HITS

Studio executives, experts from the Hollywood vendor community and OTT providers will all be on hand Jan. 30 in Playa Vista, Calif. for the annual Participant Meeting of the Entertainment Identifier Registry (EIDR, the global unique identifier system that’s celebrating its ninth year of existence.

Featuring keynote presentations from Carrie Wilkie, SVP of information standards organization GS1 US and Eric Iverson, CIO of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), the day-long conference at Microsoft’s Silicon Beach location features EIDR’s board of directors and the media and entertainment industry top minds discussing everything from EIDR ID’s impact on the supply chain to the introduction of a new archive program.

“2019 is here and EIDR is turning 9 years old, just one year away from EIDR 2020, our 10th anniversary,” said Will Kreth, executive director of EIDR. “Our annual participant meeting is a chance for the EIDR board of directors and the EIDR Participant Community to discuss and learn how EIDR ID’s are helping streamline global film and television supply-chains — mobilizing and monetizing media from inception to release across platforms and windows — from restoration to archival preservation. We look forward to a great day of thought leadership, business and research insights, and networking for all attendees.”

Among the program highlights:

• Wilkie’s keynote address — “IDs in Retail” — will look at how the use of IDs in retail has enabled automation and efficiency, with retailers and suppliers using one shared language to describe and move products.

• The opening panel “The Future of EIDR in the Entertainment Ecosystem” features EIDR’s board of directors covering a range of topics, including the use of IDs across the supply chain, next steps with EIDR 3.0, localization versioning, file-based workflows, audience measurement, and more. Will Kreth, EIDR’s executive director, will moderate the discussion with Susan Cheng, EVP of content technology and operations for Warner Bros. Technology; Greg Geier, SVP of production operations, global mastering and servicing for Sony Pictures Entertainment, and president of EIDR’s board; Clarence Hau, VP of advanced TV operations for NBCUniversal; CAA’s Iverson; Bill Kotzman, partner, and product manager of TV and film for Google, and chairman of EIDR’s board; Scott Maddux, VP of business development for TiVo, and VP of EIDR’s board; Christopher Stefanidis, VP of digital distribution operations and strategy for The Walt Disney Company; and Kip Welch, VP of MovieLabs.

• “The EIDR Journey from Non-Linear to Live TV” has Urban Löfbom, senior project manager, and Frida Meurling, EIDR lead operator, both with Nordic Entertainment Group, sharing a practical use-case example of EIDR for all forms of content and workflows for MVPDs, and proof that implementing EIDR early on pays dividends down the line across business models, from EST to linear.

• Jason Peña, program manager with Google Play, and Jennifer Morales, avails manager, and Steve Rippin, project manager, both with Rightsline, will look at how Google is using EIDR to streamline the rights process and reduce the cost of reporting, in the session “Efficient Content Selection – EIDR in EMA-Avails.”

• The pre-lunch panel “Making the Business Case for EIDR” will see reps from Missing Link Media, Warner Bros. and more discuss ways to drive EIDR adoption and share success stories in the implementation of EIDR if workflows and title management systems.

• “EIDR and the C4 ID” has Richard W. Kroon, director of engineering for EIDR, and Erik Weaver, global director of M&E strategy and market development for Western Digital, clearing up the confusion around SMPTE’s recently standardized C4 ID spec, and discuss how it complements EIDR identification.

• Stephen Davis, global product director for Kantar Media, and Harold Geller, executive director of Ad-ID, will offer an update on the Trackable Asset Cross-Platform Identification (TAXI) initiative in the discussion “TAXI: Delivering Audience Measurement.”

• The afternoon fireside chat — “Preparing for EIDR 2020 – The First Ten Years” — sees Guy Finley, president of the Media & Entertainment Services Alliance (MESA), moderate a discussion with Jim Helman, CTO of MovieLabs, and Welch, covering EIDR’s importance and relevancy in the future media supply chain.

To register for EIDR’s Participant Meeting, click here.