Independent Production Endemol Selecting Front Porch Digital

Front Porch Digital, Inc., in cloud-based content storage management (CSM) solutions, announced that global production powerhouse Endemol Nederland BV has deployed a DIVArchive CSM system and DIVAdirector media asset management (MAM) system across its portfolio of companies.

The deployment is part of a major installation that overhauls Endemol’s content storage and management infrastructure to automate file-based deliverables and simplify access to its massive archive so that it can more readily monetize its assets. The new system also ensures compliance with the UK’s Digital Production Partnership (DPP) AS-11 standard.

Amsterdam-based Endemol is an independent television and digital production company with about 90 companies in 30 countries.

“With DIVArchive managing our vast library of assets and DIVAdirector as our primary MAM system, internal producers and editors throughout the Endemol network can tap into the archive to find, use, and backup material more easily, and also be sure their deliverables meet the new file-based DPP requirements, which was one of our highest priorities for the new system,” said Mark Cotterel, head of IT, Endemol UK. “We chose Front Porch Digital because of the simplicity and reputation of its product. We tested the system against various alternatives, and Front Porch Digital’s system stood head and shoulders above the competition.“

DIVArchive is at the core of Endemol’s production workflow, where it serves as the management layer driving a Spectra Logic T950 library that houses HD masters stored on LTO-6 tape. DIVArchive is connected to Endemol’s post-production environment, storing and retrieving complex objects and backing up content to the remote tape library through both automated workflows and actions that users control in the DIVAdirector MAM interface.

DIVArchive supports the AS-11 DPP format by using adapted media-centric features at the archive level, such as inline transcoding operations, partial file restore, and constant file monitoring and checksums. These features, and others that are in the works, will help Endemol producers and constituents in the UK meet current and emerging DPP requirements.

“Endemol works with more than 300 broadcasters, digital platforms, and licensees WW and distributes about 2,500 hours of content per year, so it is impossible to overstate the company’s significance,” said Rino Petricola, COO and GM, Front Porch Digital. “The installation at Endemol is a prime example of DIVArchive’s ability to transform content storage management and streamline production operations on a massive global scale.“

Front Porch Digital worked with Endemol UK to test the DIVArchive and DIVAdirector system during the sales process. Local Front Porch Digital partner root6 Technology handled the sale and designed the rest of Endemol’s storage, management, and publishing workflow around DIVArchive and DIVAdirector.