Eligibility Criteria and Guidelines - FOCAL Personnel Awards

Jane Mercer Researcher of the Year Award

The recipient is an individual Footage Researcher (or team) who has demonstrated outstanding achievement while primarily responsible for the footage research undertaken for a production(s) or project(s) premiered or released during the qualifying year (2024).

Such production(s) or project(s) can include series that have aired over many years, provided the cited episode premiered in 2024.

Anyone can nominate a Researcher for this award, which is not restricted to FOCAL International members. Nominations can be submitted online.

The Jury will be looking for an individual or team who displayed some or all of the following qualities:

• Depth of knowledge;
• Tenacity;
• Thoroughness;
• Imagination;
• An ability to enhance and protect the integrity of the footage.

The above is not an exhaustive list, and the submitter may wish to highlight other areas of exception for the researcher in their application.

One credit can be cited during the qualifying year (productions or projects premiered in 2024). A short synopsis and reason for submission will be required. Furthermore, both the Researcher and a representative of the production team, e.g., Producer/Director, Production Manager (or similar), are asked to include a supporting statement.

The researcher's statement may include the following (minimum 100 words)

Explain how:

1. Indicate the level of the Archive budget;
2. Duration of project/number of days worked on the project;
3. How many third-party clearances were needed and the level of difficulty;
4. Indicate the difficulty of sourcing footage and delivery issues of master material;
5. Knowledge and skill employed to seek rarer or underused material;
6. Level of involvement in the selection of archive used in the final edit;
7. Follow-up administration - level of responsibility or involvement in reporting usage of archive material back to copyright holders.

Statement from the Production Manager/Director (or similar) may include (minimum 100 words)

Explain how:

1. The Researcher(s) had a thorough understanding of the editorial content and aims of the project, plus the footage found played a vital role in the storylines and the shaping of the production;
2. The footage researched addresses the needs of the narrative;
3. The footage exceeds the expectations for the topic;
4. Every effort has been made to discover original or underused material for the production;
5. Material clearances were addressed respecting copyright laws and ownership rights, and due diligence/best endeavours were followed if necessary;
6. Footage and related information were delivered in a clear and efficient manner.

If the production is shortlisted, the Production Manager / Director's statement will be published as archive highlights on the FOCAL Website and in the Awards Programme.

Supporting visual material of the cited credits will be required.

There is NO submission fee for this category.

For further information or enquiries, please contact [email protected], and we will respond directly.