(4 July 2005 8:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Getty Images, one of the leading imagery companies, has signed an agreement with Hyderabad-headquartered Visage Media Services to enable them to license Getty Images film collections to creative agencies across the India region from 1 July.

Creative professionals across India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal and the Maldives will now be able to purchase film material from Visage Media Services, based in Hyderabad, India, where before this material was only available through Getty's Singapore office, stated an official release.

The move is designed to provide clients with more choice from Visage Media Services, which previously only provided still images, and to open up Getty Images' extensive film collection to the India region. India is home to the world's largest film industry, Bollywood, and as one of the top 20 countries worldwide by advertising expenditure and one of the top 10 highest growth countries worldwide, the potential for growth is tremendous, the release added.

"India's thriving film industry and increasing population spell an excellent opportunity for Getty Images," said VP Agent and Emerging Markets Andrew Booth said. "India's film, advertising and corporate industries have an enormous demand for film footage, and as a leading provider of both rights-managed and royalty-free film footage on the web, Getty Images is establishing itself as the most comprehensive provider of high quality film to creative agencies in the region".

This move follows Getty Images' agreement with Visage Media Services in May this year for Visage to exclusively represent their creative stills collections across the region. "Visage have done a great job so far in managing our creative stills across the India region," Booth said, "So we are extending our agreement to film in confidence that our presence in the region will continue to grow"

"Visage is delighted to offer the range of Getty Images film to our customers in the India region," Visage Media Services CEO Srini Kilambi said. "We feel there is great potential for this product in India, and we are certain that the film and creative industries will appreciate having access to such a powerful and diverse collection of pre-shot footage."

Getty Images' film collection includes The Image Bank film, Photodisc film and Digital Vision film.