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IBM > Case Studies > Industry disrupted with hybrid cloud solution that delivers digital movies to theaters

Industry disrupted with hybrid cloud solution that delivers digital movies to theaters

Technology Category

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Hybrid Cloud

Applicable Functions

Logistics & Transportation

Use Cases

Digital Twin

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services

The Challenge

As movies have transitioned from 35 mm film to digital cinema, film producers and distributors are looking to find better ways of delivering films to cinemas for viewing. Traditional satellite and courier delivery models were proving to be slow and expensive. CinePostproduction GmbH saw an opportunity to disrupt the film services industry and leapfrog its competitors by creating a faster, less expensive way of transferring large media files to theaters.

About The Customer

CinePostproduction GmbH is a leading postproduction company located in Munich. The company provides film lab, digital lab, digital postproduction and sound studio services. With a 100-year history of providing services to the German film and television industry, CinePostproduction is the developer of the SHARC system for distribution of digital cinema packages (DCPs) through its in-house content delivery network. Now owned by Munich-based MTI Teleport München GmbH, CinePostproduction has 200 employees.

The Solution

CinePostproduction chose an advanced hybrid cloud distribution platform to replace traditional satellite and courier delivery models. The new, high-speed solution uses Internet connectivity already available in most theaters. The company established a more secure, cost-effective delivery method that no other player in Germany is using, creating new business opportunities, such as giving theaters a head start in promoting movies. The solution, IBM Aspera On Demand, decreases the time it takes to deliver DCPs to theaters from days to hours.

Operational Impact

The solution is changing the game with a new model for delivering movies to theaters in Germany.
Theaters are saving large amounts of money since distribution costs have been dramatically reduced.
Cinemas can use their existing infrastructure to achieve maximum speed delivery, cutting out the expense of pricey IT upgrades and fiber optics connectors.

Quantitative Benefit

Distribution costs have been dramatically reduced.
Delivery time for DCPs to theaters decreased from days to hours.
The solution has been rolled out to more than 100 theaters and plans to cover more than 1,000 theaters as part of the current project.