Thought Equity Motion

by MovieMaker Staff | Published February 18, 2007

Most beginning moviemakers picture their finished films ending up on the festival circuit or grabbing a spot on an art-house theater’s roster. But with so many moviemakers vying for the same few spots, the time has come to look beyond the box. To this end, Thought Equity Motion is providing a whole new way to distributeâ€”and profit fromâ€”your film.

Thought Equity Motion is the largest distributor of online motion content, providing stock footage for such media giants as National Geographic, HBO and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Recently, the company has made its online publishing system even more accessible to indie moviemakers with the implementation of a self-upload submission program. Though similar in concept to sites like iFilm and YouTube, Thought Equity Motion differs from these online behemoths in that its primary focus is helping indie moviemakers actually make some money for their efforts. â€œToday, most self-submission sites provide good recognition for the filmmaker, but they do not pay the bills,â€ says founder and CEO Kevin Schaff. â€œ[The self-upload program] allows individual producers of motion content to secure professional representation for, and make money from, not only their raw footage, but also their creative storyline and commercial concepts.”

According to Schaff, moviemakers are already earning tens of thousands of dollars in royalties from content they have posted on ThoughtEquity.com. In addition to welcoming “walk-in” submissions from moviemakers, the company also puts out a call for specific content. “Thought Equity Motion is completing the circle of commerce and opening a new revenue stream for the creative community,” Schaff notes, “one that will grow rapidly over the next couple of years.”

For more information or to upload your work, visit www.thoughtequity.com

Sound Off: Do you think moviemakers who license their work for commercial use are selling out? Or is it a smart move that will allow them to work on bigger better projects down the road? Talk back in the comments section!