May 2007

Over the years I have published numerous articles on business, management and other topics including concepts and trends the marketplace.

Most have been timely, many timeless and as might be expected, some not. All are available on our web site at iShindler.com.

When each article was written, it was timely. No one who is familiar with our work, including the trends we follow in the marketplace, would think differently.

An example of timely, but not timeless, is an article written in the late 90s entitled Electronic Cinema: Blasphemy or Reality?. It was written when I wrote a monthly column for the LFExaminer, a newsletter that to this day is the definitive source of information on the large format film industry.

Timely at the time, yes, but given the rapid changes in digital cinema and its roll out, including the advent of digital 3D, it is hardly timeless. In today’s world of archiving content seemingly forever, this article will remain on our site. There are some on this consulting newsletter mailing list that will smile in seeing the words electronic cinema.  None of us would use that phrase today.

From a timeless point of view, there are several articles to which, to this day, I continue to refer clients, prospective clients and others. Some things never change in their continuing to be important issues for businesses of all kinds and sizes. These include such articles as When Showing Up Is Not Enough, Looking For The Exit, Goin’ to Abilene and perhaps one of the most important, Understand Before You Sign.

While there are others of a timeless nature as well, these continue to be applicable to clients and prospective clients in our consulting practice. Check them out; you will agree as to their timelessness.

And baseball seems timeless as well.  There is a lot of excitement in Boston these days surrounding the Red Sox new star, Dice-K from Japan, where baseball is especially popular.  That brings us to a book we are representing, Jumpin’ Jimminy – A World War II Baseball Saga:  American Flyboys and Japanese Submariners Battle it Out in a Swedish World Series by Robert Skole.  Please check out an interview with Bob Skole on The Writing Show. 

Trends in the marketplace 

The entertainment and entertainment technology marketplace is busy these days. One only needs to have gone to the National Association of Broadcasters Conference (NAB) last month in Las Vegas to see this. The following are observations that impact us and the people with whom we work – and is not intended to be a comprehensive list:

• The 4K pipeline is upon us, at least from the point of view of the equipment vendors.  There are some who will still say that 4K is not necessary and that 2K is more than sufficient.  Our opinion is that it is still going to take some time for an effective and ubiquitous implementation, but that it will happen in due time.

• Although several have been introduced in years past, there seemed to be more excitement about the quality of the digital cameras and related accessories than ever before.

• File based workflow is not new, but it seems that more and more companies are supplying the tools. From our point of view, for feature films and television, everything is digital from image acquisition through to final exhibition/broadcast.

• On a similar note, with the rise in streaming media (meant in the most general sense), from professional productions to the burgeoning world of user-generated content, the various encoding solutions that we saw indicate that the world has successfully transitioned to the "anywhere, anytime, on a device of my choosing" scenario.  While this is not a new concept, we are rapidly moving toward critical mass -- which for mobile devices is just a few short years away.

• Readers of this newsletter know that 3D has been a regular topic. Seeing the Pace Technologies demo of the NBA All Star Game in 3D with its underlying use of Real D systems tells me that it will not be long before other high profile events are broadcast in 3D to a theater near you.

• With all content digital, all along the food chain, there were many storage solutions that enhance our ability to produce, access and distribute the content in an ever more efficient fashion.

As for The Shindler Perspective, Inc.

With storage being fundamental to the process, I am moderating a panel at the Creative Storage Conference on May 15, 2007 at the MEDIA-TECH Expo in Long Beach, CA. The session entitled End Users Views on Digital Storage in Content Creation and Distribution: Challenges and Solutions includes panelists from Electronic Arts, SyncCast, PlasterCity Digital Post, Stargate Films and Thomson Corporate Research.  Media Tech offers a free all access pass for the May 15 – 17 Expo, so consider coming to Long Beach on the 15th if you are available.

On June 12 at Digital Hollywood I am moderating The Arrival of 3D - Digital 3D Platform for Feature Films and Television. Panelists are from Dolby, DreamWorks Animation, Kodak, Real D, Sony Pictures, Texas Instruments and others to be named later.

Some of the consulting projects in which we have been involved in recent months range from the bricks and mortar business to online distribution and new technology tools. This includes consulting on the development of a traditional production facility replete with sound stages and post production to a developer of online content targeted at a specific market and a market assessment of a technology tool developed for the legal profession. 

It has been a very interesting time since we last had a chance to bring you our periodic consulting newsletter. Roberta and I are always pleased to hear from our clients and friends on matters of relevance to them and to their businesses. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Marty Shindler

MBS/m