In response to the digital transition, Ascent Media Group–the Santa Monica-based parent of companies such as R!OT, Company 3 and Method–recently threw open the doors of its new Digital Media Distribution Center in Burbank, Calif.
The goal of this massive site–roughly 100,000 square feet, in close proximity to the Burbank airport–is to “create a bridge between physical-based media and file-based media working processes,” explained Ascent Media Group senior VP/CTO Gavin Schutz.
This is not a Creative Services company like R!OT or Company 3. Instead it supports the company’s creative offering by “integrating everything to create anything.” So the Digital Media Distribution Center starts with a massive secure and scalable network and offers media services including compression, encoding, versioning, mastering, scanning, recording, DVD authoring, digital asset management (DAM), storage and archiving.
Another key service is the repurposing of content–everything from iPod to Digital Cinema distribution. And part of that goal includes staying on top of the latest in deliverables. That includes the emerging digital cinema specification set by Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI), a consortium of seven major Hollywood studios. Schutz believes this specification may become a “ubiquitous form of distribution media to theatres.” And he reasons that commercial delivery requests would be the same.
In addition to massive amounts of storage, the new facility includes two of Filmlight’s Northlight film scanners, two Lasergraphics film recorders, Thomson Grass Valley’s Spirit Datacines, as well as one of the first Quantel Pablo systems, which the company is using for film restoration.
Meanwhile, space is set aside at the complex to build a theater when the time is right, accommodating perhaps as many as 100 seats.
Schutz strongly believes that in today’s transitioning media business, there is a need for a company that offers these services. In fact, he hopes to build similar facilities in other key regions including the New York, London and Singapore markets, all of which already offer Ascent services.
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SHOOT senior editor, technology and postproduction, Carolyn Giardina can be reached at 310-822-0211 or at cgiardina@shootonline.com
