Random Thoughts 71

Posted on 1/13/2004 by Jim Pickerell | Printable Version | Comments (0)

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RANDOM THOUGHTS 71



January 13, 2004

OnRequest Images Partners With Photonica


OnRequest Images and Photonica have announced an exclusive agreement that will
provide Photonica customers with seamless access to OnRequest Images' Custom
Stock(TM) service.


Custom Stock(TM), a hybrid between purchasing stock imagery and hiring a
photographer, provides high-quality, custom photographs to spec in 48-72 hours, at a
price comparable with conventional rights managed stock imagery. With the addition of
Custom Stock(TM) service, Photonica will now be able to satisfy a wider range of
customer needs, providing custom imagery solutions when customers require greater
creative control than traditional stock allows.


"Photonica is well known by their customers for their commitment to helping bring the
most creative ideas to life," says David Norris, CEO of OnRequest Images. "Our global
network of over 1,700 world-class photographers in 53 countries will be made
available to 'shoot-on-demand,' adding a whole new dimension of service to Photonica
customers."


The OnRequest Images/Photonica partnership is expected to create a higher demand for
the emerging field of "assignment stock" photography, providing many new
opportunities for talented photographers around the world.


States Photonica CEO, David Neilson, "At Photonica, we've proven that we care more
than any other agency about photography and those who create it. OnRequest Images'
innovative service will be a key alternative for our customers, providing a
totalsolution for their photography needs. Discerning creative professionals who seek
the extraordinary will now need look no further than the combined offerings of
Photonica and OnRequest Images."


Photonica will begin offering Custom Stock(TM) in February 2004, focusing initially
on their North American customer base. OnRequest Images will manage the Custom
StockTM implementation for Photonica.


For more information about OnRequest Images see Story
575 . You can also email
sales@OnRequestImages.com, call 877-202-5025, or visit them online at
http://www.OnRequestImages.com .



ImageState 2003 Revenue Down


ImageState recently published a financial statement for the year ending June 30,
2003. During the period from 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2003 the company reported gross
revenue of £5.5 million (approximately $9.07 million) compared with about £7.0 million
($11.5 million) for the previous year. About 37% of sales were in the U.S. and the
other 63% were in other parts of the world. ImageStates' products are sold in more
than 50 countries worldwide.


The company's operating loss was £3.5 million ($5.8 million) compared to a £21.6
million ($35.6 million) operating loss in fiscal 2002. As of June 30, 2003 the
company had net liabilities of £10.3 million ($9.9 million), including a bank loan of
£4 million and a further £4.4 million of loans from OVP2. According to the annual
report, "The overall focus of the company has and will continue to remain on cost
reduction."


According to The Guardian, ImageState's performance is below expectations. "The group is
reliant on the support of its remaining funding shareholder, called OVP2, and its
bankers. The bank loan is payable on demand and subject to a number of covenants
which the group has not met. The group's banks have not demanded repayment and the
directors anticipate the covenants to be reset 'in due course'."


As of June 30th the company employed 22 people in London and 18 in New York for a
total of 40. This compared with a staff of 79 on June 30, 2002.


In New York Donna Sickels has recently announced that she is leaving ImageState. For
most photographers Donna was the only person in the office with whom they had a
history of contact (she was a long time employee of International Stock when
ImageState acquired that company), and they now feel left in limbo as they try to
develop a working relationship with someone new.



Corbis Makes More Restructuring Moves


Corbis has removed Outline from its News Division and established it
as a separate unit. The News division has always struggled to make money, but Outline
which focuses on portraits and features on entertainment personalities has been a
money maker for Corbis. Bill Hannigan has been promoted to VP of the celebrity
syndication division.



Masterfile Integrates RF with RM


One of the last holdouts for keeping their RM offering clearly separate from their RF
has been Masterfile. As little as a year ago, if you asked anyone in management if
they would integrate their RM and RF offerings on one site the response would have
been, "When hell freezes over." Well, times change. Get our your earmuffs and down
parkas; its getting cold down there.


According to Steve Pigeon, President of Masterfile, "For some time now, clients have
been urging us to provide royalty-free images as an integrated part of the Masterfile
site. Our clients asked and we responded. Now there is a great selection of RF
images covering business, lifestyle, industry and travel. Between our huge
rights-managed collections and the new royalty-free offering, we can provide great
images for just about any project or budget. In order to meet our client's needs,
Masterfile will grow its rights-managed and royalty-free collections at an
unprecendented rate in the next year."



Zefa Adds Retrofile Collection


Zefa has added Retrofile's vintage collection of North American historical images
from the 1920's through the 1980's to its offering. These images will be available to
customers of its 16 subsidiary and partner agencies around the world. Zefa also has a
close strategic alliance with Masterfile which markets Zefa material throughout North
America.


In addition to Retrofile Zefa has added Stock4B's lifestyle collection "Unlike" to
its portfolio. "Unlike" has imagery in the areas of people, leisure, wellness,
beauty, food, travel and sport.


New RF imagery from Pixland, ImageSource and Image100 has also been added to their
www.imageshop.com offering. Creatives now
have a choice of 58,000 single images and 580 CD's on the imageshop website.



Thinkstock Launches RF Footage Site


Thinkstock has launched a royalty-free stock footage site at
www.thinkstockfootage.com . The site
offers fast advanced searches, annotated
clip bins, CD titles, 24/7 downloads and physical delivery in a variety of formats.


"Our clients don't need to undergo extensive rights negotiation," says Amy
LaVerghetta, Thinkstock's Managing Director. "With royalty-free licensing, we've
already precleared and model-released all our footage providing customers with
stress-free and efficient acquisition of stock footage."


Shot by Emmy award-winning cinematographer, Graham Smith, Thinkstock footage is both
creative and broadcast quality. "First of all, I love to shoot," explained Smith.
"More importantly, as a former producer and editor, I understand the importance of
art-directed footage. Editors demand choices of angles, camera moves and cut-aways."
Thinkstock's user-friendly search features allow customers to view all clips from any
scene and build clip bins.


Copyright © 2004 Jim Pickerell. The above article may not be copied, reproduced, excerpted or distributed in any manner without written permission from the author. All requests should be submitted to Selling Stock at 10319 Westlake Drive, Suite 162, Bethesda, MD 20817, phone 301-461-7627, e-mail: wvz@fpcubgbf.pbz

Jim Pickerell is founder of www.selling-stock.com, an online newsletter that publishes daily. He is also available for personal telephone consultations on pricing and other matters related to stock photography. He occasionally acts as an expert witness on matters related to stock photography. For his current curriculum vitae go to: http://www.jimpickerell.com/Curriculum-Vitae.aspx.  

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