What's New

Posted December 21 2009

All the best from VRSC

We at VRSC want to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Posted December 14 2009

DOCircuitMtl - Doc Circuit Montreal's 5th edition - Marc Roland Pitre

Click here to read Marc's recap

Posted October 13 2009

DOCircuitMtl - Doc Circuit Montreal's 5th edition - November 12th and 13th

Members of the VRSC/ARAC will be participating in a panel discussion sponsored by the NFB and Getty Images entitled “Visual Research on a Budget: Advice From the Experts”.

Finding the images you need for the right price is critical in today’s media landscape. Knowing what works and where to look is vital. Our panel of specialists will review the challenges, provide case studies, share their expertise and answer your questions. From sourcing footage and photography to negotiating and clearing rights, whether for a local production or a major international co-production, archival research - like documentary itself - requires maintaining the fine balance between art and business. Meet the dedicated professionals of the Visual Researchers’ Society of Canada (VRSC) who are proud to team up with NFB Images and Getty Images for this panel discussion.

Note: More information concerning this panel will be posted later this month. http://www.ridm.qc.ca/en/industry/

Posted August 27 2009

Remembering Barbara Sears

Pierre Berton: The Writer at Home (Broadcast Date: March 29, 1987)

When the Bertons bought their property in Kleinburg, Ont., just north of Toronto, it was a featureless plot of land with a pleasing view. Almost 40 years later, their landscaping efforts have transformed it into a bucolic place with gentle hills, a burbling pond and a small forest. This is where Pierre churns out his best-selling books chronicling people and events in Canadian history and where Janet proofreads his work. In this segment from a 1987 CBC-TV profile, Pierre explains how his research assistant, Barbara Sears, helps him churn out books at the rate of one per year.   Watch Video     Barbara scene at (2:45).

Posted August 26 2009

Barbara Sears Endowment Fund

An endowment fund in the name of Barbara Sears has been established to mark her outstanding contribution to editorial and visual research.  More Information Here.

Posted August 25 2009

Passing of Barbara Sears

It is with great sadness and relief to tell you that Barbara Sears died peacefully shortly after nine in the morning today.  In Loving Memory

Posted May 29 2009

Report from Hot Docs 2009

Again this year, members of the VRSC/ARAC participated in a panel sponsored by the BBC entitled “Stretching Your Archive Budget”. The panel consisted of Marc Pitre (Montreal) Elspeth Domville (Toronto), Yen Chu (BBC) and was moderated by Elizabeth Klinck. It was a great opportunity to discuss issues relating to producing documentary films and television documentary series with a limited archives budget, and attracted a full house of people including some footage provider reps, producers, researchers, and international filmmakers.. Thanks to BBC Motion Gallery for sponsoring the panel and arranging for the five free passes for our members. After the panel, some of the group convened to a local restaurant to continue the lively discussion and chat with collegues. Among the group were CTV’s Jennifer Baird, GET STOCK’s Wendy Watts, NBC Universal’s Maryanne DeCandia, CBC’s Steve Nicholls, and Mary Graziano from the NFB.

The following day, FRAMEPOOL organized a luncheon for our members at the L'Espresso bar MERCURIO near the festival site. It was chance for us to meet Anna Toemp and Mona Kanin from their New York office.

Posted May 28 2009

Congratulations to VRSC member Roy Harris on being awarded this year's FOCAL Lifetime Achievement Award. Roy recently retired after more than 25 years service in CBC's Archive Sales. Roy Harris declared, " My proudest achievement was my ability to get the CBC to allow me to establish an "unofficial" environment in which the role of CBC TV Archive Sales was to support the independent film making community in Canada by ensuring that no Canadian film makers were denied fair access to the footage they needed to get their shows to air." However, his benevolent work was not confined to Canada, as one UK based researcher Judy Patterson said, "In a world that has been changing so fast for archives and users alike, the extraordinary knowledge, immense generosity and inspirational guidance of Roy Harris has stood out like an oasis in a growing desert."

Posted April 30 2009

The FOCAL International Awards will be presented 5th May 2009.

For more information, visit http://www.focalint.org

Posted May 22 2008

Our heartiest congratulations to our Chairperson Elizabeth Klinck for winning FOCAL International's Lifetime Achievement Award at their annual awards gala in London, England. The FOCAL Awards are a global competition celebrating achievements in the use of archival footage. Elizabeth Klinck became the first Canadian to win the award from the international archival footage industry.

During the past 25 years, Elizabeth has worked as a highly respected Producer, Researcher and Clearance Specialist on numerous award-winning Canadian, American and British documentary films. She has also given back to the community that fosters her career by regularly leading research and rights clearance workshops at many international conferences and broadcasters. Continually in demand, Elizabeth further dedicates herself by serving as a member of the FOCAL International Executive and on the boards of the Audio Visual Trust of Canada, History Makers and the Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival.

For more information, visit http://www.focalint.org/Awards_may08.htm.

Posted April 23, 2008

In tandem with the Visual Researchers' Society of Canada, the BBC MOTION GALLERY presented the Hot Docs panel "Case Studies in Stock Footage" at the Rogers Industry Centre. Seasoned Visual Researchers Laura Blaney, Erin Chisholm, Elspeth Domville and Susanne Jespersen discussed their creative approach to research and procurement of footage for a range of documentary genres including TV Series, Indie Film, Prime-Time One-Offs and Factual Entertainment. Elizabeth Klinck, Chairperson of The Visual Researchers' Society of Canada, moderated the informative and well-received panel.

Posted April 23, 2008

In tandem with the Visual Researchers' Society of Canada, the BBC MOTION GALLERY presented the Hot Docs panel "Case Studies in Stock Footage" at the Rogers Industry Centre. Seasoned Visual Researchers Laura Blaney, Erin Chisholm, Elspeth Domville and Susanne Jespersen discussed their creative approach to research and procurement of footage for a range of documentary genres including TV Series, Indie Film, Prime-Time One-Offs and Factual Entertainment. Elizabeth Klinck, Chairperson of The Visual Researchers' Society of Canada, moderated the informative and well-received panel.

Posted April 22, 2008

The Visual Researchers' Society of Canada / Association des recherchistes en audiovisuel du Canada announces the launch of its bilingual website, http://www.visualresearch.ca. Now available in both English and French, the website provides a gateway into its membership for those seeking professional research and a work tool for its members, including materials, articles and information relevant to a researcher's day-to-day tasks and links to major content sources.

Posted March 31, 2008

Congratulations to VRSC/ARAC member Gina Cali for her FOCAL International footage award nomination for the work she produced on "The Nature of Things - Game Over: Conservation in Kenya." Gina's work has been short listed as one of the three nominations for the "Award for Best Use of Wildlife and Natural History Stock Footage."

Posted September 18, 2007

The VRSC announces the official launch of its website: www.visualresearch.ca. Producers looking to hire a visual researcher can find a list of our members for hire. Researchers looking for resources and a community of other researchers can find information on how to join the VRSC.

Posted August 15, 2007

The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television is considering the VRSC's proposal to include two new Gemini awards, one for visual research and one for editorial research. The Academy's Rules and Regulations Committee, which is responsible for these types of change requests, has not yet set a date to meet for the 2008 considerations and changes. It is anticipated that the meeting will be held sometime in November.

Posted April 17, 2007

Congratulations to VRSC member Tobias Duggan for his nomination for BEST RESEARCHER at the Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival Awards 2007! This was for work he did on the film AS SEEN ON TV: THE K-TEL STORY. The awards will be held in Yorkton, Saskatchewan on May 26th.