FOCAL launch new website

The trade body FOCAL International, representing footage archive and researchers worldwide, has revamped its website, www.focalint.org
Designed and hosted by Clipstream it now provides easy direct access to over 130 libraries selling footage, stills and audio. Directory listings give contact details and fast links to other library websites, and, an advanced search facility helps to identify subject content and services offered by FOCAL's members."We've also improved FOCAL's Footage Finder service," said Julie Lewis, FOCAL's General Manager, "So for those people who don't know where to start to find footage, they just have to fill out a request form on-line and their message will go out directly to over 100 libraries, in one hit."
Companies needing to recruit professional film archive researchers will also find all the contact details and credits they need to help fill vacancies, or for really fast recruitment, the FOCAL office offers a jobs referral service.
A number of facility houses, consultants and asset management companies specialising in the archive business are also listed on the website, as are news items, useful calendar of events, magazine articles, training initiatives and much more.
"Denton Wilde Sapte, the UK’s leading media law firm, are running a Legal Surgery on the website," continued Lewis, "Footage can involve a minefield of rights issues, so it's good to be able to offer this new feature.Producers and broadcasters wishing to submit entries to the forthcoming FOCAL International Awards, which will be presented by Trevor Phillips next May, can also find details and an entry form on the new website."
(GB)