The Details

700-00345557 © Russell Monk 700-00156869 © Jon Feingersh 700-00344952 © David Stuart
Head office: Masterfile Corporation
3 Concorde Gate
Fourth Floor
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M3C 3N7
Telephone: 416-929-3000
E-mail: info@masterfile.com
URL: www.masterfile.com
Executives: Steve Pigeon, President (founder) (1973)
Geoff Cannon, Executive Vice-President / General Manager (2000)
Cheong Chiu, Chief Financial Officer (2003)
John McDonald, Vice-President Marketing (1999)
Susan Morissette, Vice-President Content Management (1984)
Tomas Speight, Senior Vice-President International France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and U.S.A.
Employees: 150 in Canada.
Shareholders: Privately owned by managers and individual investors.
Global growth: Since 1973, Masterfile and its predecessors grew through solid business practices that earned it recognition as one of Canada's 50 Best Managed Private Companies. Originally limited to Canada, today sales are 10% Canada, 50% USA and 40% overseas.
Clients: Business-to-business: advertising agencies, graphic designers, publishers of books, magazines and websites, corporate art departments, website designers. Masterfile has licensed photos for users ranging from the Catholic Church to the CIA.
Artists: Worldwide, the majority located in North America and Europe
Market position: #4 globally by revenue among hundreds of privately-owned competitors.
Products: Rights-managed stock images (clients pay for limited rights on a per-usage basis)

Royalty-free stock images (clients pay a one-time fee for unlimited non-exclusive usage with exclusivity available).
Collection: 540,000 high-resolution images available on-line.
History: Starting in 1973, Steve Pigeon developed the business through a succession of corporate owners, forming Masterfile in 1981 as a subsidiary of a major Toronto publishing company, which sold Masterfile to the current owners in a management-led buyout in 1984.
  • Jul 1999 - Launch of searchable website at www.masterfile.com
  • Mar 2001 - On-line licensing & download added to www.masterfile.com
  • Mar 2002 - Masterfile website translated into French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.
  • Aug 2002 - Image-exclusive contract adopted with artists to expand the on-line collection
  • Sep 2002 - Business Development offices opened in New York City, staffed by experienced stock photo industry professionals.
  • December 2003 - Royalty-free images added to its product offering.
  • Mar 2004 - Business Development office opened in Chicago.
  • Jul 2004 - SimSearch capabilities added to Masterfile website.
  • Apr 2005 - Royalty-free offering expanded globally
  • Oct 2005 - European HQ established in Germany with offices in Italy & UK.
  • Oct 2005 - Royalty-free image licensing agreement with Adobe Systems. Masterfile appointed as one of only four companies in the world authorized to act as a supplier of other RF collections to Adobe.
  • Nov 2005 - Masterfile France operations acquired.
  • Dec 2005 - Royalty-free collection growth initiative launched.
International: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, U.K., U.S.A.
  Updated: 2005-12-09