Tragic teen car accident and stock footage...

Hi everyone, I am posting this for a couple of reasons: the first being that this should be shown to all teens that are driving, second, because this is what can happen when you are out there shooting stock footage:

The story is at my site's blog here : http://blog.vadervideo.com/2008/08/shooting-stock-leads-to-other-events.html

Having had access to the entire news staff and editing staff last night, of course I did "plug" Pond5 to them as well. :)

I figure a story of this nature would inspire all to have a different take on shooting stock footage. And yes, lots of the footage shot yesterday will be available soon on P5 as well.

***Update*** Now a second local news chammel has come knocking on my door for this stuff as well, and again, I promoted Pond5 to them as well - This was Fox, the first was ABC

Wow, amazing story, Andreas. It's all about the timing I guess.

Great job -- and thanks for getting the word out!

Andreas,

I've been shooting professionally a long time... I can't tell you the amount of accidents scenes I've covered. Usually it's alcohol, inexperience, excessive speed, inattention or combinations of the above. I'm never sure sure about shooting the material for personal gain, however I do see it as a service to others. If one person watching decides to drive with more awareness, then I've done the right thing. If the accident was injury free but spectacular, I'll shoot it. I have no problem with that, insurance companies often like to see the "real" story.

cheers,
Francois

Francois,

I agree with you whole heartedly. I don't know if you read the blog, but this actually became an endeavor of public service for me. Considering the sheriff's dept actually asked me to do it as there was no media around, I really had to do it. To get the message out, particularly to the teens that started school today. It also happens that my step-daughter took this to heart - she is the girl in the news interview (Emily) - The news channels, actually made it a point to promote where the vids came from and were very gracious in all respects. Today's interview was actually at my office and they insisted on promoting the fact that I (my company) released this footage for the purpose of a PSA and definately no fees or charges were involved. See the news clip at http://www.fox11az.com/video/newsvideo-index.html?nvid=271915&shu=1 - If such an event were to happen again, I would definately do it again for the purpose of getting the word out. But ot my surprise, the news channels here are very gracious and actually want to build relationships with the community and "video scouts" such as myself. As far as I can see, the sheriff, the news and I are all in agreemnet that we want to make sure the "kids" see the end result of mixing booze, drugs, driving and speeding. The true upside for me is that my step daughter now has made up her mind that she wants to wait a couple more years before getting her license. Whew. :) She actually woudl be old enough now.

Well done!

I would have no problem getting paid for this type of footage. Everyone else is, so why not the shooter? If you were on a TV news crew, you'd be getting paid. The reporter is getting paid, as are the studio crew members. Everyone from the station manager down to the receptionist is getting paid to "get the word out." And somehow it's not right for the shooter to get paid? I think not. However, if instead you had the opportunity to get some publicity that you couldn't buy if you had to, that would be worth more than what they would pay in cash, so that was a smart move, serendipitous as it may have been.