Nat Geo Gets Online Help

National Geographic Digital Motion, the stock footage service of National Geographic Digital Media, has selected Denver, Colo.-based stock footage firm Thought Equity as the exclusive online distribution partner to complement its own existing licensing business.

Digital Motion, the digital archive and licensing service for all National Geographic film and video, will use Thought Equity's server-based archiving system to market, sell, and distribute its assets online. The Digital Media collection features footage from National Geographic programs and films, including National Geographic television and film productions, the EXPLORER series and other exclusive productions for the National Geographic Channel.

"We wanted an additional online presence, and have found a licensing partner well-versed in every aspect of motion imagery licensing and management to help us reach our goals," says Jocelyn Shearer, VP of worldwide sales, National Geographic Digital Motion. "Thought Equity has demonstrated its ability to serve the technological and time-sensitive needs of current and future producers and editors."

Thought Equity digitizes archived footage and stores it in uncompressed form in a digital library in Laramie, Wyo., allowing film, TV and commercial producers to search its library through the Internet.

The company has existing contracts to distribute content from Sony Pictures, HBO, the NCAA and action-film giant Warren Miller Entertainment, and also signed a deal with Google to distribute stock footage and sports motion content through Google Video.