SPRING/SUMMER 2020 $25
The NOW WHAT Issue
A new remote-work reality will mean long-term changes for how M&E gets business done. Welcome to Hollywood’s new normal. P. 15 AND MJOURNALE Media & Entertainment Strategies. Solutions. Workflows A New Work Mindset P. 34 published by New WorkflowsMarketing Benefits of the Digital Supply Chain... P. 42 Smart Content The Power of AI P. 86 M E S A Smart Content Unlocking OTT Data to Improve Monetization... P. 60 published by Media & Entertainment SecurityServices Alliance Locking Down Your Remote Workforce P. 100 Security Solutions Securing Large-Scale Supply Chains Globally... P. 76 M E S A Media & Entertainment Working From Home What Now? What Next? P. 128 Services Alliance
SPRING/SUMMER 2020 The NOW WHAT FEATURES Issue
M EAND JOURNAL REMOTE REALITY P. 15 Media & Entertainment Strategies. Solutions. Be the Buffalo By Timothy Sheehy P. 16 Getting Creative with Work-from-Home Technology By Jeff Caldwell and Dean Fernandes, DXC Technology P. 20
Distributed Production Under Lockdown … and Beyond By Chuck Parker, Sohonet P. 24 COLUMNS p. 26 Thriving in the Future of Work Hollywood’s ‘Antifragile’ By Jade McQueen, Box P. 26 Supply Chain Opportunity By Devendra Mishra, MESA P. 6 Embracing Remote Work Improves Long-Term Resilience By Ian Main, Teradici P. 30 We’re All in this Together By Guy Finley, MESA P. 8 NEW WORKFLOWS P. 34
The Formula for Smart Transforming the Way We Work Content: Make the Future By Kyle Evans, Tape Ark P. 34 Now Remote Collaboration and Workflows in By Mary Yurkovic, Smart Content Council the Time of COVID-19 P. 10 By Rick Phelps, OWNZONES P. 36
Our Finest Hour: ‘The Great The Future of Quality Control is in the Cloud Upheaval’ By Scott Ralston, GrayMeta P. 40 By Eric Iverson, Iverson Consulting P. 12 A New Normal in Post-Production P. 42 Connecting with Consumers By Chris Carey, Iyuno Media Group with the Right Content Defining FYC During Massive Social Shifts By Kristie Fung, Deluxe P. 46 By Alex von Krogh, Whip Media Group P. 138 Avoiding Localization Pitfalls p. 34 By Adebunmi Nsofor, SDI Media P. 48 Distributed Teamwork: It’s Not ‘When,’ It’s ‘Now’ p. 138 By Ruven Gotz, Avanade P. 52 New Decade, New Cloud-Enabled Production Workflows By Stephen Tallamy, EditShare P. 56 Why Going Direct-to-Consumer Doesn’t Have to Be Hard By Steve Russell, Red Bee Media P. 58 M&E Journal Ad Index P. 132 Why Siloed Solutions Won’t Win in the D2C Economy By Amos Biegun, Vistex P. 60 Get the Most Out of Your Color Grading Session, While published by Celebrating 10+ Years of Preserving Artistic Vision M E S A Community Development P. 62 Media & Entertainment By Thomas Graham and Graef Allen, Dolby Laboratories Services Alliance M&EJOURNAL 3 SMART CONTENT P. 66
Maximize Subscriber Retention by Delivering an Exceptional Viewer Experience By Alp Pekkocak, Salesforce P. 80 Content Stands Tall by Getting Shorter By Pranav Joshi and Davinder Luthra, Spherex P. 84 Accomplishing Rapid Closed-Captioning p. 66 Across All Platforms, Using AI P. 86 Descriptive Metadata: Media and By Russell Wise, Digital Nirvana Entertainment’s Digital Twin Blockbuster Using Machine Learning to Transform By Michael A. Malgeri, MarkLogic P. 66 Creative Talent Management P. 90 Beyond Genre: Exploring Content By Matt Holzapfel, Tamr Discovery’s New Frontier Unleashing the Power of By Trent Wheeler, Gracenote P. 70 Smart Content By Ryan Steelberg, Veritone P. 92 Customer Churn: A New Challenge For M&E Companies Doing it Right: What to Look By Badhrinath Krishnamoorthy, Signiant P. 72 Out for When Implementing a Rights Solution Content May Be King, But Is Content Enough? By Melinda Lu, Grace Wong, Mark Herzog and Kavita Anand, OnPrem Solution By Richard Whittington, SAP P. 76 p. 92 Partners P. 96 SECURITY SOLUTIONS P. 100 5 Must-Haves for Microsoft Teams Securing and Supporting Adoption and Data Security Your Remote Workforce P. 110 During the COVID-19 By David Salter, LiveTiles Pandemic Where Do Production Security and By Michael Wylie, Richey May Technology p. 100 Production Efficiency Meet? Solutions P. 100 By Jon Finegold, Signiant P. 114 Preparation and Learning From TPN Physically Distancing Your Data Security Assessments … and COVID-19 By Linda Tadic, Digital Bedrock P. 118 By Chris Johnson and Mathew Gilliat-Smith, Convergent Risks P. 102
How to Know Your Organization is Implementing ‘Minimum Reasonable Information Security Practices’ By Dr. Stan Stahl, Ilanna Bavli, George Usi and John Coleman, p. 118 Citadel P. 106
WORKING FROM HOME P. 120
Preparation, Responsibility and Perseverance Work-From-Home Best Practices By Ramón Bretón, 3rd i Digital P. 120 By Wendy Osuna, Exactuals P. 126
Remote vs. Rosé: Pandemics What Now? What Next? and Our Future By Nancy Jundi, DigitalFilm Tree P. 128 By Rob Delf, Rightsline P. 124 p. 124
M&EJOURNAL 4 p. 62 OUT OF ADVERSITY
Hollywood’s ‘Antifragile’ Supply Chain Opportunity By Devendra Mishra, Chief Strategist, MESA, Executive Director, HITS
he 2007 book “The Black Swan” by ed TVs and smartphones all called for a re- streamed to homes (at a premium price) Nassim Nicholas Taleb tackled the wiring of the supply chain for consumption day-and-date with their theatrical debut. Timpact of large-scale unpredictable of content, anywhere, anytime. As a result, That debate may be settled for good, even and irregular events on human society, and the M&E industry is less vulnerable to when theaters open back up. The flood- how identifying collective vulnerabilities physical realities. While the consumption gates opened when studios moved to make — and approaching uncertainty with positiv- of toilet paper skyrocketed early on in the all their new releases quickly available in ity — can see us come out of a “black swan” pandemic, that was nothing compared to the home, and consumers may have a dif- event intact. the unprecedented demand for entertain- ficult time expecting less than that going The COVID-19 pandemic is easily the ment, thanks to stay-at-home orders. forward. most grave “black swan” event experienced The direct-to-consumer (D2C) Behind the Hollywood scenes, the in more than a century, and M&E is feeling avalanche that gained steam in 2019 government edicts of social distancing and the impact along with most every industry. minimized content owners’ traditional sheltering at home have forced another The near full stop of production of films and dependence on intermediaries like retailers major shift in how we work. Our industry TV shows, and the shutdown of theaters, and theater chains to deliver content to was better prepared for this immediate transition than many, thanks to global IT and Silicon Valley tech companies Hollywood — upended by digital technology that had already laid the groundwork for over two decades ago — may be home telecommuting. There are many compa- nies that haven’t missed a beat now that to the most resilient supply chain of any physical interaction with customers is industry during this crisis. And that’s due difficult. Professionals are now Zooming to communicate with their teams around exactly to that digital disruption. the world, and indications, at least early on, show neither productivity nor employee satisfaction overly impacted. Will it make theme parks and live events, is having a dev- consumers. Nobody could have predicted sense for us to go back to our daily com- astating impact on our industry. how crucial that D2C shift, marked by the mutes and cubicles when this is over? Yet Hollywood — upended by digital building of resilient and robust digital plat- As in the past, technology is coming technology over two decades ago — may forms by content owners, would prove just to the rescue of filmmakers and TV pro- be home to the most resilient supply chain a year later. ducers, by reinvigorating the supply chain of any industry during this crisis and that’s with digital technologies, the cloud, arti- due exactly to that digital disruption. The Paradigm shifts ficial intelligence, machine learning and move from physical media and 35mm film Crises often usher in paradigm shifts, and blockchain. While streaming, video con- to digital bits and bytes allowed for ubiqui- COVID-19 has been no exception. Think ferencing and remote collaboration tools tous global distribution, virtually instantly of the battle long fought by theater oper- are providing for communication needs, over the internet. Digital cinema, connect- ators to prevent new releases from being Hollywood’s established digital supply chain — linking script development with Devendra Mishra has been the president and COO of companies including LIVE Entertainment, pre-production, production and post, mar- VCL-Carolco, Lieberman Enterprises, Technicolor Worldwide Media and Distribution, and keting, distribution and personalization Strawberries Records and Tapes. As a former adjunct professor of Decision Sciences at Pepperdine — has made this transition easier than it University, he is recognized as an eminent thinker and practitioner of supply chain management in would have been not long ago. entertainment and life sciences. [email protected] Continued on Page 136
M&EJOURNAL 6
NOW WHAT?
We’re All in This Together
By Guy Finley, President, Media & Entertainment Services Alliance (MESA)
ow, more than ever, the voice of with our colleagues, friends and partners, at a beginning of the transformation of our Owen Wilson often resonates in conferences and events around the world. events into our new normal. The security Nmy ears: “Wow!” It’s incessant and We’ve experienced SEISMIC changes that community came together and 200-plus unrelenting, definitely juvenile, but also kind definitely pierce the sacred veil of the work/ people spent more than three hours online of comforting and soothing. It’s a simple life balance! “Woooooow!” See, it’s com- watching, chatting, learning, connecting. word that really means everything, like f#@k forting, isn’t it? My goal was to mirror our physical experi- … but always with a smile behind it, because But this is “it.” This is our time. This is ence (honed over 10 years of community it’s in his voice and mainly his drawl of a de- our moment. This is where our communi- input and support) in the way we gather livery … “Woooow!” ties truly shine. and how we connect at an event. It had Everyone is seeing their work/life balance This is when the ongoing investments to “FEEL” like MESA, but through this being completely obliterated by our “new we’ve made in our relationships, in our- flat, now-overused, medium. It worked, but normal” (ugh). Have you said or heard “Just selves, and in our industry over the past it was a beginning. An evolution that will get it done” recently? Or “Everything’s on decade, are meant to pay off. As the world mirror the macrocosm of live events and the the table so figure it out?” Or maybe, “All suffers, languishes and sorts through the new experiences we will be forced to create bets are off?” Perhaps it’s the non-stop complex details of “recovery” (one that we to keep our people (and our cultures) con- nected during the pandemic.
This is when the ongoing investments What might have been The 2020 NAB Show was going to be we’ve made in our relationships, in ourselves, huge for MESA. We were set to un- and in our industry over the past decade, are veil a new look for our brand; a new vision for our products; a transparent meant to pay off. process workflow where users con- trolled their frictionless data journey across these products; and a new path online meetings? It’s become hard to press have not seen in the modern age), it is the for our community to collaborate on a glob- pause on our work lives, when there’s no media and entertainment industry that al scale at an unprecedented level. Wow! familiar 9-to-5, and the office is on the din- will continue to fuel hope, to fuel dreams, It was the beginning of a three- to five- ing room table. and to fuel our local, national and global year roadmap of efficiency and scale within There is a positive aspect to this remote, economy. We are entrusted by BILLIONS our industry with so many strands on a work-from-home situation as we get a to be a shining light and we founded our loom, that the breadth, depth and the ambi- glimpse, without being too intrusive, into MESA communities by innovating and tion of collaboration was almost incompre- everyone’s personal space and life beyond transforming (much like software develop- hensible. “the office.” I usually see people at one of our ment) while building the engine within the The transformation relied on the last de- events, or a gala, looking their best and ready machine that powers that light. cade of solid data and improvement of the to network. Just a few short months ago we I’m writing this having just produced technology backbone of Hollywood, which would never have considered (and even my our first “virtual” summit for our Content has evolved at a steady pace, relying on the own office is contemplating) a future where Delivery & Security Association (CDSA) same science-based principals that allowed we aren’t gathered in the same room, build- community. The software recommended this pragmatic approach to building (now ing, set or lot each workday while we do our a 90-day adoption path. We did it in very similar to software building) through to jobs. Or a short-term cessation of gathering three weeks. It wasn’t just a webinar, but the next generation of format or experience. It was pretty much a “sure thing” in my Guy Finley is president of the Media & Entertainment Services Alliance (MESA). mind, like Moore’s Law or Occam’s Razor, [email protected] @MESAlliance Continued on Page 133
M&EJOURNAL 8 M AND JOURNALE M E S A Media & Entertainment Upcoming Events Strategies. Solutions.
Publisher Guy Finley [email protected] Keep up to date with MESA Member Webinars: Editorial Director Devendra Mishra MESA Member Global E-Calendar: mesalliance.org/global-e-calendar/ [email protected]
Managing Editor (M&E Journal) Marcy Magiera Event: GLOBAL MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT DAY July [email protected] When: Thursday, July 2, 2020 Editorial Director (M&E Daily) 2 Location: London/Online Chris Tribbey Website: MandEday.com [email protected]
News Editor Jeff Hyatt [email protected] Sept Event: TAKE THE DAM(N) TOUR Technology Reporter When: Thursday, September 10, 2020 Jeff Berman Location: Amsterdam/Online [email protected] 10 Website: MESAlliance.org/TTDT20 Business Development Evie Silvers [email protected]
Creative Director Event: SOCAL WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT Heidi Antman Oct [email protected] Featuring the 4th Annual WiTH Leadership Awards When: Wednesday, October 7, 2020 Advertising Director 7 Location: Los Angeles/Online Garrett Randall [email protected] Website: SoCalWomenLeadership.com
Community Engagement Alex Gold [email protected] Nov Event: HITS:LIVE EUROPE Data Quality Manager Danny Mogford When: Wednesday, November 4, 2020 [email protected] 4 Location: London/Online
Production Manager Website: hollywoodITsummit.com Don Hurley [email protected] Digital Director Dec Event: CDSA’S CONTENT PROTECTION SUMMIT Stanley Felix When: Tuesday, December 8 [email protected] 8 Location: Los Angeles/Online Website: ContentProtectionSummit.com The Media & Entertainment Services Alliance (MESA) was founded in 2008 to advance efficiencies in the creation, production and distribution of media & enter- tainment content. On behalf of its membership, MESA produces quarterly events, daily email newsletters and this MESA’s mission is to support entertainment service providers in journal publication. Its industry initiatives include tech- nology communities in data, information technology and building efficiencies in the creation, production and distribution of physical and security. MESA is the management company responsible digital media & entertainment. for the community efforts of MESA Europe, Hollywood IT Society (HITS), Smart Content Council and Women in Technology:Hollywood (WiTH) as well as the business operations of the Content Delivery & Security Association For information contact: Evie Silvers (CDSA), the Entertainment ID Registry (EIDR) and the www.MESAlliance.org WiTH Foundation. 310-486-7369 [email protected] For more information visit: MESAlliance.org M&EJOURNAL 9 @MESAlliance VALUE VISION
The Formula for Smart Content: Make the Future Now By Mary Yurkovic, Director, Smart Content Council, MESA
aking content smart requires so much seems unpredictable? Predicting An innovative leader needs powerful technology, processes, data and, the future will always remain problematic, imagination, and the ability to focus on the Mof course, people. What’s equal- even with the availability of predictive big picture, work with creative thinkers ly important — and the driving force to algorithms spanning areas such as M&E, who can add to the established vision and making content smarter — is innovative data, technology, finance and global supply make it greater. While effective managers leadership. chains. Guidelines in this realm are over- require knowledge of the work to be done, Organizations are constantly evolving due for improvement. along with awareness of best practices, and the future of “work” revolves around Too many organizations wait far too being an innovative leader requires a bold smarts, especially data smarts. Every orga- long to make originative changes. They instinct for changing things to create a su- nization relies heavily upon data, and smart wait for yearly budgets. They wait for some perior organization, one that creates supe- data creates smart content. fancy technology to solve all their troubles. rior offerings (such as content). Innovative So how do you navigate the “now” of your They wait for seasoned staff members to re- leaders are bold enough to demand changes organization and the massive amounts of data tire so that they can swivel around change and improvement to their technology, and it produces? How do you produce smart con- management issues. Meanwhile, everything pivot against comfortable, yet antiquated, workflow processes. Innovative leadership is Innovative leadership is the art of doing things you’re voluntary, being willing to take risks, with the goal of not sure about, making the best decision possible making your product (con- based on available knowledge, awareness and data. tent) better. And so much of what informs that is data: An organization needs smart tools, technology and tent within a rapidly changing world? deteriorates … especially the smart content. people to surround that data, and organi- Ruminating about the notion of oper- And you don’t have to let your content suf- zation-wide access to that data and insights ational excellence, leadership and future fer. The formula for keeping content smart must be provided to facilitate decision forecasting in relation to the world of rapid is rather simple: Get started now, on any making. With intelligent data available to change we are living in, I’ve noticed how changes you see that need to be made. your “human supply chain,” more-informed little progress has been made in the field of Innovative leadership is the art of doing perspectives result in groundbreaking in- strategic forecasting for innovation in con- things you’re not sure about, making the sights on most any given business challenge tent companies. In the coming years, busi- best decision possible based on available … including creating smart content. Freeing nesses and their leaders will rise or fall based knowledge, awareness and data. Generating your data to your people results in busi- on their ability to pivot on a dime, anticipate a spark for making things better. Leadership ness-wide opportunities. and creatively respond to rapid change. is often conflated with management, yet Overly cautious leadership and bland But how exactly does one anticipate and they require completely different expendi- data results in plain content solutions. creatively respond to change in an era when tures of time and energy. There’s a dire need across Hollywood play- ers to reinvent their processes to change Digital strategy consultant Mary Yurkovic has more than 15 years’ experience in the publishing, that, and make content smarter. entertainment and technology sectors. She has been responsible for providing efficient and effective The opportunity is huge, and the tools solutions for major media companies and her deep understanding of technology, content and digital already exist to make your content smarter workflows serves as the foundation for implementing successful solutions. She has helped companies than it is today. Be innovative, and make extend their brands to the digital space worldwide. [email protected] @chicagoMY your future now. n
M&EJOURNAL 10
FIRST RESPONSE
Our Finest Hour Season 1, Episode 1: ‘The Great Upheaval’ By Eric Iverson, President, Iverson Consulting
ight at the start of the U.S. we start? Concern. Doubt. Uncertainty. For of our cheese moved. And our comfortable COVID-19 outbreak, Tom Hanks, the employees, the attack initiated an instan- just became very uncomfortable. Where did R one of the finest actors of all time, taneous upheaval of our lives. our normal go? contracted the novel coronavirus. I, like many of you, love Tom’s work and will bet that his Upheaval. Sound familiar? New connections news had an impact on you. Something like, So, here we are. Upheaval. There is no other Maybe it’s time to ask what Forrest Gump “Wow. This is real! The coronavirus just infect- word we can really use to describe the pres- asked: “What’s normal anyways?” ed Mr. Rogers! Run Forrest, RUN!!!” ent. Almost everyone is impacted, other than While I physically felt that news, that a few Northern Rockies survivalists. Little Adjustment. Transition. New norm moment also took me back to another time. League, canceled. Dance classes, March Mad- No. 1. It was a crisis moment a little over five years ness, Lady Gaga concert, all canceled. Olym- We are ALL in transition to our first ago. For those of you who know me well, you pics, postponed. Spring break trip? Nope. “new norm,” where we will get used to navi- know that moment was November 24, 2014, Gyms, movie theaters, churches, all closed. gating our lives fairly efficiently without our when I became a “first responder” to the cy- Schools and childcare facilities closed, and conveniences. And there will be another berattack against Sony Pictures. guess who’s now the teacher? Working from “new norm” to follow. However, while this new norm has been based on our reaction, “All of us, at some time or other, need help. our next new norm will be our response. Things will never be the same again … Whether we’re giving or receiving help, each because we are all about to make so much of one of us has something valuable to bring our future even better. to this world. That’s one of the things that Upheaval. It can be painful and unwant- ed. While none of us wants or wishes for connects us as neighbors — in our own way, the suffering, there are also gifts to be found each one of us is a giver and a receiver.” in our collective societal upheaval. We are — Mr. Rogers forced to raise our heads and see each other. My hardships, your hardships, are shared. My small win, your small win. My kids in While many may think of the cyberattack home is the new normal for most everyone … the Zoom, your kids in the Zoom. Our lives. purely in terms of a technological breach of some of us now have around-the-clock com- We begin to notice more of what is going on the systems at Sony Pictures, that was only pany at our desks. Others are in complete around us and how it connects. Connecting a part of the story. I’ll always remember the isolation. We can’t meet at our favorite us. And that our seeing and understanding more meaningful impact it had on the people restaurant because it’s closed and heaven leads to kindness, courage and action. Help- inside and outside of the studio. The attack forbid … at this time of all times … the BAR ing. Worldwide empathy rises. cracked the feeling of safety for many in the IS CLOSED! We are beginning to see each other now, industry as a whole, along with our families, Closed. Canceled. Containment. Great more than ever. Connected. and our colleagues. The attack generated sig- upheaval. Upheaval has happened to generations nificant uncertainty across the entertainment Someone didn’t just move our cheese, all Continued on Page 136 landscape: Will the rest of my life be impacted by the data stolen about me? Are my finances Eric Iverson is a global senior technology and business leader with more than 20 years’ experience in the safe? M&E space, including more than 17 years working with Sony Pictures Entertainment, culminating in We were digitally quarantined. Almost the role of SVP and divisional CIO for Sony Pictures Television, and more than three years as CIO and every tool we used to get work done was un- CTO of Creative Artists Agency (CAA). He is founder of Iverson Consulting, offering advisory services available. How were we to work? Where do around strategy, innovation, digital transformation and data in the M&E space. [email protected]
M&EJOURNAL 12
COVER STORY
The NOW WHAT Issue
Struggles, Lessons, Benefits … All Can Be Found in Hollywood’s New Normal
What once was a rarity is now a necessity. What content owners previously frowned upon is now the only way to keep business running. In short order, work-from-home has become M&E’s day-to-day, remote reality. Learning as it goes, the industry is working through unforeseen challenges … and discovering unexpected benefits.
M&E JOURNAL 15 M&EJOURNAL 15 The NOW WHAT Issue
Be the Buffalo
Those who run into the storm will also be the first ones out of it © Wollertz | Dreamstime.com
Abstract: Facing today’s By Timothy Sheehy COVID-19 storm means marching through it, not running away from it. It live on the Great Plains. Home to horizons that go on forever, and means embracing the blue skies that go even farther. Vast areas of land and air that impress changes that have come you with your ultimate smallness. Home to blizzards that will literal- with our new normal. Ily rip the breath from your lungs. Blizzards. Alien, dystopian worlds that blur the boundaries between the real and imagined, that make fools of the senses that usually allow you to distinguish between the solid and ethereal. Creatures large and small fear the blizzard. They run from it. Cower. Shelter. Pray. Not the buffalo. The buffalo turn, and face into the wind. And then run into it. Seem- ingly against all natural instinct. It’s almost as if they were daring the bliz- zard to best them. Taking on the absolute worst that Mother Nature can throw at them and then daring her to do more. So how to make sense of something like this? The buffalo, by running into the storm, will also be the first ones out of it. If they ran from the storm, the blizzard would catch up with them. Being able to see the end of the storm increases their odds of survival. If anything is flying along in the wind and heading toward them, they
M&EJOURNAL 16 Much as the birth of the internet led to profound adjustments — not just in the way we work and communicate, but in the way we actually think about working and communicating — the impact of COVID-19 will be the same. It will require new mindsets as the world gets accustomed to new ways of thinking about how we interact, transact business, travel, socialize and make things happen.
have a chance to avoid it, which they ing and communicating — the impact of in many industries. Knowledge workers, wouldn’t have if they didn’t see it coming. COVID-19 will be the same. It will require those who deal with information instead Contrast that with cows. How many new mindsets as the world gets accustomed of things, figured out how to connect and times have you seen the images and read to new ways of thinking about how we collaborate with colleagues and clients. the stories of cattle caught in blizzards and interact, transact business, travel, socialize Students and teachers got up and running not surviving? They run from the wind, and make things happen. again with video conferencing. Clients and maximizing their exposure and reducing We have already started that process. companies made non-physical meetings their chances of making it through alive. We were forced to. In the space of a couple take place. Deals got done. Presentations It’s an apt metaphor for what we’re of weeks, the whole planet was forced to were made. facing today. A global blizzard of unprece- make lightning-fast adjustments. If we dented proportions. The winds are scream- didn’t do something very different and Adaptability on display ing. The noise is terrifying. And yet those do it quickly, we stood a better-than-even The singular quality that makes us the who march forward will be the first to see chance of not getting out alive. That got dominant species on Earth is adaptation. the sun break through. our attention. We’ve never been the strongest, the fastest, It’s important to remember that this Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has “phys- the highest fliers, the best swimmers or the too shall pass. This pandemic will come to iological” as its base for a reason: survival best climbers. Our ability to adapt — and an end. As dystopian and apocalyptic as comes first. If we’re not physiologically the flexibility and creativity that surrounds the headlines are today, there will come viable nothing else matters. Above all, we adaptability — enables us to rapidly ad- a day when the tsunami of bad news is need to survive. When faced with an exis- just to even catastrophic conditions. That replaced by stories of hope, recovery, re- tential crisis, the human reaction is always quality has been on global display now for bound, growth and renewal. going to ensure survival. And humanity has months, and will be the hallmark of our kicked it into gear. recovery in the months and years to come. Business as usual is The global system we took for granted What has been and will continue to be already unusual got slammed to the mat by a body blow. remarkable about this particular chapter in This isn’t to say things will be the same. We retooled everything. We figured it out. human history, is how widely COVID-19 Business as usual won’t be usual. It will be Fast. has been shared. Other recent catastro- unusual. The new normal won’t feel nor- phes — with perhaps the exception of mal. The months and years to come will be Remote. Virtual. Digital. global climate change — have been more full of unforeseen and uncomfortable ad- Online collaboration. isolated and regional in nature. Wars, fam- justments. Some changes will be welcome, And somehow, in a matter of days, the ine, floods, fires, earthquakes, revolutions, while some will be wrenching. But there wheels of commerce started to turn again eruptions, all have affected some part of the will be change ... plenty of it. And it won’t stop. Timothy Sheehy’s background includes years in TV production, on-air anchoring Much as the birth of the internet led and reporting in network news and multiple entrepreneurial and corporate to profound adjustments — not just in ventures at the intersection of technology and entertainment. the way we work and communicate, but [email protected] @CivilityUSA101 in the way we actually think about work-
M&EJOURNAL 17 The NOW WHAT Issue
population, but not all of the population. For many media and entertainment wide to connect people who want to help This is different. companies, crisis response teams sprang with those who need it. COVID-19 has been called an “equal into action. Business continuity plans were The pandemic has inspired millions to opportunity virus” for good reason. Every- prioritized and resourced. Daily global con- put away petty squabbles and prejudices one from Tom Hanks and Prince Charles ference calls were organized. Teams were and look for ways to help friends and to day laborers and the homeless have test- quickly equipped to work securely and strangers alike. ed positive. Everyone, everywhere has had efficiently from home. to respond. But for countless millions, there’s been What’s next? For those of us in media and entertain- another reality: The shock that comes from There will be adjustments required that ment, it’s presented both great challenge going from full speed to a dead stop. Wait- we see coming. And many that we won’t. and great opportunity. Streamers, gaming ers, bartenders, retail clerks, airline employ- Some will be welcome. Others will be diffi- companies, VOD distributors and their ees, hair stylists, cab drivers, small business cult to get accustomed to. brethren have all benefited enormously owners and countless others who suddenly A contraction of the office real estate from the stay-at-home mandate as con- had their lives turned upside down and market is almost inevitable. It’s hard to sumers have turned to entertainment that steady paychecks dry up overnight all have imagine companies that have now learned doesn’t require crowds and contact. felt this shock. to function effectively without people But the story has been very different For those people, the pandemic shock driving into the office are going to go back for other segments of the industry. Pro- has been far more severe and frightening. to people sitting in expensive commercial ductions worldwide have been shut down. Massive government assistance programs real estate. Parks and resorts have closed. Cruise ships will hopefully blunt some impacts, but for By the same token, millions of people are docked. Sports teams have suspended many it could be years before they’ll climb who got behind the wheel or slogged back or canceled seasons. Cinemas are closed. out of the hole dug by the pandemic. and forth to work on trains, buses and sub- Broadway is dark. Concerts and artist ways every day are likely to find relief from tours have been canceled. Awards shows Our better selves the endless commutes that robbed them of are on hold. The list goes on. Then there’s And yet, in the face of all this adversity, so many hours of their lives. the massive impact on advertiser-driven we’ve seen even the hardest hit families Of course, people will still go into media like TV, which is seeing billions of come together to help each other and oth- offices when it makes sense. In-person dollars in losses as media buys are dropped, ers. meetings will still take place. But it’s cer- sports and music events don’t occur and Tough times can bring out the best or tain that before they do, the question will shows aren’t produced. the worst in people. With few exceptions, be asked: “Are we sure we can’t handle this In the middle of it all: millions of peo- I’ve seen the social fabric stay largely intact. with a video conference?” ple whose livelihoods and careers depend A mentality of “we’re in this together” has Every industry will learn to adjust in on the industry. Performers, writers, pro- been prevalent. Suddenly, we truly have its own way. And the words of a 96-year- ducers, technical professionals, production common cause with everyone else in the old grandmother I recently heard should teams, technology enterprises, theater and world. give us all hope: “I’ve been through the cinema employees, resort workers—all Facing their worst fears from an unseen Great Depression, World War II, the Ko- have been profoundly impacted, and face enemy, the frontline healthcare workers, rean War, the ‘60s, the oil crisis, financial an uncertain future. police officers, firefighters, sanitation work- crashes, 9/11. And we always survived,” ers, grocery store clerks, keep at it. Every she said. “In fact, we more than survived. A week etched in history day. Everyday people are making masks. We bounced back and built bigger, stron- The week of March 16, 2020 is already Delivering food and medications to elderly ger and smarter than ever. What makes etched into history. It’s when the world people who can’t get out. Windowing visits you think it will be any different this began shutting down in earnest. Trips were for those marooned in nursing homes or time?” canceled, meetings moved from conference care facilities. Message boards and forums She’s right. rooms to Zoom. that have sprung up in communities world- She is the buffalo. n
M&EJOURNAL 18
The NOW WHAT Issue
Getting Creative with Work-from-Home Technology
Remote work presents distinct challenges for content creators in the entertainment industry. Here are the key factors for making it work.
Abstract: In the blink of an eye, M&E companies, like many organizations worldwide, are facing very urgent challenges of secure connectivity and enabling working remotely. Increased requirements loom for huge bandwidth, enormous compute power and extreme fidelity, all while maintaining maximum creativity. Content creators are in need of tools to maintain production progress and collaboration among team members and suppliers on multiple platforms with ease and confidence.
By Jeff Caldwell, Digital usinesses around the world are getting a crash course in distributed work- force management during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the trends GM, M&E, and toward remote work and cloud computing were already growing, this Dean Fernandes, VP Offer Bcrisis has created a new urgency for companies to ensure they have the tools and processes to enable productivity and collaboration across platforms and Management, Workplace, locations. For the M&E industry, requirements for high bandwidth, enormous compute Mobility, DXC Technology power, extreme fidelity and team creativity add to the usual challenges of remote work. At the same time, the continuity of our M&E channels is more important than ever as they play a vital role in keeping people entertained, connected and informed.
The industry’s unique computing needs As in other industries, entertainment companies have been extending production toolsets to remote sites through the cloud to maximize global collaboration, increase talent access and reduce the need for capital expenditures for on-premises technical
M&EJOURNAL 20
The NOW WHAT Issue Content Technology Tomorrow … Can You See It? infrastructure. But unlike typical office environments, where remote collaboration might require no more than sharing docu- ments or attending online meetings, studio work requires powerful workstations, com- plex file systems, dynamic workflows and a high degree of in-person collaboration. Production tasks are highly interactive, whether they involve editing, adding special effects or making sure a shot looks right and everything is in sync. Historically, this has required studios to maintain artists, resources and computing power on campus.
Factors for success The media industry has long looked to create a “content creation on demand” To address the growing need for global col- culture, based on leveraging global talent. Until recently, this had been a grad- laboration as well as recent work-at-home ual transition, driven primarily by the industry’s need to better access talent, requirements, DXC Technology is helping meet the growing need for content, hit deadlines and manage costs. entertainment companies transform their However, COVID-19 has driven many professionals — and the overwhelm- processes and technologies to effortlessly ing majority of content creation experts — to work from home. That, in turn, has connect artists to the data and resources dramatically increased the media industry’s urgency for moving to a content they need regardless of their location. For creation on-demand model. It’s become the rule, not the exception. Instead example, we’ve helped a major animation of making this transition over the next several years, the COVID-19 challenge studio with connectivity techniques and means media companies will need to accomplish this in a much shorter time capabilities to bridge production resources frame. on- and off-premises, extend key toolsets COVID-19 has pushed two critical market forces in opposite directions: to remote sites and help the workforce via While the ongoing situation has pushed technology capabilities forward to distributed workflows. help people work remotely, it’s also put the brakes on demand and associated In our work with entertainment revenue. In-field movie and production crews were put on hiatus, and scripted/ companies, we’ve identified several key unscripted TV and movie production along with post-production activities are components for enabling remote work in frozen, significantly slowing down the content creation pipeline. the industry, including hardware, effective In this new world, the new norm must become: content creation, manage- workflow toolsets and high-performance, ment and distribution on a global scale, with talent, workflow and teaming sup- secure communications. ported by access, applications, compute, storage and security. On the hardware side, creative employ- ees typically have huge workstations that Movies and music show the way most people wouldn’t have at home. Studio The movie and music businesses have paved the way forward. Animators, employees are now using their home ma- musicians and music producers don’t have to live in Los Angeles or New York chines and peripherals to remotely access Continued on Page 134 these high-end workstations. Remote access introduces a certain amount of lag or loss of fidelity for color matching, pixel matching Jeff Caldwellis focused on helping organizations achieve five key digital business and audio synchronization, but production goals: enterprise efficiency, advanced industry analytics, customer and social workers are largely able to get their jobs engagement, business acceleration and digital industry innovation. jcaldwell25@ done, and only a few people must return to dxc.com @DXCTechnology the campus for work. To address some of these issues with Dean Fernandes is focused on customer alignment of IT and core business, and performance and fidelity, and give the global delivery of large-scale digital IT programs. [email protected] artist a better deskside experience, DXC is @CSC_DFernandes Continued on Page 134
M&EJOURNAL 22
The NOW WHAT Issue
Distributed Production Under Lockdown … and Beyond © Doberman84 | Dreamstime.com
After COVID, remote work By Chuck Parker, CEO, Sohonet will be seen as the norm for e’re all using remote technologies to remain connected during this unprece- dented time. While this shift has intensified in recent weeks, it is not a new any member of production phenomenon within M&E, and we can assume that when the world returns to relative normality, the requirement for teams to work “together apart” will Abstract: A distributed W remain fundamental. economy is on the horizon. In fact, we believe that the forced experiment that the whole creative sector is taking part in Cloud technology, virtualized will lead to a revelation about how remote distributed workflows are perceived with long-last- servers, software-centric tools, ing impact on business culture and economics. and superfast broadband are When social distancing measures were mandated, our advice to customers and industry enabling this shift, while the colleagues was simple: focus on connectivity (cloud or remote workflows), security, controlling global pandemic of COVID-19 the creative workstation, and sharing your work with your colleagues or customers. has forced companies to quickly These basic steps haven’t changed, except that it’s clear to us that in the scramble to get up respond and adopt new tools and running many decisions taken in the first instance are likely to now impact the overall ef- and mindsets. Sohonet explores fectiveness of your workflow. the future of a distributed content-production workforce, Security imperative and the hurdles that still need to Chief among these is security. Prior to current events, it would have taken an act of Congress be jumped. to get approval to bring your pre-release content home. Unless you had the clout of someone
M&EJOURNAL 24 like Michael Bay, you would never have There will be positive consequences resulting asked to bring the actual content (the work- from production lockdown. Chief among these station itself, the hard drives) to your house. While there’s definitely a cohort of will be an enlightened attitude in Hollywood and creatives working purely through cloud resources, we think the majority of produc- beyond to the practicality and benefits of a dis- tions are seeking continuity from freelanc- ers and staff who took workstations home. tributed content-production workforce. While no one is consciously putting their customer’s IP at risk, the number one mis- “tweak that,” as near as you would in a suite. in Hollywood and beyond to the practicali- take we are seeing people make, regardless ty and benefits of a distributed content-pro- of craft, is inadvertently connecting their Obstacles duction workforce. Production in any workstation directly to the internet. Color grading is a different story. It’s not industry will be impacted to such a degree it It’s a lot to take in when you feel like you unusual for colorists to take home their is worth delineating this as “before COVID” are finally getting comfortable with your project on Baselight or Resolve, but the and “after COVID.” (temporary) “new normal,” but ensuring an catch now is that “critical review” quality The economics of the whole industry “air gap” between your workstation and the output is not yet possible from any cloud will be hard hit, so studios will be looking internet may be the most important thing tools (though many industry players are for even more cost-efficient means of pro- you do to protect work and to ensure that working hard to solve this). duction going forward. When approximate- when we all return to business as usual, the Restrictive home bandwidth will make ly 30 percent of a film’s budget is associated option to work remotely becomes an ordi- SDR color grade reviews tricky, let alone with travel, then remote working will now nary and easy-to-deploy choice. HDR passes. It is not possible to finalize be central to the producer’s equation. In a work in a projection theater or on pro- time when the industry globally is increas- Sharing with confidence fessional-grade reference monitors. Your ingly conscious of its carbon footprint, and The next issue is sharing. When thinking studio can’t send someone to calibrate with individuals naturally wary of taking through this problem, you need to think your home monitor and we can’t send you any kind of flight in the immediate after- about the video problem (frame rate, complicated pieces of kit and expect you math, we again see remote work as core to color fidelity) and the people problem to install it on your own. Any solution in production. (how many remote viewers, is the sharing this unique situation has to be really simple, Where before-COVID remote collab- synchronous in real-time or can everyone supported by phone, so we can get people oration was seen as a necessity for an over- comment on their own timeline asynchro- working as best as possible, as quickly as booked director or the prerogative of a key nously). You also need to think about how possible. creative to have review and approval dialed to share the deliverable. into their location, after-COVID will see it Synchronizing your tools works in the Going forward become the norm for any member of pro- office and is easy when you have tons of Society will overcome the current situation duction — from director and VFX super- bandwidth for send and receive, but most and gradually return to work. This will visor to editor — to do more of their work home solutions are going to have an asym- likely be in a phased pattern, dependent on together from where they live, reducing metrical speed where the upload is signifi- many issues, but key creative talent such as costs and improving speed and agility. cantly smaller than the download speed. In colorists are likely to be prioritized by film We’ve done the hard yards. Everyone is this scenario, sending the deliverable is a and TV productions desperate to finalize innovating and solving the problems now. better approach than synchronizing every- shows. Nothing will be this hard again. We will thing, supplemented perhaps with a sync There will be positive consequences re- move from before-COVID — in which 10 at the end of the workday, which can work sulting from production lockdown. Chief percent of the industry had tried remote through the night if needed. among these will be an enlightened attitude Continued on Page 136 A remote collaboration tool like Clear- View Flex can be used to invite colleagues Chuck Parker splits his time between London and Los Angeles and has spent to a secure live stream. You can do a live 15 years in various senior level roles at Technicolor, including chief commercial edit session or review and approval in officer, digital division president and CIO. [email protected] real-time with over the shoulder instruc- @ChuckParkerTech tion like “back up two frames,” “cut this,”
M&EJOURNAL 25 The NOW WHAT Issue
Thriving in the Future of Work © Ruslangrumble | Dreamstime.com Rethinking the core concepts of infrastructure, workplace productivity and business processes
By Jade McQueen, he entertainment industry is no stranger to disruption, and change is a constant part of the landscape. Senior Managing Director, In the past few years, fueled by technology, growth in M&E, Box Tcontent creation and consumption has skyrocketed by double digits around the world. This has created new sources of revenue and platforms for the M&E industry to capture and capitalize on. To Abstract: With the current COVID-19 keep up with the demand and global regulations, as well as prevent new crisis, technology leaders are security threats, IT teams have had to rethink internal workflow and experiencing challenges at an incredibly processes and leaned on cloud technology to support these new medi- large scale and at an unprecedented ums. speed, from workforce impact, to supply In a world of uncertainty and constant change, mandatory remote chain disruption, to increased customer work is the current norm. Organizations that want to ramp up their demand, to shifting financial goals. Here success are now forced to develop new cloud-collaboration strategies are some ideas on how to keep up. to get the most out of their work-from-anywhere teams. Technology leaders and their business counterparts have to embrace the philosophy of work from anywhere, particularly when it comes to rethinking the core concepts of infrastructure, workplace productivity, and business processes.
M&EJOURNAL 26 Here to help are steps to ramp up re- ensures continued service for your custom- are accustomed to working in the office may mote work in the cloud and thrive in this ers. Built correctly, a business continuity feel disengaged from the resources, informa- environment: plan should be business-as-usual from an tion or relationships they need to do their infrastructure and services standpoint. You jobs well. Enable everyone to effectively 1. Confirm core infrastructure and should also confirm that third-party service conduct one-on-one meetings, team meet- system capacity providers, vendors and partners that are ings and phone calls. When you enable remote work for your business critical also have a business con- internal and external teams, you need to tinuity plan in place, including the ability n Content collaboration platforms: consider a number of factors, including to rapidly implement secure remote work Make it easy to store, access, edit and share infrastructure stress, system and band- practices. critical files with anyone, from teammates width capacity, software licensing, physical to vendors to partners. And with security capacity for VPN and network capacity. 2. Implement the most immediate and compliance built in, you know your Organizations that expect to initiate broad cloud workplace tools you need data is safe and secure, while teams stay pro- work-from-anywhere policies should focus Whether it’s the way your organization ductive and healthy. on the following areas: works every day, or in response to an im- mediate business continuity risk, you have n Project management tools: Working Bandwidth to support remote work to deliver a virtual workplace that enables remotely will put a strain on your project At the core of remote work is the ability for people to be productive on any device, from collaboration, so tools will keep teams employees on private networks to connect anywhere, securely. For organizations that on the same page and keep work moving to applications and content via VPN. This haven’t fully established their remote work smoothly. requires network throughput capacity, capabilities, technology leaders need to VPN hardware and enough user licenses to identify core business use cases so they can n Phones: Cloud VoIP PBXs allow your scale seamlessly. Plus, you’ll want to make implement short-term, interim solutions to people to decouple themselves from a sure that you have enough VPN appliances satisfy the immediate need. traditional hard desk phone and instead spread out geographically to handle 100 work with a software dialer and headset percent of your workforce working remote- Determine main software tools from their laptops. Be sure to loop in your ly. These appliances should also be located Video conferencing, messaging, collabora- network team to ensure that best practices in areas where you have a larger number of tion and document sharing are just a few around QoS are configured. workers to minimize latency to resources examples of technologies that enable remote they may be connecting to. work and are the backbone of the commu- Deliver workplace technology securely nications fabric you’ll need. These systems A key aspect of delivering a modern, cloud- Ensure you have a readily available should power efficient and easy collabora- based workspace is keeping remote work identity and access management (IAM) tion so that they work across teams, geog- both secure and compliant. Just because capability raphies and technology platforms. Here are you’re responding to a crisis doesn’t mean Being able to authenticate users and assign the top categories of best-of-breed solutions security threats or compliance risks are any them appropriate privileges and access to (and to consider. less pernicious and pervasive. within) applications is a critical precursor to securely enabling remote work. Companies n Team messaging tools: To keep every- n Manage user devices: As your people should consider an access management plat- one in the loop, facilitate interactive discus- are working from home, make sure they’re form to keep critical resources secure. sions and increase team responsiveness. working on devices that have the appropri- ate levels of security. Endpoint management Exercise business continuity plans n Video conferencing tools: People who tools will allow you to securely manage re- Planning is essential for managing any crisis. Build a preventive framework to Jade McQueen began her career as an A&R executive at DreamWorks and reduce and mitigate the likelihood of Interscope Records. After 10 years in music, she transitioned to film and business disruption and identify potential TV where she wrote, directed and produced. Her love of innovation and risks associated with an adverse event like technology coupled with a desire to bridge the gap between entertainment COVID-19. This reduces the impact to and tech led to her current position at Box. Today, Jade oversees Box’s media operations, sustains shareholder value, and and entertainment strategies globally. [email protected] @box
M&EJOURNAL 27 The NOW WHAT Issue
Whether it’s the way your organization works every day, or in response to an immediate business continuity risk, you have to deliver a virtu- al workplace that enables people to be productive on any device, from anywhere, securely. For organizations that haven’t fully established their remote work capabilities, technology leaders need to identify core busi- ness use cases so they can implement short-term, interim solutions to satisfy the immediate need. mote devices. Also, consider restricting peo- used to open, social, and collaborative types and team members to pop in and ask ques- ple from downloading sensitive content or of working. tions of managers or other teammates. data on personal devices. And ensure your Plus, the cultural aspects of how a com- content management and sharing systems pany works may not match a work-from- n Over-communicate: This is the most offer the necessary level of security controls anywhere situation. Below, we’ve outlined important thing you can do when working in these environments, especially since the some steps that technology leaders can take remotely. People have a natural tendency usage volume of these services will signifi- to make sure people have the systems they to forget to communicate — especially the cantly increase in a work-from-anywhere need to stay productive, and to help ease small things — if they don’t see your face scenario. the transition: every day. Don’t be afraid to connect with coworkers just to see how they’re doing. n Prevent data leakage: Enabling a re- Create a distributed work culture mote workforce while preventing sensitive The best remote work cultures don’t just Define policies around remote work information from being leaked should go digitally replicate traditional business pro- While remote work policies will vary from hand in hand. Advanced threat detection cesses and work styles, they fundamentally company to company, a general remote and monitoring technologies will enable leverage new work styles to execute and policy should at least outline the following: internal and external collaboration and edu- build a sense of community in the process. cate employees on internal security policies, Here are a few tips and tricks to power a n Availability: Does the team need to be all while preventing data leakage. remote work organization that’s collabora- online during specific business hours or will tive and fast-moving: they be able to set their own schedules? n Monitor user activity and security events: Gaining visibility into the risks and n Agile work: Remote work is often n Tools: What tools are available for your threats to your distributed workforce is a smoothest with agile teams that come organization to use for messaging, confer- new challenge, and you’ll need to implement together in virtual workspaces. Consider encing, and collaboration? cloud-based SIEM tools to address these doing daily virtual “stand-ups” over video needs. where you can share project plans, goals, n Productivity: How will your organization and other critical content within Box track progress and measure results? n Meet compliance and data privacy shared spaces to coordinate work. requirements: Early on, consider the com- It’s impressive how quickly the old 9-to-5 pliance and privacy implications of remote, n Virtual all-hands: Large-scale virtual grind and daily trips to the office have been distributed work. internal events and webinars are often the replaced by flexible, work-from-anywhere easiest ways to communicate on a large scale schedules and teams that span traditional 3. Put the right business processes in to employees and partners. You can also workplace boundaries. And the technology place easily add audience and group participation is now in place to securely support a much As events like COVID-19 occur, businesses with capabilities like polls, real-time con- more distributed and virtual workforce for will ask more people to work from home. tent editing, and curation for agenda setting. many companies and industries, including While you can speed up some things, speed- M&E. ing up the work-from-anywhere culture can n Home office hours: Consider having Now is the time to embrace the future be difficult. Some of your people just aren’t open video call times between managers of work. n
M&EJOURNAL 28
The NOW WHAT Issue
Embracing Remote Work Improves Long-Term Resilience
It is possible to maintain productivity, security and cost control
Abstract: The transition to remote work was sudden By Ian Main, and painful for many, but companies that have been moving in this direction have not only weathered the Technical Marketing Principal, storm better than most, they have provided hopeful signs Teradici that there are long-term benefits on the other side.
ompanies around the world have been precedented global disruption to business as usual. transitioning to remote work, and what Crafty Apes, a Teradici customer for several years, was originally thought to be a measure recently shifted its artists to working from home Crequired for a few weeks has quickly set- by expanding its deployment of PCoIP technology, tled into a new normal for the foreseeable future. The which it had already used to support artists in branch question of what normal looks like on the other side offices and other remote locations from centralized of it all is still open, but the age of mass telework has data centers. been accelerated and we may never go back to the “We had to go from an office full of people to ev- full-time traditional office setting we once accepted as eryone working from home, and we had to do it very “how work was done.” quickly,” said Tim LeDoux, founder and VFX super- Many M&E companies have been shifting to re- visor for Crafty Apes. “Our artists are all now working mote computing gradually for the last few years, driv- from home, editing shots, doing their jobs, and all en by a combination of factors that include the cost of with a high degree of security, since we’re just stream- real estate in urban centers, the need to diversify their ing the data and not sending any files home.” talent pools, and the desire to take advantage of tax in- Others have found themselves in urgent transition, centives in different jurisdictions. They’ve seen a num- augmenting existing deployments with add-on infra- ber of benefits on the operational and financial front, structure such as VPNs, and perhaps adjusting their not the least of which has been the agility to quickly expectations around usability or security protocols shift their artists to home offices in the face of an un- to make it work in the short term. But now that the
M&EJOURNAL 30 Global Innovation in Security and Risk Management
Content Delivery & Security Association
Governance | Leadership | Community
The Content Delivery & Security Association (CDSA) is a worldwide forum for the innovative and responsible delivery and storage of entertainment, software, and information content. We provide an established and well-respected suite of best practices, committees, working groups, events and media to service the M&E Industry.
For membership contact: Guy Finley President, CDSA Email: [email protected] Tel: +1 (917) 513-5963
www.CDSAonline.org The NOW WHAT Issue
To m a k e remote work viable for the duration, artists need uncompro- mised access to graphics systems and full availability of tools such as Wacom devices. When user experience associated with these important resources is compromised, the risk to organizations is magnified.
initial adjustment period has passed, there Maintaining security ment of either Cloud Access Software as may be a need to revisit the practicalities, priorities mentioned or Remote Workstation Cards such as cost-effectiveness or performance As is the case with all crises, it seems, over VPN networks. These are important to ensure long-term feasibility. opportunists have resurfaced to exploit alternatives to removing workstations and vulnerabilities in security practices. Op- computers from the four walls of corporate Maintaining productivity portunistic phishing scams are on the rise security. Corporate assets remain under remotely and IT departments should pay continued strict control, while avoiding potentially To make remote work viable for the dura- attention to cybersecurity alerts, especially severe productivity loss associated with tion, artists need uncompromised access those related to VPN deployments. This is dysfunctional workstations decoupled from to graphics systems and full availability of no time to let down your guard. storage networks. tools such as Wacom devices. When user But much like the tradeoffs between Ultimately, the ability to maintain the experience associated with these import- performance and bandwidth mentioned data in a central data center or cloud and ant resources is compromised, the risk to previously, tradeoffs exist between security send only encrypted pixels to an endpoint organizations is magnified, especially at a and usability. Most employees will lose device provides a high level of control and time when schedules and production bud- patience with clumsy implementations that security in situations where employees are gets may already be strained. slow them down and they will be tempted distributed remotely and working outside Similarly, artists and other employees to look for shortcuts. And short-term secured company facilities. operating Linux applications within a pre- workarounds increase risk with each day dominantly Windows-based organization they remain in place. Maintaining cost control (or vice versa), could find themselves los- There are solutions that minimize these When faced with a crisis, there is a tendency ing access to critical applications if they’re tradeoffs. M&E studios using Teradici to put solutions in place quickly and worry shifted to a different operating system. Cloud Access Software to connect artists to about cost later — after all, missed produc- However, many options exist that enable GPU-enabled virtual machines, for exam- tion delivery targets can come at a very high organizations to access both Linux and ple, can maintain security compliance using cost. However, there are ways to manage Windows applications, some even under a our Cloud Access Connectors, which are costs too. unified connection management scheme supported by multifactor authentication For example, using public clouds rather for operational efficiency. and enable encrypted remote computing than investing in physical infrastructure Most M&E artists (and their IT teams) sessions into the secured data center with- can offer several advantages — they avert are all too familiar with tradeoffs between out need for a VPN. equipment delivery risks, are generally faster graphics quality, performance, and band- VFX studios and other enterprises us- to set up, offer better uptime (particularly width. Some of the recent PCoIP Ultra ing standalone deskside computers with if you have no one in the office to maintain enhancements Teradici introduced in integrated graphics or NVIDIA GeForce servers), and can be offered from multiple 2019 go a long way to helping out – task graphics in conjunction with PCoIP sites for better scalability and performance. workers can benefit from lossless text re- Remote Workstation Cards now have im- They also allow for resource sharing, includ- production under default settings, while mediate options too — including deploy- ing shared GPU resources in some cases, bandwidth-hungry video editors can be configured for NVENC encoding using Ian Main is a technical marketing principal at Teradici, with a focus on the chroma-subsampling, which can reduce M&E industry. With more than a decade of experience at the company, he is network bandwidth by 75 percent or closely involved in performance benchmarking, architectural aspects of PCoIP more. design and customer requirements analysis. [email protected] @Teradici
M&EJOURNAL 32 with options to pay for only what you our IT costs this way leaves more budget Building resilience use. A subscription solution that includes for artists and technical staff, leading to a At time of writing, we still don’t have a software clients (with brokering and pro- better product.” clear view of the timeline for the current visioning bundled in) can cost up to three In some cases, cloud-based virtual crisis. But one thing is certain: Even with- times less than a private data center. workstations can introduce productivity out a crisis, the ability to transition quickly For Tangent Animation, based in advantages and cost savings that would between office-based and remote work Toronto and Winnipeg, that ability to not be possible with a more centralized creates a more resilient organization in the provision GPU resources as needed was studio-based workplace. Afrokaans, a long run. It enables companies to be more a key benefit of using cloud-based virtual Teradici customer, filmedSurvivor South flexible in their overhead costs and hiring workstations. “With Teradici Cloud Africa: Island of Secrets on location in Sa- strategies, and it can provide significant Access Software and AWS we pay for moa and uploaded footage to the cloud competitive advantages. just the GPU power we need,” explained each day, enabling editors based in South Teradici and its partners can help cre- Ken Zorniak, Tangent Animation’s pres- Africa to get to work on the production ate and deliver solutions to transition your ident and CEO. “An artist can log into immediately, using Cloud Access Software employees to work from home or address a Blender instance powered by multiple to access virtual workstations from their changes to requirements as you expand the NVIDIA T4 GPUs running the Quadro homes. The process saved the company number of employees working from home, Virtual Workstation for crowd work and from having to rent post-production space and we can help you improve your busi- later log into an instance with a single and relocate staff for the six months of ness continuity and disaster recovery plans GPU for simpler animation. Managing production. for virtualized and remote workforces. n NEW WORKFLOWS
Transforming the Way We Work
Cloud storage offers a better way to manage data, with a flexible cost base
By Kyle Evans, Director of Sales, Business Development, Tape Ark
Abstract: Here we discuss some practical steps M&E companies can take to prepare for this migration of cloud-based production and distribution and compare how other industries have transformed the way they work in the cloud and what lessons have been learned. Photo by Canva Studio from Pexels
he rise in OTT platforms has shown us that con- home environments will require additional acceleration in the sumer demand for instantaneous content is greater move from on-prem production to cloud-based production tools, than ever. For consumers, on-demand viewing is aided by organizations such as Seagate Powered by Tape Ark. Tno longer a luxury, but an expectation, no matter This article discusses some practical steps M&E companies our location, the time of day or the device we have in our pocket. can take to prepare for this migration to cloud-based production Through cloud technology, the ability to meet these demands is and distribution and how other industries have transformed the now a reality. way they work in the cloud. With social distancing and self-isolation measures in place as a result of COVID-19, it is anticipated demand for OTT content A tale of two business models will continue to grow. Alongside this demand for content, a shift Whether you’re a content producer or distributor, forecasting of large sections of the workforce to transition to work-from- your data storage requirements for the next five years can feel
M&EJOURNAL 34 like gazing into a crystal ball. Due to the cantly. Data accessibility and discoverability prepared many may have thought they were, shortening and quickening pace of tech- are amplified when machine learning can an inevitable content scramble commenced, nological advancement cycles, data storage automatically identify and tag celebri- with critical questions being raised and and management is capital-intensive and ties, logos, brands, offensive material and answers suddenly required to avoid losing challenging. Hardware investment deci- emotions; capture sentiment; and ensure audiences, advertisers and commercial part- sions today are at risk of being obsolete on-screen text becomes a searchable feature. ners. “What content do we have?” broad- tomorrow. This helps production teams locate the right casters asked. “Is it in the right format? As the industry embraces new technol- scene fast and could rapidly increase the How quickly can we access it?” ogies, formats and advancing capabilities, volume of licensable content. Additionally, In a cloud-enabled environment, these predicting data storage volumes is becom- these tools are also widely cloud agnostic questions can easily be answered. Con- ing increasingly difficult as tape libraries fill and work on a consumption model. tent is instantly accessible 24/7 in desired and the tape shelves begin to pile up. The formats, so rerunning previous seasons is resulting predicament many organizations Agile workflows a responsive and seamless exercise. Further- find themselves in is far from ideal, with Along with the shift to cloud storage many more, running seasons that match audience the only practical means of accessing this production and distribution workflows expectations is no longer a technical chal- content being the manual loading of tapes have followed suit and now offer com- lenge. Creating new content with highlight into the tape library, in turn metaphorically pletely cloud-based environments. This has packages is straightforward as AI and ML ejecting the possibility of agile workflows considerably reduced the dependence on tools can identify and tag content, making and negatively impacting remote team en- physical infrastructure and provides a seam- it easy to accurately identify players. Image vironments. less experience for teams working across discoverability is enhanced through con- There is an alternative approach however, time zones or remote locations. It is ideal textual searches: “Player X, looking happy, with a cloud storage model that offers a for maintaining a business-as-usual ap- saying ‘touchdown with Player Y.” All this scalable approach to efficiently managing proach that has never been more imperative work is undertaken remotely, business oper- and accessing your data when, where and than during our current uncertain time. No ations continue, and the impact of a global how you need it with the added bonus of more calling an East Coast office to load a pandemic is limited. a flexible cost base. There are no hardware tape or worrying about limited computing refreshes, no overcrowded tape libraries power to run a large transcoding project. Starting the cloud journey and no remote access issues. You simply pay For many, the first step to improving data for what you use. Data stored in the cloud Responsiveness accessibility and security while opening becomes instantly available and responsive A cloud approach drives agility and en- up future potential revenue streams, is to to your business needs. Even further, with hanced capability to respond to consumer migrate your content from tape bound a range of access controls and new security expectations, market opportunities and media to the cloud. Tape Ark has created a processes, you can arguably apply a higher changing environments. The COVID-19 dedicated technology stack that helps M&E degree of data security than an on-premise pandemic has taught us many things, none companies take the pain and time out of setup. more apparent than highlighting our opera- tape-to-cloud migrations. Without using The cost of cloud storage has been steadi- tional vulnerabilities and the importance of any customer hardware, Seagate Powered ly reducing over time, with Amazon Web having our content in the cloud. by Tape Ark coordinates safe and secure Services (AWS) alone delivering over 70 One only needs to look at the sports receipt of all tapes beforehand, applying its price decreases over the last decade. This broadcasting industry, which was in the parallel processing solution to restore con- trend likely will continue into the future process of finalizing its live spring schedules tent and metadata before migrating it to the as data volumes increase. This cost decrease amidst the early signs of COVID-19. With- preferred cloud platform. Not only will this has been a key driver for adoption in the in weeks, live sporting events across the act as an additional archive of content, it is M&E industry. After making the move, world were canceled, leaving broadcasters positioned at the ready for immediate use in however, many of the other benefits be- with empty content slots. No matter how the cloud-based production system. n come more apparent. Kyle Evans built his expertise in data management and data distribution through Enhancing capabilities a career in satellite imagery where similar challenges of data preservation, content Once content is in the cloud, the opportu- access, distribution, metadata capture and data integrity are faced. At Tape Ark, he nities for enhancing capabilities through is responsible for global enterprise and partner engagement for mass tape migration value-adding applications increase signifi- projects. [email protected] @TapeArk
M&EJOURNAL 35 NEW WORKFLOWS
Remote Collaboration and Workflows in the Time of COVID-19
By Rick Phelps, COO, OWNZONES Photo by Gabriel Benois on Unsplash
The cloud can enable remote hese are difficult times for the M&E industry. While on one hand the ongoing COVID-19 crisis is leading to record collaboration and facilitate consumption patterns and viewing figures, on the other gen- the completion of masters and Terating fresh content to satisfy demand is proving increasingly challenging. distribution to platforms globally Production first slowed — and then halted — at content production centers around the world, and one of the most urgent tasks facing the indus- Abstract: Unprecedented demand for try has become completing the work that has already been shot. The prob- remote collaboration requires ‘geo-distributed lem is that increasingly stringent restrictions on movement make finishing workflow’ solutions for post-production that programs in traditional brick-and-mortar facilities nearly impossible. enable content to be made and delivered Yet, in response to the obstacles facing content production and distri- directly to consumers. M&E tech companies bution, studios and post houses are experiencing an innovation boom in were focused on remote collaboration long the technology they use to keep the supply chain moving. Extraordinary before the pandemic, and the resulting times call for extraordinary measures, and we’re now seeing a huge wave of advantages of a cloud-based platform interest in remote collaborative working as a response to the need for social approach have never been more clear. distancing and working from home. What is probably surprising to many people in the industry is the maturity of the systems already in place to make it happen. If the novel coronavirus outbreak had happened even a couple of years ago the industry would have been far less prepared. However, recent times have seen the rapid establishment of cloud-based workflows for a number
M&EJOURNAL 36
NEW WORKFLOWS
If the novel coronavirus outbreak had happened even a couple of years ago the industry would have been far less prepared. However, recent times have seen the rapid establishment of cloud-based workflows for a number of economic reasons.
of economic reasons. These workflows can a “one logo” approach and an end to such The future of cloud is help preserve business continuity in situa- silos; you leverage one vendor platform all-encompassing tions like the one we’re facing today. and everything else is available to you from Using technology such as this to enable While the movement to the cloud is within that application as an integration. remote workflows, producing professional likely not going to enable the industry to The upshot is that everything involved with content and great stories to entertain peo- kick-start filming at any time soon, for the post-production process can be done ple throughout the duration of the coro- productions already in progress, the cloud from a single program, potentially even navirus crisis is entirely possible, whatever can enable remote collaboration along the from a single machine and by a single user the distance that separates people. But this chain, and facilitate the completion of mas- if they are a post-production Jedi. But the is not only a way to cope with obstacles ters and distribution to platforms around beauty of the cloud is that it makes it easy presented by the crisis today; the future of the world. The migration from hero suites for these tasks to be shared amongst a dis- content production will consist of content, to browser-based compliance editing, local- tributed network of users who specialize in applications and workflows that reside in ization and QC solutions on commoditized different parts of the production process. the cloud and streamline the entire content workstations, for instance, means that a There’s further innovation that can be supply chain. Especially when it comes tentpole production can be worked on in applied here too, with more in the pipeline to high resolution content like 4K HDR, almost any home with space for a desk, a as the wider industry turns its attention to moving content between on-prem and the computer, and an internet connection. enabling remote workflows at scale in all cloud takes a lot of time and resources. The What’s more, users can get the full pro- manner of fields. At OWNZONES, we future of content production is one that cessing power of a data center from a brows- have resilient technology in our media play- starts and ends in the cloud, abstracting the er in their living room. At OWNZONES, er that lets users preview large files remote- entire process from physical location so that for instance, we can now scale up to 1,000 ly. Rather than taking in a video file and workflow collaboration can happen from nodes in the cloud with 7,000 processors. generating a proxy, our player shows you anywhere in the world on the exact same To achieve that level of processing power a real-time representation of that content. files, both shortening timelines and simpli- from home with an on-prem infrastructure, It’s built on scalable technology that is ex- fying asset management. a user would need to have half their house ceedingly responsive and allows collabora- Cutting-edge technology companies full of data racks. tive workers to upload a multi-terabyte file were focused on remote collaboration be- into their cloud bucket, see what they just fore the novel coronavirus outbreak. Over A platform-based approach uploaded, scrub forward and backwards the years, the cloud had been gaining in to post-production with a sub-one-second response time to see popularity among companies looking at Another advantage of the evolutionary a real-time preview, and make any necessary achieving greater flexibility, efficiency and move toward remote working has been the changes. Our real-time cloud-based preview scalability. Add in the business advantages development of a more platform-centric player affords users the same high-quality of OpEx over CapEx pricing models, short- approach to post-production tasks. Within experience via a browser window at home er time-to-market and more, and it was an facilities over the years, specializations have that they would traditionally get from their implementation that made sense then. evolved: Conform is looked after by per- facility’s on-prem system. It makes even more sense now. n son A, using software B on workstation C; loudness is taken care of on workstation X, Rick Phelps joined OWNZONES after serving as SVP of broadcast sales for using software Y by employee Z. This is not Deluxe Entertainment, where he helped Deluxe expand its service offerings a workflow that maps easily onto remote from studios to global broadcasters and content aggregators. Prior to Deluxe, methods of working. Phelps was head of global sales for Amagi, and held key roles with MX1, What the platform model brings you is Chellomedia and Flash Logistics. [email protected] @ownzones
M&EJOURNAL 38 Go back in the past. Without rewinding.
Securely migrate tape to cloud fast without disruption.
To compete for eyes and ears in this day and age, your indispensable media content must now be easily accessible, fast to locate, and seamlessly integrated with modern and emerging technologies. What’s more, it’s the best way to lower production costs and find new opportunities for new audiences.To find out more details, visit tapeark.com NEW WORKFLOWS
The Future of Quality Control is in the Cloud
Benefits include seamless support for content owners Photo by NOAA on Unsplash By Scott Ralston, Head of Product, GrayMeta
Abstract: QC/QA applications today need to be made simpler for content owners, and the answer to reducing time and costs associated with QC/QA processes can be found in the cloud.
M&EJOURNAL 40 With greater adoption of cloud services and storage, the need to move QC and compliance workloads to the cloud has become increasingly more prevalent.
loud technologies are increas- single files from the cloud to multiple locations playback for concurrent users providing ingly being used by studios, in a synchronized manner, enabling seamless efficient collaboration workflows. The prod- broadcasters and content own- collaboration among users; uct has been developed to work on private ers throughout the lifecycle of data centers for production content and C n content, from production to archive. They want to reduce or eliminate the need public clouds such as Amazon Web Services, Industry insiders are envisioning a world for transcodes and intermediate applications Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure. where all assets will be created, stored and that are required today to review and QC ultimately delivered in the cloud, providing assets locally. Cloud solutions the efficiency that is needed in production Iris Cloud is built to run natively in the workflows to enable greater creative free- Cost-effective, data-driven solutions — cloud, making it accessible virtually any- dom, while supporting an unprecedented using machine learning and artificial intel- where in the world. The benefits of Iris volume of content. ligence that decrease operational expenses Cloud include: The industry is responding to this vision — ensure content integrity and unleash the by developing technologies that provide monetary value of content. n Seamless support for content owners tran- content owners the facility to keep their With greater adoption of cloud services sitioning to cloud-based workflows for master assets in the cloud right to the point of and storage, the need to move QC and com- file formats such as IMF; delivery. pliance workloads to the cloud has become increasingly more prevalent. However, the n An ability to browse, preview and playback Pain points inordinate amount of time and tremendous master files directly from cloud storage envi- At GrayMeta, we are continuously monitor- costs incurred by having to transcode or ronments; ing market trends and listening to our cus- transfer extremely large files from a storage tomers who have raised the following points provider to a localized workstation to simply n Minimization of egress costs associated with regards to that final stage of content view, or in a full-featured sense, conduct with the transfer of master files from the cloud delivery: QC and QA. quality control and quality assurance tasks, is to local, on-premise workstations; a major obstacle for many users in the mar- n They need to be able to move master file ketplace. n Collaborative functions that enable multi- workloads to the cloud, such as the QC of Browser-based and cloud-based solutions ple users across disparate locations to review a Interoperable Master Format (IMF) files in can provide QC and QA teams in studios, single file; Amazon Simple Storage (s3); broadcast networks and media services pro- viders the ability to securely preview, play- n Providing remote QC, particularly for con- nThey want to save money by decreasing back and QC master file formats, without tingency plans and disaster recovery scenarios egress costs associated with the movement of the need for a transcode or generation of a when workforces may be forced to self-isolate master files to the cloud, and then having to proxy file. GrayMeta’s Iris Cloud offering or are unable to centralize in a common transfer assets back to local workstations for also supports simultaneous frame accurate facility. n tasks such as visual QC; Scott Ralston has more than two decades’ experience in the M&E sector, n They need the ability to browse, preview addressing industry challenges in the media supply chain and overseeing the and playback master files by directly connect- introduction of new products and services designed to contain costs, drive efficiencies ing to those assets in cloud storage locations; and unveil new revenue opportunities for content owners. He is responsible for the overall product portfolio at GrayMeta including product strategy, management nThey want the ability to play back and QC and marketing. [email protected] @_GRAYMETA
M&EJOURNAL 41 NEW WORKFLOWS
A New Normal in Post-Production What Iyuno Media Group has learned thus far from COVID-19 Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
Abstract: Like most organizations with global operations and production facilities, Iyuno has had to adapt methods of production to combat the challenges being posed by the pandemic, in order to continue to deliver for clients.
he COVID-19 crisis has caused our industry to make dramatic By Chris Carey, CRO, strategic changes in order to continue our work. In some ways it has Managing Director of forced us to rely solely on strategies and tactics that were at one time more an exception than the norm. Now, tools that allow for produc- the Americas, Iyuno T tion to be done at home, including online collaboration and asset management Media Group programs, have become critical to delivering a quality product on time. In the first few months of this unprecedented environment, Iyuno has identi- fied key learnings and has already begun implementing solutions that are helping us deliver projects fast, with as little interruption as possible.
Use of cloud-based platforms More than just a centralized platform to handle project and resource manage-
M&EJOURNAL 42
NEW WORKFLOWS
More than just a centralized platform to handle project and resource management across an organization, the implementation of cloud-based platforms has quickly become the connective tissue to keep projects up and running.
ment across an organization, the imple- of time spent on updates so we could focus scenario, we have been able to set staging mentation of cloud-based platforms has more on completing the project. But during and allocate our available worldwide capaci- quickly become the connective tissue to this challenging time, it has proven to be ty, including during and after the pandemic, keep all of our projects up and running. a game-changer in putting our customer’s to ensure maximum output of deliveries. Just prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, minds at ease, by being able to see the cur- our organization completed a large-scale rent status of the project at any time. Innovation by necessity merger, which nearly doubled Iyuno’s We have also adopted proactive updates Often with a challenging situation, the best global footprint. on our team’s approach and the status of innovations are brought to the forefront One of our most important tasks in- our facilities as the crisis continues to un- quicker. We are rising to these challenges ternally has been implementing our own fold. Changes in our workflow are also be- and finding solutions. The most recent ex- proprietary project and resource manage- ing communicated with all of our partners. ample is the exploration of home recordings ment tool. Its primary purpose was to unite to minimize the impact to dubbing projects. the company’s operations, helping manage True collaboration When the voice work for our dubbing proj- nearly 10,000 global vendors and deliver Collaboration across offices is always an im- ects needed to be completed outside of the more than 50,000 hours of content every portant strategy to help speed the delivery studio, our team quickly converged to begin month, across facilities located in 30 coun- of a client project. Now more than ever, we testing a new proprietary home recording tries around the world. Whether or not are making our project teams global, utiliz- application. We are building it to be simple we knew it then, this implementation has ing a “follow the sun” approach to projects to install, set up and use which allows voice become critical in helping us in this time of and shifting resources around the world at talent and directors the opportunity to fo- unprecedented business challenges. Using any given time based on the collective avail- cus on their craft and not the technology. this cloud-based platform, our teams have ability of our team’s capacity. Now when As with the rest of our industry, we hope now shifted to nonessential staff working local governments mandate a stay-at-home this crisis passes as quickly as possible. But remotely at home while still having full, order, we are able to transfer essential stu- with some ingenuity and the utilization of centralized and secure visibility across all of dio work to be completed in a location that best practices, we hope to continue deliver- our projects from order to fulfillment. is completely operational with team mem- ing a quality work product for our custom- bers who are fully aware of the project. ers with as little disruption as possible. We Transparency in also know that this global pandemic will communications Advanced resource permanently change the way remote work Communication with clients and partners planning will be done. is always important, but during a crisis it By utilizing advanced planning, assets and We will continue to find a way to get matters more than ever to be in constant staff are available around the world to en- that work done in a virtual environment, contact, as situations are changing by the sure projects are delivered on time. Work- looking for the best technology available minute around the world. More than ever ing with our client’s planning teams well in and creating solutions, where a current one clients want to track the status of their advance, and in anticipation of a worst-case does not exist. n projects, often in real-time. We’ve built a platform to provide visibility for all projects Chris Carey oversees global revenue for Iyuno Media Group and leads the across all of Iyuno’s global locations with company’s facility in Burbank, Calif. Prior to Iyuno Media Group and BTI real-time tracking. This was originally uti- Studios merging in September 2019, Carey was CRO of BTI Studios. chris. lized as a tool to not only provide great cus- [email protected] @iyunomedia tomer service, but also reduce the amount
M&EJOURNAL 44
NEW WORKFLOWS
Defining FYC
For Your Consideration … or For Your Customization, Convenience and Creativity? Photo by Clément M. on Unsplash
Abstract: The rapid maturation By Kristie Fung, VP Product Management, of over-the-top (OTT) streaming platforms has allowed the underlying OTT, Deluxe technology to begin to supplant physical DVDs as the preferred s with the movies and shows they honor, every awards distribution medium for awards-season season comes with its own dramatic narrative: whether screeners. But the use of OTT for it be the sudden rise of a plucky underdog, the shocking ‘For Your Consideration’ (FYC) sites snub of a fan favorite or the moment of validation for presents a new set of challenges and A an industry stalwart that had come oh-so-close in the past. opportunities to face. Here’s how This year, a small narrative twist played out before award voters Deluxe helps navigate the shift. even turned on their TVs. Increasingly, instead of reaching for a phys- ical disc, voters are logging into a website or loading a specialized app to access their screeners. In an era when many TV remotes come with a dedicated Netflix button, this shift was likely inevitable. But to bor- row an axiom from the creative process in our industry, just having the idea isn’t enough — you need to be able to execute.
M&EJOURNAL 46 OTT sites can deliver experiences that more seamlessly and intimately connect voters with the content up for consideration. FYC sites and apps can allow content consumption optimized for voters’ preferred devices, from phones with limited bandwidth, to home theater setups with the latest audio and visual standard support.
The impact of migration to efforts, providing technology to support and be unfamiliar territory for the marketing OTT create customized FYC streaming experi- professionals who run awards season cam- Transitioning to OTT screener distribu- ences. With the assistance of Deluxe, these paigns. The back-and-forth with developers tion is best thought of as an investment by implementations were able to be rapidly requires a methodical, disciplined approach studios and content creators. Internal mar- designed, tested, and released on tight time- to ensure that sites are built quickly and keting teams will need to climb the learning lines to integrate with broader marketing efficiently. On the other hand, the flexi- curve as they master a new distribution campaigns. bility of agile software development opens method and its possibilities. Think of the To support both international voters and up possibilities for improvisation and ad- long road from simple cardboard DVD awards bodies, studios and content creators aptation that long lead time DVDs never sleeves with bare bones menus, to brushed must be able to ensure that their content allowed. metal jewel cases and menu experiences can be viewed globally. Deluxe’s technology Studio teams also have plenty of ques- rivaling retail collector’s edition discs, for and team help creators localize, reformat tions about the mechanics of addressing OTT’s predecessor. and geo-filter content to make it accessible familiar problems in the new OTT. And In return for that investment, OTT in 100-plus countries. what studios and content creators may sites can deliver experiences that more In addition to optimizing geographical not realize is that the launch of an FYC seamlessly and intimately connect voters content consumption, Deluxe also enables site is just the beginning of the process. with the content up for consideration. viewing across a wide-ranging ecosystem of It requires continued management and FYC sites and apps can allow content devices. Content is scaled and enhanced for the addition of content, utilizing viewing consumption optimized for voters’ pre- various screen and bandwidth scenarios to metrics to create a virtuous feedback loop ferred devices, from phones with limited ensure that both viewer convenience and wherein the studio awards team is able to bandwidth, to home theater setups with the integrity of the original artistic vision are adjust both online and real-world mar- the latest audio and visual standard honored. keting plans to emphasize scenes, talent support. Beyond the core content, links Finally, a full-featured back-end support or entire shows that resonate most deeply to supplemental material and engaging platform allows for Deluxe to provide se- with voters. interactive experiences can be built-in curity administration, operational analytics (subject to guild/awards body standards and anonymized marketing analytics, all in FYC campaigns, today and on presentation). And behind the scenes, real-time. beyond the underlying technology platform can While the next awards season may seem enable modern digital rights management The learning process far away, the disruptive potential of OTT and analytics. While studios and direct-to-consumer FYC distribution means the industry must streaming platforms are adept at using OTT begin planning sooner than ever to stay The Deluxe approach technology for consumer distribution, im- competitive. A few studios already have a leg This awards season, several studios under- plementing the technology for an FYC site up with the 2020 season’s experience under took this journey, with the ultimate goal requires a subtly different toolset. their belt. Their competitors face both the of bolstering the competitiveness of their While operational teams at distributors daunting challenge of catching up, and the nominees by engaging more deeply with have had time to learn how to work with exciting opportunity to leapfrog the status voters. Deluxe aided in these company’s the software development process, it might quo with ever-evolving technology. n
Kristie Fung leads the development of the Deluxe One OTT streaming platform. To this role, she brings extensive experience from previous positions with Sony DADC New Media Solutions, United Technologies Corp. and The Boeing Co. Her focus is the development of world-class, consumer-focused media delivery solutions that enable content owners and distributors to effectively reach an increasingly fragmented audience. By leveraging Deluxe’s existing content processing and B2B delivery competencies, her team is able to offer a feature-rich, off-the-shelf solution to entertainment companies. [email protected] @deluxe1915
M&EJOURNAL 47 NEW WORKFLOWS
Avoiding Localization Pitfalls
New legislation and unions seek to strengthen the rights of dubbing performers
By Adebunmi Nsofor, Global Business, Legal Affairs Manager, SDI Media
Abstract: Content that was once limited to a specific country is now quickly being made available around the world, leading to a dramatic increase in demand for localization, or dubbing, “The world is getting smaller by the day.” services. But what do content hat’s not true, of course, but it certainly seems that way, thanks to the owners looking to increase the way that the internet, digital advancements and globalization are bring- exposure of their material need ing everyone together. to know to avoid any Content that was once limited to a specific country is now quickly legal issues? T being made available not just in neighboring countries but around the world. This development has led to a dramatic increase in demand for localization — including the dubbing and subtitling of content into a new language — in order to make it available to a larger audience. But what do content owners looking to spread their material need to know to avoid any legal issues relating to rights? And what about performers who are now seeing their work exposed to a much larger audience than in the past? Are they eligi- ble for more compensation?
M&EJOURNAL 48 In addition to offering new life to older content, increased localization has also led to new content being made available in a variety of languages instantaneously. Industry insiders have reported a significant surge in content that is being introduced in at least 10 different languages at once.
Consumption grows in That is changing now. Over the past n The actual and potential economic value native languages decade, there has been an increase in per- of the licensed or transferred rights; As a result of digitization, particularly the former awareness about these rights. Dub- proliferation of OTT platforms, content bing sector unions have pushed for more n The contribution of the performer to the owners are recognizing new profit oppor- equitable compensation for performers overall work, market practices or actual ex- tunities. For example, older content is whose content is delivered to OTT plat- ploitation of the work; now being taken out of the archives and forms, which has led to the EU Directive introduced to new countries with the help on Copyright in the Digital Single Market n Lump-sum payment can be made (and of localization. (Directive 2019/790). this last statement could make future roy- In addition to offering new life to older What does this new directive mean for alties for localized content a norm globally: content, increased localization has also led content owners and studios? It means that recently in the U.S., the SAG-AFTRA and to new content being made available in a during fee negotiations with performers, Directors Guild of America both signed variety of languages instantaneously. In- when a performer transfers their exclusive agreements with OTT platforms in order to dustry insiders have reported a significant rights, they are entitled to “receive appro- collect royalties/residuals on behalf of their surge in content that is being introduced priate and proportionate remuneration.” It members). in at least 10 different languages at once. remains to be seen how member states will So how is all of this growth and new implement this text into local law. The second global agreement is the opportunity affecting dubbing rights? To While the implementation of the princi- Beijing Treaty on the Protection of Au- understand that, we must first look at how ple of “appropriate and proportionate” has diovisual Performances, ratified on Jan. 28, dubbing rights have been handled in the past. been left to the discretion of member states, 2020, which sets the global IP standard for part of the directive outlines that member audio-visual performances at an interna- Understand past legal states may utilize the systems already in tional level. rights place for implementation, such as through One of the aims of the Beijing Treaty Unlike broadcasting, which has always had existing or newly introduced mechanisms, relevant to the localization sector is that it clear licensing and distribution guidelines, which could include collective bargaining seeks to strengthen the rights of perform- the localization sector has traditionally and the introduction of statutory remu- ers in the audio-visual industry by pro- been more lax with localization rights. neration rights, provided that such mech- viding stronger moral rights, the right to Traditionally, the verbiage “all rights anisms are in conformity with applicable be recognized for their contribution, and minus theatrical” has been widely used in EU law. expanding the economic rights for the use the localization industry. In the past, this Guidance on what will be deemed ap- of their performances. verbiage has, at times, been assumed to propriate and proportionate under the EU It is hoped that the Beijing Treaty include all ancillary usage of localized con- Directive 2019 states that the following will encourage increased investment in tent in toys, games, soundtracks and more. should be taken into consideration: local productions, through effective and This verbiage worked for decades be- cause performers in the dubbing sector did Adebunmi Nsofor is a versatile legal professional, with more than a decade of not fully understand the value associated experience in content and rights management, drafting and negotiating across with this ancillary usage, nor the wide intellectual property rights (IPR) and commercial agreements. She manages scope of rights this granted content own- SDI Media’s Business and Legal Affairs function across 24 countries. ers. [email protected] @SDIMediaGroup
M&EJOURNAL 49 NEW WORKFLOWS
The Beijing Treaty will encourage increased investment in local productions and, in turn, increase the need for quality localization.
well-enforced copyright and related rights outline the rates paid to performers, the n OTT rights clearance will be subject to legislation and, in turn, increase the need rights cleared and durations. As an exam- an uplift and a limit to how long content for quality localization, which will support ple, in France and French-Belgium, per- owners can exploit these rights; the global distribution of local produc- formers are paid an uplift for each mode of tions and cultures. exploitation, ancillary usage required, and n Assignment of rights forms will need to As an added benefit, experts believe the the duration is typically for 10 or 30 years, be revised. new legislation — both the EU directive as set out in the standard union contract. and the Beijing Treaty — should help These collective agreements outline Change has come fast to the localiza- ensure secure, more effective distribution the rates to be paid to performers and the tion market, and laws are being drafted to of content over the internet via OTT plat- exploitation rights to be assigned compara- address those changes in markets around forms, reduce the value gap between per- tive to the fee paid. the world. formers and content owners, and bring laws Basically, these agreements and forms At SDI Media, we are busy bringing up to date with the digital market by creat- are in alignment with the “appropriate awareness to these changes and exploring ing new licensing opportunities and residu- and proportionate” principle from the EU how they will impact the way rights are als and royalty payments to performers. Directive. assigned and acquired from performers The view is that in the coming months moving forward. The role of dubbing unions as the EU Copyright Directive 2019 and It is our aim to initiate a dialog about In territories with active unions, those Beijing Treaty texts are enacted into law: this topic in the localization industry in unions have been largely responsible for the hopes that appropriate contract forms ensuring that laws and regulations are be- n The unions will garner more strength can be put into place, enabling content ing upheld. (this is already happening in Greece, Slove- owners to freely utilize content that has One way they are doing this is by im- nia, and Turkey, where there are currently been localized for use in markets around plementing collective agreements that ongoing union negotiations); the world. n
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Distributed Teamwork: It’s Not ‘When,’ It’s ‘Now’
With the right technology and intent we will continue to get creative work done
Abstract: The M&E industry thrives on a ‘high-touch’ working style. People are used to face-to-face interactions for internal collaboration and creative production. But over the past couple of months, the world has changed. Physical meetings and in-person collaboration have nearly ceased. To stay productive, teams across industries are relying on modern workplace technology platforms. M&E companies are already at the forefront of providing amazing, creative and interactive experiences for customers. Now their employees can experience their own share of amazing collaboration experiences, no matter where in the world they are.
By Ruven Gotz, Director, umans are social creatures. We rely on body language, facial expressions and vocalizations to interpret the Workplace Experience Solutions, meaning and sentiments of our conversations. For Avanade Hthose in the M&E industry, face-to-face interactions and meetings can help you to be productive and efficient when cre- ating content that impacts your audiences. But now that we are required to be physically distant, how can creators and those who support them in the M&E industry stay productive?
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We must also be cognizant that what happens naturally in-person must be done with intent when working remotely. By realizing this, we can put a bit more energy into making sure we are understood and that we understand our colleagues.
specifics. Share your desktop and take notes It comes down to two things: We’ve made it work by embracing video and that everyone can see so corrections can be technology and intent. trusting the rock-solid Teams infrastructure. made in real time. Let’s talk about intent first. It’s harder to And we’ve felt completely confident in the se- collaborate successfully when not face-to- curity and safety of our and our clients’ data. Take security and privacy seriously face, so it’s important to be aware of this As you get started, here are some tips and The tools and platforms you use should be se- and think carefully about mitigating the guidelines: cure to protect the privacy of your texts, voice difficulties. We need to pay closer attention and video. Be sure to configure those tools to what people are saying; to pause when Use video (and high-quality audio) properly with security options enabled so that speaking to allow others to be heard, espe- While many of us feel uncomfortable seeing anonymous attendees can’t crash your calls cially when small delays in computer-based ourselves on video, we must work to over- and post unwanted content to your meetings. conference calling make it hard to find space come this discomfort. Having your face on Help protect the dignity of your colleagues to interrupt. And we should consider using screen shows that you are paying attention, by muting them if they don’t realize their emojis liberally when texting so that tone gives your colleagues insight into your emo- microphones are live when they are eating or intent is clear. Sometimes our text-based tional state and provides necessary cues about their lunch. And be ready to eject a person communications tools prevent the nuances how to steer the conversation. Coupled with from the meeting if they don’t realize they’re of expression from coming through. video is the need for reasonably high-quality on-camera when doing something that they’d We must also be cognizant that what sound. Buy a good headset with a noise-can- prefer was not broadcast. happens naturally in-person must be done celling microphone so that vocal nuances can Making a big switch in how we work and with intent when working remotely. By be heard and understood. how we work together is tough. Old habits realizing this, we can put a bit more energy Also, make sure you are well-lit so that die hard. We all must be more relaxed and into making sure we are understood and that your face can be seen clearly. Don’t sit with give each other a bit more leeway in the face we understand our colleagues. Ask clarifying your back to a window, as this will cast a of inevitable interruptions and technical questions and pause for comment more of- shadow on your face and greatly reduce the glitches. ten than you would normally. value of being on-camera. Reduce distrac- This great forced experiment will have tions like a rotating ceiling fan or other extra- long-lasting implications on how and where Now, how do we best use neous movement that can interfere with the we work, even after the current situation technology? flow of conversation. stabilizes and social distancing is eased. Tools, First, I’d like to tell you about our experience like Microsoft Teams, give us the ability using technology to collaborate. I work at Use visual tools to enhance your to see and hear each other with surprising a company with almost 38,000 employees message fidelity and to work together collaboratively. spread across the globe, so we often rely on When someone can’t see your body language, Those of us who can embrace the new will virtual meetings to communicate. We’ve it can be easy to miss the intent of complex have more options. We will be the flexible been Microsoft Teams users since its launch ideas. Use whiteboarding tools to sketch con- employees and colleagues who can get the job exactly three years ago. So, when the current cepts or use images and pointers to highlight done — from anywhere. n crisis hit, we were ready. But even with our extensive experience with remote working, Ruven Gotz leads the Workplace Experience practice for Avanade in the West. our organization still had to make some ad- Based in Los Angeles, he’s been helping clients develop solutions for effective justments. We now have zero opportunity to communication and collaboration for almost 20 years and has been working meet face-to-face with clients and each other. from home himself for the past six years. [email protected] @ruveng
M&EJOURNAL 54 20+ Plugins for Film | Game | Design Extensible RNDR SDK Available to Unity, UE4, C4D, Maya, Modo & more Develop & Monetize New Applications NEW WORKFLOWS
New Decade, New Cloud-Enabled Production Workflows
Advanced cloud-based workflows offer advantages when there’s a need to spin-up a production facility quickly
Abstract: The cloud has been used for the delivery of live and on-demand streaming of video at massive scale for some time. However, utilizing the cloud for the production of that same video has lagged behind — until now. Here we explore why now is the time to migrate video workflows to the cloud, and explain the advantages as well as what users need to know about open systems, APIs, security and AI.
By Stephen Tallamy, he cloud is everywhere and nowhere. The cloud is now delivering immediacy and It’s certainly intangible: very few facilitating scale with attractive economics for CTO, EditShare people know exactly what goes on the OTT market. Where it differs from the Tinside this nebulous artifact. Star Trek fantasy is that the cloud exists, and is For end users of streamed video, as long as starting to deliver the sort of performance that is what’s on the screen is what they asked for, the needed for cloud-based production. job is done. That’s exactly how it should be: a technology that would have seemed impossible Real performance, extreme a few years ago, delivering a multiple choice of flexibility entertainment viewing to living rooms almost One of the most enticing aspects of the cloud is anywhere, mostly instantaneously, for a small that it allows developers to behave with extreme monthly payment. When you compare it with flexibility. If you need more workstation capacity, the previous method, which was to send a DVD just request it. More storage? No problem. Even in the mail, it can seem almost as far-fetched as a in cloud systems, there’s real hardware, some- matter replicator on Star Trek making Captain where. Users never see or feel the “real” hardware, Picard a cup of hot Earl Grey tea. except when they get “real” performance from
M&EJOURNAL 56 EFS Auditing offers a media-centric approach to security on-premise and in the cloud.
the cloud. And please make no mistake: real “hardware” performance is available from the cloud. Every time there’s a change in a technol- ogy paradigm, it takes a while for those fa- miliar with the previous era to get on board. That’s completely understandable, and it’s part of the nature of paradigm change: one minute everything seems “normal” and the system that turns almost any storage into a cloud as it does back on Earth: it creates next, seemingly weird, impossible stuff is high-performance, media optimized storage optimized media spaces that are managed happening, and doing it convincingly. It’s resource that can be on the ground or in and allocated in exactly the same way as bewildering but exciting. the cloud. on-premise storage. As we experience the first few months EditShare now has all the components This advanced cloud-based workflow of a radically shifting world in 2020, now for a high speed, reliable cloud-based pro- already exists and is in the hands of com- more than ever a pivot to cloud production duction system. In the next section, we’re mercial customers. It offers huge advantages, and spinning up a virtual environment going to look at how we built this, and how especially where there’s a need to spin-up make sense to optimize performance, eco- it works. (and down) a full-scale production facility nomics, scale and more importantly, ensure at short notice. business continuity. Made for media Let’s take a closer look at how this That feeling that it shouldn’t quite be In any production workflow, it’s essential works. possible is justified. Often the first tentative to have a media asset management system One way to picture this is to understand steps inside a new paradigm really are diffi- (MAM) that orchestrates the movement that Flow (the high-level media man- cult — exactly like a child learning to walk. of media within a facility. We are now able agement system) and EFS (the low-level to extend this managerial oversight to the storage file system) work in the same way Great things happen entire globe. whether they’re on-premise with local hard- But it’s when you embrace those difficulties The next stage is to move the familiar ware, or in the cloud, albeit with new soft- and focus development on them that great high-powered media workstations into the ware techniques to make everything modu- things start to happen. Before long, you see cloud. These are actual, physical machines lar, scalable, ultra-flexible and cloud-native. really useful, dependable and ultimately that happen to sit on the Amazon Web Ser- With EditShare’s already proven key transformative performance emerging. vices side of the fence. The advantage is that technologies in the cloud, distance melts (Transformative because you can do things when you pay for the use of one, it doesn’t away and so do the costs of setting up a fa- that weren’t even slightly possible before — matter which one, because of virtualization. cility with almost no notice (as do the costs like working anywhere in the world). It’s important to add that while these of spinning down a facility when a project That’s the stage we’re at with EditShare’s are “generic” but powerful workstations, is finished). Flow and EFS solutions: a media asset man- they’re not specialized for collaborative Of course EditShare’s cloud technolo- agement (MAM) system that exists both in media workflows. But that’s exactly what gies include security, openness, flexibility the cloud and running on real metal servers EditShare’s media optimized file system, and modularity. Openness is a sine qua on the ground, and a media-optimized file EFS does. EFS works the same way in the Continued on Page 136
Stephen Tallamy is an innovative software professional with significant experience utilizing cloud technologies to develop enterprise and consumer applications for telecoms and TV industries. He is an experienced principal architect building large-scale TV platforms using cloud-native technologies in hybrid on-prem/cloud environments. A keen inventor, Tallamy holds three patents in the areas of metadata management, intelligent video content generation and video access control. [email protected], @EditShare
M&EJOURNAL 57 NEW WORKFLOWS
Why Going Direct-to-Consumer Doesn’t Have to Be Hard Huge interest in the D2C market is balanced by uncertainty as rights holders consider technical challenges
Abstract: Content owners are ne of the most potentially far-reaching trends we’ve exploring how to reach viewers, seen over the past couple of years in the industry is monetize content and harvest a huge upsurge in interest amongst rights holders data through direct-to-consumer for going direct-to-consumer (D2C). It’s not just initiatives. But how do you overcome O the global M&E giants like Disney or NBCUniversal, to name technical challenges and create user two very current examples keen to launch their own services, but experiences matching high audience a wide range of rights holders, from sports to brands, and even to expectations? It doesn’t have to be the sort of individual entertainment properties that would tradi- difficult, but it takes the right approach tionally be selling their IP at conferences such as MIPCOM. and the right partner. The move to D2C is not an either/or proposition. The tradi- tional model is to create IP, establish a brand and do distribution deals with broadcasters and platforms, dividing the world up into territories and selling those rights on a case-by-case basis. D2C By Steve Russell, Head of does not replace that, rather it augments it and gives companies Media Management, OTT access to additional revenue streams. These can be in the form of subscriptions, advertising revenue, Portfolio, Red Bee Media or more ephemeral but still vital KPIs such as brand exposure.
M&EJOURNAL 58 D2C now allows rights holders to connect with their consumer base in ways we have not seen before. The sort of pop-up channels and shows we might see as a result of this is genuinely exciting, especially for fans of certain consumer brands, and sports and entertainment franchises.
But possibly the one facet of going D2C means features such as content discovery industry-facing requirements such as the currently gaining the most interest is access and personalized recommendations need trusted security, dynamic scaling and rapid to data. to be implemented, as well as seamless time-to-value that clients rightly insist on. cross-platform performance, and rock-sol- In fact, we’d go beyond that and say that Advantage? Data. id, low-latency signals with a minimum of it makes launching D2C services genuinely The main advantage of D2C is exactly what video buffering. Rightly or wrongly, D2C creative. Rights holders are free to exper- it says in its name; it enables rights holders services are compared by consumers to ev- iment and find out what works; adapting to build a direct relationship with their erything else that is being piped into their and evolving their propositions as they go consumers and thereby connect with peo- homes, and increasingly footloose audiences along with a range of pop-up services fueled ple who are already passionate about what are quick to depart a service that doesn’t with feedback from real-time dashboards. they do. As well as the potential for mon- measure up. And the agility this gives them makes it an etizing content, this means that the rights The solution to this quandary is, of ideal fit for covering live events on short holder gains access to valuable first-party course, to outsource the effort and not rein- notice. Pop-up live events can be streamed data regarding exactly what its audience vent the wheel. At Red Bee, for instance, we globally within seconds, reaching audiences wants to see from its offering. This can feed have specialized in making sure that video around the world and swiftly bringing in back into the D2C proposition itself or in- looks good and meets consumer expecta- the sort of viewer numbers that live spe- form other parts of the business under the tions for many years. And the transition cializes in. Our work on the recent Rugby aegis of the product philosophy of “learn from linear broadcast to the current multi- World Cup in 2019, for example, reached and adapt.” plicity of delivery platforms has only served more than 12.8 million viewers for ITV When using other routes to market to hone those skills. alone. this data is inaccessible and sits with the What’s more, the advent of cloud-based D2C now allows rights holders to con- distribution platform. Material distributed services has revolutionized the speed and nect with their consumer base in ways we via YouTube, for instance, might give the agility with which a D2C service can be spun have not seen before. The sort of pop-up rights holders access to headline figures up. By using a mixture of cloud-based and channels and shows we might see as a result such as the number and duration of views, hosted equipment (on our premises and of this are genuinely exciting, especially for but not the truly granular and segmented in our playout centers, not the client’s) we fans of certain consumer brands, and sports data of audience composition and con- can establish a Netflix-like service within and entertainment franchises. It still re- sumption patterns that a correctly set-up minutes, with all the advanced functionality quires content (though with licensing deals direct service can produce. in terms of platforms, viewer recommenda- in place even that can be taken care of), but So why isn’t everyone doing it? In tions, user interfaces, and more that current it is an exercise that can certainly no longer talking to our customers about D2C solu- audiences have come to expect. That includes be thought of as hard. n tions there is a definite perception that set- ting up your own video service is technically Steve Russell is responsible for the OTT and media management portfolios at challenging and resource intensive. This is Red Bee Media and has been building and contributing to innovative products exacerbated by the fact that such services and services within the media industry for the last 15 years. He noted a long don’t exist in a vacuum and need to reflect time ago that “software is eating the world” and is a passionate participant in the the rise in consumer expectations that the ongoing transformation of preparation, processing and consumption of sports and best pay TV and SVOD services offer. That entertainment content. [email protected] @RedBeeMedia
M&EJOURNAL 59 NEW WORKFLOWS
Why Siloed Solutions Won’t Win in the D2C Economy
Rights holders with integrated enterprise solutions can realize advantages in areas including avails and business analysis
By Amos Biegun, Global Head, Rights, Royalties, Vistex
Abstract: Winning in the e’re living in a time where a single Spotify direct-to-consumer (D2C) download means breaking down a penny into economy will require smart hundredths of a cent, just to pay all the parties and nimble solutions to keep involved that are owed royalties. It’s a mark in up with consumer demand. W time when rights owners are expecting that those in charge of fully But is the trending, quick-fix, monetizing their content will do so quickly, to keep up with con- siloed approach to software a sumer demand. safe long-term strategy? Or will Technology has made it possible to distribute content faster, to the ultimate victors implement a broader audience, and in myriad forms. That has only multiplied enterprise software that can the complexities of managing the supply chain, as well as payment weather the complexity and and reporting requirements on the back end. Spreadsheets and volume inherent to the new legacy systems tied together by email chains and off-line conversa- business model? tions simply can’t support the sheer volume of transactions passing through the enterprise. Only those who can ensure data integrity will be the clear winners in the D2C economy. Rights and royalties management is a tangled decision tree of formats, blackout dates, multiple languages, geographies, subtitled or dubbed versions, music, streaming vs. downloads, promotional
M&EJOURNAL 60 The new and growing laundry list of factors involved in exploiting con- tent and then getting paid accurately can be daunting. And yet, track- ing all of this data on a series of siloed solutions and spreadsheets — with a total lack of standardization — remains a bad industry trend that, unless resolved, will eventually hamper the curators of even the best libraries of content.
offers, niche licenses for devices and more. culations can put key players out of business. n Full visibility into real-time avails across Payments owed are equally complicated At the very least, inaccuracies can create the enterprise — with a single system of and are increasingly becoming more sophis- distrust and enmity between parties, result- truth; ticated. The new and growing laundry list ing in permanent breaks in their business of factors involved in exploiting content relationships. n The ability to analyze business perfor- and then getting paid accurately can be The consumer, at the heart of the D2C mance in real time, for accurate forecasting, daunting. And yet, tracking all of this data economy, has a hunger for content. They planning and agile decision making. on a series of siloed solutions and spread- have literally thousands of choices, and sheets — with a total lack of standardiza- that’s how they like it. But this extreme de- Picking winners and losers tion — remains a bad industry trend that, mand requires constant attention. Therefore, Notably, the most groundbreaking aspect unless resolved, will eventually hamper access to creators and content variety to of an enterprise solution is its ability to the curators of even the best libraries of secure enough content deals is more mission leverage the data that can unleash artificial content. critical than ever in the entertainment in- intelligence and predictive modeling to We’re seeing global organizations dustry’s history. identify the content that is most likely to be addressing Enterprise-wide challenges by profitable. This is where the entertainment using a “spot solution,” which in itself may The benefits of a single industry needs to catch up with its high- work sufficiently well, but lacks integration solution tech production side. into a company’s ERP and the ability to Approaching rights and royalties manage- While billions of dollars are spent each provide a single source of data for the enter- ment with siloed solutions is not the answer. year to produce and distribute content that prise. With the smaller players, we’re seeing So what promise does an integrated enter- is compelling and profitable — the infra- a huge reliance on spreadsheets, which is an prise solution hold? A great deal. For exam- structure that supports the core of the en- even greater cause for concern. People are ple, rights holders with integrated enterprise tertainment enterprise is compromised by subscribing to multiple services on multiple solutions can realize many advantages, using siloed systems that don’t talk to one devices, adding a firehose of complexity. which include: another. The winners in the race for eyeballs Old-school rights and royalties manage- will ultimately be those who replace siloed ment is unsustainable. n The ability to accurately manage the solutions and spreadsheets with a single People are always astounded to learn high-data volumes encountered by the indus- system that can drive strategic decisions and that something as simple as a title-naming try’s move to streaming; trusted results. n convention is not adopted industrywide. Once you realize that simple fact, you can Amos Biegun is a 30-year veteran of the rights and royalties business. begin to imagine how easily data can go His objective is to ensure that the Vistex expansion into this area remains awry. unrivaled and that growth is unparalleled. Under his guidance, the suite of We understand how rights and royalties Vistex solutions has become the industry standard for global companies of gone rogue can hurt the industry. Miscal- scale. [email protected] @abiegun
M&EJOURNAL 61 NEW WORKFLOWS
Get the Most Out of Your Color Grading Session, While Preserving Artistic Vision
Streamlined color grading workflow captures the quality and detail in HDR for an SDR deliverable
Abstract: The Dolby Vision content creation tools and workflow give filmmakers an efficient way to create both high-dynamic range (HDR) and legacy standard dynamic range (SDR) color grades and ensure that the look created in the color suite stays true when experienced by consumers. Our latest tools were the result of feedback from creatives worldwide based on the previous generation of the Dolby Vision workflow.
By Thomas Graham, Head ay Dolby founded Dolby Laboratories in 1965. Since the earliest days of the company, Dolby’s mission has been to harness science of Dolby Vision Content and engineering to improve media fidelity, enabling consumers to Enablement, and Rexperience audiovisual content the way its creators intended. Ray Dolby’s first invention was the Dolby Noise Reduction System, which reduced Graef Allen, Manager, Technical distracting noise present in early audio tape recordings. Today, Dolby is known for more than just sound. We helped pioneer Operations, Dolby Laboratories high-dynamic range (HDR) imaging as it exists for consumers today. Dolby invented a method of representing HDR video using the perceptual quantizer (PQ) transfer function, standardized as SMPTE ST. 2084, which underlies the open HDR10 standard as well as our proprietary Dolby Vision format. HDR video for consumers is typically color graded and finished on high- end video mastering displays costing tens of thousands of dollars. Consumer
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NEW WORKFLOWS
The goal is always to preserve the creative intent of the filmmakersall the way to the consumer. What a consumer sees at home should closely match the look the colorist created and approved on the mastering display during the color grading process.
HDR TVs, tablets and smartphones have detail to be lost. mapping: it can also enable a post-produc- come a long way over the last few years, Dolby Vision dynamic metadata is gen- tion process called content mapping (CM), but they still don’t have the capabilities erated in the color grading system, adjusted which generates new video files that have of professional reference displays when by the colorist and ultimately transmitted the Dolby Vision mapping process baked it comes to how bright and colorful they to a TV or other playback device in an en- in. Content mapping takes in the original are. Nor should they — how many con- coded video stream. The metadata describes HDR video and Dolby Vision metadata sumers would want to shell out $30,000 the original mastering display used by the and outputs a new deliverable that is opti- for their living room TV? For this reason, colorist, luminance information calculated mized for a specified luminance target, even consumer devices must accommodate for each individual shot, and can incorpo- down to 100 nits for SDR. bright and vibrant HDR content by rate dynamic trims chosen by a colorist to We believe this streamlined color grad- translating the incoming video signal ensure the most accurate mapping from ing workflow best captures the quality and into a smaller container at playback using mastering display to playback device. The detail in the HDR grade down into the a process called display mapping (DM). inputs to that display mapping process are lesser capable SDR deliverable. It also is ex- The luminance and color decisions the the HDR video signal, the Dolby Vision tremely efficient in terms of time required colorist made on the original mastering metadata and information about the play- in the grading suite. On a typical one-hour display are “mapped” into the smaller back device’s own display characteristics. show, the Dolby Vision SDR trims can be dynamic range and color gamut capabil- Dolby Vision display mapping yields excel- accomplished in as little as an afternoon as ities of the consumer device. The goal is lent image fidelity whether a display is ca- opposed to another full round of regrading always to preserve the creative intent of pable of 300 nits of peak luminance or over an SDR version. Netflix and other studios the filmmakers all the way to the consum- one thousand nits. have adopted this as the primary workflow er. What a consumer sees at home should When Dolby developed the post-pro- to deliver Dolby Vision, HDR10 and SDR closely match the look the colorist creat- duction content creation tools for our Dol- versions of their original shows. ed and approved on the mastering display by Vision consumer format, we weren’t just during the color grading process. enabling the creation of compelling HDR Feedback from content images that maintain their integrity across a creators Working for consumers broad range of display types. We were also When asked for his take on the Dolby Consumer Dolby Vision video combines determined to develop an efficient work- Vision workflow, Dean Devlin of Electric HDR images with metadata that changes flow that would allow multiple “grades” to Entertainment in Los Angeles told Dolby from shot to shot. The dynamic metadata be derived from a single master. The Dolby that “as spectacular as HDR is, we’ve basi- in a Dolby Vision video stream guides Vision metadata isn’t solely used by display cally ignored it because it was cost prohib- dynamic display mapping in a consumer device to optimize the amount of image Thomas Graham is head of Dolby Vision content enablement and a 29-year detail preserved in each scene. Some scenes veteran of the post-production technology industry, working for Digidesign, Avid will be very bright, some will be very dark and Dolby, along with a variety of consulting and freelance work. He was one of and others will fall somewhere in between. the first to use Pro Tools to record and edit the orchestra on Hollywood scoring A generic display mapping transform in a stages on more than 40 feature films. [email protected] @Dolby TV that works well for very bright images is unlikely to be as successful when han- Graef Allen is manager of technical operations for Dolby Laboratories, and has dling dark images. Using a static approach worked for Dolby for the last 16 years. She started her Dolby career as a 35mm in which every scene in a movie or TV film projectionist and now manages a technical operations department that episode is mapped the same way would handles consumer Dolby Vision color grading, mastering, and encoding. inevitably cause some of the original image [email protected] @Dolby
M&EJOURNAL 64 itive for us to color time it as well as doing HDR grade. Other times, they may actually Shaw says, “The improved and additional a second version in SDR. With the Dolby prefer a slightly different look in the SDR SDR trim tools available in 4.0 gave me the Vision tools and workflow, however, we find version. The original Dolby Vision color ability to produce an SDR image that more that we can spend our energy and money on grading tools had 6 trim controls to adjust accurately represented the original HDR creating the best version possible, and only the mapped output at each defined lumi- version. During the process I noticed that have to do the process once.” nance target. CM v4.0 has 9 primary and 12 in certain scenes where I had struggled to We have also considered feedback from secondary trim controls, including 6-vector maintain highlight detail during my orig- content creators around the world as our hue adjustments to more precisely map hues, inal SDR color session, the Dolby Vision product and engineering teams have refined which can be especially important when SDR version now yielded a more detailed Dolby Vision over time. We launched a shifting from P3 or Rec. 2020 to the more image on the top end, and I even decided more flexible CM/DM algorithm, v4.0, at limited Rec. 709 color gamut. to insert those scenes into my original SDR IBC 2018. For v4.0 of the Dolby Vision We’re encouraged by the feedback we’ve deliverable for Showtime.” content creation tools, we heard that it was received from the post-production com- Like most MESA members, we have important to introduce more flexibility to munity so far. Keith Shaw is a colorist at multiple constituencies to please, from the the trim controls, which are the means by Keep Me Posted in Burbank, Calif. Shaw post-production vendors who rely on our which the colorist exerts creative influence has been the final colorist on Showtime’s technology to do their jobs to the clients on what is otherwise an algorithmic map- Ray Donovan for multiple seasons. He and consumers who enjoy the fruits of that ping process. In many cases, filmmakers and graded a demo clip from Ray Donovan in effort. That has always been at the heart of colorists want the look of their derived SDR Dolby Vision, although the show itself Dolby’s mission, and continues to be true grade to adhere very closely to the original was graded in SDR only. About CM v4.0, with Dolby Vision. n
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Descriptive Metadata: M&E’s Digital Twin Blockbuster
For success in D2C, know your product and your consumer Photo by David Werbrouck on Unsplash
Abstract: In global enterprises, products and services have multiple By Michael A. Malgeri, Principal Technologist, MarkLogic representations, aka “twins.” Products and services can get efore anyone could prove it by experiment, the great Albert Einstein out of sync, causing problems in postulated that if one of a pair of twins travels at near the speed of production and distribution. The light then returns, he or she will have aged less than the twin that notion of “digital twins” has emerged Bstayed behind. This came to be known as the “Twin Paradox.” Ba- in the manufacturing sector. This sically, the twins’ lives diverged because the environment surrounding one twin article explores how extending became out of sync with the other. Specifically, time slowed among the things, manufacturing’s digital twin concept people, processes and relationships that existed among one twin “relative” to the can deliver benefits to M&E. other, causing one’s environment to wander from its counterpart. While there are heartwarming stories of separated twins meeting up later in life only to find they’ve maintained uncanny similarities, the effects of dislocation are inescapable. The notion of a “digital twin” has already emerged in the manufacturing sector. One of its goals is to facilitate the monitoring, reporting and integrating of infor- mation pertaining to products and services in order to keep their respective en- vironments in sync. Another goal is to maintain constant “situational awareness” about the environment, in order to act in an agile fashion. It accomplishes this by collecting data, through ubiquitous embedded sensors (IoT devices). The net results are to mitigate cost overruns, reduce risk and capture additional revenue. Applying the digital twin concept to media and entertainment might seem like a stretch. Today’s M&E enterprises are already mostly digitized, so where does
M&EJOURNAL 66 Descriptive metadata is a conceptual replica of what producers believe audiences will experience when viewing their content – just like a human twin is a somewhat physical replica of a sibling – and the CAD/CAM/CAE model is a digital replica of a physical part or assembly.
IOT play a role? While the industries differ of various titles and their entitlements, and replace an announcer at sporting events. in many ways, this article will explore how culminating in complex revenue recognition The time coding aspect is important extending manufacturing’s digital twin through invoicing and payment processing. because it not only greatly aids in finding concept can deliver benefits to M&E. Digitizing as much of this distribution any given frame of content, but it enables lifecycle as possible brings benefits already interesting, time relative queries to be ful- Digital twins in M&E enumerated. filled. Here’s an example query: Find all the We’re not at the point where CGI can There’s yet another player in the world of scenes across our catalog, in action movies, create a digital representation of “insert digital twins in M&E, one which arguably where a male hero says “I love you,” then your favorite actor here,” and have it act has the largest impact on this dynamic in- kisses the heroine within five seconds after indecipherably from its real counterpart. dustry. That player is descriptive metadata. saying it. However, the bits and bytes representing A query like this could be further re- Grand Moff Tarkin, the deceased Peter What is descriptive stricted with location (in the jungle, in Cushing’s character in Rogue One: A Star metadata? Europe, in NYC), time period (roaring Wars Story, for example, makes us consider Descriptive metadata captures the non-tech- twenties, WWII, 60s), or even additional the possibility of that time arriving not too nical, non-administrative aspects of content. time criteria such as, “the heroine slaps the far in the future. It’s primarily concerned with the relation- hero within 5 seconds after being kissed.” Assuming all intellectual property rights ship with the audience, i.e. what they see, In certain streaming video modes, how have been negotiated, and the CGI char- hear, feel (emotionally), surmise, anticipate about analyzing the effects of inserting dif- acter gets a properly outfitted, on-location and put another way, what they experience. ferent types of pop-up ads, or recommen- Winnebago, it may become routine for Descriptive metadata consists of informa- dations, shortly after a specified sequence movie scenes to be reasonably prototyped tion including, but not limited to characters, of events? The query scenarios, and their and tested before audiences and critics, actors, genre, location, gender, setting, tone, associated benefits grow, once a platform is many times at significantly less cost, before theme and plot. created that can readily leverage this type of real actors are called on set. While in the past, most of this metadata information. What about digital twins in distribu- was, and still is, captured by humans placing tion? Now, nearly every organization in metadata tags on each time-coded scene, Descriptive metadata and every industry represents some aspect of its machine learning (ML) in the form of auto- digital twins product or service in digital form and has mated image and audio processing is taking Descriptive metadata is a conceptual repli- some automated process for distributing it. on some of the workload. Image processing ca of what producers believe audiences will From sales literature, to support tickets, to has advanced to the point of recognizing experience when viewing their content product downloads (software, books, music, not just a face, but a specific face. Audio – just like a human twin is a somewhat entertainment, reports, etc.) the entire pro- processing, along with motion detectors and physical replica of a sibling, and the CAD/ cess can be tracked at multiple points for camera-outfitted athletes, can realistically CAM/CAE model is a digital replica of a accuracy and efficiency, and analyzed for opportunity. Michael Malgeri is a principal technologist with MarkLogic. He helps The same can be said for packaging, in- organizations reduce costs, automate processes, find new opportunities and voicing and payment of licensable material. create applications that bring high value to businesses and their customers. Content licensing in M&E follows a com- Malgerai focuses on the M&E industry, where content providers, distributors plex chain of events, beginning with terms and related companies are seeking to leverage the power of data in order of sale, captured in legal contracts, proceed- to capture new opportunities driven by expanding global information ing through “release packages” consisting consumption. [email protected] @mmalgeri
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Going Beyond DBaaS
Data hub service (DHS) goes beyond database-as-a-service (DBaaS) to deliver out-of-the-box features.
n Engagement activity from streaming me- dia applications
The more enterprises can combine and leverage KYP and KYC data in meaningful analytics, the better it can market directly to consumers with targeted products and services for greater consumer engagement and loyalty. Finally, everything we’ve discussed can be enhanced through a multi-model, se- mantically enabled data hub service (DHS), which avoids the twin paradox and increas- es the chances for creating a digital twin blockbuster.
physical part or assembly. n Increase revenue by finding content quickly Data hub service for a Because descriptive metadata is granular, for reuse on new projects digital twin win information that is semantically relatable n Increase revenue by pursuing opportunities As can be seen in the figure here, when com- across dimensions of time, location, charac- not previously possible pared to other anything as a service (XaaS) ters, actors and various emotions and story n Increase revenue by addressing speculative offerings, a DHS goes beyond database as components, it enables content providers use cases and experiment a service (DBaaS) to deliver the following to be successful at “know your product n Increase revenue by rapidly finding memo- out-of-the-box features: (KYP)” initiatives. It meshes nicely with rable moments for prospective licensees n Pay as you go model “know your customer (KYC)” and “direct to n Reduce the risk and associated costs of n Auto scalability, both up and down consumer (D2C)” initiatives. In the spirit non-compliance in IP rights and regulations. n High availability of Einstein, one could express this as a “di- n Backup rect to consumer equation”: D2C = KYP + These are real benefits extracted when n Configurable security that integrates with KYC. an enterprise knows its product. The M&E enterprise wide systems That’s an equation with more symbolism industry can knock the ball out of the park n Smart, agile data mastering than real quantitative use, however, it does by knowing its consumer. Knowing your n Data harmonization (integration) to an convey a path toward business value. customer (KYC) comes from a variety of entity model sources; some typical ones are as follows: n Multi-model database (document and Delivering business value n Demographic information stored in profiles semantic graph) Information that fully describes a content from company websites n Geospatial indexing and search provider’s title help deliver value as follows: n Financial information from sales campaigns n BiTemporal search n Reduce cost by not having to rely on select n Interest information from marketing cam- n Data provenance and data lineage individuals (experts) to locate content paigns n Time based descriptive metadata modeling n Increase revenue by searching entire studio n Sentiment information from surveys and n Semantically enriched Integrated search catalog to suggest related contact to licensees social media Continued on Page 135
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Beyond Genre: Exploring Content Discovery’s New Frontier
Core character traits can fuel content discovery
By Trent Wheeler, SVP, Product, Video, Gracenote
Abstract: With consumers today s the world shelters at home to stall the spread of COVID-19, families, co- deciding what to watch based on a habitants and individuals alike are discovering newfound time to occupy. An widening range of considerations, uptick in TV consumption has resulted as viewers broadly seek new TV shows TV providers are adopting new Aand movies to stay entertained. approaches to presenting the right Even before the novel coronavirus pandemic broke out, average time spent by U.S. adults programming at the right time. Here watching video on live and time-shifted TV, TV-connected devices, computers, smartphones we highlight innovative content and tablets amounted to a whopping 5 hours, 43 minutes per day according to the April personalization initiatives designed 2020 Nielsen Total Audience Report covering Q4 2019. This was up a full 21 minutes over to maximize engagement and the key numbers in the February release of the report, speaking clearly to the value consumers place role metadata plays in those user on watching video content, even outside of a major disruptive event keeping them at home. experiences. In the face of COVID-19 driven lockdowns, a popular meme is making the rounds on social media. It facetiously states, “I finished Netflix today.” This captures viewers’ voracious appetites for content and the drive — sometimes bordering on obsessive — to consume the smorgasbord with deliberation. Just what does this full feast of content look like today? Ac- cording to Gracenote data, there were approximately 646,000 unique program titles avail- able across linear and streaming TV services in 2019. This represents a 10 percent increase over the previous year. Incumbent streaming services and new entrants to the marketplace with major backing have been driving demand for compelling TV series and movies to populate their cata- logs, leading to these ballooning numbers. Amid the streaming wars, video providers are
M&EJOURNAL 70 Editorially curated metadata describing TV shows and movies from various angles such as mood, theme, scenario and setting enables providers to understand foundational aspects of content that may resonate with individual viewers — and draw them to those offerings. leveraging new original programming in find something worthwhile quickly, 21 per- and movies gives providers yet another op- addition to popular licensed content to the cent tended to abandon the viewing session portunity to connect viewers to content they maximum degree in order to attract new and engage in another activity. will enjoy. Metadata descriptions of core subscribers and retain existing ones. With this in mind, forward-thinking character traits such as being a big dreamer video providers are strategizing on how to or highly charismatic, and motivations like More programs, narrow deliver outstanding user experience to com- learning from failure or thriving under pres- appeal plement the high quality of their content sure, can push content discovery and recom- Content itself is evolving as well. A limit- offerings. Improved discovery and recom- mendations to the next level. ed number of mass appeal TV shows and mendation algorithms, as well as advanced Finally, graphical images that represent movies created to entertain large swaths of voice search and navigation capabilities, are different aspects of a single piece of con- viewers by way of appointment consump- key priorities. tent give that TV show or movie the best tion has given way to a much broader range opportunity to strike a chord with con- of program offerings targeted to increasingly Appeal beyond genre sumers. For example, the New York setting narrow audience tastes. One consequence A new way of categorizing content going of Brooklyn Nine-Nine may be the aspect is that much programming produced today beyond using genre to cluster generally sim- that attracts the interest of one viewer transcends basic genre categories such as ilar program offerings involves illuminating while for another, Andy Samberg in the crime drama or romantic comedy or reality specific elements of that content. Editorially starring role is the main draw. The ability TV. curated metadata describing TV shows and to present different images in a UI based To provide more compelling viewing and movies from various angles such as mood, on known viewer affinities provides video encourage binge consumption, creators are theme, scenario and setting enables provid- services new opportunities to maximize developing content that pushes traditional ers to understand foundational aspects of visual merchandising around content and boundaries and challenges increasingly content that may resonate with individual improve view-through. sophisticated audiences by blending genres viewers — and draw them to those offerings. In summary, consumers clearly allocate more freely. Think thriller films with a heavy Smart taxonomy and editorially struc- time in their days for video entertainment. dose of comedic elements like Parasite. Or tured keyword sets describe content in gran- What’s not clear, despite what the popular television content built around complicated ular terms, allowing for intuitive correla- meme says is, whether they have the inclina- storylines and nuanced characters such as tions between programs and movies with tion to eat their ways through entire content The Expanse or Mr. Robot. These are the similar attributes going well beyond genre. catalogs. types of content that viewers are watching Using this approach, a viewer interested in By offering improved search, discovery and talking about with others today. the theme of rivalries could be presented and recommendation features powered by In this golden age of content, it’s safe to Ford v Ferrari alongside Crazy Rich Asians, advanced metadata, connected IDs and rich say that there is something available to suit two very different types of content but both imagery, providers can help viewers get right every imaginable viewer taste and mood. sharing the primary thematic element of to the main course of the meal — the TV But for providers, connecting the right view- conflict between people. shows and movies that best fit their tastes, er to the perfect piece of programming at New visibility into the attributes of the preferences and moods. And by doing so, the right moment is becoming increasingly characters whose performances inform the ensure they feel completely satiated by the difficult. An abundance of choice based on themes and drive the moods of TV shows experience. n the sheer volume of what’s available leads to a paradox: too much choice can cause con- Trent Wheeler leads teams that turn the company’s industry-leading sumer indecision and even disengagement. entertainment metadata and connected IDs into cutting-edge content search, According to the Q1 2019 Nielsen Total discovery and navigation solutions. In 2017, he oversaw the successful launch Audience Report, the average time adults of Gracenote Global Video Data, which empowers streaming services, MVPDs spent browsing available content when they and CE device makers to deliver breakthrough cross-media experiences bridging didn’t know exactly what they wanted to video, sports and music and offer advanced features such as voice search and watch was 7.4 minutes. If viewers didn’t personalized recommendations. [email protected] @GracenoteTweets
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Customer Churn: A New Challenge For M&E Companies
Continued communication with former subscribers is possible and necessary
By Badhrinath Krishnamoorthy, Market Head, AI, Analytics, for Communications, Media, Technology, Education, Publishing, Marketing, Cognizant
Abstract: Customer data is a t’s a scenario guaranteed to send a chill through even the most-seasoned media powerful tool for more than content executive: A young viewer subscribes to one streaming service for its original personalization. Media companies movies and another for its TV shows. In her personalized feed, the TV service can put customer data to work in recommends the film A Simple Favor. She watches the movie, and loves it. new ways, like predicting churn I A home-run for the TV streaming service, right? After all, it’s a textbook example and taking proactive steps to retain of the bull’s-eye engagement that delights customers, expands brand relationships customers. and creates loyal viewers. Or it should be. After watching the movie, the subscriber canceled her account. Customer churn is one of the harshest realities of the streaming wars. In a binge- and-bolt environment, even spot-on recommendations can fail to persuade fickle subscribers to stick around.
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Amid streaming’s ‘cancel culture,’ retaining subscribers for direct-to-consumer media isn’t one-and-done. Instead, it has evolved into to secondary data such as social feeds as a fluid, ongoing process where customers critical for winning back those who had left. The result of the campaign was an regularly come and go, and data is the uptick in paid subscribers from 1.93 mil- lion to 4.86 million by the second week of connective tissue. the season.
For M&E companies, retaining viewers A steep learning curve 2. View customer data from multiple represents new and uncertain territory. As Here’s how smarter use of customer data channels. YouTube provides an instruc- content producers, their job has been to ac- can help D2C providers find their footing tive example of a business model that quire and create shows, movies and events when it comes to retaining viewers. grounds its retention strategy in customer that attract audiences. data. True, as a unit of Google, YouTube As D2C providers, they need to keep 1. Consider subscribers to be lifetime is natively (and enviably) data rich. But audiences coming back. customers, even when they cancel. the key is how the video-sharing platform Managing churn is a new core compe- The importance of this can’t be overstated company uses data to create personalized tency for M&E companies, and smarter use for D2C services. At first glance, it seems experiences that keep viewers coming back. of customer data is the not-so-secret weap- counterintuitive to pour resources into YouTube knows its customers’ viewing pat- on for reducing it. Customer data forms customers who have left. Yet, winning back terns, and it also continuously accumulates the foundation for strategies that create canceled subscribers is a defining capability and evaluates advertising data. In addition, sticky D2C experiences. Equally import- in D2C’s churn-heavy marketplace. through its Google parentage, YouTube ant, and often far less obvious: Data makes Digital platforms make continued accesses search data to infer more insights possible the continuum of communication communication with former subscribers regarding content — a step streaming ser- and experience that needs to happen even possible. (When was the last time a retailer vice providers can similarly take but often with consumers who stop subscribing. stopped sending you emails just because have not. you abandoned a shopping cart?) AI and A bright spot on the data horizon is that They will cancel nonstop analytics provide the means to media companies are making strides in ag- We know they will. There’s no question perpetually learn about subscribers and gregating data from multiple paths. They’re that D2C is a powerful business model ex-subscribers alike. Collecting data from more efficiently gathering and sharing that’s here to stay. Thirty-five percent of social media sources and third-party data information from mobile, web and other U.S. consumers subscribe to more than providers can fill in details on their prefer- subscriber channels. They’ve gotten better one over-the-top (OTT) service. Yet OTT ences and provide insight into how you can at collecting information from third-party churn rates are nine times higher than for re-engage and woo them back. demographic data providers such as Acxi- cable and broadcast TV platforms, accord- om and Wunderman. ing to Parks Associates. And in a streaming Advice: Once a customer, always a market flooded with introductory offers, customer. In D2C persistence pays off. Advice: There’s no such thing as too much brand loyalty is nil. When a premium cable channel sought to data. Gathering input on customers’ behav- Amid streaming’s “cancel culture,” re- boost viewership for the heavily promot- iors and searches outside of the streaming taining subscribers for D2C media isn’t ed final season of its marquee series, its platform provides crucial insight into the one-and-done. Instead, it has evolved into marketing outreach included persuading factors that influence the behaviors of a fluid, ongoing process where customers former subscribers to renew. While the subscribers and ex-subscribers. The upshot? regularly come and go, and data is the con- pool of data on existing subscribers was You need to know your customers as indi- nective tissue. deep and dependable, we identified access viduals, and that takes data. Lots of it.
Badhrinath Krishnamoorthy (Badhri) is a global business leader in Cognizant’s Artificial Intelligence and Analytics business unit. In this role, he drives strategic initiatives, business growth and key client and partner relationships. His focus areas include providing advice to business leaders in the transformation journey, creating innovative next-generation AI and analytics solutions and building thought leadership in the AI and analytics domain. [email protected] @Badhrik
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3. Create a data strategy that focuses ing data strategy is at the top. Making it a view of products, no longer maintaining on customers. This guidance sounds de- priority produces results. As a TV network separate master item lists for e-commerce ceptively simple. In most D2C initiatives, conglomerate revved up for a planned D2C and in-store stock. Online and in-store however, a single business unit typically initiative, it doubled down on efforts to data is integrated so store associates can becomes the primary data owner for the reinvigorate the customer database for its view customers’ online activity. They’ve venture. While a logical first step, it be- category-leading sports group. Third-party also evolved into skilled communicators, comes yet another barrier to the strategic, enhancements from social media and de- persistently engaging shoppers with per- cross-organizational view of data that’s mographic data providers enabled targeted sonalized offers and loyalty programs that needed to reduce churn. Further compli- messaging that worked: Auto-renew turn- knit multiple channels into a cohesive cating matters is that chief data officers’ offs dropped from 10 percent to just 5 brand experience. To retailers, abandoned viewpoints are typically influenced by percent. shopping carts are a starting point, not an where they sit in the company’s org chart: ending. Those close to IT often view data through 4. Look to retail as a cautionary a technological and regulatory lens, while tale – and role model. Retailers Advice: Consistency wins every time. D2C those within finance tend to adopt a com- stumbled in the early days of e-commerce initiatives are most successful when they pliance-centric approach. with stovepipe functions and disparate operate as a single, cohesive organization. processes and technology. Customers Think Netflix. Create standards that ensure Advice: Reducing churn starts with making fumed. Today industry leaders have found consistency across all channels. It can be as customer-facing data a priority. Customer their footing with a unified approach to simple as ensuring show titles and descrip- data’s rightful place within any overarch- customer data. They’ve adopted a single tions are standardized across channels. n SMART CONTENT SMART CONTENT Content May Be King, But Is Content Enough?
Retail shows that improving customer experience yields impressive returns
By Richard Whittington, he maxim that “content is king” has long been an unquestioned principle in SVP M&E, SAP the media industry, but perhaps it’s time to reconsider this. Research has shown that improving customer experience yields impres- sive returns. For example, Apple stores with roving sales assistants, friction- Abstract: The expression T less commerce at checkout and the “genius bar” have transformed how we buy phones, ‘Content is king’ has long powered computers and tablets. This customer/product/brand experience allowed Apple to price Hollywood. As business models its products at a premium and deliver exceptional stock returns. Apple opened its first shift from a B2B to a direct-to- 25 stores in 2001. A $100 investment in Apple’s stock at the beginning of 2002 would consumer (D2C) model, powered have grown to more than 130 times the original investment by mid-October 2019. A by streaming services, we believe significant part of that growth can be attributed to the customer experience. that in an experience economy So, what does this mean for the media industry? Our point of view is that we are the winners will be determined at the “minimum viable product stage” — as we say in the technology world — of di- as much by the experience they rect-to-consumer (D2C) in media. Yes, content is a large part of the initial success and provide as the content. will continue to play a substantial role BUT the ability to match that content to the
M&EJOURNAL 76 ERP allows for a single source of truth right consumer at the right moment will of how many services consumers will become the “Apple Store/Amazon” of subscribe to, however, estimates vary media. Amazon and Apple are noteworthy from one to four — inclusive of music because their ventures into content were services — per household depending on part of larger strategies. Amazon leverages income level. ) its content as a way to add value to its What we do know is that in indus- Prime subscriptions, while Apple uses con- tries like retail, the product (in our tent to sell devices, as well as to build an case the content) is one part, but the adjacent revenue stream with its subscrip- customer experience is often more sig- tion services. nificant. For example, in media this can Of course, incumbent media companies range from better seating and in-seat are not standing still. Disney is enjoying food in the theatrical experience to vir- early success with the domestic launch tual concierge recommendation engines of its D2C service, Disney+. Next up are powered by artificial intelligence (AI) or services such as Warner Media’s HBOMax, machine learning (ML) in streaming. and NBCU’s Peacock, as well as the yet-to- Many media companies are familiar be-named offering from ViacomCBS. with the concept of an enterprise system As the landscape grows more competi- to bring operational data together. tive, we are faced with some critical ques- But how many could say the same for Source: SAP Qualtrics research tions: bringing customer and customer experi- ence data together in the same way? this may have been a simple list of recom- n What will be the consumer’s threshold Early streaming companies like Netflix mendations, but in the customer experience in terms of the number of monthly sub- led the way in consumer data exploration version of media, it might go more like this: scriptions? and exploitation but we believe there is so much more potential here in the battle for BOB: Find me a movie. n Will a couple of popular shows be subscribers and subscriber revenue. CHATBOT: What kind of week have enough to keep the subscription viable in you had? the consumer’s eyes? So let’s go on a journey ... BOB: It’s been a tough work week and I It’s been a long work week and Bob has would like something relaxing please. n Will subscribers hop into a service for just arrived home. He asks his partner what CHATBOT: Are you interested in what a particular offering and then hop out they should have for dinner, then he places your friends have watched in the last once done? an order via his app. While waiting for din- month with a “thumbs-up” score of 80% ner to arrive, he turns on his “TV” and asks or higher? The short answer to all of these questions his voice-controlled assistant to find some- BOB: Sure. But no romcoms tonight. is that we don’t know. (On the question thing to watch that night. In the old world The chatbot looks at Bob’s social graph and finds content that matches Bob’s mood and that his top friends on his social media hangouts are watching and presents Bob with a short list of five titles to watch. Bob and his partner agree on a movie and settle in to enjoy their dinner while watching. However, the first choice isn’t tightly aligned with their mood, so Bob stops it.
CHATBOT: Is there a problem with the content selection? BOB: No. That is just a bit too slow for me tonight. CHATBOT: Would you like to watch it at Source: SAP Qualtrics research a later date?
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Do you have a similar platform for experience data?
Source: SAP Qualtrics research
Based on the answer, the program adds main screen or a companion app, offers Bob conversational AI. the movie to the watch list or deletes it. Bob several options to purchase it at various Last, underpinning the end-to-end ex- and his partner select the second offering vendors. The transaction is executed, and perience requires a financial platform smart and at the end of the film the chatbot pops the film distributor gets a portion of the enough to manage the revenue, rights and up and asks two simple questions: “Would proceeds. Call this product placement/inte- royalties, and operational analysis to power you recommend it to a friend?” gration on steroids. that customer experience. ( the Net Promoter Score) and “Which Let’s look at a D2C brand in retail that friends would you like to recommend it to?” Sounds too futuristic? has embraced this notion of customer ex- Bob’s responses are then stored by the ML Let’s break it down. First, we must know perience, driven by an exceptional product part of the platform to help improve the Bob and have Bob opt in, which more than experience built with innovative feedback “hit rate” on recommendations, and to target 150 of SAP’s media customers do today from its users. Under Armour is a house- Bob’s friends to either add it to their watch- thanks to SAP Enterprise Consent and hold name. Its customer experience is tight- list or send them a social media message Preference Management. We also need a ly connected to its product. Product testing with an offer of a free trial to watch the con- strong recommendation engine, which Net- therefore is a significant area of focus, much tent. The chatbot asks a closing question: flix and many of SAP’s customers employ. like audience screening and feedback in me- Customer experience is driven by compa- dia. The outcomes that Under Armour has CHATBOT: May I help you with anything nies like Qualtrics, feeding X (experience) been able to achieve based on an integrated else? data into O (operational) data to marry view of the experience are impressive. BOB: Actually, there was a scene in the insight into action. In the media industry, these early stages film where the lead actor was wearing a cool Next, SAP C/4HANA is powering of becoming a D2C business are about bomber jacket. Where can I buy one like it? the next generation of music artist-driven balancing consumer experience with great commerce to sell to the consumer and set- content (product) experience, to delight The AI part of the platform identifies tle with revenue share partners. All of this audiences. For those early adopters it brings the jacket in question, and either on the customer experience is orchestrated with in big returns in revenue, profit and share- holder growth. Richard Whittington is responsible for industry strategic direction, oversees Just imagine what an incredible oppor- the global media business of SAP, and leads go-to-market activities. tunity exists for the winner in customer [email protected] @rpwhittington05 experience AND content. The king is dead, long live the king! n
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Maximize Subscriber Retention By Delivering an Exceptional Viewer Experience Photoby Brett Sayles/Pexels
Top reasons consumers By Alp Pekkocak, Global Head, Media Strategy, cancel streaming services Solutions, Salesforce
include content fatigue, he market for subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) is evolving insufficient value at breakneck speed. Major players such as Netflix and Hulu are spending heavily on original content as they look to secure a larger Abstract: In the increasingly share of the market, and other services are now offering live sports. fragmented subscription video- T Newcomers like HBO Max, Disney+, Quibi and Apple TV+ are joining the on-demand (SVOD) market, fray. Subscribing to multiple services to meet the needs of different household subscriber churn is a growing members has become the norm. problem. As acquiring new As the market becomes more fragmented, consumer expectations are also subscribers is both difficult and changing. Customers increasingly expect personalized customer experiences on costly, streaming services must and off the viewing platform. At the same time, SVOD services don’t typically proactively work to reduce churn. require a long-term commitment, leaving consumers free to jump from one pro- This requires companies to have vider to another if the content or service doesn’t meet their expectations. a complete understanding of each As a result, cancelations — or subscriber churn — are causing major head- subscriber’s preferences so they can aches for SVOD providers. In many instances, this problem is compounded by deliver outstanding personalized “seasonal churn” — where a consumer signs up to a service to watch a new tele- experiences across the entire vision series or live sporting event, such as the FIFA World Cup, only to cancel subscriber life cycle. their subscription when they finish watching it. In the era of binge-watching,
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Streaming companies must use technologies such as artificial intelli- gence and machine learning to predict when subscribers are at risk of churn, and initiate and inform retention journeys. This is only possible if companies have a 360-degree view of subscribers
this could be as little as a few weeks. hensive understanding of each subscriber’s to end. The subscriber experience during In a highly competitive market, acquir- preferences in order to deliver outstanding this period must be exceptional to ensure a ing new subscribers isn’t a simple task. It personalized experiences across the entire prospect doesn’t cancel during the trial. takes considerable effort and a generous subscriber life cycle. This is only possible if marketing budget. According to Ampere a company has a complete view of the sub- 3. Service Analysis, Netflix spent $100 per net new scriber that can be analyzed to derive action- Once a trial subscriber becomes a paying U.S. subscriber in 2018. However, this able insights — a “subscriber 360” view. subscriber, he or she needs to feel they are figure is likely to be even higher for newer Streaming services can achieve sustain- getting value for the money spent. One players that don’t have the same level of able growth by concentrating on the follow- way companies can do this is by providing consumer recognition. This means it is crit- ing four pillars of the subscriber life cycle. personalized recommendations based on ical that streaming companies have a proac- viewing patterns, both inside the viewing tive churn-prevention strategy and the right 1. Attract platform and out, via email and push technology stack to retain the subscribers The goal during this phase is to identify, notifications. Ideally, this will encourage they do have. target and reach consumers who may be subscribers to increase their consumption, Seasonal churn aside, these are the top interested in signing up for a new streaming as we know that personalized recommenda- three reasons why people cancel their sub- service. tions increase consumption and reduce the scriptions: risk of churn. Once a company’s marketing team has iden- Streaming services must also offer seam- n Content fatigue. Subscribers will switch tified its target audience, it can implement less, omni-channel care in case a subscriber providers if they feel a service doesn’t have an omni-channel marketing outreach pro- needs support. It is essential that customers enough new or entertaining content. gram to drive demand and sign up prospects. can instantly access the information they n Poor subscriber experience. This in- This will typically include offering a free trial need (particularly if the problem relates cludes everything from the ease of onboard- or one-time discount to lower the barriers to the viewing experience or a billing issue, ing to the quality of the viewing experience for customers to test the service. as these are often time-sensitive) via their and content recommendations to the vari- preferred service channels; these include ety of subscriber care and service channels 2. Acquire chat, phone, email, bots, knowledge articles available. The aim of the trial period is to convince a and community forums. This omni-channel n Insufficient value for money. The con- prospect to become a subscriber. To do this, subscriber care approach also allows com- sumer perceives the service is too expensive SVOD services should provide a stream- panies to more easily scale their services to for the available content, or they are paying lined onboarding experience that maximizes look after millions of customers. for too many services. customer engagement and content con- sumption. 4. Retention and Loyalty Phases of the subscriber This typically involves sending personal- The final pillar in the subscriber life cycle is journey ized recommendations, information about retention and loyalty. This involves mak- Reducing subscriber churn isn’t easy. It re- new or popular programs, and reminders ing sure subscribers are happy and getting quires streaming services to have a compre- that the free subscription period is about maximum value out of their subscriptions,
Alp Pekkocak leads global strategy and solutions for the media industry at Salesforce. He brings to market innovative solutions to address the needs of the constantly evolving media landscape — from content production, distribution and monetization to subscriber lifecycle management and audience engagement. Before joining Salesforce, Pekkocak was VP of Product Marketing at Conviva, a streaming media analytics platform. He has also held marketing leadership roles at YuMe, IBM, Cognos and Sanofi. [email protected] @salesforce
M&EJOURNAL 82 and is where the subscriber 360 concept with all systems seamlessly working togeth- es that there has been a high level of ser- really comes into its own. It is this full view er. While it is possible to assemble multiple vice activity, coupled with a dramatic drop of the subscriber — including content con- point solutions to manage each pillar of in consumption, and flags with marketing sumption, viewing habits, demographics the subscriber lifecycle, working with a that the customer needs to be put on a and technographics, viewing experience, company like Salesforce that can provide a retention journey. This level of insight and and billing and service history — that en- fully integrated platform capable of sensing automation is only possible with a fully ables companies to provide the meaningful information critical to the subscriber jour- integrated system that can intelligently personalized service that drives customer ney and acting on it to nurture subscribers identify problems and respond to them. loyalty. at every step is ideal. Ultimately, streaming companies must When a subscriber has been with a ser- It gives SVOD providers the ability to use technologies such as artificial intel- vice for a long time, opportunities may exist oversee all aspects of a subscriber’s journey ligence and machine learning to predict to try to upsell an add-on service or the next with the company, including how different when subscribers are at risk of churn, and tier of service. This can help companies to aspects interact, and respond accordingly. initiate and inform retention journeys. achieve sustainable growth that isn’t solely For example, a new customer is likely to be Again, this is only possible if companies reliant on continually acquiring new cus- on an onboarding journey managed by the have a 360-degree view of subscribers so tomers. marketing system. However, the customer they can tap into it to anticipate their may also be having significant problems needs and exceed expectations. Only by Integrated technology key streaming content, requiring them to continuously monitoring and analyzing to success access subscriber care. As a result of these subscribers’ data for these insights can To be successful, streaming services must issues, the customer’s initial enthusiasm they hope to reduce subscriber churn and have the right technology stack in place. for the service has waned, putting them at grow their share of an ultra-competitive This means being completely integrated, higher risk of churn. The system recogniz- market. n
M&EJOURNAL 83 SMART CONTENT
Content Stands Tall By Getting Shorter
Short-form video can function as both standalone content and valuable promotion for longer programs
By Pranav Joshi, Director, Product Solutions, ccording to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers’ M&E outlook, the U.S. entertainment marketplace is expected to reach and Davinder Luthra, more than $825 billion. The report includes revenues from a Global Digital Leader, Spherex Awide range of sources, including global content creators (Dis- ney, Warner Bros., Starz, CBS, AMC), multichannel video programming distributors (Comcast, AT&T, Verizon), digital stores (Apple iTunes, Amazon Prime, Google Play) and streaming platforms (Netflix, Amazon Abstract: There’s a growing demand Prime, YouTube). In total, these segments represent approximately one- among consumers for short-form content, third of global revenue in this category. This also considers increasing and it’s a trend traditional content owners adoption of various access options, like advertising supported video on need to keep a close eye on. demand (AVOD), direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription channels and subscription video on demand (SVOD). Given the paradigm shift away from traditional programming forms and access methods, it’s hard not to wonder if there is such a thing as “nontraditional” anymore. Industry growth is particularly relevant to the rapid evolution of short- form programming. Traditionally relegated to the chaotic “user-generated content” category, this format now spans highly scripted, carefully pro- duced shows from the likes of Quibi, Netflix and YouTube. Short-form content also includes promotions, stunts, material repur- posed from longer-form linear broadcasts and a variety of other subjects. Like the variation found in the content itself, programming lengths vary widely, but most industry participants see higher production quality con- tent at eight minutes to 15 minutes. That can be higher or lower, however, depending on platform, show type or distribution bias (i.e., daily entertain- ment news, a reality-show primed for any platform, or a premium weekly scripted show with named talent and viewing experiences tailored to smart- phones).
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Traditionally relegated to the chaotic ‘user-generated content’ category, short-form content now spans highly scripted, carefully produced shows from the likes of Quibi, Netflix and You Tub e.
As short-form content propels on to incentive for audiences to consume shows form clips. Additionally, YouTube continues the main stage of consumption, Spherex via traditional network channels. to attract large numbers of highly engaged has been tracking trends and insights fans who will sometimes upload an entire along its trajectory. Through an innovative The dominance of YouTube long-form show before short-form clips are partnership with a major network, Spher- Additionally, on any given day, the distri- even made available for distribution. Such ex tracked premium daily and weekend bution footprint of snackable “giveaway” actions clearly must be subject to take-down shows to understand the distribution of programming on YouTube channels as com- notices, but are these notices being issued short-form content freely available on the pared to owned-and-operated properties is and being acted upon in a timely manner? network’s website, as well as via YouTube, highly unpredictable. More than half of the Clearly a better solution would be for more in comparison to the shows’ linear broadcast time, there is at least a 30 percent variation expedient posting of officially released clips. segment. In this case, short-form is defined in total content runtime between these two Spherex’s study highlights how the grow- as two minutes to six minutes in length and channels, and a quarter of the time, the dif- ing reliance on short-form content places derived from the network’s long-form for- ference was more than double. On average, pressure on content owners. For example, mats, typically 45 minutes to 60 minutes per slightly more than eight clips are presented how aligned are internal stakeholders on episode. These shorts represented a category per show on any given day. The YouTube the promotions and distribution strategies mix of popular news content and late night channel often had a wider selection of con- being employed? Are these strategies being interview format shows. tent; sometimes presenting double the num- comprehensively monitored to ensure Over a period of one month, Spherex ber of short-form clips. compliance across high profile shows and Monitoring found 30 percent to 70 percent Financial considerations also arise when networks? Are underlying return-on-invest- of the broadcast content was also freely significantly more viewing than planned or ment models for promotional content being available in short-form-version, either via expected is occurring via third-party chan- negatively affected by lack of cross-channel owned-and-operated properties or via the nels as compared to direct online properties. performance data? What are the systemic network’s managed YouTube channel. The In this situation, external entities are dispro- operational issues that need to be addressed? high availability of short segments signals that portionately benefiting from advertising rev- These are just a few of the many ongoing short-form content is an integral component enue and not sharing detailed viewing habits. questions related to the need for monitoring of promotional and distribution strategies. Content owners are also incurring ongoing short-form content by the M&E industry as The plan appears to be “we’ll air programming administration overhead for their personnel this exciting form continues to gain popu- over linear broadcast; and then in a controlled to edit/post/maintain high volumes of short- larity. n way, release segments across our online pres- ence.” Spherex’s analysis revealed both antici- Pranav Joshi has more than 15 years’ experience leading enterprise product pated and surprising findings. development in the media, entertainment and telecom sector. His deep Programming teams normally expect 25 understanding of data, business intelligence, technology, global content percent to 30 percent of content runtime distribution and digital workflows serves as the backbone for implementing to potentially reappear in corresponding successful and innovative solutions. [email protected] @SpherexOfficial short-form versions. The fact that as much as 70 percent of runtime overlap occurred Davinder Luthra has more than 25 years’ experience in leading digital between specific shows and their seg- transformation within the global M&E and high-tech sector. He serves as a key ment-based online programming provides industry leader for Spherex, a next-generation market network platform enabling evidence that a staggering amount of view- organizations to prepare for international expansion through integrated supply ing is now being presented off-network. If chain monitoring, local metadata and the world’s most comprehensive solution such an elevated amount of content is being for content regulation and age-based ratings. [email protected] made regularly available online, there is little @SpherexOfficial
M&EJOURNAL 85 SMART CONTENT SMART CONTENT
Accomplishing Rapid Closed-Captioning Across All Platforms, Using AI
Demand is increasing for captioning across a much larger volume of media, with many different specifications for caption style, format and language
By Russell Wise, SVP, Digital Nirvana
Abstract: Artificial intelligence ew OTT platforms are entering the streaming marketplace at a dizzy- (AI) and machine learning (ML) ing speed, vying to address consumers’ continually increasing demand processing in the cloud today offers for internet-delivered media. The global movie and TV production impressive accuracy, scalability communities have taken note and are scrambling to supply content, and trainability across a variety of N both new and repurposed. applications useful to production As these content owners rush to prepare programs and movies for streaming houses and content creators. To platforms, they must address the unique content submission requirements for each benefit fully from these services, platform. These requirements go well beyond encoding profiles to include various however, users must be able types of metadata and how they are handled. to integrate AI- and ML-driven As a critical subset of this metadata, closed captions are subject to specific rules microservices into the on-premises dictated both by the streaming platform and by its target audiences and geographic workflows that already support day- regions. Accurate captioning adds value to content and increases its utility for hear- to-day operations. ing impaired audiences, as well as a broader group of viewers who rely on the service to make content more accessible. Content providers thus face increasing demand for captioning across a much larger volume of media, as well as the challenge of ad- dressing many different specifications for caption style, format and language.
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By integrating, automating and orchestrating closed-captioning as part of the overall broadcast workflow, it is possible to take advantage of flexible, intelligent cloud-based STT engines while working within an intuitive user interface that streamlines delivery of compliant, conforming high-quality captions.
While cloud-based speech-to-text croservices in the cloud, uploaded proxies conform with the appropriate captioning (STT) services for closed-caption gener- of media files can easily be run through a styles, which cover number of characters, ation and subtitling are a viable option, translation engine as well to generate tran- number of lines, caption placement and managing these processes in-house can be scripts in one or more additional languages. other elements. Encoding profiles are time-consuming. By integrating, automat- Following processing in the cloud, both likewise applied to generate outputs in the ing and orchestrating closed-captioning a transcript and time code data are deliv- formats required for distribution. as part of the overall broadcast workflow, ered back to the on-premise system, where By automating critical steps throughout it is possible to take advantage of flexible, they are available via the internal MAM the captioning workflow and by leveraging intelligent cloud-based STT engines while and through the captioning system UI. To- AI and machine learning in the cloud, this working within an intuitive user interface day’s highly trained STT engines provide approach empowers content providers to that streamlines delivery of compliant, exceptionally accurate transcripts, and prepare media for streaming platforms conforming high-quality captions. This custom dictionaries and program-specific quickly and with confidence. Eliminating model allows for efficiency in creating information (names, slang, jargon, etc.) can the need for human intervention wherever closed captions, verifying that they con- be used to yield even better results. possible and supporting fast decision-mak- form with style guide from streaming Converted into captions, the text is ing when the human touch is needed, this media platforms, and creating translations shown alongside time-synched video in model allows a single operator to review, following the same guidelines. It not only the review interface, where the operator enhance, and approve captions with un- allows content providers to meet accel- can quickly go from marker to marker, precedented speed. erated delivery timelines, but also affords or line by line, to correct or enhance the Orchestration of the whole process closed-captioning houses the functionality copy with visual cues and tags. Automated allows the content provider to centralize they need to offer rapid turnaround times error detection aids in quick identification management of the end-to-end workflow to their clients. and resolution of any errors. During this by assigning jobs and roles, overseeing cap- process, the operator also can review any tion edits, generating reports, and monitor- Logical workflow additional metadata — existing or added ing the status of each captioning project. For either type of user, the workflow is following cloud-based processing — as- The rise of streaming media has brought straightforward. Media files tagged for sociated with the content. This capability new relevance and value to the media ar- captioning first are transferred via API offers content providers with an easy way chives maintained by broadcasters, movie or portal from a MAM, PAM or storage to incorporate content classification into studios and other content producers/own- system (cloud or local) into a captioning the captioning workflow if they wish and ers. Consumers are demonstrating a desire watch folder. These files are automatically to add further value for downstream pro- for content on new platforms, and the key transcoded into the proxy format used by cesses. to success lies in being able to address this the host cloud platform and STT process- Following review and correction, pre- demand — and the technical requirements ing engine. Because STT processing and sets for each target streaming platform are of compliant content delivery — as quickly other capabilities can be accessed as mi- applied to ensure that the new captions and cost-effectively as possible. Offering essential flexibility and efficiency, highly Russell Wise brings more than 25 years of industry experience to his role, automated captioning workflows driven by where he focuses on building sales of the company’s compliance-logging, cloud-based microservices are a uniquely intelligent closed-caption generation and metadata enhancement solutions compelling solution for today’s content portfolio. [email protected] @Digital_Nirvana providers. n
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Media & Entertainment Services Alliance Working together to build M&E
MESA members make everything our communities do possible - news, events, meetings, committees and industry initiatives. n 3rd I QC n 5th Kind n 24Notion n Adobe n Akamai n Alibaba Cloud n Alvarez and Marsal n Amazon Web Services n Ampere Analysis n ApTek
n Arts Alliance Media n Avanade n Avid n BeBanjo n BeBop Technology n Birlasoft n bitMAX n Bob Gold & Associates n Box n Caringo
n Cartesian n Casting Networks n Chesapeake Systems n Cinelytic n Citadel Information Group n Cognizant n Cole Media
n Common Sense Media n ContentArmor n Convergent Risks n CreativeFuture n CrooGloo n Cyberhaven n DarkTrace n Deluxe
n DG Entertainment n Diamond n Digit n Digital Bedrock n DigitalFilm Tree n Digital Nirvana n Dolby n DXC Technology n EBS n Eclair
n edgescan n EIDR n EditShare n Eluvio n Entertainment Partners n Ernst & Young n ETS Studios n Eurofins Digital Media Services
n Exactuals n FilmTrack n Fortium n Furious M n Genpact n Global Eagle Entertainment n Gracenote n GrayMeta
n Hammerspace n Hello Iconic n Human Element n Human-I-T n IBM n IBM Security n IDC Digital n Illumio n Imaginate n IMAGION AG
n Independent Security Evaluators n Invenio Business Solutions n Irdeto n IYUNO Media Group n KingSmead Security n Kaltura
n Keywords Studios n Klio Studio n KlarisIP n LiveTiles n Los Angeles Duplication & Broadcasting n Magnet Media n MarkLogic n MarkMonitor n Mediabridge Capital Advisors n Media Science International n MediaMinds n Meta n Microsoft Azure n MicroStrategy n NAGRA
n nexusTV n Omniscien Technology n OnPrem Solution Partners n OOONA n Optiva Media n ORock Media n OTOY
n OWNZONES n Oxagile n PADEM Media Group n Piksel n Pixelogic n Plint n Premiere Digital n Prime Focus Technologies n QUBE CINEMA
n Red Bee Media n Remodus n Richey May Technology Solutions n RightsLine n ROGO Scott n RSG Media Systems n Salesforce
n SAP America n SDI Media n SHIFT n Signiant n Softtek n Sohonet n Sony n Soundmouse n Spherex n STEGA n Synamedia n Take1
n Taksati Consulting n TAMR n Tape Ark n TechLink Resources n Technicolor n techXmedia n Teradici n Testronic n The Boxoffice Company
n The Kitchen n The Power of Preparedness n ThinkAnalytics n Three Zebra n T-On n TiVo n TransPerfect n Tunnel Post
n Variety Business Intelligence n VAST Media n Verance Corporation n Veritone n Verizon Media n Videocites n Vistex n Vobile
n VSI Dubbing & Subtitles n Vody n Vubiquity n Wasabi n WaveSeven n Whip Media Group n Yangaroo n Zaszou n Zendesk n ZOO Digital
smart content WıTH M E S A Content Delivery & Security Association women in technology | hollywood council EUROPE
www.MESAlliance.org SMART CONTENT
Using Machine One agency’s script called Learning for a durable data factory to Transform designed to centralize data assets and speed Creative Talent analysis
Management By Matt Holzapfel, Solutions Lead, Tamr
Abstract: In an industry that runs on storytelling, the best talent managers are those who can craft compelling stories to find the right opportunities for their clients. Today, those stories are increasingly informed by immense amounts of data: hundreds of datasets, millions of records and billions of data points (think Tweets) from sources inside and outside the business. By using machines (specifically, machine learning) to serve up analytics-ready data from disparate data, creative talent management firms can create very human stories with mutually successful outcomes for clients and media
companies. Photo by mahdis mousavi on Unsplash
here’s an old saying in business: Your needs access to this data. It’s now also the talent man- biggest assets (people) leave in the ele- ager who must mine these data resources, bridging the vator every night. That’s doubly true in gaps and making the connections that comprise each T the creative talent management business, story. where your products (actors, directors, writers, sports stars and musicians) leave, albeit via Tesla, Uber, Toy- The plot thickens: Dirty, duplicate ota Prius or a Trek Domane SL 7 bike. data Talent is defined by a rich and disparate set of data, Traditionally, a lot of that data has resided in the both structured and unstructured (such as audience heads, smartphones and spreadsheets of individual data derived from social media streams). Data consists talent managers and their teams, who collect, connect of everything from every job the client has ever had, to and use it to discover and get the best roles for every- how viewers across the globe are “consuming” them, one involved. Today, as in every other industry, data to industry knowledge about future projects. — and the speed and predictability with which talent It’s no longer just a small analytics group that managers can act on it — is a competitive advantage.
M&EJOURNAL 90 In a world increasingly dominated by data- driven digital media superpowers like Netflix and Amazon, talent management must follow But the traditional process no longer works. In a world increasingly dominated suit. Technologies like the cloud, data warehous- by data-driven digital media superpowers like Netflix and Amazon, talent manage- es and lakes, and easy-to-use business ment must follow suit. Technologies like the cloud, data warehouses and lakes, and analytics are becoming table stakes. The easy-to-use business analytics are becoming catch is that it all hinges on analytics-ready table stakes. The catch is that it all hinges on analytics-ready data for talent managers data for talent managers to use. to use. But it’s elusive. Problems include dirty data-backed insights to make decisions. can now focus on creating more and better and duplicate data, which obfuscates a The agency built data pipelines from sourc- analytics and improved dashboards for clear, current picture of a talent or a brand. es to a factory warehouse, with Power BI talent managers. Managers can get fast, “Data drift” happens when critical changes analytics dashboards for talent managers trustworthy answers to questions such as and updates on the front lines never make on the other end. A single, unified view “Where has my musician not played in the it back to the source. Data experts and (master entity) defined each kind of per- last six months?” and, more importantly, IT people spend an inordinate amount son (whether actor or director, musician “Where should they play on their next tour?” of time “unpacking” clusters of disparate or tour, team or athlete), capturing and With the new system, managers are data sources that have drifted or become presenting data from multiple sources such better equipped with data-backed insights dirty or duplicated. Given the increasing that media, entertainment and sports com- to make decisions. Their value — to the amount and diversity of data, it’s usually panies could maximize revenue in a variety clients they represent and the media en- impossible to ever catch up when using of ways. This mastering process would later terprises they serve — has increased. Both manual or marginally automated data-engi- be applied to media titles and other busi- sides now have the unbiased data they need neering methods. ness entities. to make a fair negotiation. The best talent Meanwhile, starved of clean, accurate The goal was to make time-to-insights as managers instinctively do this. With clean, data, those stories in the heads of talent fluid as possible. The missing link: ensuring analytics-ready data on tap, the agency can managers go into perpetual rewrites — or that master entities were always current now scale that behavior out and up. on hiatus. and up to date, even though the underlying Finding new clients is easier, with the data was ever-changing. With previous ability to get insights like “the fan base for Applying machine learning methods of entity-mastering maxed out, actor A is similar to the fan base for actor A leading creative agency representing tal- the agency invested in novel, human-guid- B.” The agency has in fact built an auto-rec- ent, brands and enterprises found a better ed machine learning technology. Once ommender for such questions, suggesting way: Use machine learning (ML) to do the trained, machine learning models of the next-best action. heavy “data-lift,” then turn over the results entities were able to handle up to 90 per- As needs change in response to media to their own internal data experts to make cent of updates solo, efficiently involving clients’ demands, it’s easier for data experts it perfect. people familiar with the data to resolve the to create new analytics. For example: to The agency’s script called for a built-to- remainder. respond to a studio directive about diversi- last data factory designed to virtually cen- ty in films, the agency could get fast answers tralize the agency’s data assets and speed up A (close-to) Hollywood ending to questions like “For a given film genre, analytic velocity. The first project: “people This approach has dramatically improved how does cast diversity influence the type mastering.” Apply ML to existing data to the fidelity of the data, even as it grows in of audience we can attract?” create a novel 360-degree-view of talent volume and variety. Freed from much of Further, the agency can ensure lasting that would equip talent managers with the burden of data updating, data experts success by being able to easily onboard new data sources for each entity as they become Matt Holzapfel is solutions lead for Tamr, responsible for delivering new available, with the machine doing most of offerings that combine Tamr’s software products with data and services to the updating work. help customers realize more value from their data. He has worked directly With the help of a machine, the human with many of Tamr’s largest customers, enabling them to successfully deploy superpowers of a creative-management Tamr’s Solutions. [email protected] @Tamr_Inc business are put to best use. n
M&EJOURNAL 91 SMART CONTENT
Unleashing the Power of Smart Content
New AI-enabled solutions hyper-index content to extract intelligent, structured metadata
By Ryan Steelberg, or today’s M&E companies, staying profitable is complicated by two inter- twined phenomena: exploding consumer demand for personalized, relevant President, Veritone content and an ever-fragmented media environment. Consumers not only want greater volumes and greater varieties of content, but they want to con- Abstract: How do M&E F sume it when they want, and on the platform and device of their choice. The M&E companies meet ever-changing, industry — driven by profit and a virtually unlimited world of new revenue possibilities ever-fragmented consumer — continues to dream up new ways to package and deliver content. The resulting frag- demands? The answer is smart mentation of the media landscape (we call it the YouTube effect) means that content can content — or, more specifically, be personalized down to the level of individual consumer’s tastes. highly accurate, hyper-indexed Through AI, analytics and attribution solutions, neither linear nor digital broadcast- structured data, which results in ers have to wait overnight for ratings to come out; it’s now possible to know, in near real highly intelligent content. With time, who is watching a clip and on what device or browser. That’s both good news and smart content, M&E companies bad news for M&E companies: it means they can offer advertisers an unprecedented have the power to make better ability to tailor messages to highly targeted groups of consumers and their programs can decisions, improve viewership, be much more strategic through superior metadata and content intelligence. Preparing increase revenue and improve those targeted content assets, however, is straining production and distribution resources workflows. like never before. In order to find and monetize a particular asset and use it for a specific task or proj- ect, users need to be able to search by details such as date produced, persons/companies featured, topics, location description, keywords, etc. The catch is capturing this level of detail from unstructured video, text and audio content. Until now, it’s been a laborious process requiring someone in the operation to sit and view hours and hours of program- ming and manually tag content with descriptive metadata.
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Hyper-indexing to extract metadata The good news for M&E companies is the emergence of new AI-enabled solutions that hyper-index content to extract intelligent, structured metadata. These progressive ap- plications use advanced, AI-driven cognitive processing techniques such as facial and object recognition and detection, speaker separation, content classification, OCR, transcription, translation and more. Near real-time metadata generation replaces those manual, labor-intensive and Content can be hyper-indexed according to criteria such as faces, logos and other time-consuming tagging processes, freeing cognitive classes. people from the tedious task of listening to entireprograms and allowing them to focus infancy, just about anyone could (and did) them — not only are many just beginning on more strategic, revenue generating initia- put up a website — and there was a complete the migration to next-generation, enterprise tives. lack of metadata or any real unifying struc- software systems, but they’re sitting on a Instantly, the intrinsic value and usability ture for content. HTML emerged to provide vast archive of content that’s still held in old- of content takes a leap since every asset is en- a common data layer; in other words, the school formats like tape and film, with only riched with detailed metadata. Unstructured structured metadata, image source tags and a small fraction of assets digitized and ready assets are transformed into smart content, other elements content owners and advertis- to be indexed. But even legacy companies are making them imminently easier and more ers needed to realize the internet’s true reve- waking up to the possibilities of smart con- cost-effective to access, leverage, verify and nue potential for targeting content. tent, and most have a long-term strategy for monetize. While as of yet, there is no comparable content digitization and indexing. Consider the case of a large broadcast- unifying standard or common data layer for Looking ahead, we see an era in which ing network that has been working with unstructured media content, AI tools for the cost of hyper-indexing long-form, un- Veritone for several years. This network hyper-indexing content with highly descrip- structured audio, text and video content has successfully ingested all of its primary tive metadata are laying the groundwork. Just will continue to fall as algorithms and linear content, across three TV channels as HTML 3.2 has enabled the highly targeted processing are optimized. This will come as and numerous other audio-based networks advertising that drives today’s vast internet M&E companies realize the power of rich (including radio and podcasts), into Veri- marketplace, tools for smart content are metadata for optimizing everything from tone’s aiWARE solution, where it has been getting M&E companies in on the ground targeted advertising to program scheduling hyper-indexed according to criteria such as floor of a universe of revenue opportunities and even search engine optimization for faces, logos and other cognitive classes. The through highly targeted advertising and ex- broadcasters and managing, sharing and result is a highly accurate and well-organized tremely relevant content. monetizing for content owners. Ultimately, metadata index that the network applies in a it’s all about the viewers: to meet consumer multitude of use cases: optimizing program- Economies of scale demand, media companies really have no ming, optimizing ad revenue and optimizing The M&E industry still has a long way to go choice but to get smarter about how they analytics to drive decision-making on future before fully realizing the dream of hyper-in- prepare media and content assets. Hyper-in- investments in content. dexed smart content. Legacy media companies, dexed smart content is and will continue to in particular, have their work cut out for be the answer. n History repeats itself To understand the promise of smart con- Ryan Steelberg co-founded Veritone, a leading provider of artificial intelligence tent for the vast universe of unstructured (AI) technologies and solutions for M&E, legal and compliance, and media assets that lurk in virtually every government markets. Steelberg helps the most innovative companies in the M&E company, it’s useful to look at a his- world gain efficiencies and grow their business every day with never-before- toric parallel: the growth of the internet. In seen insights and actionable intelligence from Veritone’s proprietary artificial the early 1990s, when the internet was in its intelligence platform. @veritoneinc
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SMART CONTENT SMART CONTENT
Doing it Right: What to Look for When Implementing a Rights Solution
Understand your current state processes, and know your goals for the future Photo by Tim Savage on Pexels
By Melinda Lu, Senior Consultant; Grace Wong, Consultant; Mark Herzog, Consultant; and Kavita Anand, Senior Manager, OnPrem Solution Partners
Abstract: Every organization he reality is rights management system (RMS) implementations are difficult. No now knows that a rights matter how much you know about system implementations, enabling rights man- management system — along agement has unique challenges. We have seen our clients encounter common hur- with people, process and dles within system selection, system implementation and change management. In technology changes — is T our experience, we have found that organizations that get ahead of the obstacles tend to have necessary to prepare for the more successful implementations and transitions. future of content distribution and exploitation. What’s not System selection always clear is how to implement The first decision in an RMS implementation is selecting a solution. The market has evolved to such an impactful change the point where offering several viable software options and custom development is no longer in your organization and the a requirement. There are a few software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions that have emerged in the key components that must be M&E rights management space. All are configurable, and offer intuitive user interfaces. Most completed to enable scalability come fully integrated with an external licensee portal, though we’ve found that these portals and future growth. can be limited, and require further development by software vendors to enable an efficient, au-
M&EJOURNAL 96 tomated and integrated workflow. n Get the key people involved and help define what that current state is so that The number of rights management solu- in the same room. While the ultimate the organization can more seamlessly move tions is not the only reason that selecting a goal is to implement an RMS, it’s not just to the new future state. system can be difficult. Gathering require- about the rights team. It’s also about legal, Understanding your current state also ments for a new system, especially at the business affairs, sales, programming, finance has a side benefit: it starts the process of same time you are trying to streamline your and operations. We recommend workshops change management on the right footing. processes, can be a daunting task with many over interviews, with representatives from moving parts. In our experience, a three-step each impacted business unit to reveal details Design future-state goals methodology works well. that surface when teams get exposure into Once the current state is understood and the First, understand your current state pro- others’ worlds. pain points are documented, the future state cesses. Next, know the goals for your future goals will start to become clear. In our expe- state processes. And finally, take the import- n Understand your current process rience, it is more than making rights infor- ant components of current state practices owners. Who owns processes? What are mation accessible across the organization; it and map them to your future state goals to their inputs and outputs? Implementing an is a fundamental shift in how technology can help prioritize key requirements and fea- RMS alone, without considering how in- enable your business. tures that a new system must have. formation flows in and out of it, will mean that you’re not using it to its full potential. n Start with the industry standard. There Understand the current state While an RMS can streamline workflows are established standards related to rights “If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you for the resources using it, a lot of its util- management processes. It is helpful to have don’t know where you’re going.” ity will come from the processes that run someone in the room who has an under- – Maya Angelou tangentially to it. Schedule management, standing of how the best companies in the product deliverable management, digital world are handling rights related processes. Many companies skip this step, consider- asset management, and more all have steps This can be an internal resource recently ing it a waste of time and money. However, that could be streamlined from a tight rights joining from a leading IP owner or a third we have consistently found that organi- management solution integration. party to facilitate the discussion. Either way, zations that map their current processes, you need someone in the room who can say, fully understand their current systems and n Understand the data and technical “I have seen it done like this … .” most importantly, their current pain points, landscape. In order to take your RMS to have more successful implementations and its full potential, a thorough understanding n Reach across siloed processes and avoid repeating errors of the past. The more of the current system landscape is needed. teams. An RMS not only provides a single judgement-free genuine curiosity that goes Where data is housed, which system is the source of truth for rights, but affords visibil- into the current state analysis, the more the system of record, and how it’s transferred ity to everyone within the workflow. If sales project will benefit from all that analysis has to other systems (automatically, manually, can run avails reporting and accurately per- to offer. We’ve found that the following has or somewhere in between) is crucial to the form conflict checking, operations should helped in performing a fruitful current-state implementation of the RMS. Involve system not need to rerun these checks for each analysis: owners and technical stakeholders early to contract. Across the contract lifecycle, teams
Melinda Lu has led several clients through enterprise- Mark Herzog helps M&E companies develop new wide rights management system implementations solutions, particularly in the schedule, title, and rights across the network, studio, digital and publishing management spaces. He has a range of projects under space, and has worked with multiple RMS vendors in his belt that help M&E companies maximize ROI on the industry. [email protected] @onpremsp their content. [email protected] @onpremsp
Grace Wong is a consultant with experience in data- Kavita Anand specializes in IP rights and royalties driven and strategy enabled projects. She has worked management lifecycle workflows and system with multiple leading IP owners, helping them to implementations. She has more than 15 years of realize actionable solutions in an effort to streamline leadership experience implementing high-impact processes throughout the contract. strategic enterprise solutions. [email protected] [email protected] @onpremsp @onpremsp
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Make it a future-state goal to harmonize multiple existing rights definitions so that your organization can speak the same language across the enterprise.
will have to communicate often to avoid in- evolved, home-grown legacy systems, the what’s important to them. They want to efficient handoffs and duplication of work. data sets you need may not be structured or know what’s in it for them, and your job is captured consistently. For example, licensed to make that really clear. n Develop a data governance frame- or royalty terms could be currently stored in work starting with your product tree a text field or across multiple fields. You’ll n Set expectations. Be realistic about the and rights string. Master data manage- have to develop a plan to transform this into time and effort you will need from your ment, including clearly defined terms, is a structured data set for your new system. If stakeholders, as well as the overall project critical to the success of a rights implemen- not addressed early on, data conversion can timeline. Will it be five hours per week, tation. The ability to conflict check and often become a bottleneck, resulting in de- twice a month? Or is it two to three hours clear rights is directly impacted by the com- layed implementations. per week, for the next four months? Once pleteness and consistency of your product you have an idea of what that number looks tree and rights string. Change management like, share that with them and make sure it Last but certainly not least is the hurdle of is something they fully understand and can n Establish consistent contractual actually implementing the change. When commit to. rights definitions across lines of busi- you’re faced with impacting people, process ness. Does your rights team define some- and technology all at the same time, you n Create an environment of honest thing as OTT, but your sales team groups have to begin with fixing the underlying and direct feedback. Feedback drives the it with SVOD? Or, do your international issues, rather than just covering them up direction of the entire implementation from offices use a completely different set of with a fancy, new system. gathering pain points to designing future definitions to capture their product types? state processes and system testing. Establish- Make it a future state goal to harmonize n Engage all stakeholders early on. ing a culture of honest and direct feedback multiple existing definitions into one that Current state workshops are a good place helps ensure that all stakeholders are heard will allow your organization to speak the to start. When you are genuinely inter- from the beginning, and in turn, invested in same language across the enterprise. ested in the work people do today, it’s a the outcome of the project. Do this by con- non-threatening way to engage all stake- sistently exhibiting this yourself. Map practices to state holders and get everyone to agree early goals on about their pain points in the current n Encourage active sponsorship. Imple- Once the current and future state processes process, and naturally encourage them into mentations with visibly active sponsorship are understood and designed respectively, welcoming change. from leadership is the single most important and the pain points understood, the system predictor of project success. We can’t stress requirements and features truly reveal n Identify champions. Champions are enough how important it is to build that themselves. The business, technology, and stakeholders who see the future state clearly active sponsor. When leadership is bought implementation teams are now armed with and can lead everyone else into the future by in, positive, and actively motivating their the necessary information to search for the explaining and re-explaining how the im- teams, it builds momentum and provides best system of choice. pact of the project will benefit not only the consistent direction. Each type of system you implement company but each department. They believe To summarize, by taking into consid- in an enterprise comes with its distinct in the change; they see it in their mind and eration those areas demanding more focus, obstacles. We’ve seen that RMS implemen- they will bring all others along. implementing your rights management solu- tations often encounter data conversion tion can be made easier. Solution selection, timeline issues. Everyone knows that data n Build ownership in the right people. system implementation and change manage- conversion is always the long pole in any You’ve identified your champions. Now em- ment each have unique challenges and, with implementation. In rights management power them to take ownership. Begin build- the ideas presented above, you can be sure systems, where data may be coming from ing those relationships and understanding your implementation will be done right. n
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SECURITY SOLUTIONS
Securing and Supporting Your Remote Workforce During the COVID-19 Pandemic Photo by Bongkarn Thanyakij from Pexels
By Michael Wylie, Clear, written policies can help avoid Director, Cybersecurity Services, micromanagement Richey May Technology Solutions
Abstract: COVID-19 has caused or years many industries, including M&E, have been skeptical of re- businesses worldwide to activate business mote workflows, with typical concerns covering lack of productivity continuity plans (BCP) overnight, and and security controls over content. There are also practical concerns, work-from-home arrangements have like the speed of home internet connections and hardware accessibility. become a critical necessity for most F Because working from home has been viewed as a “nice to have,” or an incen- businesses, something that’s been viewed tive for certain employees, many organizations haven’t developed the policies, re- with skepticism for years. Company leaders sources or training to enable their people to work off-site securely and efficiently. are having to make tough calls quickly and COVID-19 has quickly changed that mindset, and the need for an off-site may not have the time to research their working game plan. decisions like they once did. Now that the In these unprecedented times, experts across the technology landscape need rush to get employees working from home to lead the way with the resources at hand to successfully and rapidly transition is over, it’s time to pause and take stock of teams into a new way of doing business. Here we offer a step-by-step strategic your cybersecurity situation and your IT guide to securing a newly remote workforce, where air-gapped networks and face- team’s capacity. to-face interaction are no longer viable in the creative community.
M&EJOURNAL 100 As employees get adjusted to working from home, reinforce cyberse- curity best practices with security awareness training that covers social engineering, strong passwords, and safe handling of content.
Define and update policies detection and response (EDR) or managed home, reinforce cybersecurity best practices Clearly written and easily understood policies endpoint detection and response (MDR), with security awareness training that covers and procedures will act as a foundation and now is a good time to evaluate your options. social engineering, strong passwords, and safe help govern employees while they are off-site. handling of content. Organizational policies and procedures can Physical security Again, communication is key here. Ensure help reduce the temptation to micromanage Many organizations are allowing employees employees know who to contact if they re- employees, as expectations are already written to take equipment home, which means com- ceive suspicious communications and make down and communicated. At a minimum, puters are no longer protected by the office’s sure they feel welcomed to do so. If employees have comprehensive policies and procedures physical security controls (e.g. alarm system, feel like they are bothering your IT team that address: CCTV and door locks). or can’t get a fast response, they may open Now is the time to identify what data is attachments that contain malware or follow n Acceptable use being stored on endpoints and take appropri- instructions from an impersonator. In a time n Asset and content classification ate action to protect company and content when predators may take advantage of anx- n Business continuity owner data. For some businesses, this may ious, confused or distracted employees, erring n Disaster recovery mean enforcing full disk encryption on all on the side of more communication may save n Confidentiality devices, while others may opt for a virtual you from a costly breach. n Incident response desktop (VDI) deployment to keep data in a n Mobile device management central location like Amazon Web Services or Digital communication n Passwords Microsoft Azure. What used to be an editing bay away can n Disciplinary actions/sanctions While working from home, it can be now feel like a hundred miles, while everyone n Internal anonymous reporting for tempting for family and guests to use work works from home. Leaders need to implement piracy/mishandling of content computers left around the house. Remind catalyst technology that allows collaboration employees that work systems are for their use and breaks down the communication bar- Don’t assume your policies and procedures only and ensure physical devices have strong riers while teams collaborate from different are known and understood by your employees. password requirements. This may extend to physical locations. Failure to provide a means It’s unlikely your employees regularly access mobile devices, which some employees may to complete business objectives will result in their onboarding materials. Develop a central not realize, so ensure your communications employees solving problems themselves with location that’s easy to access and remind em- clearly identify which items employees are potentially insecure/unencrypted channels of ployees of key points frequently. Use examples responsible for. communications, such as SMS or third-party to add clarification and encourage users to ask chat sites. The last thing you need during an questions about policies and procedures they Cybersecurity awareness already stressful time is for non-public infor- don’t understand. There can be a lot of distractions when work- mation or content owner data to be leaked. ing from home, especially with schools, day Managers, coworkers and HR depart- Decentralized endpoint security care centers and after-school programs sus- ments all need to be easily accessible during With a remote workforce, traditional perim- pended. A brief distraction, multitasking, or these rapidly changing times. Tools like Zoom, eter security controls such as firewalls and even just feeling rushed may result in momen- Slack and Microsoft Teams can allow your network intrusion prevention systems (NIPS) tary oversight in cybersecurity best practices. team to securely message, screen share, voice no longer have the same level of effectiveness As employees get adjusted to working from Continued on Page 119 as they did with traditional on-premise work- flows. Each device taken home by your work- Michael Wylie is responsible for delivering information assurance by means of force becomes an island with a perimeter that vulnerability assessments, risk management, project management, secure network design needs defending. With a remote workforce, and training. He has developed and taught numerous courses for the Department the impact and time to quarantine incidents, of Defense, Moorpark College, California State Universities, and clients around the such as ransomware, drastically increases. If world. Michael is a qualified TPN assessor and has an industry focus on the media and you have not already considered endpoint entertainment industry. [email protected] @TheMikeWylie
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Preparation and Learning From TPN Security Assessments … and COVID-19
Business continuity planning moves to forefront during pandemic Photo by Dimitri Karastelev on Unsplash
By Chris Johnson, CEO, President, and Mathew Gilliat-Smith, EVP, Convergent Risks
Abstract: The M&E sector he M&E supply chain has never been more united in improving is united in improving digital security. At the time of writing this article more than 500 digital security. There’s vendors have, or are going through, the Trusted Partner Net- a common pattern in the Twork (TPN) security assessment process, with hundreds more in types of remediation needed the pipeline. and, in a rapidly changing As a provider of TPN security assessments, the benefits are clear for us environment, collaborating to see. Most facilities have some elements of Motion Picture Association on intelligence is beneficial. (MPA) best practices that can be improved upon, and some have critical Twenty percent of vendors issues that fall below best practice which need to be immediately remediated. already process content in Importantly, no matter how minor or major the issue, security is improving the cloud but many are still across the board. trying to navigate security Convergent has been observing vendor-agnostic data since TPN launched, complexities. Here we identifying trending types of remediation by geographic location. This rich explore the common themes, data source allows us to report and respond to actionable intelligence target- complexities in remediation ing areas for future development. Collaborating on intelligence in a rapidly and other info-sec topics changing landscape can be extremely beneficial when raising awareness of related to corporate as well the vulnerabilities to content as it moves through the creative and consumer as content. process. Common areas requiring remediation include: data IO, digital asset track-
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Prior to COVID-19, only 20 percent of new content reportedly was being processed in the cloud. This figure will increase during the first half of 2020, and by the end of 2020 will have become established as a business-as-usual activity. ing, dedicated CCTV VLAN, logging and remote working will have been a more swift action on a continual basis is critical. With event notification, and firewall implemen- and smoother transition. so many moving parts involving third-party tation and configuration. Easily implement- With a large proportion of productions applications, navigating security is very ed items such as intrusion detection services currently halted and limited new content challenging. While there is plenty of general (IDS), isolated internet on production to work with, areas such as localization and guidance available, it is not always relevant workstations, are often lacking. In some visual effects have been impacted especially or specific to media workflows. cases, critical policies and business processes hard. Add to this the significant risk of poor- Convergent’s approach to protecting are missing entirely. A Convergent survey ly managed configuration changes, increases content is to make security available to the on penetration test reports recently found in phishing attacks and malware, and the broadest possible audience, consistently and that 80 percent of vendors discovered threat of unknown vulnerabilities sitting globally. Cloud and application security will findings previously unknown to them, with latent within our networks, and workflows be no different. We aim to be a leading ad- only 20 percent of vendors finding no will significantly increase the likelihood of vocate on the subject, providing assurance issues. Furthermore, 40 percent of the find- future breaches. to content owners through industry-led ings were in the “critical” or “high” category To give some perspective, most of us have best practice. While we await industry-led requiring urgent remediation. Common adopted and are rapidly adapting to new implementation, we will offer reviews based findings were: security misconfiguration, workflows that are likely to remain. Less on the available standards and our industry SSL/TLS issues, components with known travel means better corporate and social re- knowledge, using a process of discovery, vulnerabilities and exposed management sponsibility with less pollution and efficient mapping and configuration testing. services. Sharing this information helps cost-effective conversations via video call. Our three-step strategy includes scoping with better preparation. the relevant cloud architecture and appli- Move to the cloud quickly, cations to gain an in-depth understanding An unprecedented event securely of the workflow, where content resides and One remediation item that has never Prior to COVID-19, only 20 percent of likely areas of vulnerability. The next stage is been more relevant is business continuity new content reportedly was being processed mapping to best practices, highlighting areas planning (BCP). COVID-19 is proving a in the cloud. This figure will increase during for remediation. The third stage is conduct- surreal situation and this current scenario the first half of 2020, and by the end of ing configuration reviews and penetration feels more like we are living through a film 2020 will have become established as a busi- testing areas of concern and prior remedia- script or industry experiment — only it is ness as usual activity. tion. Significant investment has been made real, immediately impactive and extremely Concerns over security in the cloud are in training our media experienced workforce damaging. changing in favor of achieving speed and and integrating into our team cloud security Assessment and remediation, which efficiency. The cloud can be secured, but architect professionals with in-depth knowl- earlier may have seemed a laborious task, how you configure and monitor user inter- edge of each of the cloud providers. n are now seen by many as a very worthwhile effort when responding to COVID-19. Chris Johnson has been an M&E content security specialist since 2001, with An unprecedented event such as this will a diverse range of experience and operational knowledge covering the music, always make any response more difficult. gaming, studio and TV broadcast industries, including the production, post and In this case, the scale of transition to re- digital distribution supply chains. [email protected] @ConvergentCEO mote working and accelerated migration to application and cloud-based workflows Mathew Gilliat-Smith has more than 25 years’ experience in media, has tested companies of all sizes. For many, entertainment and information security, co-founding three new technology start- this will be the first time BCP policy has ups, and previously holding senior management positions in publicly listed media been looked at since it was written. For businesses. His passion revolves around new technology solutions, risk assessment others, such plans may not even exist. For and content security solutions for protecting against cyber-crime and piracy in those with a documented and tested BCP, TV, film and broadcast. [email protected] @mathewgs
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SECURITY SOLUTIONS
How to Know Your Organization is Implementing ‘Minimum Reasonable Information Security Practices’
Reasonable security procedures differ between major studios and smaller facilities. But some basic standrds must be met. Photo by Ingnio Studio from Pexels
By Dr. Stan Stahl, President, Citadel Information Group; Ilanna Bavli, President, Eleven/11 Counsel and Strategy; George Usi, Founder, Co-CEO, Omnistruct; and John Coleman, CISM, Senior Associate, AuditOne
Abstract: Are your information s a consequence of the 2018 tion security procedures and practices?” security practices reasonable? California Consumer Privacy What is reasonable for a major studio whose Shortcomings may result in content Act (CCPA), chief informa- server contains the full 137 minutes of its leaks or poor Trusted Partner tion security officers in and highly-anticipated franchise release is differ- Network (TPN) assessment results, A out of the entertainment industry are being ent from what is reasonable for a small VFX and now may also increase the called upon to assure their management and house whose servers contain three minutes risk of financial losses due to the boards that their organization’s informa- of a low-budget indie movie. It’s clear that California Consumer Privacy Act tion security practices are “reasonable,” i.e., there’s no one-size-fits-all. (CCPA). We describe cybersecurity that security procedures and practices are Recognizing that reasonableness can vary nonprofit SecureTheVillage’s reasonable to protect the information being for different organizations and looking at Minimum Reasonable Information secured. the reasonableness question through the Security Practices and how it The concept of “reasonableness” goes to lens of the CCPA, cybersecurity nonprofit provides a foundation for efforts to the heart of the Trusted Partner Network SecureTheVillage asks: Are there a mini- reduce business information risk. (TPN) program as well. A vendor having mum set of information security practices a TPN assessment should reassure a studio that a company must implement and main- that security procedures and practices are tain for it to claim that it has reasonable in- reasonable to protect the content being formation security procedures and practices? secured. We believe the security practices summa- But just what are “reasonable informa- rized here are a minimum set of information
M&EJOURNAL 106 security practices that a company (subject to Recognizing that it takes a village to their clients on managing the legal risks of CCPA) must implement and maintain for secure us all, SecureTheVillage leadership CCPA, other laws and regulations, and con- it to claim that it has reasonable informa- council members are aligned professionals tractual agreements (like the payment card tion security procedures and practices. with a commitment to assist in improving industry). The security practices described here are security capabilities, a desire to grow and designed to be a floor: If you are not doing expand the cybersecurity community, a pas- n A guide for insurance providers needing to these things, then you are unlikely to have sion for giving back, and a make-it-happen, assess the information security reasonableness reasonable information security procedures results-driven attitude. We intend to scale of policy holders. and practices¸ regardless of your size or the and cascade the village concept throughout type of content or data you are attempting California and beyond. n A guide to financial institutions in evaluat- to secure. SecureTheVillage developed its Min- ing their exposure to an information security Most definitively, SecureTheVillage is imum Reasonable Information Security incident of a customer. not claiming that a company that imple- Practices for the community in order to sig- ments these minimum practices has reason- nificantly improve the information security Pointing the way able information security practices. We’re capability of everyone involved, to encour- SecureTheVillage relies extensively on sev- simply saying that a company’s failure to age all of our organizations to meet — at the eral frameworks and standards as pointing implement these practices is highly likely to very least — minimum reasonable practices. the way toward what might constitute rea- be prima facie evidence that the company’s Our primary motivation has been to sonable information security procedures and information security procedures and prac- provide meaningful operational guidance practices: tices are not reasonable. to those organizations needing to meet a standard of reasonableness. More generally, n The National Institute of Standards and Objectives of we see Minimum Reasonable Information Technology (NIST) cybersecurity framework SecureTheVillage Security Practices serving as: is a logical contender for what constitutes rea- SecureTheVillage brings together the informa- sonable information security, one that provides tion security community as a force multiplier n A straw man in community dialog over a top-down perspective of information security to help it better understand and manage the what might constitute reasonable information management based on five core functions: cybercrime and privacy challenge. We orga- security practices and what might not. identify, protect, detect, respond and recover. nize the community in order to mobilize what we call Cyber Guardians. These are people n A baseline for companies to use in designing n The Center for Internet Security’s (CIS) and organizations with the knowledge, skills their own information security procedures and Critical Security Controls (CIS-20), another and commitment needed to meet the ongoing practices. logical contender for what constitutes reason- challenges of cybercrime, cyber privacy and able information security. In California’s 2016 information security. n A guide for attorneys to use in advising “Data Breach Report,” then-attorney general
Stan Stahl, co-founder of information security George Usi co-chairs the California IPv6 Task management company Citadel Information Force, a nonprofit IPv6 scientific advocacy group, Group, co-founded SecureTheVillage as a nonprofit and is a board member of SecureTheVillage. community-based response to the cybercrime and [email protected] privacy crisis. [email protected] @stanstahl
John Coleman provides audit and consulting services Ilanna Bavli represents entertainment content to financial institutions in the western U.S. He has providers and vendors on content security, 30-plus years’ experience in various roles including investigations, data privacy, vendor agreements, CIO, CISO, IT director, and audit manager for Los and production/development work. She serves on Angeles-area companies. the board of SecureTheVillage. [email protected] [email protected]
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The concept of ‘reasonableness’ goes to the heart of the Trus ted Partner Network (TPN) program. A vendor having a TPN assessment should reassure a studio that security procedures and practices are reasonable to protect the content being secured.
Kamala Harris wrote: “The 20 controls in the the security-risk profiles of others whose n Third-party security assurance: The Center for Internet Security’s Critical Security information it manages. organization follows a formal documented Controls define a minimum level of informa- process to manage the risk associated with tion security that all organizations that collect n Information security subject matter exper- sharing information — including content or maintain personal information should meet. tise: The organization utilizes appropriate — with third parties. This includes follow- The failure to implement all the controls that information security subject matter expertise, ing documented standards based upon the apply to an organization’s environment consti- with either a Certified Information Systems CIS-20 to ensure the security of third parties tutes a lack of reasonable security.” Security Professional (CISSP) on staff, or is having access to information or information utilizing one through an ongoing consulting systems, including vendors, distribution and n Like the CIS-20, the New York State relationship. promotional partners, solution providers, Department of Financial Services’ Cyberse- cloud service providers, backup/recovery curity Requirements for Financial Services n Security management of sensitive and pri- systems, etc. Companies covers operational requirements vate information: The organization formally that provides reasonable information security identifies, documents and controls access to n Information resilience: The organization procedures and practices. sensitive and private information — includ- develops, maintains, and tests incident re- ing content — in accordance with laws, regu- sponse plans and business continuity plans. n Companies certified compliant with the lations, contractual obligations, and in accor- This includes training staff to meet their inci- International Standards Organization (ISO) dance with its own fiduciary responsibilities. dent response or business continuity responsi- family of standards likely meet the threshold bilities and maintaining relationships with of reasonable information security procedures n SecureTheHuman: The organization has law enforcement and other professionals likely and practices. an active awareness training and education to be crucial should an incident or disaster program to turn personnel into Cyber Guard- occur. Key elements for reasonable ians. security n Information security governance: The or- The following summarizes nine key elements n Security management of the IT interface: ganization meets at least quarterly with execu- constituting Minimum Reasonable Infor- All access to the organization’s network is tive management to review the organization’s mation Security Practices, as we see it: protected in accordance with documented information security profile. procedures, based upon the CIS-20. This in- n Information security management: The cludes user identification and authentication, Future plans organization manages its information account creation and removal, email, access to SecureTheVillage’s Minimum Reasonable security by means of a formal documented cloud servers, etc. Information Security Practices is a work- Information Security Management pro- in-progress, and our approach considers a gram. The information security manager n Security management of the IT infrastruc- community-wide effort to get our collective is an executive or reports to an executive. ture: The organization formally manages the arms around reasonable information securi- The program is designed to protect the security of its IT infrastructure in accordance ty practices. confidentiality, integrity and availability with documented standards based upon the Being “reasonable” with our industry’s of information in accordance with com- CIS-20. This includes security architecture, security procedures and practices begins mercially reasonable information security vulnerability and patch management, end- with looking at the standards already out management standards appropriate for a point and network security, documentation, there, and anticipating what’s going to be company with its security-risk profile and logging and review, encryption, etc. needed in the future. n
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5 Must-Haves for Microsoft Teams Adoption and Data Security
Negligent insiders can unintentionally pose a risk equal to that of bad actors
By David Salter, Director, Technology Solutions, LiveTiles
Abstract: As hackers grow increasingly bold — and successful — in their attacks, three recent trends dominate the M&E industry’s cybersecurity landscape. First, content protection has emerged as a top issue with new security threats and increasing complexity in the production process. Second, new cloud tools increase productivity but can complicate security. Third, general cyber hygiene is playing a larger role as malware and ransomware attacks make the news.
icrosoft Teams adoption recently When Teams is not managed properly it can lead hit a new high with 44 million daily to issues that damage the business value it delivers active users, spiking a whopping and leaves the company exposed to risk from data M37 percent in just one week due to oversharing and misuse. the surge of employees working from home. Now If this sounds too familiar or you’re worried about more than ever, Microsoft Teams is facilitating rushing to adopt Teams to support a remote work- group communication and productivity as employ- force, relax. We have you covered. It is possible to ees across the globe transition to work from home reap the vast benefits of Teams collaboration — even in the face of a global crisis. in a hurry — without the governance and security However, even in the best of times Teams headaches. We’ve recapped five tips from our recent can present governance and security challenges webinar on how you can provision Teams with gov- for organizations — especially for those who are ernance and information security built-in to improve fast-tracking deployment to support remote work. adoption and ensure secure collaboration.
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It’s important to understand why governance and security are so important when it comes to Microsoft Teams. Collaboration tools like Teams have made it easy for sensitive information to be accidently overshared or fall into malicious hands.
Governance and data including email servers, file shares, Share- ligent data breaches (66 percent), than they security importance Point, Office 365, OneDrive, Microsoft are about malicious intent by insiders (62 Before we share our tips, it’s important to Teams and Yammer chats, and BOTs. This percent). understand why governance and security are makes it harder than ever to protect sensi- so important when it comes to Microsoft tive information like trade secrets, acquisi- n 39 percent identified cloud storage and file Teams. Collaboration tools like Teams have tion plans, financial data, supplier and cus- sharing apps as the most vulnerable to insider made it easy for sensitive information to be tomer information, and more from being attacks accidently overshared or fall into malicious shared too broadly, with the wrong person hands for a few reasons: or team — inside or outside your company. n 85 percent of organizations find it moder- ately difficult to very difficult to determine the 1. The way we work has changed - 4. Traditional defenses and protection actual damage of an insider attack quickly do not work Previous stats show that employees are more Perimeter defenses, legacy DLP and com- While many think insider threats are mobile than ever — from coffee shops to air- plicated permissions do not stop access and limited to malicious employees looking to ports and hotels to homes, where 70 percent sharing of data by trusted insiders. They are steal from (or sabotage) the company, the of the workforce works remotely one day a primarily designed to keep insiders out, not simple truth is negligent employees or con- week. While no data exists on how many are protect data from misuse, theft or acciden- tractors can unintentionally pose an equally working from home in light of the coronavi- tal sharing by your internal users that are high risk of security breaches and data leaks rus pandemic, the 37 percent one-week gain meant to have access to it. As with anything, by accident. in Teams users, as well as a sharp increase you need to use the right tool for the job — in Slack adoption, is a good indicator that and these just don’t cut it. With that in mind, here are our tips more and more enterprise employees are for the five things you can do to roll out or now working from home. But I trust my users retrofit Teams with governance and infor- We’ve all been focused on protecting our mation security to fuel adoption and ensure 2. How we access and share data has systems from hackers and bad actors on the secure collaboration. changed outside for so long that it’s sometimes hard to Add to that the fact that we now work understand why tools like Teams make turn- 1. FAMILIAR – Help your users across functions, multiple devices, collabo- ing the focus inward equally important. Here First, to set up Teams for success and en- ration platforms and business boundaries are some sobering facts from a recent Nucleus sure a smooth roll out, use provisioning with diverse teams made up of employees, Cyber and Cybersecurity Insiders survey on or templates that are provided out of the contractors and suppliers. Information no the current state of insider threats: box. Remember that with Teams, business longer resides within the virtual castle walls. owners, not just IT, can create new teams/ n 70 percent of organizations confirm insid- channels. Template use ensures that teams 3. Unstructured data is vulnerable er attacks are becoming more frequent are created with the proper governance and Unstructured data — i.e. email messages, n 70 percent of companies are more worried sharing rules in place, regardless of who’s word processing documents, spreadsheets, about inadvertent insider breaches and neg- spinning up a Team. When it comes to the videos, photos, audio files, presentations, webpages and other kinds of business doc- David Salter supports organizations in creating an agile, digital workplace by uments — are no longer centrally located. leveraging Microsoft 365, and all it has to offer. [email protected] Instead, multiple on-premises and Cloud @davidsalter365 channels are used to share this information,
M&EJOURNAL 112 users, familiarity with Office products is 3. INTEGRATED – Expand beyond automate notifications and lifecycle tasks as great for getting started, but users still need files and chat much as possible. guidance, tips and tricks, and other training Teams is great for file sharing and messag- over time to get the hang of it. Look to en- ing, but it can support so much more. You 5. SECURE – You cannot sacrifice list existing early adopters for peer support can add options for employee onboarding, security and compliance efforts so that together your users can fuel learning management and HR/payroll We’ll say it again: the biggest threat to adoption. directly into your Teams, for example. The your information security and compli- best part is that you can keep users focused ance program is accidental or negligent 2. FAST – Speedy but setup for success on their work, not the tech, by leveraging sharing of files and chat. It could be as As companies look to quickly roll out the Teams App catalog for system integra- innocent as sharing the wrong file in the teams, remember two impart points for tions, across major enterprise software apps. wrong Team, and suddenly your merger success. First, make sure you start with plans are not so secret anymore. If you’re security and compliance from day one. 4. CONTROLLED – IT must have in a regulated industry like financial ser- To help with this, create Teams based on visibility vices or healthcare, you need to ensure fixed templates that have classification and Metrics are the key to a successful imple- any required ethical walls and informa- metadata on Teams. Second, the side effect mentation. Having Teams data and analyt- tion barriers are in place to protect finan- of anyone being able to create a Team is ics dashboards for IT and users is important cial and patient information — and keep sprawl — including duplicate Teams and to check on the health of your Teams. Au- you out of trouble with the regulators. abandoned Teams. To avoid this, you diting and reporting on adoption, growth And in any industry, external sharing is should look to use automation for approv- in Teams numbers and content is import- almost always a necessity so make sure als, expiration reviews and orphan cleanup ant for maintenance, measuring engage- you have controls in place to limit what for expired Teams, to keep your imple- ment and making improvements. Be sure third parties can do with data they have mentation tidy. to create lifecycle guidance for users and access to. n SECURITY SOLUTIONS
Where Do Production Security and Production Efficiency Meet?
Companies that successfully balance these needs often have a plan that works across teams
By Jon Finegold, Chief Marketing Officer, Signiant
Abstract: A central tension in M&E organizations — when creating, collaborating on, and distributing content — is the battle between security and efficiency. While creative teams want free reign to work quickly, IT and operations must focus on strong security practices in today’s environment. This article shares tales from the trenches along with tips on how to achieve efficiency without compromising security.
roduction security is not a new topic in the important for the industry to keep saying, ‘Security’s an M&E industry, but it is certainly top of mind issue, we must take it seriously.’ And it feels like we’ve across the industry. File-based workflows, now passed through that,” said Mark Harrison, Digital Pcloud services and a fully connected world Production Partnership (DPP) managing director. “But have combined to open new ways of working … and new in the production domain, it’s a much more complicated risks. So, how do companies remain efficient while main- picture.” taining strong security practices? Harrison said that sometimes security necessities clash Content creators are under tremendous pressure to with production realities. “Creative people are much deliver more content to more places on tight deadlines, more aware of the risks and the range of risks. But while leading to a “whatever it takes” mentality. This can cause awareness has improved, there’s still remarkably little trust strain between different groups within an organization. in IT-led solutions,” Harrison elaborates. That’s not to “[Awareness has] definitely improved in the last few say IT isn’t doing its part. “Security teams, particularly in years. In a period running from 2016 to 2019 it was large organizations, have come to understand their obli-
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Products like Signiant’s Media Shuttle are user-friendly to encourage acceptance by production teams.
gation is to understand how their creative counterparts are working, what it is they are trying to achieve,” he argues. The DPP and other organizations have collaborated to create best practices and certifications to guide production special- ists and media technology organizations toward strong security practices, but each company must agree on a plan that works for its business and balances the needs of all constituents.
Planning, risk and education Across the industry’s best practices advice is a common theme — make a plan. Establishing a plan requires consideration across the orga- nization, and must begin with departments and teams asking questions about risk and delegation, and keeping each team on the same page. Risk is often a good place to start: “What is the data I don’t want accessed by someone “Having said that, we’re also seeing the very chain. Signiant is a trusted broker of content else, how likely is it to be accessed, what is opposite. There are a number of companies both within and between companies, and the impact of losing it?” The value of content who are working with the most premium in many cases it’s the only tool allowed to is likely different for different organizations, content that actually see cloud-based and move high value-digital assets. Since prod- so a major studio may have more security virtualized production as the only way to ucts like Media Shuttle are user-friendly, around access than the local advertising ensure that their content is safe. So, you’ve production teams aren’t looking for ways agency. However, both may suffer embarrass- got this amazing polarization of attitudes.” around it. They embrace it so that IT and ment and loss of customer confidence if their Companies that appear to have the best security teams have comfort that all content production chain is breached. success with the balance of efficiency and exchange is done through secure tools that Production security may not have been security agree on a plan that works across provide visibility into any activity. on upper management’s mind 10 years ago, teams. That includes documenting processes but after several high-profile attacks such as and agreeing on a set of tools that offer the Mutually-assured success those on Sony, HBO and KQED, the need right flexibility and efficiency but also offer However well-intended, when it comes to for planning, resources and support are now enterprise-grade security. Signiant has a the balance between security and efficiency, seen as vital for a successful security plan unique lens on this as our SaaS platform for the majority of M&E businesses it is dif- and implementation at any size of company. now connects more than 25,000 businesses ficult to avoid compromise in weighing the Many companies are looking to the cloud to across all parts of the global media supply Continued on Page 119 help, but that is a whole new world for some. Harrison agrees that cloud security appre- Jon Finegold has 20-plus years of experience in launching and growing software hension conflicts with cloud adoption. “In a companies. He was a pioneer in SaaS, helping launch OpenAir in 1999, one of survey we did in 2018, we found that fewer the first B2B SaaS offerings, which was acquired by NetSuite in 2008 (and later than a third of the 57 production companies Oracle) and remains a leader in its category today. [email protected] we interviewed trusted the cloud,” he said. @JonFinegold
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Physically Distancing Your Data
Automated digital asset management can help preserve content without risking the health of staff
By Linda Tadic, CEO, Digital Bedrock Photo by Bich Tran from Pexels
Abstract: The only hen pandemics strike to the fore how workflows can be adjusted to absolutely fool-proof way to and people are physically be performed remotely as much as possible, protect data from hackers and isolated, data must still be but there is a correlated risk to data security. ransomware vulnerabilities monitored and protected is the same as what protects W There is a need for: even if physical workplaces are closed down. humans from viruses: physical Storing files in the cloud can make it easier n Secure, remote access to data from home barriers. Storing assets to monitor and work with the files remotely, environments offline protects companies but this type of online storage also makes n Automated digital asset management from ransomware attack and data more vulnerable to cyberattacks. The n Offline storage as baseline protection unauthorized access. data security risk is compounded by com- against cyberattacks such as ransomware panies requiring staff to work from home (WFH), often on the staff person’s personal Other articles in this special issue will computer, without proper security controls. likely discuss cybersecurity and work-from- In this environment, data preservation home environments in more detail. This and asset security could become weakened. article focuses on secure storage and auto- The novel coronavirus pandemic has pushed mated asset management.
M&EJOURNAL 118 JUMPS The coronavirus pandemic has pushed to the Richey May Continued from Page 101 fore how workflows can be adjusted to be per- call or video call anyone within the organiza- formed remotely as much as possible, but there tion with a few clicks. With an increase in email use and decrease is a correlated risk to data security. in visibility into employees’ usage, tools like Managed Methods, Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) and Proofpoint, a Secure Automated asset insurance policy. Our system and workflow Email Gateway (SEG), provide stronger shad- management are an example of pairing complex auto- ow IT, data leakage and control over email use. When health emergencies such as mated processes with physical barriers to In these uncertain times with changes COVID-19 strike, automated asset manage- accessing data. Automated digital preserva- happening so rapidly, it’s easy to feel like ment should be implemented where possible tion actions have already been built into our there are multiple competing priorities. to limit staff interactions with the network, software, so clients’ data is preserved with Company leaders are having to make tough whether the interactions are performed minimal human interaction. This is good decisions quickly and may not have the time remotely (which can endanger the assets) digital preservation practice; humans are they once did to research their decisions. It’s or on-site (endangering the staff person’s more likely to introduce data errors than important that we stay connected through- health). machines. out the industry and share our knowledge Many organizations already have remote- of best practices and daily developments. ly accessible digital asset management sys- Secure storage Many breaches are preventable and there tems (DAMs) secured behind firewalls and As part of our workflow, metadata is ex- are many tools at our disposal to help pro- accessed through VPNs with multi-factor tracted from ingested files and becomes tect you. Now that the rush to get employ- authentication. This scenario implies that indexed and searchable. Clients can search ees working from home is over, it’s time to the assets are likely stored on spinning disk, this metadata in their own portal without pause and take stock of your cybersecurity whether in the cloud or on-premise. Any touching the actual assets. While metadata situation and your IT team’s capacity. n data stored on spinning disk connected to is searchable online, files are stored offline in the internet is at some level of risk. Even secure, locked, and geographically separated connecting to the DAMs through a VPN locations so clients’ files cannot be touched. can be compromised if the employee’s home However, files can be delivered for preserva- Signiant Continued from Page 116 network already has malware lurking in it. tion to us electronically through a file accel- risks of their decisions. While the priorities The malware could travel through the VPN erator, or through a direct connection to the of various team members or departments connection to the terminus. client’s cloud storage provider. This enables may differ, everyone ultimately wants the DAMs should be customized, or alterna- clients to send us data electronically without same thing: successful workflows, an effi- tively, tools should be written to automate the need to go to their company’s workspace. cient team and a thriving enterprise. functions, including basic functions such Since our digital preservation processing is This applies to every department of an as ingest, metadata extraction, hierarchical automated, we can manage and preserve our organization, and it doesn’t just mean storage management and fixity checks. clients’ digital content securely without risk- turning everyone loose to do their own Where staff need to enter metadata in a ing our staff’s health as well. thing. Flexibility of vision and priorities is system, the system should be cordoned off Data management automation combined an evolving element, and balance is needed from the actual assets, so that the assets with physical barriers to data access is a between this flexibility and the previously themselves cannot be touched. secure methodology to protect both digital discussed firmness. Content production Digital Bedrock is a digital preservation content and staff during this pandemic — and security need to be designed to adapt to service provider. We preserve and protect and beyond, as it is also a model for future and support one another. Every member of our clients’ digital content as a kind of data workflows.n a team has responsibilities to fulfill require- ments, both to collaborators and to clients. Linda Tadic is a thought leader in media and digital preservation and metadata. In order to achieve the best and most secure She has over 30 years’ experience in leading preservation, metadata and digital results, compromise is inevitable. production operations at studios, archives and cultural heritage organizations. So, is there really even a “battle” be- Tadic is also an adjunct professor in UCLA’s Information Studies department, tween security and efficiency? It can feel teaching a course in digital asset management. that way but with the right plan and tools, [email protected] @LindaTadic it doesn’t have to be. n
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Preparation, Responsibility and Perseverance
Looking at how the current situation has altered public media and entertainment consumption can lead to new opportunities By Ramón Bretón, CTO, 3rd i Digital
Abstract: The outbreak of the novel he beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic signaled chang- coronavirus COVID-19 presents es both monumental and fast. Whereas at the start of 2020 complicated challenges to small-to- one would not have hesitated to shake hands with a col- medium-sized companies whose primary league (or even a stranger) at a conference, bumping fists business is traditionally conducted on- T became an acceptable alternative, followed immediately by touching site. Moving forward requires balancing elbows, tapping the sides of shoes, or, ultimately, a friendly wave or bow comprehensive preparation and strict with no contact whatsoever. responsibility to one’s workforce, while In short order, all in-person industry gatherings converted to online maintaining an attitude of flexibility and affairs or were canceled outright. These shifts in attitude and behavior perseverance in the face of the enormous were a clear signal to any business with an on-site workforce that big stress and logistical difficulties presented changes were forthcoming. by this worldwide pandemic. Preparation The first consideration of any business is the health and well-being of its workforce and customers. A looming pandemic forces companies to
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This is an opportune time to encourage blue-sky projects and out-of- the box thinking and develop any plans that are promising. A reshaping of company operations forced by the unusual safer-at-home conditions may end up being a silver lining in an otherwise unfortunate situation.
evaluate their level of readiness and pushes service to one’s clients while protecting and otherwise remote workflows are given them to make immediate additional prepa- their content and intellectual property in top priority in order to support WFH. rations. Sanitation supplies need to be made a manner that also safeguards the health One of the advantages small-to-me- available, even if their procurement comes of the company’s staff. Once new policies dium-sized companies possess over their at inflated costs. Communicating current regarding WFH workflows are established, larger counterparts is their ability to be recommended safety precautions to be it is vital to communicate these proactive nimble. Instead of being weighed down by taken both while at the office and away is changes to clients and partners impacted by the bureaucratic quagmire plaguing large equally important. these adjustments. enterprises, smaller companies can make From an operational standpoint, it is creative decisions and implement new pol- critical to evaluate roles to determine how Perseverance icies quickly. This is an opportune time to staff can work remotely and what logistical The goal of any enterprise is to be successful. encourage blue-sky projects and out-of-the steps are necessary to enable this shift to Fiscal performance is only one way to mea- box thinking and develop any plans that are work from home (WFH). When dealing sure success, but it is of course important. promising. A reshaping of company opera- with remote access, it is crucial to balance The notion of responsibility comes into play tions forced by the unusual safer-at-home the shift to a WFH workforce while main- again here, but in a different way. With the conditions may end up being a silver lining taining the company’s security posture. uncertainty that comes along with a world- in an otherwise unfortunate situation. Security firms working specifically in the wide crisis forcing people into self-isolation, M&E industry play a key role in assisting small-to-medium-sized companies must Commitment with enabling WFH while maintaining strive to survive, not only in their own During a crisis it is key to adopt an attitude Trusted Partner Network (TPN) guide- self-interest, but as reassurance to their staff of commitment — to the health and safety lines. and partners that they will come out on the of the corporate family, to continuing to other side whole. provide the same level of service to one’s Responsibility One way to make more money is to clients and partners, and to the survival of It is neither quaint nor romantic to think spend less money, and certainly efficiency the enterprise by adapting in ways dictated of the workforce of an enterprise as a family. needs to be optimized while balancing the by current conditions. The gift of time is This is especially true in the case of small-to- financial needs of those who depend on the perspective. When looking back at the medium-sized companies. Although ulti- company for income — there is a place for COVID-19 pandemic in the first part of mately individuals are responsible for their ethics here. However, another way to make 2020 and evaluating corporate response and own actions, owners and management have more money is to make more money. performance to the unforeseen challenges a duty that goes beyond legal obligations to Evaluating the talent of one’s staff while presented by the unprecedented nature of provide an environment that encourages also looking at how the current situation the worldwide quarantine, it is just as im- the physical and emotional well-being of has altered public media and entertainment portant to identify areas of improvement as their staff and customers. In addition to consumption can lead to new opportunities it is to celebrate areas of success. Surviving pragmatic concerns of sanitation and hy- in areas where a company’s strengths over- economically while placing the highest giene, those in supervisorial roles often find lap with new consumer behavior. When de- value on the well-being of one’s staff and themselves in the position of impromptu veloping new service offerings, cloud-based customers is a success by any measure. n caretakers, with open-door policies to ad- dress concerns or provide general emotional Ramón Bretón, prior to his 18 years at 3rd i, spent 10 years in the support when needed. music business as an audio mastering engineer, giving him over 25 Responsibility here has another implica- years of experience contributing to quality entertainment for consumers. tion: to fulfill the promise of uninterrupted [email protected]
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Remote vs. Rosé: Pandemics and Our Future
COVID-19 and the future of film and TV sales By Rob Delf, CEO, Rightsline Photo by James Jadotte on Unsplash
Abstract: Due to the rise of streaming services, the linear sales market that’s been the bread and butter for library sales will likely be pushed hard to keep up. A 24/7 sales cycle that is powered through web-based rights management applications and provides visibility into deep, complex libraries is needed now more than ever.
ith the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, travel Perhaps the biggest repercussion is on the staff from a and congregations of people have been shut personal level. Anyone who says that it’s business as usual is down and remote communication tools are wrong, as my usual now includes eight straight hours of Zoom Won a tear. Will content distribution events meetings wearing a dress shirt and pajama pants with a roaming become less important, and is this global health crisis the thing 5-year old. That’s decidedly unusual. Now is the time to focus that breaks the already fragile back of the big film and television on the health of our people and the well-being of our culture, as markets? that will undoubtedly transfer to economic success on the other As a native cloud software company, the pandemic’s impact side. on Rightsline has been somewhat muted from an economic If there is a silver lining to this calamity, it’s the recognition perspective, in that while we expect new project starts to slow, of this moral imperative and the time to focus upon our people most of our staff and the majority of our customer base have and our company, and not doing so would be to base action on been working remotely with our platform since inception. fear rather than on future.
M&EJOURNAL 124 The proposition of online rights exchanges and sales tools have been extensively vetted and have yet to gain any traction over the past two decades, mostly due to the nuances and complexities of deal terms, as well as the trust in the partnership between creators and distributors.
Resiliency and ability — at a minimum — during the early sum- have yet to make any traction over the past Our biggest takeaway from this is the recog- mer. Going forward, leveraging this under- two decades, mostly due to the nuances and nition of resiliency. Resiliency from our cus- standing will allow us to more appropriately complexities of deal terms, as well as the tomers and prospects, and the fortitude of weigh the relative importance of in-person trust in the partnership between creators our own resources. For our staff, who I’ve meetings versus increased productivity, and distributors. had the privilege to work with throughout using data gathered during this time to sup- our rise, the level of adaptability to custom- port those decisions. Additionally, it pushes Challenges ahead er support and delivery has been inspiring the idea of the four-day work week up Failed attempts to automate deal flow to watch. We work day in and day out on higher on the “let’s experiment with” list, as over the past decade are a testament to configuration, code, project management, it becomes clear that the elimination of the the fact that relationships will always support and operations, and this change normal commute in, office set up, catch-up reign supreme. Isn’t it feasible that both has been met with the same can-do attitude with coworkers and commute out can more new content and library sales will be done that we’ve embraced from the day we fired than make up for eight hours over four days. over remote connections rather than over up our Amazon Web Services account. For As long as the casualty isn’t our culture, this chilled rosé on the Croisette? It seems ap- some of us, it’s also been an amazing oppor- can and should be something to consider. parent that those connections can contin- tunity to limit business travel and has given So what about the industry that we ue their evolution to support a 24/7 sales us a bump in old fashioned productivity. It serve? We’re in the business of support- cycle that is powered through web-based turns out you can get a ton accomplished ing deal-makers in the content lifecycle, rights management platforms that provide in a day without commuting or overseas and as such attend to and listen to their visibility into deep, complex libraries, and flights. needs. Attendance has been dropping at the relationships between parties can From our customers (both old and new), the content markets, mostly driven by the be handled in the most appropriate way there has been consistent feedback about bigger players building infrastructure and whether that’s Zoom, phone calls or really how crucial it is to have access to complete content pipes directly to consumers, but awesome events around the world. The key rights information from wherever they may also driven by the collapse in traditional here is that they’re not co-exclusive and be, and to continue content acquisition and windows; who’s to say that TVOD isn’t will never be. sales activities without interruption. While the best first exploitation medium; and Tools like Rightsline can provide a vir- we’ve previously completed several global what is the definition of a TV window tual information network of content posi- implementations where the majority of these days anyway? tions, and remote working tools like Zoom hours have been remote, we’re now kicking Perhaps COVID-19 and social distanc- can at the same time allow for one-on-one off new ones with project plans that respect ing will disrupt the handshake deal, not connections and relationship nurturing. the totality of distancing, and are a testa- only because we’re explicitly prohibited Whatever the duration of the current crisis, ment to the aforementioned resilience and from actually shaking hands in the near our collective remote working abilities have subsequent adaptation. We will find a way! term, but because of the recognition of effi- just taken one giant step forward. ciencies gained through more precise infor- If we use all the right tools at our dispos- Long-term impacts … and mation transfer during the sales cycle. The al, and don’t forget about the culture and ideas proposition of online rights exchanges and people that make it all matter, we’ll emerge So what, if any, will be the long-term im- sales tools have been extensively vetted and a stronger business and industry overall. n pact of the current crisis? For us, it’s proven our ability to execute at an incredibly high Rob Delf leads Rightsline, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for deal level on a remote basis. We’ve had some and rights management in the film and TV industry, based in Los Angeles. experience to draw upon, but nothing as [email protected] @rightsline complete as the isolation that will continue
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Work-From-Home Best Practices
Tips on staying productive (and sane) in your new work environment
By Wendy Osuna, Senior Product Manager, Film, TV, Exactuals
Abstract: As Exactuals few months into the COVID-19 pandemic, many employees, we were in the unique organizations around the world have found them- situation of having had already selves functioning in a way they probably thought conquered the best practices for impossible, and that’s with their staff working from working from home, pre COVID-19. A home. As Exactuals colleagues, we have been fortunate to be em- Now, we face additional obstacles ployed by a company that has been working remotely for almost and distractions due to government- a decade. Prior to the government-imposed quarantine, we were imposed restrictions and, for some, in the unique situation of having already conquered the best prac- our family members being home tices for working remotely. Now, we face additional obstacles and with us. This is how Exactuals has distractions due to our family members being home with us, with- managed. out having the option to sneak away to our local cafe.
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It is imperative that you schedule time for yourself throughout the day. Block your calendar and set a reminder to take a lunch. Force yourself to walk away from your screen, especially when you start to lose focus, or begin to feel a bit irritable or anxious. Great things to do while working an instrument, read a book or take a nap. from home and taking a break? Your home is your oyster. Literally anything. For those of you with families and little “interns” running around all day, we have gathered a few bonus tips to help them I’ve reached out to my coworkers desk with a monitor and an ergonomic help you. Setting boundaries is important. across the nation to gather their thoughts chair and keyboard. This is definitely ideal; One of my colleagues had his kids create and habits on how they continue to stay however, for those of you who aren’t quite a sign with a string that can hang on the focused during these times. At Exactuals, there yet, you must find your space. Make outside of his office door. The sign has two we’ve always found working remote, or sure you have proper lighting and stay off sides: one side says “stop” and the other from home, to be a privilege, and so we of your couch and especially your bed. says “go”. If he is in an important meeting, have treated it as such throughout the he puts the stop side out. Since his kids years. Now that the nation has mandated Structure your day were involved in making the sign, they are a quarantine, we find ourselves to be ex- Aside from all the meetings invites that are a bit more invested in paying attention to tremely grateful that our team has contin- likely flooding your calendar, block time it. Some of my colleagues alternate using ued to function, business as usual, without to actually get work done. Start with a “to an office, or alternate locking doors, so a hitch. So, we hope to share our steps and do” list and group similar tasks together that the kids can only distract one of them best practices to help you stay focused and prioritize them. It’s key to schedule at a time. For most, avoiding the distrac- during these times when distractions are the most important tasks during your time tions altogether is preferred. Many with exceedingly present. of minimal distractions. Some of us find kids in school have expressed that they this golden hour to be first thing in the plan out their entire day, the night before. Get up and get ready morning, before our major distractions get Structuring their time allows you to struc- Everyone in the household should get up, out of bed. ture yours. And some have realized that tuck in their shirt and get ready to work. sneaking away to take calls from the walk- We have found that remote school isn’t Take your breaks in closet is also a preferred option. great in pajamas, and neither is work. You It is imperative that you schedule time Most importantly, when working may be surprised at how much more en- for yourself throughout the day. Block from home, due to a pandemic or because ergy you have, just by slipping out of your your calendar and set a reminder to take you’ve been fortunate enough to land a job slippers and into some shoes with soles. a lunch. Force yourself to walk away from whose culture is to work remotely, it’s im- your screen, especially when you start to portant to set a stopping time. One of the Set the mood lose focus, or begin to feel a bit irritable or issues that I have struggled most with over Find your dedicated workspace. Many of anxious. Great things to do while working the years is not knowing when to turn the us who have been doing this for a while from home and taking a break? Literally lights off. Eight hours can quickly turn have an actual office in our homes where anything. You can stretch, play fetch or into 12 or 16, especially when submerged we can shut the door and sit at a proper walk your dogs, exercise, meditate, play in a large project. One of the things that Exactuals has Wendy Osuna has more than eight years of residuals knowledge in software tried to engrain in all its employees is that development, with experience at City National Bank, Entertainment family is always first. Live in the moment Partners and CBS Studios. [email protected] @Exactuals and be present with your families each and every day. n
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What Now? What Next? When the COVID-19 pandemic ends, the innovations we’ve made to get through it will not
By Nancy Jundi, COO, DigitalFilm Tree
Abstract: Like everyone else in the arving out the safest paths forward to bring productions back to entertainment industry, we have found life consumes our days and keeps us up at night. ourselves in a new age of innovation While DigitalFilm Tree (DFT) is a varied provider to both and urgency to solve for our greatest the entertainment and technology industries, our soul is in tele- challenges. We’re hyper-aware of the C vision and independent features. We’ve spent countless hours brainstorming role we play in the larger scope of that with studios and storytellers to discern all technological possibilities that can responsibility — to our immediate be leveraged in an effort to get productions up and running again. Whether community, as well as those we serve at it’s from home or standing six feet apart, we’ve never been better equipped home, watching the shows we help bring or poised to solve these challenges together. to life. And as many of us in M&E know, While some shows have begun discussing protective shields or literal if we go dark, many go dark. Despite the bubbles for their boom operators and gaffers, others are discussing robotic ambiguities our industry is currently cameras and separate rooms for directors to live-pipe feedback. Australian facing, we find ourselves uniquely suited to soap opera Neighbours leads the charge by beginning production with clear continue business as usual. How? guidelines relating to everything from makeup application to distancing (including no physical contact between the actors, which should prove inter- esting for a daytime drama). We will learn, responsibly, from one another. We will make educated decisions that allow more creatives to perform their work online and create greater efficiencies. These efficiencies will allow us to get back to work, and free up production dollars to be spent in crafting that content. Actors, direc- tors, cinematographers and their unions have a large stake in the discussions around safety and the future of how they perform their jobs. The decisions we make today will impact us long after the virus is solved for.
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WORKING FROM HOME
Under one roof or many roofs, shows now have a bevy of options when accessing the tools that can keep them moving forward with post-production, as well as production, while maintaining social distancing measures.
A post-pandemic outlook the homes of creatives who are sourcing health and media protected, wherever they The innovations and new ways of thinking more material from their shows to offer may be. Again, if we go dark, many go dark, created in the M&E industry during the supplementary content and planning for and with so many shows having halted, the pandemic won’t go away when the virus more intentional shoots going forward. question is now, what’s next? does. New revenue streams and greater DFT is producing content for brands that means to connect with an audience will need help furthering their narrative during The tools in use remain tantamount to the work itself. a time of relevancy challenges while their Under one roof or many roofs, shows now How we account for how our industry and storefronts are shuttered. have a bevy of options when accessing the our audiences will consume media post tools that can keep them moving forward COVID-19 is as meaningful to our current Past preparation eases the with post-production, as well as production, thought process as it is to who we will be as burden while maintaining social distancing mea- consumers going forward. At DFT we’re always pivoting and have sures. Much like the evolutions we experi- largely already solved for remote work that enced after the 2008 writers’ strike and was both collaborative and secure years n Cinecode helps us stay laser-focused on 2011 tsunami, necessity will always be the ago. GeoPost allowed for the seamless tran- serving the needs of television shows to pro- mother of innovation — the influx and sition of both our own teams, and vendor totype their stories from pre-development embrace of reality shows has not gone partners, as well as our traditional facility to physical productions. Cinecode leverages away, nor have we gone back to tape-based clients, from offices to individual homes game engine technology to quickly and workflows. Much the same, it’s difficult to overnight. Without loss to timelines or risk affordably iterate and prototype stories in imagine a future in which we return to gru- to their health or our clients’ media, we also the virtual environment, making physical eling commutes, crowded meetings or an deployed remote systems and routers to production planning and efficiency expo- overflow of people on a set who could all be those teams still working to deliver shows, nentially better than current methods. Our more efficient functioning in the cloud. allowing them to approve final color, con- team can recreate scenes in 2D or 3D for With billions of dollars allocated to new form, VFX and titles without compromis- virtual environments and animations based content prior to COVID-19, we have an ing picture quality, impacting workflows or on a script and actual location(s) of filming increasingly accelerated demand to both fill impeding air dates. — saving repeat site visits for location scout- airtime and engage the viewer. Cinecode — With a robust, cloud-based network ing, while including more stakeholders ear- the pre-visualization and virtual production infrastructure that’s as secure as it is con- lier in the process. leg of DFT — is working with TV shows to venient, we were able to manage the imme- improve blocking to incorporate distancing diate influx of media pulls from the cloud n GeoDailies offers seamless integration measures, implementing lidar scans of loca- without down time or an uptick in egress for productions near and far and is sup- tions to reduce site visits and pre-blocking fees. We were able to offer our friends — ported by DFT’s interdisciplinary, hands scenes in a virtual environment, where their other vendors — a layer of security on on team of post, IP and networking wiz- specific cameras can test the shots virtually top of their own solutions, thanks to our ards. Services include camera raw storage in advance of shooting. They’re also pro- advanced routers and managed firewalls as with media asset management and trans- viding concert vendors with 2D and 3D architected by our CISO. Our immediate port, international production servicing content, allowing fans to experience a “live” goal was to keep people working, with their and enterprise supply chain management. show, as well as photo real environments to retailers who can no longer hold photo Nancy Jundi is a leader at DigitalFilm Tree, a post-production and software shoots for their product marketing. development company for media and entertainment, as well as a staff writer GeoPost — our cloud-operating, re- for ACE’s CinemaEditor Magazine, SXSW speaker and guest lecturer at mote services and solutions arm — is in universities. [email protected] @DigitalFilmTree
M&EJOURNAL 130 n GeoEdit serves offline Avid editors, as n GeoColor resources support Resolve around security and efficiency for our well as Resolve online editors, allowing users requiring full color managed moni- shows. To this end, we pivoted our resourc- them to work seamlessly and securely from tors with a Resolve virtual data base for a es to double down on our internal network home, offering remote camera raw con- truly camera raw workflow — allowing for and security capabilities for staff, clients form and titling resources, as well as live, live, remote color grading sessions. Sim- and vendors alike, anywhere in the world. low latency, remote dual desktop (KVM) ilar to other GeoPost offerings, this is an support, with a live-feed, high-fidelity, re- end-to-end secure and integrated solution Re-architecting what can be mote ‘client’ monitor for critical viewing allowing producers to sign off on final air We have a chance to lead like never before and approvals. masters from home, with the same confi- — this is not an opportunity we’re likely to dence as they would have at a facility. see again in our lifetimes. It’s a near total and n GeoVFX, similar to the editorial work- n DFT Media Security recognizes that meaningful re-architecture of what has been flow, the GeoPost platform for VFX teams the home is not the most secure place to and what can be, for creatives, technologists, leverages DFT’s hardware and software to work, and now is not the time to settle for and consumers alike. Unlike the migration support artists using tools like After Effects poor network and security practices. While from film to digital or pen to keyboard, we’re and NUKE. Offering an integrated solu- some shows have gone on hiatus, others being asked to protect one another as much tion with low latency, remote dual desktop have moved their teams into individual as we’re protecting the future of media. (KVM) support includes peripherals like homes, relying on physical drives to be shut- Collaboration over competition and Wacom tablets, and a live-feed, high-fideli- tled between creatives, using slow home integration over isolated innovation will ty remote ‘client’ monitor for critical VFX internet connections that were full of po- power us forward. We’re excited to be to- tasks like spotting, shot iteration, and final tential security blind spots. gether again in person, but equally excited review. DFT has intentionally focused our for how we emerge and who we’ll be on the efforts on solving for critical pain points other side of this. n AD INDEX
Company Website Page Company Website Page
Variety Business Intelligence...... www.varietyinsight.com...... 2 Entertainment Partners...... www.ep.com...... 79
LiveTiles...... www.livetiles.nyc...... 5 Prime Focus Technologies...... www.primefocustechnologies.com...... 81
Whip Media Group...... www.whipmedia.com...... 7 Meta...... www.meta.how...... 83
Irdeto...... www.irdeto.com...... 11 Salesforce...... www.salesforce.com...... 87
DXC Technology...... www.dxc.technology...... 13 MESA Member Ad...... www.MESAlliance.com...... 89
EditShare...... www.editshare.com...... 14 MicroStrategy...... www.microstrategy.com/us...... 93
Richey May Technology Solutions...... www.richeymaytech.com...... 19 Testronic...... www.testroniclabs.com...... 95
Box...... www.box.com...... 21 Veritone...... www.veritone.com...... 99
IYUNO Media Group...... www.iyunomg.com...... 23 Vistex...... www.vistex.com...... 103
Cognizant...... www.cognizant.com...... 29 3rd I QC...... www.3rdiqc.com...... 105
CDSA...... www.CDSAonline.org...... 31 Mediabridge Capital Advisors...... www.mediabridgecap.com...... 109
Fortium...... www.fortiumtech.com...... 33 WaveSeven...... www.waveseven.net...... 111
Gracenote...... www.gracenote.com...... 37 RightsLine Software...... www.rightsline.com...... 113
Tape Ark...... www.tapeark.com...... 39 Digital Bedrock...... www.digitalbedrock.com...... 115
BeBanjo...... www.bebanjo.com...... 43 CreativeFuture...... www.creativefuture.org...... 117
GrayMeta...... www.graymeta.com...... 45 Secure the Village...... www.securethevillage.org...... 121
Exactuals...... www.exactuals.com...... 51 Trusted Partner Network...... www.TTPN.org...... 123
Eurofins Digital Media Services...... www.eurofins-dms.com...... 53 Los Angeles Duplication & Broadcasting..... www.ladb.com...... 129
OTOY...... www.otoy.com...... 55 The Boxoffice Company...... www.company.boxoffice.com...... 131
Wasabi...... www.wasabi.com...... 63 MESA Job Board...... www.MESAlliance.org/jobs...... 133
Imaginate...... www.imaginate.la...... 65 Bob Gold & Associates...... www.bobgoldpr.com...... 135
Deluxe...... www.bydeluxe.com...... 69 Convergent Risks...... www.convergentrisks.com...... 139
Dolby...... www.dolby.com...... 73 Genpact...... www.genpact.com...... Back Cover
Tamr...... www.tamr.com...... 75
M&EJOURNAL 132 JUMPS
Finley Continued from Page 8 the organizers canceled the event that day. uitous challenge that reaches through every and I (drinking the delicious MESA Kool- That’s when I turned to the data and started facet of our modern culture and world. Yes, Aid we’ve been brewing) was making invest- formulating a business continuity plan for it’s complicated. Very complicated. Howev- ments in people, process and technology. each of MESA communities. er, this isn’t the first global catastrophe, nor As a small business, I was facing the exact will it be the last, and complexity, passion Then “it” happened challenges each of our member companies and survival have ALWAYS inspired the It coincided with an iconic and ominous faced, but at my own scale. I thought of our greatest of ideas across the spectrum of tech- date in human history: The Ides of March. nine full-time employees here in Boise. The nology. And what followed for the next 30 days was 10 subcontractors around the country, who From the first moving images, to the truly transformational. Truly inspirational. are an essential part of Team MESA, and advent of sound and color, to home enter- The communities that MESA has fostered, provide the critical infrastructure to keep tainment through to the streaming revolu- watered and grown started to step up their our community machine going and growing. tion, we’ve invested trillions as an industry games. Vendors and content owners started I extended that challenge out to the small toward bringing artistic vision to life, for working together in ways that seemed im- group of companies who have provided ser- the consumer to enjoy our art or product, probable, even impossible, just a few weeks vices for our events … and suffered the harsh regardless of the socio-economic situation of before. Employees at companies adjusted im- realization that we wouldn’t be working any particular individual. It is our ongoing mediately to the new workflows, and within together for an extended period. challenge to take this product to the world a couple weeks, it was working. The engine efficiently, effectively, and our communi- was running again at a fairly efficient rate. Now, unprecedented ties drive the global entertainment supply We were early on the security side. I accomplishment chain. And I feel fortunate and positive that remember where I was when it started to At the end of the second month of self-iso- the hard work we endure during the next become “real.” Plans for our International lation, the “new normal” is settling in with few years will only make our community Content Protection Summit at Mobile an uncomfortable regularity. The work/life stronger, our workflows more integrated, World Congress in Barcelona were being balance is still out-of-whack, but the coping our industry healthier and our people more finalized and we convened the CDSA Exec- mechanisms and connectivity help. What connected. Wooooow! utive Committee to discuss our position on we’ve accomplished in the last few months is That’s community. That’s MESA. MESA the emerging health threat. Our discussion unprecedented. As an industry, as a country, is you, me, us. Together is where we’ll find and deliberation ultimately didn’t matter as as humanity, we are now faced with a ubiq- our hope. n
The latest technology jobs in M&E
M EAND Tech Job Board
The #1 resource for technology career opportunities in Media & Entertainment.
www.MESAlliance.org/jobs JUMPS
DXC Continued from Page 22 helping companies adopt and integrate in- dustry-leading protocols and products that provide high-performance remote access for Content Technology Tomorrow Continued from page 22 power users with graphics-intensive appli- cations. Companies need tools that can not anymore. And if a studio can access talent using people from Europe, only support multiplatform, hybrid envi- South America or Asia, all the better. As technology extends our work en- ronments, but also enhance performance vironments, companies will be in a much stronger position to hire the best and provide robust security for the data people for the job, wherever they may live. The digital world has not only being transferred. The aim is to give users affected the video and theatrical sector, but also the music business. Stu- fast response times and high image quality dio musicians around Los Angeles or New York made a good living just for editing and other tasks. a few short years ago, but now much of that work has been outsourced. We’re doing analysis and integration of Today, many musicians work from home and use file-sharing programs to these products and working with the ven- drop the samples producers need to complete a music track or video clip. dors to enhance them for studios’ specific Whether just around the corner from Capitol Records in Los Angeles, or needs, for example, supporting specialized 7,500 miles away in the Middle East, studio techs can receive and pro- peripherals like hardware tablets that let cess files in the same amount of time. users draw, move artifacts and change colors From a technology point of view, some important advancements have at the pixel level. emerged that will help drive and accelerate the transition to a work-from- Another key issue is workflow. Content home culture. For starters, we have seen the maturity of virtualization and must go through a series of steps before it network technology and the continued movement of software to an inte- is ready for production, and each workflow grated ecosystem of tools and capabilities. has unique demands that need to be tuned The cloud has also played a big role. People in the movie and music with these remote hosting agents to opti- industries used to work with as many as a dozen software programs that mize effectiveness. We’ve developed models were individually purchased or custom built and loaded onto their work- for doing that and templates to use as a station. No longer. More and more, these apps are integrated into a joint starting point. For example, we’ve worked workflow with a dashboard and with proper access and security. Instead with multiple studios on developing digital of having to buy new servers to launch a project, Amazon Web Services, content pipelines — sets of digital anima- Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, BeBop Technology and other key indus- tion tools and infrastructure that support try providers make it possible to access compute and storage, ramping artists’ workflows end-to-end. Companies up or scaling down as needed. that have been implementing these solu- The major cloud providers are making major impacts in the media con- tions have a leg up on the competition in tent industry. As we speak, they are funding proof-of-concept initiatives, their ability to adapt to crises like the one working with content industry think tanks and competing for this future we’re currently experiencing. growth industry. In addition, the use of software containers and the inte- gration of smaller point solutions are being consolidated into a consortium Future evolution of services that will be selected and deployed on demand. The entertainment and technology indus- Although we all are in this uncharted COVID-19 version of a new re- tries are both evolving rapidly, so new solu- ality, we can draw upon history to know that society will survive and even tions will continue to emerge that enhance find ways to thrive in the face of unknown challenges. The resiliency of the remote teams’ effectiveness and accelerate people behind the M&E industries, will inspire new creative experiences collaboration. Companies will increase for the stay-at-home generation, helping us get through this moment. their use of analytics, process management Once on the other side, we will come out of it with a brighter, faster and cloud-native technologies to increase and more exciting future, thanks to the agile vision of a remote global availability of digital resources and max- talent workforce enabled by advancing technology. In the end, the rollout imize artists’ time. We can expect to see of a decade-long content technology roadmap has officially been con- more rapid development of technologies densed into a matter of months. and work models as the current situation Can you see the future? It’s closer than ever. —Jeff Caldwell leads companies to innovate in their use of distributed workforces. n
M&EJOURNAL 134 JUMPS
MarkLogic Continued from Page 68
The first five are table stakes in this XaaS and structures need to be denormalized cases. Recommendation engines, customer category. The remaining features, however, into a business entity, such as a title, which segmentation and target marketing are just when delivered at scale with the others, can can then be semantically related to other three ML use cases that implement the bring a digital twin to blockbuster status. entities in the pursuit of 360 views. direct-to-consumer equation by analyzing As the number and type of data sources In the case of time-based, descriptive data about products (KYP) and match- grow within and outside an organization, metadata, dimensions such as character, ing it to what it knows about consumers the need to match and merge semantically plot, theme and tone, to name just a few, (KYC). identical entities becomes more important need to be matched with a content’s time and complex. Smart, agile data mastering slices and semantically related to other Conclusion bypasses traditional enterprise MDM ini- dimensions. This requires separate data The success of digital twins in manufac- tiatives that are time and resource intensive models. turing suggests that similar ideas can be and often fail. It provides tools for master- Finally, a data hub with a feature that is leveraged in other industries, such as M&E. ing as needed, with greater speed and less becoming increasingly important in creat- In all the ways we’ve described, descriptive risk. ing and leveraging all kinds of data, includ- metadata, along with a data hub service Data harmonization (integration) to an ing descriptive metadata, is ML. In M&E, (DHS), such as what MarkLogic provides, entity model is a precursor to mastering, as a data hub service with machine learning can help M&E enterprises avoid the twin different data sources more often than not that can train and run models, and run paradox and create digital twin blockbust- represent semantically identical informa- externally developed models, will provide ers, which can be leveraged for success. Al- tion as different data models. Data types an essential added service for many use bert Einstein would be proud. n JUMPS
Mishra Continued from Page 6 EditShare Continued from Page 57 Supply chain of tomorrow non for EditShare. It is built into the With EditShare and AWS, it’s now History has taught us it’s in the DNA of America to fabric of the software. Open work- possible to spin up an actual post-pro- emerge from a crisis better than before, and this pan- flows can be and are as secure and flex- duction facility in the cloud, with real demic will prove no different. Hollywood is built in ible — if not more so — than propri- workstations and real storage, all ben- many ways to survive this. I see an “antifragile supply etary ones. Openness means that users efitting from the powerful oversight chain of Hollywood” emerging. Taleb identified “anti- can utilize “best of breed” products of Flow, and from the media optimi- fragile” as a category of things that not only gain from and services from other providers and zations facilitated by AWS. Remote chaos, but can use it to survive and flourish. integrate them as if they were native to screen-sharing software with extremely “Just as human bones get stronger when subjected to the system. low latency ensures an incredible user stress and tension, and rumors or riots intensify when EditShare rigorously enforces the experience. someone tries to repress them, many things in life rule that every software module (or In fact, Amazon Prime Video was benefit from stress, disorder, uncertainty,” Taleb said. “microservice”) does one thing and one one of EditShare’s first customers for a “Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. While thing only. Each microservice has a virtual facility. The Prime Video team the resilient resists shocks and stays the same, the anti- published interface (an API) so that wanted to make the production budget fragile gets better.” other software can connect with it and go further by eliminating the cost and There’s opportunity here for Hollywood as a whole exchange data. This modular approach inconvenience of having to relocate their to find improvement on the other side of the chaos. n even allows EditShare users to select post-production personnel across the which AI service to use. world to suit the production schedule. This leads to a highly controlled environment and yet one with unpar- Spin up a facility Iverson Continued from Page 12 alleled flexibility. For the film industry, it is now pos- before us. More than 80 years ago, World War II cre- sible to “spin up” a post-production ated one of the greatest upheavals of the modern world. Ever-closer integration facility — complete with media-opti- Remember what we called the generation that perse- EditShare’s Flow media management mized storage, powerful workstation vered through that upheaval? The Greatest Generation. solution allows for precise manage- and EditShare’s Flow — within It was a generation of perseverance, personal ment of media clips across geograph- minutes, and to “spin it down” equally responsibility, humility and honor. Through their ical distances as well as tracking ver- quickly. hardship came great prosperity for those that followed. sions and formats (codecs, resolutions It’s a new perspective for film and It was also a generation with the courage (and crazy and aspect ratios, HDR vs. SDR, etc.), media companies. There’s no longer enough) to land a man on the moon. while allowing free and safe collabo- any need to buy the physical equip- Now, it’s our turn to respond to our upheaval. ration between creative professionals. ment. Instead, you pay for only the What will our story be? Flow is compatible with the editors’ time you want to use it. Iverson’s multi-part “Our Finest Hour” series can be favorite packages and integrates With all the disruption caused by read in full at MESAlliance.org. n closely with them. Flow in itself has COVID-19, working in the cloud has a powerful component (Flow Story) become the new normal. The pandem- for remote trimming and assembly. ic has pressed the “reset” button for Sohonet Continued from Page 25 It also has close integration with the whole world: society, the economy working — to one where 85 percent did so overnight. industry standard non-linear editing and every speciality within those do- And guess what? It’s proven, battle-hardened in systems. (NLEs). With a strong proxy- mains. trial and error. Going back to a normal remote work based workflow, Flow is able to span Filmmaking will never be the same environment with access to high bandwidth, profes- continents and provide an essential, again. But with such advanced tech- sional-grade tools and visiting tech support will seem assured basis for remote, collaborative nology, the industry will have moved like a breeze. working. forward. It can be confident that ways Virtual remote work is no longer a “love to try it But what about when it’s necessary of working that were only theoretical someday” scenario. It’s real, it’s being tested all day, to work remotely but with the original or experimental months ago are ready every day, and we have real-world experience with it material in the cloud? This, too, is now for the mainstream. Full-capability now. Not just creatives, but executives too. Working possible, with EditShare EFS, a fully cloud-based production is one of them. remotely is no longer an academic discussion. Now, it virtualized facility with actual work- Perhaps the best way to be ready for is simply the way work gets done. n stations in the cloud. the future is to be already in it. n
M&EJOURNAL 136 WATCH THIS
Whip Media Continued from 138 $120 billion on original content, including If we can predict the travelability of a piece movies and TV shows, in 2019. And that doesn’t include the cost of licensing con- of content, our ability to maximize the invest- tent libraries, which is just as important, if not more so, given the value of long-stand- ment — whether by a platform or a studio — ing re-watchable libraries. becomes limitless. Measurement becomes even more critical in this context. And what’s key is As our communities adjust to this new it becomes critical to understand what measuring the right things. There has been life of isolation and social distancing, peo- types of content people are turning to as much attention paid to the new platforms ple are staying inside, hunkering down and networks and platforms leverage their li- themselves, but much less on the dynamics turning to television. But today’s situation braries and make on-the-fly programming of how content is valued, bought and sold. is beyond what we’ve come to think about decisions. When people were asked what While under the current circumstances we as binge watching. It’s not a voluntary genre of shows they were planning to watch are understandably focused on the imme- change. It’s an extended period of engaging during this period, the most popular choic- diacy of today, it is also important that we with content as people lean in to entertain- es were dramas (78 percent) and comedies take a long-term view. We need to make ment while waiting out the crisis. And the (76 percent), followed by sci-fi/fantasy at 67 smart, data-driven decisions about the already hot competition among streaming percent. It appears that viewers are looking lifetime value of content investment and services is sure to heat up, benefiting con- for some combination of lighter entertain- leverage the information we have to pre- sumers and platforms alike. ment and escapism from today’s ominous dict the success of future investments. This With that in mind, TV Time, a Whip headlines. A notable group of viewers (25 means capturing and assessing both sales Media Company, conducted a U.S.-based percent) also said they are interested in Re- data and consumer data across the content study from the period of March 13-15, 2020, ality TV viewing. consumption lifecycle: from intent and with the goal of assessing how consumers discovery through viewership, engagement were feeling as this volatile period of self-iso- Why we watch and loyalty. lation got underway. Leveraging TV Time’s To tap into the mood or emotional senti- Ultimately, the goal for streaming service global community of more than 13 million ment among viewers, the survey asked what providers is to determine what their cus- connected users of its TV tracking platform, was motivating their viewing choices. A full tomers want to watch and why, and which the study examined not just what consumers 86 percent of respondents said they wanted content is best suited for their platform. are watching, but why they’re watching. to watch shows already on their “watch list,” Decisions about acquisition and distribu- With the entertainment industry spending suggesting that this period of viewership tion require an understanding of “content on content at an unprecedented pace, it’s could be used to watch shows that people travelability” — how well content will critical that streaming services understand have been meaning to get around to. Other move from one geography to another, from their consumers and offer the content choic- popular motivations were to give them an one platform to another, or from broader es that are right for their platform. escape from reality (73 percent) and to audience appeal to niche consumption. All make them laugh (72 percent), with about the while measuring engagement and sales How much we watch half of respondents indicating they want every step of the way. If we can predict the Our survey revealed that, among those content to comfort them (53 percent). travelability of a piece of content, our ability planning to isolate or considering isola- Streaming services are poised to be to maximize the investment — whether by tion (91 percent), the vast majority (84 among the biggest beneficiaries to capture a platform or studio — becomes limitless. percent) are intending to increase their consumers’ viewership and engagement. Consumer sentiment will no doubt TV consumption during this period. At a Consumers have an ever-expanding choice evolve but the large-scale shift in home minimum, consumers plan to keep their as we’ve seen with the launch of several new viewing brought about by COVID-19 current level of viewership, with no respon- services, including Disney+, Apple TV+, will likely linger and has the potential to dents saying they will decrease their TV Quibi, Peacock and soon HBO Max. With change the face of the industry. Whether a consumption. so much demand, we know the cost of buyer or seller of content, we have to adapt content is rising at an unprecedented pace. to a new generation of viewers who are in What we watch A recent analysis conducted by Variety In- control of their choices and move toward a With consumption on the rise and produc- telligence Platform revealed that U.S. media consumer-centric strategy to capitalize on tion slowing due to the current situation, and entertainment companies spent over the opportunities ahead. n
M&EJOURNAL 137 WATCH THIS
Connecting with Consumers with the Right Content During Massive Social Shifts Many consumers are currently looking for their own version of comfort content Photo by Gustavo Fring from Pexels
Abstract: The pandemic is fueling streaming viewing and driving dramatic shifts in consumer behavior and content release strategies and By Alex von Krogh, windows. Given the highly accelerated impact from COVID-19, we have a VP Data Sales, unique opportunity to measure changes in viewing behavior and sentiment, and the associated implications on programming choices, theatrical Whip Media Group attendance, release windows and streaming services.
n this COVID-19 era, TV viewer- dows and content distribution strategies are making their movies available on-demand ship is up dramatically, driven by so being impacted. Disney+ released Frozen II on the same date as their global theatrical re- many factors that are likely to have earlier than planned. National movie chains leases. It’s too early to tell for sure, but all of Ilong-lasting implications on viewing such as Regal and AMC have shut down, this could potentially signal the beginning behavior and the industry at large. Re- further impacting a theatrical business that of a large-scale shift in home viewing. mote working is everywhere, and stay-in- was already under pressure. Studios are Continued on Page 137 place orders are fluctuating state to state. A record number of Americans have filed Alex von Krogh is a media industry consumer insights expert who has helped for unemployment. Events have been shape data innovation strategies for some of the world’s largest entertainment canceled. Educational institutions have organizations. He previously spent a decade at Nielsen, most recently serving as moved to distance learning. director of business development for the Non-Traditional Group in Nielsen’s In this environment, traditional win- Watch organization. [email protected] @WhipMediaGroup
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