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18 autumn 2010autumn 201018
I travelled a lot between 1984 and 1985 and, 26 years later, it feels as if FOCAL was conceived and born at meetings – a meeting in Stockholm with Sten Frykholm (SVT) along with Jeremy Cantwell, where the first spark of a new Trade Association for the stock footage industry ignited
on a cold Swedish February day in 1984; and then a meeting in Cannes a year later, in a sun-drenched room at the Majestic Hotel with 20 of my closest friends and competitors sitting in a semicircle discussing names for this new association – when the ABC Australia Sales manager threw open the door and simply said “FOCAL,” as he walked across the room. Yes, he did explain the acronym.
There followed a reception on the beach that evening, as we toasted the new Association with people who over the years each became friends and part of the FOCAL network; and a huge meeting at Woodlands (BBC Enterprises Headquarters), with tea and biscuits, when I knew after all the hard work that it was going to succeed: George Marshall (British Pathé), a ghost to most of us at the BBC turned up last and surprisingly voted for the Trade Association, joined as a Charter Member and hosted the newly-founded FOCAL at Pinewood for our next meeting.
A discouraging meeting with Ann Hanford (and Sue Malden) the Chairman of FIAF, who, when I told her I was starting up an organisation focusing on the commercial activities of archives said that it had taken 30 years to get 20 members into FIAF, so good luck. And finally a meeting with David Puttnam at his South Kensington Mews office who graciously shared his sound and music secrets as the producer of Memphis Belle, while agreeing to become our first Patron.
What makes FOCAL’s birth so marvelous in the re-telling is that it all fell into place for one reason: competitors who barely ever (to never) talked to each other gathered around this single great idea. We could conceive of a unique industry in stock footage and we were the people who led the industry.
We could share our experiences, issues and ideas without ever mentioning a price or building even the shadow of a cartel. We expanded because a unique fraternity of people, archivists, sales people, researchers, producers and lawyers whose experience
Companies who joined in 1985: ABC Australia, National Geographic Society, NBC News, ITN, BBC Enterprises, Visnews, SVT, NFA/BFI, INA and British Pathé.
Thanks always: Pam Turner, David Wratten, David Warner, Christine Kirby, Jeremy Cantwell, Alan Stoner, Jane Mercer, Kirsty MacCalman, Sten Frykholm, Linda Grinberg, Anne Johnson, and Keith Owen.
The birth of the
single great idea
1997l FOCAL represented in Pro Sieben Fair
Dealing court casel Joint FOCAL/BAFTA talk by John Huntley
on “100 Years of Cinema”l FOCAL attends its first Sunnyside of the
Doc l FOCAL attends its first Multimedia ’97
exhibition at Business Design Centrel FOCAL’s co-founder David Warner passes
awayl FOCAL moves to serviced offices in South
Harrowl FOCAL attends its first FIAT World
Conference in Budapest
l FOCAL hosts “Scoop! How the Cameramen Captured the News” at the NFT
l FOCAL attends its first Sheffield International Documentary Festival
l FOCAL’s first Library Managers Meeting held at Channel 4
25 y
ears
of
FO
CAL
feature
Panel of Newsreel cameramen
in commercialising archives, stock footage licensing, in news gathering and in making television and movies happen came together as a community and as colleagues, whose umbrella name today is simply – FOCAL.
Jill Hawkins email: [email protected]
Jill Hawkins
F O C A L I N T E R N AT I O N A L
F O C A L I N T E R N AT I O N A LFEDERATION OF COMMERCIAL AUDIO VISUAL LIBRARIES
F O C A L I N T E R N AT I O N A LFEDERATION OF COMMERCIAL AUDIO VISUAL LIBRARIES
