Exclusives

LOS ANGELES — While a panel of experts Oct. 6 tackled the general state of standards in the media and entertainment space, Bill Woods, SVP of entertainment sales for Mediamorph, got a little bit more specific, saying he hopes that there becomes a better understanding of metadata and its importance.

“More transparency in the supply chain,” he said, when asked what the industry should look for next. “There’s a big challenge understanding what you have and what might be missing.”

Standards in the media and entertainment industry are like hitting a moving target, and that moving target also shifts into different resolutions, audio formats and languages. Getting content to the consumer in today’s evolving digital world constantly needs new approaches, especially considering that metadata, avails and a host of other attached items need to be addressed.

But there’s good news to share, according to Ellen Goodridge, VP of global digital product development and client services for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE): In the last year, collaboration within the industry on standards has been unprecedented, she said, speaking at EMA’s Digital Media Pipeline event, joking that instead of just a few people in a room putting ideas on paper, there’s been actual implementation on multiple fronts, covering everything from avails metadata to the work done by the Entertainment ID Registry (EIDR).

For her studio, standards implementation work continues with everyone along the supply chain, as well as internal departments like IT and marketing, “to really be sure we’re ready for full automation.”

That last word is what Bill Kotzman, partner product manager of TV and film for Google Play, believes is making everyone in media and entertainment not only take standards seriously, but look for improvements of the standards that have been accepted. “Automation is really what drives standards,” he said. “How do you track the impact of just EIDR across all your workflows?”

Javier Larrinaga, group manager of movies and TV media services for Microsoft, said he’s been most impressed with not only retailers and studios working together, but also each of those industries working with their competitors to establish best practices. “Getting competitors in the same room agreeing on how to ingest content is a very big accomplishment,” he noted. “It’s going to be financially positive for both of them.”

That was something Mark Sgriccia, VP of worldwide content operations and strategy for Lionsgate, could agree with: “The challenge is getting everyone in the same room,” he said.