Hooray for Hollywood

A typical day of filming creates anywhere from 25 to 50 terabytes of footage, according to Rackspace. The average set locale is a tedious drive through LA. And that’s assuming it’s not out of state. Imagine what that means over the course of an entire episodic series. That’s lots of data, and presumably, lots of gas.

Filmmakers know this all too well, and they’ve spent the last several years using the cloud to the height of its ability. They are saving loads of footage in one virtual location and keeping their butts in the director’s chairs of another. As developments in security abound, dependable cloud storage keeps Hollywood at the forefront. Today, they employ platforms like DigitalFilm Tree and UltraViolet, so every frame can be edited and sold, respectively, as quickly as it’s shot.

Collaboration through Critique

Show business has a love affair with portable hard drives, for the errands camera crews send grips on everyday, for transferring products to post-production partners and more. Ask the creators of ABC’s “Mistresses” or TNT’s “Perception,” however, and they’ll tell you just how inclusive a cloud with DigitalFilm Tree really is. Gone are the days of delay between a film crew’s low-resolution submissions to a visual effects artist. DigitalFilm Tree’s “Critique” uses a Rackspace cloud to put material in the hands of editors and reviewers instantaneously, fostering collaboration that could shorten deadlines, increase quality and impact the programming budgets of TV networks all over the country.

The Emmy winners of “Modern Family” have long employed Critique themselves, according to ITworld.

Stream Purchases through UltraViolet

UltraViolet is one of the first to let firms like Warner Bros. distribute material digitally, allowing buyers to stream it through any of the smart devices increasingly used by viewers. What this means for subscription services like Netflix may be all the more pivotal. UltraViolet’s cloud sells through Flixster, which is compatible with Android and iOS.

Yet in spite of the boon to Hollywood, cloud storage is no less fragile to data safety, particularly when handling unreleased footage from Hollywood’s most sought-after projects. DigitalFilm Tree generally uses private clouds for this reason, and utilizes public servers as necessary. This allows production companies to grant partners access to their work based on need, and rely on release dates with the peace of mind that their shows will always be free of leaks or data failure.

BTM Guest Author: Christina Torres / Christina majored in film making and is currently working on her first script, which she plans to direct as well. Until she hits it big, she blogs about the entertainment industry.