TRACK 1: CONSUMERS & ANALYTICS
TRACK 2: AI & AUTOMATION
TRACK 3: WFH & DISRUPTION
9:50 – 10 a.m.
Conference Welcome Remarks
Matt Turner, Chair, Applied Data Working Group and Strategic Advisor, MESA
Mary Yurkovic, Director, Smart Content Council
Click here to download presentation
10 – 10:30 a.m.
OPENING KEYNOTE: Building a Data Driven Supply Chain
Being “Smart” about your content means being able to put your data into action. This means defining what that data “is” and what it means to your organization. This opening session sets the stage for the day’s discussions and will review the key role data is playing in the supply chain, the building blocks to getting your data in order and enabling you to use it across your organization.
Anthony Accardo, Director R&D at Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution
Click here to download presentation
10:30 – 10:45 a.m.
Oh, The Places Your Metadata Will Go! A state of the state of LMT
At last year’s summit (remember when we could hug!), we provided an update on the Language Metadata Table (LMT) and where we were positioned with adoption, engagement, and collaboration among studios, TV networks, and their service provider partners. Launched July 2018, and sponsored by MESA, the LMT provides a forum for the increased exchange of ideas and expertise in the meta(data)verse. In this session, LMT Chair, Yonah Levenson, provides an update on the LMT’s core framework and addresses what new objectives are being proposed, as well as share some very exciting news about partnerships.
Bruce Devlin, Senior Vice President Standards, SMPTE
Yonah Levenson, Metadata Strategy and Terminology Governance, WarnerMedia and Co-Chair, Language Metadata Table (LMT)
Meg Morrissey, Co-Chair, Language Metadate Table Working Group (LMT)
Click here to download presentation
LMT Validation tool demo
10:45 – 11:15 a.m.
When ViacomCBS and Showtime met LMT: We’ll have what she’s having!
This panel discussion illustrates how the adoption of standards leads to increased efficiencies in our workflows. Join ViacomCBS’s Metadata & Governance team for a case study on their LMT implementation. The team will reveal the challenges and succeses they have had to date with their project and how the LMT gave them a shortcut to rapid success!
Eric Emeric,Metadata Management & Data Governance, Showtime
Sarah Nix, Senior Director, Archives & Global Data Governance at ViacomCBS
Click here to download presentation
TRACK 1: CONSUMERS & ANALYTICS
11:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Supercharge Your Licensing: The Race From a Content-Centric to Consumer-Centric Strategy
–
The evolution of the Media and Entertainment industry has us all constantly pivoting the way we manage our content. From OTT and Direct-to-Consumer, and from licensing to distribution, the entire entertainment ecosystem has shifted. Licensing used to be much simpler, with fairly strict windowing and relatively few platforms. To remain competitive in today’s market, you need a flexible, data-fed, insights-driven licensing solution that links consumer behavior with content licensing. You need to make decisions across multiple platforms with metrics that go beyond basic volume; metrics that allow you to predict how your content will perform on the right platform that targets the right audience. Most importantly, you need to garner data-driven analytics based on real-world viewing and usage data, automate and streamline content licensing, and feed buyers and sellers in one centralized platform. Think it can’t be done? To explore, join this session to discover how it CAN be done.
Sherry Brennan, Executive Vice President/General Manager, Content Licensing Platform, Whip Media
For more information please contact Whip Media
12:10 – 12:25 p.m.
Reimagining the Non-Linear Planning Process for Success!
As broadcasters, telco’s and OTT operators compete in an ever competitive world, the ability to streamline their operations, drive efficiencies, further exploit their existing catalog of content and look for new revenue streams is vital. One element enabling them to compete is optimising their non-linear planning process, providing long term strategic advantage in content planning. This session will explore how BeBanjo is working with their customers to bring these benefits to their long term planning activities, enabling collaboration across multiple teams (e.g., planning, strategy, editorial, marketing and operations), greatly streamlining an iterative planning process and explore how you can too!
Dan Meyer, Sales Manager, BeBanjo
Click here to download presentation
12:30 – 12:45 p.m.
A Data-Driven Look at the Post-Pandemic Movie Business
Back in 2010, you had two choices: see a movie in a theater or wait several months to watch it at home on DVD or on TV. But then in October 2015, Netflix released BEASTS OF NO NATION, its first original feature film, and the business has never been the same. Today, audiences have grown accustomed to seeing theatrical-quality movies at home. And when it comes as part of a streaming subscription, it feels like you’re watching for free. Suddenly, the $8-$16 price of admission looks harder and harder to justify. Suddenly the film business has numerous unanswered questions: Can theatrical survive? Will people return to theaters? With each studio having its own streaming outlet, how do they know which films are suited for theatrical and which are better for streaming? The Quorum takes a data-driven approach to answering questions like these.
David Herrin, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, The Quorum
Click here to download presentation
TRACK 2: AI & AUTOMATION
11:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
How The Atlantic and other Publishers use Azure AI to Modernize Search of your Historical Data with Insights & Discovery Accelerator and Video Indexer
The modern news cycle is always accelerating. For publishers, providing substantial, high-quality journalism is a difficult task. Publishers must quickly sort through and locate relevant content of different types from huge archives by leveraging Azure AI knowledge mining solution powered by Azure Cognitive Search. We could apply a specific AI model that identified the variety of content types and formats in their archive, and by doing so, make it easy to extract insights that can speed and scale the journalistic process. We can then intelligently link those entities, giving journalists a powerful knowledge mining tool that helps them find the specific content they need quickly.
Jamie Burgess, Senior AI Innovator and Business Architect, Microsoft
Project IDA launch page
12:10 – 12:25 p.m.
Revolutionizing Media Creation and Distribution Using the Science of AI & Machine Learning
One of the best ways to maximize AVOD revenue is to tailor the viewing experience to the viewer’s interests (content) and platform (content format) – this benefits both the viewer and the advertiser, ultimately leading to more views and higher ad revenues. This is dynamic content switching. In live streaming, it can adjust the content to the situation. For recorded programs, it can match the content encoding to the viewer’s platform and delivery path. And it allows for targeted advertising to match the viewer’s interests while accounting for the surrounding program content and the adjacent advertisements within an ad pod. This is the future of direct-to-consumer entertainment. Join us for a discussion on the current state of multi-platform dynamic content switching and the unambiguous content identification services that make it all possible.
Ed Hauber, Director of Business Development, Digital Nirvana
Russell Vijayan, Head A/I Products and Services, Digital Nirvana
Click here to download presentation
12:30 – 12:45 p.m.
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Dynamic Content Switching (But Were Afraid to Ask)
One of the best ways to maximize AVOD revenue is to tailor the viewing experience to the viewer’s interests (content) and platform (content format) – this benefits both the viewer and the advertiser, ultimately leading to more views and higher ad revenues. This is dynamic content switching. In live streaming, it can adjust the content to the situation. For recorded programs, it can match the content encoding to the viewer’s platform and delivery path. And it allows for targeted advertising to match the viewer’s interests while accounting for the surrounding program content and the adjacent advertisements within an ad pod. This is the future of direct-to-consumer entertainment. Join us for a discussion on the current state of multi-platform dynamic content switching and the unambiguous content identification services that make it all possible.
Jim DeChant, Vice President of Technology, News-Press & Gazette Broadcasting
Richard Kroon, Director of Technical Operations, Entertainment ID Registry (EIDR)
TRACK 3: WFH & DISRUPTION
11:30 – 11:45 a.m.
Hollywood Stays Home in 2021
2020 was the Genie that granted many “wishes.” First, you could see your colleagues unshaven, without make up, and yelling at their dogs throughout the day. Second, our computers/machines went from being something we checked email on and worked from and became gateways of all kinds of personal and confidential information. As if that wasn’t enough, 2020 opened our eyes to the fact that how we work is just as important as what we are working on because of the increased risk surrounding that information. At Richey May Technology Solutions we get to work with some of the best studios, post houses, and creatives in the industry and we’ve seen a few trends you should be aware of as you move into 2021. In this lively presentation we’ll explore a trend back to Virtual Desktops in Hollywood and how this old dog has definitely learned some new tricks.
Jacob Stremler, Cybersecurity Engineer, Richey May Technology Solutions
Click here to download presentation
11:50 a.m. – 12:05 p.m.
All Quiet on Set! How Technology Inspired by Art can get Productions Safely Rolling
COVID-19 has affected the media and entertainment industry worldwide, pausing, slowing, or entirely shutting down productions. How can production organizations manage new health and safety risks along with the rigorous demand of running a busy production schedule? During this session, we’ll explore how digital and cognitive technology— inspired by Mexican Painters Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera— can help your productions safely get back on track. We’ll discuss a model for an end-to-end solution designed to help organizations manage new health and safety logistics from pre-production to post-production, including worksite and facilities management, specifications for practicing social distancing across locations, health screening, contact tracing, and more across the production lifecycle.
Aldo Gamaliel, Head of Digital APIs & Microservices, Softtek
Jorge Zarur, Media and Entertainment Lead, Softtek
Click here to download presentation
12:10 – 12:25 p.m.
Moving Forward Even in a Crisis: The 5 Rs of Handling Disruption and Surprises with Style
Even in the face of the massive disruption to business, travel, entertainment and community life we’ve all seen this past year, it’s possible to make progress and even earn some wins. If you’ve been hoping to wait out the pandemic, it’s not too late to shift gears with the 5 Rs of surviving and thriving in a crisis. We’ll explore real examples of resilience, responsiveness, redefining the way we work, the results, and repeating as needed. Some strategic planning can help all kinds of organizations adapt to the reality of this remarkable journey, and prepare for the return of normality — and the next disruptions.
Ivo Lukas, Chief Executive Officer, 24Notion
1 – 1:30 p.m.
The AI Ecosystem… An Epic Metadata Story!
In this exciting real world example, Warner Bros and Microsoft recently teamed up on a special project to use Microsoft’s Video Indexer and Custom Vision tools to scan and index the Warner Bros TV content library. The project represents a view into the state of the M&E industry as it embraces enterprise tools for AI, and looks toward automating the content distribution pipeline at scale for a global audience. Nate and Andy will share the successes and challenges this implementation bestowed upon them.
Nate Adams, Director, Digital Media, Warner Bros Worldwide TV Marketing
Andy Beach, Principal Technical Program Manager, Microsoft
1:30 – 2 p.m.
CLOSING KEYNOTE: The Future of Smart Video Distribution
Founder of The Video Genome Project, a structured data company that developed the industry’s premier DTC video personalization engine, which was acquired by Hulu, delivers our Closing Keynote. Learn how consumer data, usage data, and the deep metadata within content itself is shaping the future of the media and entertainment industry. During this conversation our presenter will share his expertise in Direct-to-Consumer (DTC), personalization, structured data, strategy, and monetization.
Xavier Kochhar, Founder, The Video Genome Project (The VGP)
Interviewed by: Lori H. Schwartz, Chief Executive Officer & Founder, StoryTech
2 – 2:45 p.m.
Closing Remarks & Networking Reception
Guy Finley, President and Chief Executive Officer, MESA
Matt Turner, Chair, Applied Data Working Group and Strategic Advisor, MESA
Mary Yurkovic, Director, Smart Content Council
