diff --git a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views/tests/test_assets.py b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views/tests/test_assets.py
index 98bdcf8e31..a0c33f22f3 100644
--- a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views/tests/test_assets.py
+++ b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views/tests/test_assets.py
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ import json
 from contentstore.tests.utils import CourseTestCase
 from contentstore.views import assets
 from contentstore.utils import reverse_course_url
+from xmodule.assetstore.assetmgr import UnknownAssetType, AssetMetadataFoundTemporary
+from xmodule.assetstore import AssetMetadata
 from xmodule.contentstore.content import StaticContent
 from xmodule.contentstore.django import contentstore
 from xmodule.modulestore.django import modulestore
@@ -134,6 +136,55 @@ class UploadTestCase(AssetsTestCase):
         self.assertEquals(resp.status_code, 400)
 
 
+class DownloadTestCase(AssetsTestCase):
+    """
+    Unit tests for downloading a file.
+    """
+    def setUp(self):
+        super(DownloadTestCase, self).setUp()
+        self.url = reverse_course_url('assets_handler', self.course.id)
+        # First, upload something.
+        self.asset_name = 'download_test'
+        resp = self.upload_asset(self.asset_name)
+        self.assertEquals(resp.status_code, 200)
+        self.uploaded_url = json.loads(resp.content)['asset']['url']
+
+    def test_download(self):
+        # Now, download it.
+        resp = self.client.get(self.uploaded_url, HTTP_ACCEPT='text/html')
+        self.assertEquals(resp.status_code, 200)
+        self.assertEquals(resp.content, self.asset_name)
+
+    def test_download_not_found_throw(self):
+        url = self.uploaded_url.replace(self.asset_name, 'not_the_asset_name')
+        resp = self.client.get(url, HTTP_ACCEPT='text/html')
+        self.assertEquals(resp.status_code, 404)
+
+    def test_download_unknown_asset_type(self):
+        # Change the asset type to something unknown.
+        url = self.uploaded_url.replace('/asset/', '/unknown_type/')
+        with self.assertRaises((UnknownAssetType, NameError)):
+            self.client.get(url, HTTP_ACCEPT='text/html')
+
+    def test_metadata_found_in_modulestore(self):
+        # Insert asset metadata into the modulestore (with no accompanying asset).
+        asset_key = self.course.id.make_asset_key(AssetMetadata.ASSET_TYPE, 'pic1.jpg')
+        asset_md = AssetMetadata(asset_key, {
+            'internal_name': 'EKMND332DDBK',
+            'basename': 'pix/archive',
+            'locked': False,
+            'curr_version': '14',
+            'prev_version': '13'
+        })
+        modulestore().save_asset_metadata(self.course.id, asset_md, 15)
+        # Get the asset metadata and have it be found in the modulestore.
+        # Currently, no asset metadata should be found in the modulestore. The code is not yet storing it there.
+        # If asset metadata *is* found there, an exception is raised. This test ensures the exception is indeed raised.
+        # THIS IS TEMPORARY. Soon, asset metadata *will* be stored in the modulestore.
+        with self.assertRaises((AssetMetadataFoundTemporary, NameError)):
+            self.client.get(unicode(asset_key), HTTP_ACCEPT='text/html')
+
+
 class AssetToJsonTestCase(AssetsTestCase):
     """
     Unit test for transforming asset information into something
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/contentserver/middleware.py b/common/djangoapps/contentserver/middleware.py
index 27804734d9..4ece37e656 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/contentserver/middleware.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/contentserver/middleware.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ from django.http import (
 )
 from student.models import CourseEnrollment
 
-from xmodule.contentstore.django import contentstore
+from xmodule.assetstore.assetmgr import AssetManager
 from xmodule.contentstore.content import StaticContent, XASSET_LOCATION_TAG
 from xmodule.modulestore import InvalidLocationError
 from opaque_keys import InvalidKeyError
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ class StaticContentServer(object):
             if content is None:
                 # nope, not in cache, let's fetch from DB
                 try:
-                    content = contentstore().find(loc, as_stream=True)
+                    content = AssetManager.find(loc, as_stream=True)
                 except NotFoundError:
                     response = HttpResponse()
                     response.status_code = 404
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ class StaticContentServer(object):
             if request.META.get('HTTP_RANGE'):
                 # Data from cache (StaticContent) has no easy byte management, so we use the DB instead (StaticContentStream)
                 if type(content) == StaticContent:
-                    content = contentstore().find(loc, as_stream=True)
+                    content = AssetManager.find(loc, as_stream=True)
 
                 header_value = request.META['HTTP_RANGE']
                 try:
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/assetstore/assetmgr.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/assetstore/assetmgr.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4a61d1b6ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/assetstore/assetmgr.py
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+"""
+Asset Manager
+
+Interface allowing course asset saving/retrieving.
+Handles:
+  - saving asset in the BlobStore -and- saving asset metadata in course modulestore.
+  - retrieving asset metadata from course modulestore -and- returning URL to asset -or- asset bytes.
+
+Phase 1: Checks to see if an asset's metadata can be found in the course's modulestore.
+    If not found, fails over to access the asset from the contentstore.
+    At first, the asset metadata will never be found, since saving isn't implemented yet.
+"""
+
+from contracts import contract, new_contract
+from opaque_keys.edx.keys import AssetKey
+from xmodule.modulestore.django import modulestore
+from xmodule.contentstore.django import contentstore
+from xmodule.assetstore import AssetMetadata, AssetThumbnailMetadata
+
+
+new_contract('AssetKey', AssetKey)
+
+
+class AssetException(Exception):
+    """
+    Base exception class for all exceptions related to assets.
+    """
+    pass
+
+
+class AssetMetadataNotFound(AssetException):
+    """
+    Thrown when no asset metadata is present in the course modulestore for the particular asset requested.
+    """
+    pass
+
+
+class UnknownAssetType(AssetException):
+    """
+    Thrown when the asset type is not recognized.
+    """
+    pass
+
+
+class AssetMetadataFoundTemporary(AssetException):
+    """
+    TEMPORARY: Thrown if asset metadata is actually found in the course modulestore.
+    """
+    pass
+
+
+class AssetManager(object):
+    """
+    Manager for saving/loading course assets.
+    """
+    @staticmethod
+    @contract(asset_key='AssetKey', throw_on_not_found='bool', as_stream='bool')
+    def find(asset_key, throw_on_not_found=True, as_stream=False):
+        """
+        Finds a course asset either in the assetstore -or- in the deprecated contentstore.
+        """
+        store = modulestore()
+        content_md = None
+        asset_type = asset_key.asset_type
+        if asset_type == AssetThumbnailMetadata.ASSET_TYPE:
+            content_md = store.find_asset_thumbnail_metadata(asset_key)
+        elif asset_type == AssetMetadata.ASSET_TYPE:
+            content_md = store.find_asset_metadata(asset_key)
+        else:
+            raise UnknownAssetType()
+
+        # If found, raise an exception.
+        if content_md:
+            # For now, no asset metadata should be found in the modulestore.
+            raise AssetMetadataFoundTemporary()
+        else:
+            # If not found, load the asset via the contentstore.
+            return contentstore().find(asset_key, throw_on_not_found, as_stream)
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/__init__.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/__init__.py
index 4e736ac146..61abad3bde 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/__init__.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/__init__.py
@@ -892,6 +892,8 @@ class ModuleStoreWriteBase(ModuleStoreReadBase, ModuleStoreWrite):
             Asset info for the course, index of asset/thumbnail in list (None if asset/thumbnail does not exist)
         """
         course_assets = self._find_course_assets(course_key)
+        if course_assets is None:
+            return None, None
 
         if get_thumbnail:
             all_assets = course_assets['thumbnails']
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/mongo/base.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/mongo/base.py
index ddffb0b70f..6adf74b150 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/mongo/base.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/mongo/base.py
@@ -1462,6 +1462,7 @@ class MongoModuleStore(ModuleStoreDraftAndPublished, ModuleStoreWriteBase, Mongo
 
         # Using the course_key, find or insert the course asset metadata document.
         # A single document exists per course to store the course asset metadata.
+        course_key = self.fill_in_run(course_key)
         course_assets = self.asset_collection.find_one(
             {'course_id': unicode(course_key)},
             fields=('course_id', 'storage', 'assets', 'thumbnails')
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_mongo.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_mongo.py
index 6b7ac9b71f..f3800b9924 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_mongo.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_mongo.py
@@ -105,7 +105,6 @@ class TestMongoModuleStoreBase(unittest.TestCase):
             'port': PORT,
             'db': DB,
             'collection': COLLECTION,
-            #'asset_collection': ASSET_COLLECTION,
         }
         cls.add_asset_collection(doc_store_config)