OpenDrives, the company behind digital media’s intelligent and trusted network-attached-storage (NAS) solution, is now delivering OpenDrives Anywhere, an in-place private cloud model that enables customers with OpenDrives to work on the same project from multiple locations, without compromises in performance.
With COVID-19 corporate shut downs and a massive shift to remote or furloughed workforce, the postproduction industry and its teams have been one of the hardest hit. Teams are scrambling for solutions with a limited remote workforce that allows postproduction projects to continue while maintaining social distance.
Most businesses have already built out costly physical infrastructures to meet the intense demands of content pipelines, but haven’t worked through the difficult task of implementing and supporting remote workflows. Project leads are now scrambling for “remote solutions”–looking to more traditional “Take Out” and Cloud” models–which can be prohibitive in performance, collaboration, cost-efficiency and setup.
OpenDrives has developed a third option–OpenDrives Anywhere–that provides remote workers with the capabilities and performance necessary to carry out workflows efficiently. Every OpenDrives shared storage solution can deliver this capability and remote workflow as is for existing customers as their own in-place private cloud.
“Opendrives was founded by veteran Hollywood film editors, colorists, data engineers to studio heads, and everything in-between. This gives us a unique understanding of the pain points teams are facing and the critical demand for a ‘new normal’ to keep our industry alive now and into the future,” said Sean Lee, chief product and strategy officer at OpenDrives. “We’ve done extensive testing to ensure OpenDrives Anywhere meets the same level of performance customers deserve and need…right here, right now.”
OpenDrives views performance holistically. An editor needs to be able to sit down at a workstation, tap the spacebar, have video play instantaneously, scrub flawlessly, and render at top speeds without worrying about all the IT logistics. With existing office infrastructure, teams already have an in-place private cloud and can extend its power to remote professionals. No reinvestment in storage is needed–OpenDrives supports this infrastructure with the performance teams expect and need.
Nothing changes from a workflow perspective except physical proximity. With simple adjustments, remote control of existing enterprise workstations can be extended via a secure connection. HP’s ZCentral Remote Boost (formerly RGS) software will facilitate remote access over secure connection to workstations, or Teradici can provide both dedicated external hardware and software solutions for this purpose, giving teams the ability to support collaborative workflows at very low cost. OpenDrives can also get teams quickly set up in under two hours on a corporate VPN and under 24 hours without.
OpenDrives Anywhere is available to existing and new customers.
Eleanor Adds Director Candice Vernon To Its Roster For Spots and Branded Content
Director Candice Vernon has joined production house Eleanor for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. She has already wrapped several jobs at Eleanor, which waited to announce her until they had a body of work together.
Via Eleanor, Vernon made history as the first Black director on a Febreze commercial. The “Small Spaces” campaign marks a major departure from Febreze’s typical blue-and-white world. The home of the “Revolving Door” commercial is a beautiful array of bold sunset hues, African prints, and African art.
Vernon said, “I asked myself, what feels right to me? What feels new? I wanted to bring an essence of not just Black Americans but the full diaspora. I wanted to make a statement that we’re not a monolith.”
Following the success of the “Small Spaces” campaign, Febreze brought Vernon back for a comedy-infused trifecta exploring the hilarious situations that call for an air freshening hero.
Febreze Brand VP Angelica Matthews said, “About two years ago, we realized the consumers that were the most loyal to Febreze were the African American consumers. And the more we learned, the more we realized the richness that we were really missing. So we said we have to go beyond just Black casting, we need to get Black directors that truly understand the culture that truly understand how to bring authentic performances out on screen. We really looked around the industry and noticed there’s actually a shortage of African American directors who have experience doing commercials. When we all saw Candice’s reel, we could all tell the passion for the craft, passion for really trying to help us from where we are to where we’re trying to go.”
Vernon brings a unique lens to... Read More