The major sources of stock and archival footage will exhibit at the ACSIL FOOTAGE EXPO 2016 which is being held at the historic Prince George Ballroom in New York City on June 9, 2016.  The ACSIL Expo, now in its second year, will feature the leading suppliers of footage and images in the US and Europe, running the gamut from major US news organizations to specialty archives, to microstock companies, to public television and music footage archives.  Joining the roster from abroad will be INA (the French National Archives), ITN Source and the Huntley Film Archive. 

Capitalizing on its success from last year, the ACSIL Expo will also feature specialty panels scheduled in the afternoon with senior leaders in media, production and the archive industry.  Topics are varied and pertinent to anyone who works with footage or in the footage business.  Sessions include “The Archive Inspired Film”, “Fair Use Boundary Wars”, “The Future of Footage Licensing”, “Hidden Gold in Filmmaker Archives” and more.   Widely popular in 2015, the panels and industry discussions add enormous value to the Expo and allow for a fascinating exchange between the creative and editorial community and the ever-evolving world of digital imagery.

“We are extremely excited to welcome back the footage community to the ACSIL FOOTAGE EXPO 2016.” said Edward Whitley, new ACSIL President and President of Bridgeman Images. “This year’s expo draws on the enormous success and popularity of our inaugural event last year. Located in one of the foremost Manhattan venues, we have a fascinating and diverse line up of panels and panelists to discuss the current and future landscape in the world of motion content. ACSIL FOOTAGE EXPO has immediately become the premier environment for everyone involved in footage to learn, converse and network with industry peers.”

As reported in last year’s ACSIL GLOBAL SURVEY, there has been significant growth in the footage business in the last five years as well as changing business models.   A new customer base empowered by digital technologies is pushing the increased demand for stock and archival imagery, including new customers in the areas of corporate non-broadcast, internet video and educational publishing.

“As the media re-invents itself with new programming options for TV and digital and education, the deep resources of footage licensors are being tapped liked never before, remarked Matthew White, Executive Director of ACSIL, on announcing the ACSIL FOOTAGE EXPO 2016.  “Audiences are enjoying this new burst in archive-inspired programming, and The Expo provides an incomparable forum for creative communities to build programming ideas directly with the stock and archival sources.”

The Expo will be held in the 1904 Prince George Ballroom which was recently renovated and modernized in 2015, maintaining its unique neoclassical features. The afternoon panels will take place in the adjacent Ladies Tea Room and Gallery.

ACSIL expects attendance from media executives, film and movie producers, educational administrators, archival researchers, digital publishers, corporate and  advertising agencies, and others involved in communicating with video.   Access to the exhibit hall is limited but free for media professionals.  Conference passes are available for $35 (before May 13) or $50 (after May 13). 

Full information on exhibitor and attendee registration, panel sessions and conference passes is available at: http://www.acsil.org/events/acsil-expo

SESSIONS - TRACK 1 & 2

TRACK 1

RESEARCHERS IN DEMAND - 1pm - 2pm EST, Tea Room

Archival Producers Take Charge as Commissions for Archive-Inspired Programming Break Out

HBO, Showtime, PBS, Discovery, History and the big cable networks had taken charge of the historical docs and bios, but new efforts in OTT and VOD are supporting the archive-inspired film with a new ferocity.  Successes such as Black Panthers: Vanguards of the Revolution, Amy, Frank Zappa In His Own Words, What Happened, Miss Simone, and Cobain: Montage of Heck have created a mountain of work for the world’s premiere archival producers and researchers.  This panel will discuss the role of the Archival Producer on a production team and help the audience understand the growing appetite for such programming among OTT and VOD entities such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, Curiosity Stream, Smithsonian Networks, the Sundance Documentary Channel, and other startups on Apple TV and Roku.

FAIR USE BOUNDARY WARS - 2pm - 3pm EST, Tea Room

Producers Rack Up Victories in Court and Start Testing the Limits of Fair Usage

Now that the production community has won the big legal battles regarding Fair Use of Copyright Material, including the right to disenable DVD security coding to exercise their Fair Use rights, a new test of Fair Use is now aggressive and ideological.   Will producers be effective in new challenges to contract law?  Is it a producer’s right to cite fair usage for intellectual properties that are easily accessible and licensable at reasonable rates from footage licensors?   Are Fair Use practices protected in countries outside of the United States?  When does Fair Use affect future accessibility of archival footage?  This panel brings the prominent and active litigators and scholars to argue it out:  Where do they agree?  Where are the boundaries?  What is coming down the legal pipeline that may affect us all?

ACSIL THINK TANK - 4pm - 5pm EST, Tea Room

Big Minds Think Big Thoughts About the Future of Footage Licensing

Where is the footage industry heading?   Will it go down the rabbit hole of subscription-based licensing that drove the per-image price of photographs to infinitesimal levels?   Will it boom from all the new producers of video programming who have never picked up a movie camera but are responsible now for full slates of educational, corporate, and Internet programs?  Have ad-supported models worked for licensors?   Is the consumer the new, emerging customer?  The best strategic minds in technology, entertainment, academia, finance, and media provide their take on the strategic landscape of the footage-licensing future.

TRACK 2

IS FOOTAGE GETTING CREATIVE ENOUGH? - 1pm - 2pm EST, Gallery

Creatives are Turning Evermore to Footage for Their Most Important Campaigns

Creative and marketing professionals are inspired and increasingly searching within the deep visual reservoir of the footage industry. Many of the top footage platforms are managed by brand experts who understand the creative needs and have designed companies and digital platforms to keep marketers active and supported. But as search and access need to become more intuitive and licensing more flexible, is the experience of a creative encounter with footage sources what it should be? This session will cast a wide net over the challenges facing the creative industry in searching for and licensing footage content in today's environment.

THE HIDDEN GOLD IN FILMMAKER ARCHIVES - 2pm - 3pm EST, Gallery

Today’s Independent Filmmakers Find a Hot Market for Their Stock and Archival Footage

Many filmmakers are generating significant revenue from their independent archives through footage licensing and sales.   There are more people and institutions creating professional video today than ever before, and footage is becoming a favorite source for these videos released on educational venues, on internet sites, on mobile and kiosks and even taxicabs globally.   How does an independent filmmaker enter this market?   What type of preparation is required by distributors?  Are there companies that can do that for you?  And how much money can you make?   This panel provides testimonials from independent producers who are generating significant revenue from their personal and independent archives.  Footage acquisitions and sales units will provide their take on footage in demand.  And services for prepping filmmaker archives for sale will round out this opportunity for today’s creative community.   

FOOTAGE SEARCH OVERDRIVE - 4pm - 5pm EST, Gallery

How Technology Brings New Joy and Clarity to Footage Discovery

Perhaps no area of search technology is as active today as footage search functionality.  The Department of Commerce has devoted significant resources to develop search routines for visual materials that are comparable to our search for text.  And semantic web platforms provide associations to resources that are not necessarily built into the database.  Many of ACSIL’s members have introduced highly sophisticated search and discovery tools to assist those in need of footage.   This panel will provide a bird’s eye view of best search practices and emerging technologies.   We’ve gone far beyond “advanced search.”   You’ll learn why in this session.

About ACSIL
Founded in 2003, The Association of Commercial Stock Image Licensors (ACSIL) is a not-for-profit trade association representing the interests of the stock footage community. Our members are the world's leading providers of stock and archival footage.  http://www.acsil.org