History of StormStock
1993
In 1993, StormStock is founded by filmmaker & storm chaser Martin Lisius. His concept is to create a quality in-house produced collection of weather & climate footage for licensing. Focus is placed on production and creativity. Rather than a “stock footage company,” StormStock is built as a footage library and brand within Prairie Pictures, Inc., a Texas-based media production company.
StormStock becomes a registered trademark at USPTO.
Primary shooting formats for StormStock are U-matic SP, VHS and Hi8.
StormStock ships its first full-resolution master footage reel on 3/4” U-matic tape, a broadcast standard at the time.
StormStock forms a long-term business relationship with FedEx, its primary carrier.
In 1993, a loaf of bread cost $0.75, a gallon of gas $1.16, movie ticket $4.14, and a cell phone $2,500.00.
1995
StormStock becomes established as the go-to source for premium weather & climate footage in Hollywood.
Primary shooting formats include Betacam SP, Hi8, and SVHS.
Big, bulky industrial grade U-matic tape is replaced by more compact and common VHS for screeners, allowing clients to view footage practically anywhere. Master footage begins shipping on Betacam SP, the new broadcast standard.
1997
In preparation for HD, Lisius makes Super 35mm film the primary shooting format for StormStock, and establishes business relationships with ARRI, Kodak, and famed colorist Steve Franko.
1998
StormStock captures the first-ever violent class tornado on Super 35mm film at Spencer, South Dakota.
1999
Martin Lisius appears in, and provides footage for, the Chevy S-10 “Storm Chaser” commercial. This production becomes the first to contain 100% StormStock sourced content. The TV commercial is directed by Antoine Fuqua and produced by Craig MacGowan for Cambell-Ewald advertising in Detroit.
2002
StormStock adopts Sony HDCAM for film transfers.
35mm film archive is transferred to HD video masters.
VHS screeners are replaced by DVD discs.
FedEx deploys larger vehicles for StormStock orders.
2003
StormStock turns 10.
Bread costs $1.45, milk $2.76, movie ticket $6.03, and a (not yet smart) cell phone $100.00 - $600.00.
2005
The StormStock team intercepts Hurricane Katrina and documents world-record breaking storm surge on Super 35mm film and HD 1080 video. Film negatives are immediately transferred to HD 1080, and then to 4K video as soon as the technology becomes available. The Katrina collection becomes one of the most-requested by clients worldwide.
Master footage ships on HDCAM.
2007
The Internet is used to deliver video clip previews to clients.
The film “An Inconvenient Truth” utilizes climate footage from StormStock and wins an Academy Award®.
2008
The Internet is used for full-resolution master clip delivery.
2013
StormStock turns 20.
Members of the StormStock Team intercept and film the largest tornado ever recorded at El Reno, Oklahoma.
StormStock begins shooting on 4K utilizing Netflix-approved cameras, even before they released their list.
Bread costs $1.41, milk $3.50, movie ticket $8.13, and a (smart) cell phone around $600.00.
2018
StormStock becomes the first stock footage source to shoot and license 16K video using a custom-made camera system.
The StormStock Super 35mm film archive begins its journey to 4K video at Colorlab.
2020
StormStock establishes itself as the leader in high-resolution formats for licensed use with virtually all content captured on 4K, 8K and 16K video formats.
2023
StormStock turns 30.
The legendary Irish rock band U2 selects StormStock content for their U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere concert series which generates $244 million.
Bread costs $2.00, milk $4.16, a movie ticket $11.00, and a cell phone still costs around $600.00 (versus 2013).
2025
The StormStock Team continues to innovate.
What’s next? Stay tuned for something AMAZING.