Visual Connections New York 2015

Visual Connections was at the Metropolitan Pavilion on October 28th, 2015. Our Principal Sponsor was Workbook.

Among our exhibitors this year, 24 were new to New York, and 21 were from abroad. 7 were artists reps and join a growing number of exhibitors offering assignment and production services.

46% of attendees were first-timers, and 60% had not attended in 2014. Their annual expenditure on visual media and related services is as follows:

Annual expenditure on visual media/services

They represented the following market sectors:

Breakdown by market sector

The sessions were well-attended and well-received: 94% of attendees rated the Keynote Q& Session positively; 89% rated the Footage Q&A Session positively, with 52% rating it very highly.

Prize winners

Prize Winner
$2,000 Travel Gift Certificate Abigail Lull, The Teaching Company
$500 Apple Gift Card Candice Cheesman, Macmillan Education
$500 Apple Gift Card Melissa Collins, NFL Films
$300 Cloud9 Living Gift Certificate Alissa Hendricks, Measured Programs
$300 Cloud9 Living Gift Certificate Louisa Curtis, Chatterbox Enterprises

The prizes this year were sponsored by: age fotostock, Alamy, Blend Images, CNN Collection, Danita Delimont Stock Photography, eStock Photo, Image Source, ITN Source, Map Resources, National Geographic Creative, Renee Rhyner & Company, robertharding, SuperStock, WeatherVideoHD.TV

Sessions

Learn from industry experts in all apects of sourcing, licensing and using digital media in our popular Keynote Q&A Session; get up to speed with licensing footage in our afternoon session, or take part in a stimulating discussion about the price of creativity, led by David Newhoff.

DMLA

Keynote Q&A Session

360° view of visual media copyright, trends and technology

Register now

Target audience: All image/footage/art buyers.

Our annual industry overview returned with another high-powered panel of visual media professionals, who examined issues around copyright, clearances/permissions, crowd-sourced images and video, social media, and options for bespoke content.

Questions asked to date

  • Are additional clearances required for stock footage of runway shows from models or designers? What rules govern usage of footage for such promotional events?
  • Many stock houses stipulate in their terms and conditions that images may not be stored in digital asset management systems. When many work flows require this for normal production processes, how do you use the photos while still complying with such terms?
  • Recently I found out that a major museum does not require a signed permission agreement for any of the images they use in their catalogues. There is an email sent asking for the rights but no sign off on credit line etc... What are your thoughts?
ACSIL

Footage Q&A Session

Footage tips and trends

Target audience: Image and footage buyers who want to learn more out about trends in footage licensing and tips to make the processes go more smoothly.

The highly-experienced panel will be discussing and answering questions on the following topics:

  • Youtube & User Generated Content
  • How to negotiate favorable licensing fees
  • Footage vs Photos
  • Licensing and Copyright Clearances – tips, tricks and best practices

In conversation with David Newhoff

Staying Valuable in a Disposable World

Multiple economic forces in the digital age have led to a general devaluation of all creative works, including of course visual media. One could say it’s a “buyer’s market,” but devaluation isn’t exclusively a matter of cost. David Newhoff will host and moderate this discussion with Paddy Johnson about how creators and consumers of visual media define and preserve value in the current market.

Our panelists for the Keynote Q&A Session

Nancy WolffNancy Wolff, a partner at Cowan DeBaets Abrahams & Sheppard LLP in New York City and DMLA Counsel, specializes in copyright, trademark, rights of privacy/publicity and digital media law. Nancy offers full legal support to a wide range of traditional and digital media clients. She is currently Vice President of the Copyright Society of the USA and Co-Chair of the ABA subcommittee on Copyright Legislation. She is a frequent speaker throughout the United States and Europe on copyright, technology and licensing. In 2007 she published her book entitled The Professional Photographer’s Legal Handbook with Allworth Press and PACA (DMLA). She was awarded the 2007 ASPP Picture Professional of the Year.

Ophelia ChongOphelia Chong is the founder and managing partner of Stock Pot Images, which began as an idea in the shower. She began her career as the photographer for David Carson, then moved into film, first as creative director at Strand Releasing, then at Slamdance Film Festival. Another sideways leap landed her at Workbook and Workbookstock as Creative Director. Ophelia is an art director in the MFA writing program at CalArts.

Bill CramerBill Cramer spent 20 years shooting editorial, corporate, and advertising assignments before creating Wonderful Machine in 2007 to help photographers connect with clients. The company has since grown into a production company with a network of over 700 photographers around the world. In addition to executing campaigns for ad agencies and brands, they provide consulting services for photographers including photo editing, graphic design, marketing, estimating and shoot production.

Moya McAllisterMoya McAllister is an assignment photographer based in New York City, concentrating on food, food producing, farming, lifestyle, portraits and travel. Moya’s previous career included being Photography Director at Story Worldwide, a boutique marketing agency, and a photo editor and producer at USA Networks, Time Inc., Harry N. Abrams, Roger Black Studios, Scholastic and Hemispheres magazine. She is the founder and administrator of PictureEditors.Org, a networking group on Facebook for photo editors and art buyers.

Moderator

Cathy AronCathy Aron is Executive Director of DMLA (the Digital Media Licensing Association formerly PACA). She has been actively involved in the stock photo industry for over 35 years and was formerly the president of Photo Network Stock, a successful general stock photo rights managed archive. Cathy has been a speaker/panelist for numerous industry functions and events and has presented classes on copyright protection at several colleges in the United States. Also a former president of DMLA she is a huge advocate for copyright, and works hard to help educate on this subject.

Our panelists for the Footage Q&A Session

Rich RemsbergRich Remsberg (Atlas Films) is an Emmy Award-winning archival and visual researcher who works primarily on PBS documentaries, museum exhibits, and feature docs. His credits include Happy Valley, Anita, American Experience, American Masters, and the Mob Museum. His own short films have screened at the Walker Arts Center, the Bowery Ballroom, and the Slamdance Film Festival. His ltatest book is Hard Luck Blues: Roots Music Photographs from the Great Depression.

Jessica Berman-BogdanJessica Berman-Bogdan is the President and founder of Global ImageWorks (GIW), an independent multi-service media company that licenses contemporary and archival stock footage and offers a full line of copyright clearance and footage research services. Jessica is an internationally recognized film researcher and stock footage professional. Recent credits include Archival Producer on the highly acclaimed documentaries Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck and Twenty Feet from Stardom.

Analisa GoodinAnalisa Goodin is CEO and founder of Catch & Release (formerly Visual Catch), based in San Francisco and with operations in New York and Montreal. The company offers creative research to top agencies, directors, and production companies, and has been signing top talent to its own private collections. Analisa has over a decade of experience in visual research and content licensing.

Alison SmithAlison Smith heads up WGBH Stock Sales which licenses content from WGBH, Boston, the leading producer for PBS. She also negotiates all the stock footage, stills and music deals for WGBH productions. Alison has previously been a freelance Producer, Associate Producer, Film Researcher, and Assistant Editor, for commercial as well as other public media productions. She started her career in television on the WGBH landmark Vietnam: A Television History series.

Bobby DicksBobby Dicks is Director of Sales & Licensing at CNN Collection, where he specializes in helping fiction and non-fiction storytellers establish and frame their narrative with current and archival footage from global and local news coverage. Bobby recently worked with Laura Poitras’s documentary Citizenfour, which earned an Oscar in the Best Documentary Feature category. As a veteran licensor, Bobby’s clients include major and independent film and multimedia production companies on every continent.

Moderator

Matt WhiteMatt White is Executive Director and co-founder of ACSIL. He is an award-winning filmmaker of archive-inspired programs with over 25 years’ experience as an industry leader in the care and development of audio-visual archives. Matt founded The WPA Film Library in 1986, and has held senior management positions at National Geographic and The Corporation for Public Broadcasting. He is currently co-producing Beatles Live! with with Apple Corps Ltd and director Ron Howard.

In conversation with

Paddy Johnson Paddy Johnson is the founding Editor of Art F City and maintains a column on digital art for Artnet. Paddy was nominated for best art critic at The Rob Pruitt Art Awards in 2010 and 2013. In 2014, she was the subject of a VICE profile for her work as an independent art blogger. In addition to her work as a writer, Paddy is an avid animated GIF fan and has curated several shows on the subject. Ask her about it!

Julie Grahame Julie Grahame is a consultant, curator, portfolio reviewer, writer, speaker and photography judge for various non-profits. She is the publisher of aCurator.com, a full-screen photography magazine and associated blog, one of the British Journal of Photography’s top 10 photo sites, and one of Life.com’s top 20. Julie is also a contributing writer for PDN’s Emerging Photographer and EDU magazines. She has represented the Estate of Yousuf Karsh for rights and clearances for ten years.

Moderator

David NewhoffDavid Newhoff is a writer, film & video maker, and activist for the cause of creators’ rights in the digital age. David’s blog The Illusion of More: Dissecting the Digital Utopia is a mix of editorial and reportage around intellectual property rights, civil rights, privacy, economics, and public policy. His advocacy has included contributions to the Copyright Alliance, the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property, World IP Day, and the USPTO. David’s background includes over 20 years as a creative director, producer, video director and editor in the New York market, and a childhood spent thumbing through ImageBank catalogs.

Sessions program organizer

Ellen HerbertEllen Herbert, owner of NEAT Production, is a producer/editor/art buyer on the West Coast for a wide array of clients, including the 2000 Democratic National Convention, High Wide & Handsome, deviantART and the Academy Award winning documentary The Children’s March. Her newest project is becoming a partner in the Genre Stock agency Novel Expression.

Principal Sponsor

Workbook is proud to sponsor Visual Connections in the hope that we can further cultivate the relationships that result in stunning visual campaigns.
— Bill Daniels, Owner of Workbook

Media Partners

Wow, wow, WOW! New vendors, more energy, great info and giveaways – I really look forward to Visual Connections every year.
— Marian Calabro, CorporateHistory.net
I was delighted to meet so many potential vendors and be exposed to a network of new media.
— Victor Couto, Retro Report
I love this show because it is not too big, and I get a chance to talk with all the reps I work with but rarely meet in person. The lunch is an added benefit that is greatly appreciated.
— Pat Holl, Hieropub LLC/SISTERS Image Research
Discovering new stock photo agencies that would be difficult to learn of otherwise.
— Chelsea McGuckin, Simon and Schuster