday, with new collections including Line Elements (graphical line drawings that can be used for blending or as mattes), Fitness and Under the Water 2. Indeed, water footage is quite popular with its clientele, with a water drop from Water Effects 1 being the shop's most popular clip. New "Ultra" collections, featuring ultra-slow motion footage shot with the Phantom HD camera, will be released this year, as will new "Cloud Fly-Thru" collections, available for the first time in HD, and new HD aerial city collections.

Price points: Artbeats uses a royalty-free model, charging a flat fee regardless of usage as long as it's within the scope of its end user license agreement. Individual HD clips start at $300 and NTSC/PAL clips start at $199; HD collections start at $799 and SD collections start at $399 (prices in USD).

Ahead for '08: A new program called FootageHub, which will give customers access to other footage libraries when they search at Artbeats.com, will be ramping up over the next six months. "FootageHub and the release of our new HD aerials are two of the most exciting growth areas for Artbeats," says company president Phil Bates.

BBC Motion Gallery
What's new: HD footage from the BBC series Galapagos was recently made available, as was HD aerial footage from renowned cinematographers Brian J. Terwilliger and Gary Kauffman. "We are also continually adding new footage through relationships with NHK, CBS News, Blacklight and other blue chip collections," says Jan Ross, BBC Motion Gallery's senior VP of the Americas.

Other areas of expertise: "Rather than specializing in a genre, our collection is known for the production quality of the footage," says Ross. "Many clips are from programs that are backed by hours of research, and are from highly accomplished production teams and cinematographers."

Tech talk: The company has most recently added clickless, large format previews and a search widget to its online home.

Recent spotwork: BBC Motion Gallery clips have appeared in a new campaign from RPA for the Honda Accord as well as new Electronic Arts spots through San Francisco agency Heat. "We've also seen a lot of interest from the digital signage arena with clients licensing clips to screen on monitors in restaurant chains and airlines for in-flight entertainment," says Ross.

Ahead for '08: Ross says HD content collections will continue to be an area of focus, with growth expected in the multicultural genre as the global economy strengthens, and in digital signage.

Corbis
What's new: Boasting more than 30,000 hours of moving imagery, Corbis has added several new collections and grown others. New collections include Ron Chappel's America, featuring HD 4:4:4 aerial footage and stills shot across the US, and Oxford Scientific, featuring science and nature clips mainly available in HD. Other popular offerings include Hollywood Licensing, the Pan Am collection featuring iconic footage culled over 20 years, and Euro-oriented lifestyle clips from partners Fotospring (based in Slovenia) and Italy's Vision Images.

Recent spotwork: Corbis contributed two clips to Jeep "Heritage" out of Cutwater, San Francisco helmed by RSA's Jake Scott (Boards, September 2007), as well as HD footage for BBDO's online and in-cinema GE "Serengeti" campaigns. Corbis also licensed clips from the film Carry on Loving for a UK-market Bounty ad through Publicis and footage of famous Canadians for DDB, Canada's "Power of One" spot for BC Hydro.

Ahead for '08: Stacey Margolis, production and acquisition specialist at Corbis Motion, says the company is particularly interested in "responding to the desire for royalty-free content" in the year ahead. "We're planning to create a RF section on the Corbis Motion site where people can have easy access to high quality RF clips," she says. Corbis Broadcast Solutions continues to streamline the "find and clear" process for commercial producers in search of the right clip.

FootageBank HD
What's new: The HD-only motion house is kicking off the year with two new collections. World freestyle ski champion Richard Schabl will be featured in an extreme sports collection available via the company's extreme sports portal (www.extremefootageHD.com). Also, Ottawa's Fifth Wave Digital will be launching an HD time-lapse collection exclusively through FootageBank HD.

Price points: Licensing fees are based on footage use, with a range from $500 per clip for some web-only uses to worldwide "all rights" for $3,000 per clip.

Tech talk: FootageBank HD will be offering large format 4:2:2 clips shot on the highly-touted RED camera beginning this spring. Boasting higher resolution than the current HD standard of 1920x1080, look for RED Cam footage come March. The FootageBank HD site now hosts over 50,000 clips for downloadable preview.

Recent spotwork: Clips have been used recently in two web spots, Pepsi "Liquid Mountain" and Nike+ "Convergin'" through Crispin Porter + Bogusky.

Ahead for '08: "One of the exciting new happenings at FootageBank HD this year is our launch of the RED Footage Collective in conjunction with the Digital Cinema Society [a nonprofit initiative for educating and informing the entertainment industry about digital motion picture production]," says company founder/CEO Paula Lumbard.

Global Imageworks
What's new: HD and film-based collections of aerial and ground footage for international destinations, rare 1920s-era African American film, and new footage in the company's extreme weather, global warming and environmental collections are among the company's recent offerings. Most popular sales in the past year were from its global conflict, environment, destinations, pop culture and music and entertainment categories.

Tech talk: Global ImageWorks will soon be launching a new online database with downloadable video clips. Personalized screeners and hi-res digital files can be requested for online delivery.

Recent appearances: Wendy's "Baconator" through Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, "E! True Hollywood Stories", Charlie Wilson's War, The Kingdom, Fields of Fuel, Taxi to the Darkside, No End in Sight, Chicago 10 and Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.

Ahead for '08: Company president Jessica Berman-Bogdan says to watch for increased HD content and new collection announcements, including "an exciting and extensive collection of China footage just in time for Olympic programming."

Getty Images
What's New: Getty Images introduced the "rights-ready" licensing model in July of last year, covering all of its rights-managed collections with a model geared towards flexibility in a digital age. "Customers are able to select a use category to obtain broad and flexible usage rights without being forced to define precise license details," says Kristl Date-Dopps, director of product marketing, footage. Also this year, Getty added collections from Warner Bros. Entertainment, and acquired Pump Audio.

Other areas of expertise: In 2007, Getty's in-house creative research department spearheaded three unique projects borne out of trend research. A concert shoot was staged in Europe so that in-demand concert crowd shots could be easily obtained for clients through Getty without having to wade through scores of model releases. Also, an "eco-tourist adventure" was shot in Brazil to reflect environmental trends and issues, and more business-oriented footage clearly reflecting ethnic and gender diversity was shot throughout the year.

Tech talk: Through the new rights-ready model, customers can self-price and license clips for spots unassisted. Clips are identified via info related to individual formats - "originated in", "mastered to" or "delivered in" tags. "Lightboxes" allow users to store clips and stills together, handy for customers who need both formats for concepting or rough cuts.

Recent appearances: Getty clips, 23 in fact, were used in a Dell interactive promotion, "Uncard Mashup" through Critical Mass, while four clips were used in Hallmark's online contribution to the "(Product) Red" campaign, incorporating video on social networking sites and an email campaign.

Ahead for '08: The accent for the year ahead will be on new media, says Date-Dopps, as customers' needs "have evolved with the growth in interactive design and new media distribution."

National Geographic Digital Motion
What's new: Speaking of Olympic fever, National Geographic Digital Motion (NGDM) recently announced it has entered into an agreement with China to license footage from the China Intercontinental Communications Centre, the media production arm of China's State Council Information Office. New HD collections include Pawel Achtel underwater footage, and BlackLight Films' HD collection of over 10,000 scenes from around the world.

Tech talk: NGDM has been producing footage in native HD for the past two years, and is able to transfer footage shot prior to that time on demand for clients. Clips available on the NGDM site exist in uncompressed digital form, which can be transferred to any file specifications.

Recent spotwork: Broadcast work includes a Jeep spot from BBDO, and a Brazilian Banco Bradesco spot shot by Mixer. Online spots include work for Nissan through Duke Interactive, Rolex through Mindshare, and a United States Navy webfilm through Campbell-Ewald.

Ahead for '08: Look for a website relaunch, featuring new capabilities, including speed-view thumbnails of clips and real-time download capability. "We're making significant investments to enhance the quality of our archive and are always seeking new content in all categories to represent in high definition," says NGDM VP Jocelyn Shearer.

Thought Equity
What's new: Thought Equity launched the Storyline Collection, a selection of "modern lifestyle motion scenes" that can provide creatives with complete storylines. The fully cleared, royalty-free content also includes matching hi-res photos for building integrated visuals across broadcast, online and print mediums.

Tech talk: Thoughtequity.com offers search capability by either creative or editorial content. Also, the search function suggests related terms to help narrow the hunt down to specific clips. The company's recent "Ready-Now Pricing" applies the same user-friendly, automated experience of selecting royalty-free clips to rights-managed content.

Recent spotwork: A recent Sony HD spot through Union Editorial features Thought Equity HD aerials and scenic shots. Agencies that have recently made use of the company's content include Grey Worldwide, Ogilvy & Mather, JWT and Draft FCB.

Ahead for '08: The company plans to open several new worldwide offices in the coming year. Beyond expanding its geographic reach, look for new major entertainment collections that, according to a company spokesperson, "will give our clients access to over 60% of all film produced in Hollywood history." Also, music and audio effects will become part of Thought Equity's offerings in the months ahead.