Jim Anderson - Freelance Archive Producer/Researcher
What does your job involve?
It varies from job to job, but essentially it involves finding footage to be used in a certain production whether that is a TV programme, feature film, TV advert or corporate film. After finding a selection of material that the director wants I help put together the package of clips, do the deal, sort out the licensing and clear the clips for use in the appropriate broadcast medium, territories, and over the necessary length of time. Usually the copyright situation is clear but in some cases it can be quite complex and then I need to sort that out too. I work with TV broadcasters but do an increasing amount of corporate work.
The work changes as the project goes on and entirely depends on the brief I am given. Sometimes it is very specific and other times more open to interpretation. I will happily research most kind of footage but I'm pretty clued up on sports footage, so I am often approached to find this kind of material. That said there's an increasing amount of work finding footage relating to environmental issues, clips to help show that companies are helping to support polar bears in Greenland or things like that. You often have to start the job before you can give the client any accurate figures about what clips are going to cost and often you need to think creatively to put together a package of clips within a budget.
To read the full interview with Jim, you can download the PDF here:
Jim Anderson Archive Case Study 2009
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