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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RENOWNED PRODUCER/DIRECTOR AL GIDDINGS CHOOSES FOOTAGEBANK TO REPRESENT EXTENSIVE FOOTAGE LIBRARY
Giddings converting vast footage library to High Definition, to be housed with FootageBank

LOS ANGELES, CA, October 29, 2002 – The next phase of the digital revolution is underway at a Montana studio. Renowned director and producer Al Giddings, in the process of converting his vast footage library entirely to High Definition (HD), selected Paula Lumbard’s FootageBank to represent his HD collection for stock footage licensing.

"Al Giddings is one of the world’s most respected directors and producers, with filming credits including Titanic, The Abyss, The Deep, the James Bond series and countless other Hollywood movies and natural history documentaries. His decision to spend valuable time and money to join the HD movement continues to point to a migration of cinematographers and footage users to HD technology," said Lumbard, President of FootageBank. “FootageBank is thrilled and honored to be chosen as the guardian of this celebrated library.”

Giddings is a trendsetter when it comes to using technology and has consistently remained on the cutting edge of the film industry.  He has long been active in improving the cameras, lighting and optical systems that allow him to film breathtaking images. Converting his library to HD will further improve and modernize the collection. Giddings has teamed with Sony and Teranex to build the one-of-a-kind Teranex High-Definition Upconversion Edit System, housed at his Montana studio.  It will take a year or more to convert Giddings’ library, which includes approximately 150,000 scenes, into HD.

"Fifteen years ago, I was among the first producers to convert from film to tape for our natural history productions.  I saw the next new horizon in the 16x9 widescreen format, and spent two years investigating and creating the best conversion system to update my library to HD," said Mr. Giddings.  "I’ve entrusted the international licensing of my collection to Paula Lumbard and FootageBank.  Paula comes highly recommended and is on the cutting edge of technology in our industry."

Giddings’ library consists of images from more than three decades of underwater and “top side” nature filming. Giddings has realized four Emmy Awards for his art in cinematography. His long and storied career credits include: 

• Feature films: The Abyss (20th Century Fox) which captured an Academy Award nomination for cinematography; Titanic (20th Century Fox) for which Giddings was co-producer and director of underwater photography; The Deep (Columbia/Tristar Studios); Never Cry Wolf (Disney); For Your Eyes Only (MGM/United Artists); and Never Say Never Again (Warner Brothers).

Nature documentaries: Shark Chronicles (ABC World of Discovery); Titanic: Treasure of the Deep (CBS special with Walter Cronkite); Blue Whale: Largest Animal on Earth (ABC World of Discovery); and The Living Edens: Palau (ABC/Kane).

About Paula Lumbard
After a career of producing special effects for feature films, Lumbard opened her first stock footage company, Film Bank, in 1985. Over the span of 13 years, Film Bank became a leading stock footage company serving the entertainment industry.  Lumbard sold Film Bank in 1998 and became VP of Content Development within Sekani, pioneering their new Royalty Free division out of the New York office.

About FootageBank
FootageBank is a privately held company based in Los Angeles, California founded by industry icon Paula Lumbard. Lumbard anticipated the coming demand for High Definition (HD) Motion Content in 2002 when she opened her second footage company. FootageBank continues to be the only footage house specializing in HD native content and is dedicated to shooting and aggregating collections of HD images to service the rapidly growing demand for HD content in the film and television marketplace. For more information, please visit www.footagebank.com.