WTTW is the first public television station to offer stock footage purchases from its extensive 50-year video history online.
It launched WTTW Digital Archives after five months of intense work in conjunction with Media Recall.
More than 14,000 individual show and B-roll clips are currently available for online browsing and purchase at wttwdigitalarchives.com.
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“New content is added every day,” said Barry O’Connell, director of licensing business development. The goal is to exceed 150,000 online clips from Ch. 11’s extensive videotape archives, including a wealth of new high definition footage.
WTTW Archives will be a new revenue stream for the television operation, he noted.
| Media Recall started the project last October
Media Recall directed the intricate and time-consuming process of digitizing and describing each of the 14,000 clips and building the innovative user interface?a significant step forward in the field of online stock footage. The entire site is built in Flash, eliminating multiple screen pop ups and time-consuming downloads of various media players. The JPEG 2000 clips play directly in the screen and play significantly faster than other formats. Users can also price most footage online, order specific clips by number and time code, pay by credit card and receive broadcast quality files quickly. CEO of Media Recall, a media asset management firm, is Robin Rutledge, a former film producer/director and partner in Luminaire. Media Recall is located at 1 Northfield Plaza; phone, 847/947 3120. See www.mediarecall.com. |
At the site, the user can review samples and download low-resolution files without charge. After identifying the final footage they want for editing, users can then buy high-resolution duplicates in their choice of format.
“We are adding to the site every day,” said O’Connell, “and we are acquiring outside content. We’re concentrating on independent producers who are shooting HD right now.”
WTTW hired Music licensing expert O’Connell 18 months ago to clear the “Sound Stage” music rights for home video use. “Exploiting those rights led to the creation of the archives,” he said.
Coincidentally, when O’Connell was with now-defunct Platinum Music in charge of its licensing catalog, he worked with “Sound Stage” producer Joe Thomas.
Media Recall will maintain the site, updating and posting new materials, in conjunction with O’Connell’s internal staff.
Phone number for O’Connell is 773/509-5410.
