M+E Daily

MESA’s Spring M+E Journal Goes Live

The spring edition of the “M&E Journal,” published by MESA and geared toward senior media and entertainment executives who oversee their companies’ digital futures, is now available online.

The 118-page publication features insights from nearly two dozen MESA members, from Atos to ZOO Digital, with the issue’s main focus centered on media and entertainment’s future with the metaverse and virtual production.

Along with the cover section — “Charting the Metaverse” — the issue offers industry insights for several crucial industry areas, including “Workflows and the Cloud,” “Smart Content,” and “Security Solutions.” Additionally, the “M&E Journal” also features columns from MESA’s executive leadership.

Here’s a quick look at what’s included in the “Charting the Metaverse” section:

• “High Risk, High Reward” by Jay Chauhan, group practice head of M&E for Tech Mahindra. Out there in the metaverse is a fortune waiting to be grabbed, a gold rush among tech companies. However, there are guardrails that need installing to ensure we get to responsibly realize this through trust and safety measures, blockchain-based content IP protection and audits.

• “Let’s Get Ready for the Metaverse” by Richard Whittington, GM of media, and Jonathan Chen, senior director of media solutions, with SAP. The ambitious concept of the metaverse promises to merge our digital and physical realities together with an interconnected hub of next-gen apps, platforms, and marketplaces — buoyed by massively large amounts of data. While the data complexities involved in building, collaborating, and exploring these new worlds seem unfathomable today, serving up a unified virtual experience at scale is the next wave of transformation for media organizations.

• “Many Metaverse” by Jeremy Tipton, senior product strategist with Rightsline. In the past year, companies within the media and entertainment industry have been forced to evaluate their own aspirations and policies related to the concepts of the metaverse, spurred partially by tech giants like Meta (Facebook) and Microsoft making highly publicized metaverse investments. But more importantly, there are clear trends toward widespread metaverse adoption, especially among the young consumer communities with whom media companies wish to establish lifelong brand loyalty.

• “How Prepared are You for the Metaverse?” by Drew Hilles, SVP and GM of Veritone. The metaverse has everyone’s attention with major brands making headlines as they double down on their investment. While some companies have entered the metaverse or have plans to build digital experiences, many in the media and entertainment space are wondering what the metaverse really means to their business.

• “Fulfilling the Promise of the Metaverse” by Ramón Bretón, CTO of 3rd i Digital. The metaverse holds a lot of promise — the promise of connection, entertainment, and commerce, all in a virtual setting. While the eventual scope of the metaverse may be unknown, one thing is certain: extensive testing by trained eyes will enable users to maximize their experience by limiting frustrations in the user interface.

• “Getting Real About Virtual Worlds” by Joseph Dervin D’Cunha, head of communications, media industry strategy, solution offering, partner strategy, and Laurie Hutto-Hill, VP of consulting services, with Cognizant. We examine the role media companies might play in the immersive, interactive environment where viewers consume content—and seamlessly purchase digital or physical goods connected to it. We look at the changes ahead as media companies evolve from content creators and distributors to active liaisons that bring content together with brands. How will they join forces with broadcast and cable companies, communications providers, advertisers, and social media platforms to make content available in virtual worlds? Here are three challenges for media companies and real-world ways to tackle them.

• “Innovating Smarter, Faster in a Virtual World” by Katie Cole, gaming evangelist and director of product marketing for Helix Core at Perforce. With teams working remote due to the pandemic, studios like Final Pixel and Prismax had to look for ways to develop assets virtually. These studios leveraged game engines and other virtual production tools to produce commercials, music festivals, and more.

Beginning Monday, June 27, look for stories from the spring edition of the “M+E Journal” every week in the “M+E Daily” newsletter.