ednet, Provides New Technologies and Managed Network Solutions for Columbia/TriStar

For a long time, producers have dreamed about using high tech networks for a variety of applications, ranging from remote production management to the near instantaneous transportation of footage between production, post-production and distribution sites. For some, the future is already here and the dream is real.

Entertainment Digital Network Inc. (ednet), working with a number of partners, is collaborating with major studios and television productions, to provide managed network technologies for remote production management and a variety of other critical processes. ednet works directly with the production entities to design and implement solutions that fit the specific needs of the production. They use a variety of technologies from partners such as Telestream, Polycom, SAVVIS, DG Systems and others to create customized networks for a growing number of purposes. In the world of production, each project seems to require a different solution. There is no "one size fits all".

Remote Production Solution at Columbia/TriStar


A remote production solution is what Columbia/Tri-Star's "Judge Hatchett Show" required. The show is produced on a stage at the National Video Center in Manhattan. However the executives in charge of the show are located on the studio lot at Sony Pictures Studio in Culver City, California. Columbia/TriStar wanted a way for the creative executives to be able to monitor and be involved in the development and production of the show in New York while being available for their other projects in the California studio.

ednet's solution was to install PolycomFX systems in the control room at the stage in Manhattan and the production office in Culver City. T-1 speed lines existed at the stage andednet ran its T-1 line to the production office on the lot, completing the T-1 bandwidth link. ednet operates these network services on SAVVIS' ATM-based global backbone.

The Polycom FX unit is a high-end video teleconferencing unit that provides two-way video and audio communications in real time. It has both a built-in camera and an auxiliary video input. The built-in camera was used to monitor activities in the control room and to virtually look over the shoulder of the production crew. The output of the control room switcher was fed into the unit's auxiliary input, allowing the creative execs to see the camera feeds from the stage. The execs were thus able to monitor the rehearsals and the taping as they happened and to provide input almost as if they were there.

It was also a cost-effective solution. The PolycomFX units cost about $15,000 each and the monthly T-1 connectivity was around $1,000 per month. This total solution was considerably less expensive than flying producers back and forth on a weekly basis, not to mention the advantages of having them available to manage local shows in Los Angeles as well.


On another Columbia/TriStar Production, a sitcom starring Joan Cusack called "What About Joan", ednet created an even more extensive system for veteran producer, Jim Brooks. On that show, there are executives in Brooks' Culver City office as well as at the production stage in Chicago. At the Chicago end, the PolycomFX was mounted on a cart and transported between the shooting stages, editing rooms, conference rooms and executive offices. It was used for everything. Jim Brooks could look at sets and provide feedback before and during shooting. He could also conduct story conferences and collaborate with the show's writers in Chicago, switching to a view of the writer's computer screen as the writing was taking place. This was accomplished by taking a VGA signal out of the writer's computer, converting it to NTSC video using an adapter, and feeding into the PolycomFX's auxiliary input.

The show was shot in film. The film was then sent to Los Angeles for processing and telecine and then loaded into Avids in LA. The dailies and progressive stages of editing could be streamed from the Avid in Culver City to the production rooms in Chicago for immediate review and use in conferences.

ednet also provided another technology for the project, Telestream's "ClipExpress" system. ClipExpress is a video store-and-forward system that allows the users to send higher quality video in non real-time. Utilizing a simple interface and controls, the high quality video was played into the Clip Express, which converted it to a selected quality of MPEG video. Using an email metaphor, the unit then contacted its corresponding unit in Chicago, via the T-1 connection and transported the MPEG files. Once it arrived, it was played from the receiving unit's hard drive and/or copied to tape for review by the staff there.

This complete system allowed for much efficiency in the production process. The most obvious is the reduction in travel and an overall better use of everyone's time.

New Technologies and Managed Network Solutions

New technologies are coming on-line at an ever-increasing rate. Many of them can be utilized to solve production problems and enhance production processes and the bottom line. However, as the technological options grow so does the learning curve. Companies like ednet are bridging the gap for entertainment producers by using their knowledge of both communications and media to create and manage networks and communications solutions that address the specific production practices and special needs of entertainment production.