The latest breakout hit for Netflix combines authenticity with fantasy — a mix that’s especially apparent in the distinct look of the show. To incorporate the surreal into the actual world, the primary means became color.
Creating vertical videos is not only important for building your brand and getting more engagement on your social channels, but also a great way to push yourself creatively.
More than half of the work that’s done on planet Earth will be completed by robots or some form of automation by the year 2025, according to the latest projection from the World Economic Forum. With that said, humans have already been displaced by robots in our manufacturing plants for many years now.
• Close up of robotic arms creating a product
• Assembly line of robotic arms creating a product on conveyor belt
• Tracking finished products on a conveyor belt
Suggested Keywords: Automation, Technology, Industry, Manufacturing, Engineering, Assembly, Innovation, Intelligence, Efficiency
Typical Users: Tech Companies, Banking and Investing Firms, Telecommunication Companies, Healthcare Industry, Auto Industry
Robotic Arms Assembly Line by dabarti
Pro-Tip: Industries that successfully utilize automation include automotive, medical, electronic manufacturing, welding, food service, and law enforcement. It’s often very useful to volunteer your services as a filmmaker or photographer at places in these sectors in exchange for keeping the footage. A proposal such as this can be the solution for obtaining access to an otherwise tough location.
Before You Shoot:
• Please check what content already exists in the Pond5 marketplace
• Think about a visual approach that will result in new and fresh footage
Submission Checklist:
• Remember to tag your clips with the keyword code: ASSEMBP5BRIEF
• Have all property and model releases filled out and submitted
• No logos or brands may be visible in any of the clips
• Don’t forget to add any applicable conceptual keywords
Top image: Team Welding Robots in the Automotive Parts Industry by karen25
Airport security is a solid concept and a theme that has a very long shelf life. Obtaining access to a security checkpoint at a major airport can be extremely difficult, if not impossible, but if you decide to take it on, you’ll find your efforts worthwhile.
Suggested Keywords: Security, Safety, Examination, Surveillance, Travel, Occupation
Typical Users: Political Ads, Documentary Films, Television Programming, Feature Films, Financial Institutions, Security Companies
Passenger Items in TSA Airport X-Ray Bins by ODesigns
Pro-Tip: Try to find a local airport with less traffic, or stage your shots in an alternative facility or studio that can be “cheated” as an airport security checkpoint with close-ups and props.
Casting Considerations: Age, gender, and race diversity. Authenticity and diversity will play an important role in the success of your shoot.
Before You Shoot:
Submission Checklist:
Top image: Passengers in Airport Security Check by WavebreakMedia
Instagram launched Stories in 2016, and now 300 million accounts use Stories daily. Chalk it up to increased mobile usage, shorter attention spans, or the thrill of novelty, but social video is what the people want — especially the younger ones. Capturing teenagers creating and spreading their stories is what we’re looking for. While you’re at it, you can cover texting, selfies and everything in between that illustrates a teenager’s romance with their phone.
• Teenager capturing a video of their friend or pet with their phone
• Teenager watching a video on their phone (wide range of emotions)
• Teenager sending video from their phone
• Teenager receiving a video on their phone
• Teenager huddled around friends showing a video on their phone
• Teenager texting
• Teenager taking a selfie
• Portraits
Suggested Keywords: Social Media, Communication, Individuality, Entertainment, Connection, Obsession, Wireless Technology, Portability
Typical Users: Retail Industry, Gaming Industry, Entertainment Industries, Communications Industry, Tech Companies
Friends at Home Watching Social Media Content by AilaImages
Pro-Tip: More than likely, a teenager’s room will be covered with copyrighted posters, images, and products peppered with logos from popular brands. There are plenty of ways to keep your environment real without compromising your vision for fear of capturing copyrighted materials. Shoot with a shallower depth of field, which will blur out TV programs, appliances, computers, magazines, books, logos, and any other trademarked objects. In addition, prepping a safe location takes a little more effort, including greeking logos and avoiding areas that pose a risk or are impossible to navigate around.
Casting Considerations: Ages 13-18, gender, and race diversity. Authenticity is important. Casting real people can be a challenge — the challenge being that your real person must possess qualities that are highly appealing for video.
Before You Shoot:
• Please check what content already exists in the Pond5 marketplace
• Think about a visual approach that will result in new and fresh footage
Submission Checklist:
• Remember to tag your clips with the keyword code: TEENSSOCP5BRIEF
• Have all property and model releases filled out and submitted
• No logos or brands may be visible in any of the clips
• Don’t forget to add any applicable conceptual keywords
Top image: Teenage Girl Using Mobile Phone by GuerillaProductions
Dear Artist,
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend our YouTube Live Artist Town Hall. For those of you who could not attend, we hope you’ll take the time to watch the recording:
Today, I am announcing an important change that will strengthen the Pond5 marketplace and benefit the many contributors who have made us the most artist-friendly stock-media marketplace in the world. Pond5 was founded on the principle of providing artists with control over the pricing of their content and equitably sharing royalties earned from licensing that content. We are proud to say that we will never waver from these founding principles, even as we adapt to evolving market conditions.
Introducing The Pond5 Exclusivity Program
Our buyers consistently tell us they are looking for unique footage that can’t be found anywhere else. Pond5 is already the preferred destination for video content because of our industry-leading collection size; the breadth and depth of our video content; the significant investments we’ve made in helping users find video content and integrate it into their workflow; and the global sales force we have built to serve creative enterprises around the world. Yet, many of these customers also tell us that a lot of the footage on Pond5 can also be found on other stock-media websites at prices lower than what our artists list it for on Pond5.
Our biggest customers tell us they are willing to pay a premium for the best content and will skip “shopping around for lower prices” if they know the content cannot be found anywhere else. We’ve also seen this in our data where, last year, video content exclusive to Pond5 generated, on average, greater than two times more gross revenue per clip than content that is not exclusive.
Similarly, many of our artists tell us they are concerned with ensuring their footage is sold at an appropriate price. That’s why we give all our artists pricing control, the ability to determine which distribution programs to participate in, and access to a team dedicated to their success. These controls are fundamental to how we operate and core to our artist-first ethos. Some other marketplaces will sell your clips at any price — potentially far below what they’re worth — and ultimately devalue your work. Because buyers shop around, other marketplaces, including Pond5, will be expected to honor or beat these reduced prices, creating a “race to the bottom.” Our goal is to maximize the value of your work, not reduce it.
To incentivize filmmakers to work with Pond5 exclusively and preserve the value of their work, we are increasing our royalty for exclusive artists from an already industry high of 50% to 60%. We hope these higher royalties, plus access to exclusive-artist dedicated sales and marketing programs, as well as branded exposure on search results, will provide you with additional incentive to go exclusive with us.
What if I choose to be non-exclusive?
While we hope to incentivize our artists to contribute exclusively, we understand that many artists have built businesses that require them to distribute their work on other stock-media sites — at potentially lower prices and royalty shares. We understand that, for these artists, enrolling in the Exclusivity Program may not work for their financial situation. Non-exclusive video artists can expect to receive the same level of support they receive on Pond5 today. Additionally, choosing not to participate in the Exclusivity Program will have no impact on any artist’s rank in the search results.
What will change are the royalties paid to non-exclusive video artists, which will move from 50% to a still industry high of 40%. While we would prefer to keep the royalty unchanged for non-exclusive video artists, like any business, our resources are limited, and we cannot continue to pay a materially higher royalty share for the same content listed elsewhere. Ultimately, we believe this new structure appropriately balances higher royalties along with additional benefits for exclusive content with a lower revenue share for artists who prefer to sell their content across a number of outlets.
Can I continue to set my own prices?
This remains a fundamental aspect of our artist-friendly value proposition and will not change. Exclusive and non-exclusive artists will continue to set the prices of their work. Importantly, Pond5 will also continue to allow both exclusive and non-exclusive artists the freedom to choose which distribution programs to participate in, such as our Global Partnership Program (GPP), which distributes your content to select premium-priced markets around the world, and our Limited License Program, which places your work in the fastest-growing social-media tools, at lower prices, but with highly restrictive usage rights. Each of these programs grew by greater than 100% in 2018, and we expect growth rates to continue to accelerate in 2019. The freedom to choose is fundamental to the Pond5 artist-centered ethos. Only Pond5 provides artists with the right to price their own work; only Pond5 allows you to choose which distribution channels to sell your work in; and only Pond5 protects content licensed to social-media markets with a “limited use” license agreement.
The freedom to choose how your work is sold and the ability to preserve the value of your work in the world’s largest video marketplace are critical differentiators. We believe providing artists with the opportunity to go exclusive with Pond5 further solidifies our strategic positioning and heads off the “race to the bottom” we have seen many of our competitors pursue.
When does it go into effect and how do I learn more?
The above changes, including the new royalty structure, will go into effect on April 8, 2019. To learn more about the benefits of the Video Exclusivity Program or to enroll, please visit the Exclusivity Program page. We also want to continue the conversation, hear your feedback, and answer all your questions, so just reach out to us at exclusive@pond5.com for a personal response.
A significant portion of our artists are already contributing to Pond5 exclusively. We hope that you will join them and other industry leaders, such as Hotelfoxtrot, VIA Films, and ExtremeStorms, who will be part of the Pond5 Exclusivity Program and preserve the value of their work.
Regards,
Jason Teichman
CEO, Pond5
If you’re heading to Las Vegas for the 2019 NAB Show, we’d love to see you there! Stop by the Pond5 booth (#1205) in Central Hall for giveaways, exclusive announcements, and 1:1 product demos.
Want to set up a private meeting at NAB? Contact tim@pond5.com to schedule time with a dedicated Pond5 Creative Partner.
And don’t forget to follow #Pond5NAB for all the latest news before and during the event.
Daniel Hurst
VIAFilms
Cinematographer
Shannon Wild
Shannon__Wild
Cinematographer
Jim Edds
ExtremeStorms
Commercial & Editorial Filmmaker
Andreas Hohl
vadervideo
Executive Footage Producer
Pascal Marchand
The4KGuy
News & Nature Videographer
Gavin Garrison
gavingarrison
Producer/Director
In an effort to help you achieve even more success, we’re working to identify some of the upcoming trends in our marketplace. Each month, we’ll be listing some of the most popular search terms for music that’s underrepresented in our catalog, allowing you to get inspired while filling gaps in our collection.
Once you’ve completed your work, a unique code can be applied to each track – just add the code (provided at the bottom of each brief) to your keyword tags when you upload. That way, we’ll know which genre you’ve been focusing on.
If you have any questions or comments about any of these briefs, please email Pond5’s Director of Audio Collections, Mike Pace, at mike@pond5.com.
Here’s what’s been recently in demand in music at Pond5:
It’s never too early to get ready for December! Holiday tracks with a hip-hop beat have grown in popularity over the years.
Authentic-sounding tracks using instruments like the koto, shamisen, shakuhachi (flute) and guzheng.
Specifically violin and cello. Mournful, yearning, and nostalgic.
Roll out the red carpet for these short, swelling, cinematic cues.
Don’t forget:
Take advantage of the 50 keyword limit and add both broad and specific keywords, but no recognizable band or artist names please!
We also encourage you to submit :15 and :30 versions of these tracks for social media use.
Top image: Young Guitarist With Music Sheet by ra2studio
Becoming an advanced editor requires years of practice, but everyone has to start with the basics. Check out a quick guide to the most common cuts and techniques.
