Want to sell your clips and tracks to stock houses? These tips from insiders will help you take your project shots to a much wider audience.

Want to sell your clips and tracks to stock houses? These tips from
insiders will help you take your project shots to a much wider
audience.
Have you recently hovered in a chopper just feet above an erupting
volcano in order to capture some amazing high definition footage for a
project you were working on? Perhaps you’ve composed a great score for
a long-form project and have a few pieces that weren’t used? Many pros
in similar situations have turned to stock footage houses or music
libraries and found themselves as part of a core team of freelancers
often called upon by some of today’s leading stock source companies.
In a business where quality is paramount, how can you-a professional
shooter, producer, session musician, composer-get your own work
included in these collections? After speaking with several companies,
we discovered some definite dos and don’ts, and a few things you’ll
need to know before you even make that first contact.
A Picture’s Worth
"The first thing anyone needs to realize when thinking about
approaching either a stock footage or music library company is that the
needs between the two are very different-at least for us," says Eric
Franks, director of technical education for Digital Juice, a company
based in Florida that offers both stock footage and audio tracks. "For
video, the primary thing we’re looking for from a shooter is quality.
That shouldn’t be surprising to anyone. When we’re considering working
with someone new, we’re going to look at their resume and demo reel. If
we don’t see something of interest in the reel, then there’s really no
point in going beyond that."
As for what kinds of footage will get you noticed, Franks says there
are a few things to keep in mind. "One of the things we consider is the
overall look of a shot. For instance, are there nice camera moves and
composition? Is the shot artistically framed?"
Phil Bates, president and founder of Artbeats, an Oregon -based stock
footage house agrees, "The camera needs to be very stable. It needs to
be held or on a tripod in a manner that doesn’t shake. The pans and
zooms are important also, but the key is that the camera moves need to
be smooth. The shots in the demo should really only be 10 to 20 seconds
long, too."
According to Bates, footage with a unique hook, such as location or
theme, is critical. "We’re looking for shots that are very difficult to
get. Things like extreme sports, for instance. Something that’s very
specific and that everyone doesn’t have." Franks agrees that his
company is looking for shots that tend toward the extreme. "We would
definitely contract out for dangerous, aerial and hard to get shots."
Neither Franks nor Bates say their companies have any hard and fast
rules about how you should initially present your work. A VHS tape, DVD
or link to a Web site are all fine. "When we’re talking about the
pre-screening process, it doesn’t really matter how you choose to show
us your work," says Franks. "But when we move on to the demo reel,
that’s when we want to see the quality and the source material you’re
using." Franks and Bates agree that film and HD are what their
companies are focusing on now.
Sound Advice
For those musicians, producers and songwriters looking to work with
music library and production music companies, well, the rules are a bit
different. According to Franks, "the quality assessment with music is
completely different than video because with video it’s simply thumbs
up or thumbs down on a particular shot. With music, we’re hiring
someone who has music that we like but we’re contracting them for a
certain number of songs that they then submit to us. Then, there’s a
revision process that goes on. That doesn’t happen with video. With
music composers, there’s a back and forth process where you can sort of
develop the music together. We can take a more active role in what the
final piece will sound like. With video, it is what it is. The shot is
already taken and if we don’t like it, then that’s that."
Franks says his company is always open to new talent, as is Ron
Mendelsohn, CEO/co-founder/composer of the California -based Megatrax,
which provides original scoring and production music. Mendelsohn says
he gets about 2,000 e-mails a day from hopefuls looking for work. "We
have a core stable of people we’ve worked with for many years. They are
very talented and versatile people who tend to be professional studio
musicians, composers and arrangers that we turn to for various
projects. But we are increasingly looking outside the core to try and
uncover new talent and emerging artists so we can broaden our
offerings." Mendelsohn says when someone is up front about what his or
her genre or style is, they really stand out. "Don’t send me an e-mail
that says,‘Hi, I’m a composer looking for work.’ That’s exactly what not
to do," he says. "What you really need to do is give me some reason why
I should call you. For instance, say‘I’m a Grammy Award-winning hip hop
producer and you can hear some of my work at this Web site.’ You really
need to be as specific as possible. Don’t try and be a generalist and
say you could do everything."
On top of that, he adds, try to establish personal contacts with others
already in the industry. "The number one thing you should do is attend
industry events, forums, trade shows, etc. Go to trade shows such as
NAB or join ASCAP or BMI and attend their various forums. That’s
infinitely more effective than cold calling."
10 QUICK TIPS
  • Quality matters: sharp images, artistically framed and steady camera moves will always get your footage noticed and move your career further.
  • Unique footage of extreme sports or dangerous situations will stand out, especially if it’s something no one else has.
  • Pick a specialty-be it extreme sports, ecotravel or vintage cars-and promote it.
  • Keep in mind that your acquisition format matters: HD is greatly in demand and film is always welcomed.
  • Before you even approach a stock footage or music library company, find out who to contact. Many companies have specific people that handle potential new talent.
  • If you’re a composer, never say you can do it all. Promote a specific style or genre of music that you specialize in.
  • Do your homework. Know something about the company you’re soliciting.
  • Try to work with one company at a time. Don’t approach several all at once (and avoid mass, generic e-mail queries).
  • When shooting footage in public settings, make sure you have all your legal papers in order. You need to make sure actors, models and people on the street have signed release forms.
  • Attend trade shows, join organizations and attend seminars or forums. Meeting others in the business will always help you get your foot in the door.