HITS

In surfing lore, the seventh in a series of waves is the largest, most sought-after wave to ride. For Los Angeles-based WaveSeven — a full-service boutique consulting firm with several Fortune 500 clients — its name perfectly reflects its purpose: help media and entertainment clients navigate (and take advantage of) today’s digital wave, the largest industry opportunity to date.

No change that came before today’s digital reality for the entertainment industry (silent films, “talkies,” color, TV, cable and satellite, and physical home entertainment being the first six “waves”) remotely compares, according to WaveSeven partners Cameron Crosby and Vincent Balembois. And with a team of experts who bring decades of experience delivering solutions and services to the industry to the table, WaveSeven has helped companies in most every entertainment category (film, music, sports, live and venues) with new strategies, organizational changes, implementation of new tech solutions, and more.

“Nearly 20 years after what was originally a dramatic drive to outsource and offshore, there is an increasing trend of clients pulling back control and engaging local resources with deep expertise and ties to the industry community that can more readily integrate into client teams,” said Balembois, who’s spent more than two decades in the media and entertainment industry, working with most every major studio, and consulting with PricewaterhouseCoopers, IBM, Capgemini and others. “Our focus is to be the top source of local, industry-focused resources, providing services that advise, amplify and transform.”

According to Crosby, who’s been a business consulting leader for more than 25 years, WaveSeven differs from “big box” consulting shops by being local to Hollywood, having an industry practice with specialized resources centered around the needs of media and entertainment firms, and by operating as a “flat” organization, where everyone is directly involved in service delivery.

“We work with our clients on complex issues and provide recommendations based on careful analysis and research, our clients utilize our resources to amplify their teams with specialized skills and experience, and we partner with our clients in implementing their strategic initiatives, guiding and assisting them through the resulting business transformation,” Crosby said.

Film entertainment clients look to WaveSeven to develop a more-streamlined and integrated digital supply chain, and to match and support the exponential growth in content created and licensed. The firm helps music companies adopt data standards and find profitability from long-tail content and catalogs.

For live entertainment, WaveSeven can help to create direct relationship with fans, provide greater visibility to event profitability, and simplify revenue sharing between talent, promoters and venues.

Rights management systems for broadcasters; assisting a major studio in developing (and implementing) a plan to overhaul their aging systems to meet digital distribution requirements; supporting a global talent agency in defining their technology roadmap; helping a FANG (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google) client select and implement a global financial planning tool.

“These are a few examples of WaveSeven’s unique ability to bring strong industry experience and capability to help amplify a client’s internal team,” Balembois said. “In each case, our team members integrated themselves into the client organization and worked diligently and efficiently to help our clients meet critical deadlines and achieve their objectives.”

Additionally, with media and entertainment companies looking to navigate the maze of digital standards out there today, both Balembois and Crosby have been heavily involved in designing and implementing enterprise data standards currently used by studios, broadcasting and music companies.

WaveSeven has been an early Member-Contributor to the Entertainment Identifier Registry (EIDR) organization, nearly from its inception, assisting and supporting this important industry initiative.

“These solutions have improved data access and supported greater integration between systems supporting production, distribution, operations, business affairs, finance and accounting,” Crosby said.

The entertainment industry has yet to see the crest of today’s digital seventh wave. WaveSeven looks to help industry players make the most of it, by collaborating with top business and IT pros, providing recommendations based on careful analysis and research, and by guiding clients through their strategic initiatives.

For more information about WaveSeven and its services, visit waveseven.net.