Today we announced a multi-year agreement to provide content management and digital supply chain services to Distribution Solutions, a division of Alliance Entertainment, and a distributor of independent film labels.
Bitmax will support avails management, video, artwork and metadata transforms, and other digital supply chain services typical of TVOD models. The model also contemplates ad marking, and other specialized workflows to support SVOD and AVOD monetization opportunities. By conditioning the asset packages up front to exploit multiple downstream opportunities, Distribution Solutions’ content partners (film labels and other TV producers) are able to reach the widest audience, and ultimately are able to maximize revenue generation from their products across the entire content lifecycle.
Josh Pine, SVP Digital Distribution at Distribution Solutions said, “Bitmax has the expertise and powerful processing systems required to super serve our label partners, and they have the systems to manage the complexity of many ecosystem players. We are thrilled to partner with Bitmax to help leverage and expand our licensing reach and grow revenue potential for our content and distribution partners.”
Under the terms of the deal, Bitmax will onboard its new orchestration system ‘Maestro’ to offer a range of services leveraging its broad licensing scope. For customers like Distribution Solutions, Maestro can be configured to match their specific business requirements, including hybrid licensing models to exploit multiple windows and evolving business models. In the new Maestro platform, each title is cataloged, and associated with applicable metadata, artwork and trailer and can quickly produce the desired egress video formats and asset package mix required by any retailer. Because of this flexibility, Distribution Solutions can dynamically manage their asset data, usage and royalty reporting, allowing them to recognize and process revenue more quickly and accurately.
“Few companies line up as well with our services as Distribution Solutions,” said Jim Riley, Bitmax CRO. “Their executives are professionals who know the business well, and share our commitment to customer service excellence. We look forward to partnering with them to monetize their growing library of quality content.”
About Distribution Solutions
Distribution Solutions, a division of Alliance Entertainment, is the largest aggregator and downstream distributor of independent film labels in North America. We have extensive experience in home entertainment sales and distribution, including Physical Distribution (DVD/BLU-RAY/4K), Digital Distribution (TVOD, SVOD, AVOD,) and Global Television Distribution for a variety of label partners, including Time Life, Electric Entertainment, Magnolia Pictures, RLJ Entertainment and The Criterion Collection. Distribution Solutions also offers comprehensive marketing and creative services, scaled to meet the needs of our partners.
About Bitmax
Bitmax is a time-proven leader in digital media management and licensing, with decades of expertise supporting leading content owners and digital distributors the world over. The company is made up of professionals from all areas of the digital content supply chain who are skilled in new tech solutions and are committed to customer service excellence.
Bitmax reduces the friction and complexity inherent in the digital content supply chain by utilizing smart online tools and systems. Their products and services are designed to help customers optimize today’s evolving business models including, TVOD, SVOD, AVOD and Direct to consumer (DTC), at a fraction of the cost of legacy providers.
- Published in Industry News
We are exhibiting for the first time at the Media Production Show at London Olympia 11-12 June on Stand 330.
On our stand, we will be discussing with independent producers and film makers our seamless process for licensing and selling content across platforms such as iTunes, Prime and Netflix.
Utilising Maestro, our new content orchestration system that launched at NAB in April, content owners and distribution partners are able to:
• Plan and execute monetisation strategies across all OTT platforms including transactional view based SVOD to ad-supported AVOD
• Log in and initiate order and track assets across the supply chain
• Create Avails
• Customise and auto ingest asset package elements
• Confirm carriage confirmation
• Process royalties
Michael Ashley, Bitmax EMEA Commercial Director, said: “We are really excited to showcase the services Bitmax offers content owners and producers in the UK market at the Media Production Show. Our decades of experience coupled with our media management systems makes us the perfect partner for content owners and producers to monetise and license their content across all OTT platforms.”
For more information, please visit www.bitmax.net.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Clare Plaisted/Sally Reid
PRComs
clare@prcoms.com/sally@prcoms.com
+1 703 300 3054/+44 (0)7801752224
- Published in Industry News
We announced today our partnership with MTonomy, the blockchain-based digital media rights and content management company, to license and provide new release content to MTonomy. Through this partnership, millions of cryptocurrency users around the world will be able to securely buy and rent Bitmax’s video content, including movies, documentaries, TV series and digital shorts, directly in cryptocurrency on MTonomy.com. Cryptocurrency users will make payments in ether, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain, using any of the popular cryptocurrency wallets such as Metamask, Coinbase Wallet and Cipher.
Jim Riley, Chief Revenue Officer, Bitmax, said: “At Bitmax, we are committed to finding the many ways our content partners can monetize their content and reach the widest audiences. MTonomy has pioneered the best-of-its-kind online platform that accepts Ethereum currency, which has opened up a new audience of millions, bringing our filmmakers a new and innovative revenue stream.”
In addition to providing digital media licensing services, Bitmax is partnering with MTonomy to onboard, manage, and audit digital media content. In collaboration with MTonomy, Bitmax is securely bringing its film partners transparent access to an entirely new and rapidly growing audience, while pushing the envelope on efficient content distribution globally.
Arjun Mendhi, Founder and CEO of MTonomy, said: “With industry-leading expertise and commitment to their content providers, Bitmax is an ideal partner for MTonomy’s digital distribution and rights management platform. We look forward to working to distribute Bitmax content to a growing global market.”
About MTonomy
MTonomy is building the next-generation infrastructure for media enterprises, supporting film and TV content among other forms of digital media. Its core technology protects content rights, distributes content globally, and settles every transaction verifiably within seconds worldwide. Built by a team from MIT with advisors including Jack Dorsey, MTonomy is a state-of-the-art blockchain platform for enterprise digital media. Powered by this technology, MTonomy offers simple-to-use cryptocurrency VOD applications for consumers, and rights and content management services for media enterprises. Visit MTonomy.comfor more details.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Clare Plaisted/Sally Reid
PRComs
clare@prcoms.com/sally@prcoms.com
+1 703 300 3054/+44 (0)7801752224
- Published in Industry News
Today, Bitmax, the Hollywood-based digital media management and licensing company, announced a multi-year deal to provide digital media processing and licensing services for Here Media, a worldwide film and TV creator and distributor. Here Media is part of the successful portfolio of entertainment products run by industry icon and Academy-award winning producer Paul Colichman.
As part of the agreement, Bitmax will take on a range of processing services for Here Media’s films and TV series as well as its global channel, Here TV. In addition, Bitmax will sublicense select titles on digital storefronts, MVPD and OTT providers. Bitmax will avail the programs, provide transcoding, closed captioning, metadata packaging, ad-break conditioning, distribution and royalty processing services. Bitmax CRO Jim Riley commented, “We are delighted to be working with a progressive company like Here Media as they continue to bring critically-acclaimed content to audiences everywhere, and we are particularly excited they will be among the first of our customers to take advantage of our new orchestration tool ‘Maestro’ that we introduced at NAB .”
Here TV is an exclusive platform for LGBTQ filmmakers, artists and performers to showcase award-winning films and series in their original artistic form. Here TV captivates audiences by portraying an authentic queer experience. “Collaborating with Bitmax allows us to concentrate on the art and voice of our creative offerings rather than the technical aspects of media encoding and delivery,” said John Mongiardo, President and Managing Director of Here Media. “Through this partnership, we can scale distribution and deliver our channel and award-winning programs to viewers on the world’s most popular platforms and devices.”
About Here TV
Here TV (www.heretv.com) launched in 2004, making it the world’s first SVOD LGBTQ+ video service and is available on all major US cable operators including Xfinity, Spectrum, Dish, Optimum, FiOS, U-Verse, Cox, Atlantic Broadband, Buckeye, RCN, Frontier, WAVE and WOW! as well as Amazon, Roku, Sling TV, Google Play and the Here TV app (www.here.tv) where it can be viewed on all iOS and Android mobile devices. Here TV reaches millions of viewers each month and has produced Academy award-winning films in addition to receiving three Daytime Emmy Award nominations.
- Published in Industry News
Bitmax launches Maestro, a new content orchestration and management system
Today we announced the launch of the newly minted Maestro platform that represents a leap forward for Bitmax Content Provider customers and Distributor Platform partners.
In addition to powering all of the internal supply chain workflows at Bitmax, Maestro includes the ability to log in and initiate orders and the ability to track asset packages across the supply chain. From Avails creation and customization to auto ingest of asset package elements, and carriage confirmation to royalty processing, Maestro is a powerful integrated system that will make it much easier to plan and execute monetization strategies. In concert with the Bitmax licensing team, the Maestro orchestration engine allows Bitmax clients to evaluate their total monetization strategy by pre-planning for any title or catalogue, moving seamlessly from transactional to view-based SVOD, and/or to ad supported AVOD. The system directs processing workflows based on the target platforms, including ad marking, artwork and metadata enhancements, and more.
Maestro also has hooks into the Bitmax PayPanel TMreporting and royalty processing solution. With a growing market of AVOD OVPs and vMVPDS, DTC channels and streaming options, Bitmax customer’s use cases have informed and helped shape the development of MaestroThe company promises a steady stream of new features and functions released throughout the year.
Recent customer announcements such as Gravitas Ventures turning over operations to Bitmax underscores the marketplace interest for a comprehensive solution that makes onboarding content and asset packages as seamless as possible while providing a heightened level of transparency and monitoring features.
Jim Riley, Bitmax CRO commented “While the M&E marketplace continues to experience major disruption, our Content providers and Distribution partners have been vocal about the shortcomings of legacy solutions. Our Maestro system reimagines content management in this new era, enabling ‘content orchestration’ to monetize assets across business models and consumption platforms.”
- Published in Industry News
BITMAX ADDS UNIQUE EIDR IDENTIFIERS INTO ITS CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Los Angeles, February 26, 2019: Bitmax, the digital media management and licensing company, today announces a streamlined solution to augment and add unique EIDR identifiers to content assets distributed globally.
EIDR, or the Entertainment Identifier Registry, is a global unique identifier system for a broad array of audio visual objects, including motion pictures, television, and radio programs that has been gaining popularity throughout the Digital Supply Chain. The identification system adds a globally unique identifier to a metadata record that is associated with top-level titles, edits, DVDs, encodings, clips, and mash-ups.
Bitmax provides media management and distribution services for a variety of content owners, including Universal Music Group, Gravitas Ventures and other leading independent film and TV companies. Several distribution platform partners require EIDR identifiers to track and manage content offerings and usage reporting for all forms of content. Bitmax is making that an easier path for many of its content partners by instituting an automated workflow to support those objectives.
Jim Riley, Chief Revenue Officer, Bitmax, said: “We strive to make media management and delivery of content as seamless as possible for our clients. By building an automated EIDR lookup and registration workflow into our content management system, we are able to assist our clients and content partners more efficiently manage content provider assets.”
About EIDR
EIDR (Entertainment ID Registry) is a universal identifier system for movie and television assets built to enable the automation of entertainment commerce and to increase the availability of quality data for analytics and business intelligence. EIDR provides a highly curated database that addresses commercial workflows by uniquely identifying assets ranging from top level titles to edits, digital encodings and franchises. EIDR IDs are already in commercial use in various reporting and cross-platform measurement applications. For more information about EIDR, please visit eidr.org.
- Published in Industry News
BITMAX INKS MULTI-YEAR DEAL WITH GRAVITAS VENTURES FOR DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGEMENT AND RETAIL PARTNER INTEGRATION
Los Angeles, February 7, 2019: Bitmax, the digital media management and licensing company, today announced a multi-year deal to handle broad digital media processing services for worldwide film distributor Gravitas Ventures, a Red Arrow Studios company.
Under the expanded terms, Bitmax will centralize storage of the complete Gravitas catalog within its BAM 2.0 (Bitmax Asset Management) system. BAM 2.0 enables automated upload of content and metadata from global filmmakers, and sets in motion workflows that match the egress requirements for downstream digital retailers, cable partners and OTT platforms. The BAM 2.0 system, links each title to a collection of asset package elements, which can be configured for a variety of business models to satisfy any territory or distribution partner requirements. Additionally, the system supports real time royalty reporting data from digital distribution partners.
The multiyear deal represents an end-to-end solution in support of Gravitas’ expanding business, which now includes OTT platforms, across multiple business lines, including TVOD, SVOD and Ad supported VOD and virtual networks. Gravitas also gains access to the BAM Dashboard, which allows Gravitas to place orders, create clips, capture stills and enhanced artwork, and ultimately self-provision content and related files.
“By working closely with the Gravitas team, we were able to design and deploy an enhanced service solution that met their precise needs as they grow their business,” said Jim Riley, Bitmax CRO. “Our proven solution featuring robust automation and monitoring systems allows Gravitas to quickly ramp across platforms, territories and business models.”
“Gravitas jumped in early to support OTT for SVOD and Ad supported TV & VOD; and as those distribution deals have grown in complexity and scope, we turned to Bitmax for processing and automation to help us monetize every opportunity for our films,” said Michael Murphy, President of Gravitas Ventures. “Bitmax devised a comprehensive operations-based solution that allows us to focus more on sales and marketing with our filmmakers and content partners.”
About Gravitas Ventures
Gravitas Ventures, a Red Arrow Studios company, is a leading all rights distributor of independent feature films and documentaries. Founded in 2006, Gravitas connects independent filmmakers and producers with distribution opportunities across the globe. Working with talented directors and producers, Gravitas Ventures has distributed thousands of films into over a hundred million homes in North America – over one billion homes worldwide. Recent releases include Score: A Film Music Documentary; California Typewriter; Legion of Brothers; Katie Holmes’ feature directorial debut; All We Had, Colin Hanks’ All Things Must Pass; Being Evel from Academy Award winning director Daniel Junge and producer Johnny Knoxville; and For The Love of Spock from Director Adam Nimoy.
For more information, please visit gravitasventures.com, and follow @GravitasVOD on Twitter and @gravitasventures on Instagram.
About Red Arrow Studios
Red Arrow Studios is one of the world’s leading creators and distributors of entertainment content. Red Arrow Studios is comprised of 20 production companies in seven territories, including 10 companies based in the United States; world-leading multi-platform digital network Studio71, based in six countries; and global film and TV distributors Red Arrow Studios International and Gravitas Ventures.
The group’s significant output includes scripted, non-scripted and formatted content and IP, from TV and film to short-form and branded content, made for an array of global networks and platforms.
Red Arrow Studios is part of ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE, one of Europe’s leading media groups. For more information, please visit: https://redarrowstudios.com/
- Published in Industry News
BITMAX MOVES GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS TO THE HEART OF HOLLYWOOD MEDIA DISTRICT
Los Angeles, January 17, 2018: Bitmax, the digital media content management and licensing company, has signed the lease on its new headquarters in Hollywood’s Media District creative office campus.
The new office and enhanced digital processing facility was designed with the latest technology advances and security systems in support of industry initiatives, including the Trusted Partner Network (TPN). It will house editing suites, content management facilities, executive offices and meeting space for its LA-based employees.
The Media District’s Hollywood 959 creative office campus is also home to new media companies like Quibi, the short form streaming service led by Jeffery Katzenberg. The 245,000-square-foot creative office campus, built and developed by the JH Snyder Company, was completed in 2015 and is located across the street from the Hollywood Center Studios.
In addition to its LA headquarters, Bitmax operates facilities and business offices in New York City and London at Tileyard Studios.
Richard Martin, Bitmax co-founder and CEO, said, “We are excited to take Bitmax to its next level of growth in these new offices, providing world-class media management facilities and services to content owners and distributors around the world. Our talented team of executives and employees love being in the heart of Hollywood and supplying creative solutions and services to our growing list of clients, and this provides us the opportunity to enhance our systems with machine learning, Ultra HD, IMF and other media processing advancements.”
About Bitmax
Bitmax is a Preferred Plus partner of Apple, and a time-proven leader in digital media management and licensing – with decades of expertise supporting leading content owners and digital distributors the world over. The company is made up of professionals from all areas of the digital content supply chain who are focused on transforming content and metadata into monetizable assets using smart solutions delivered with customer service excellence.
Bitmax reduces the friction and complexity inherent in the digital content supply chain by utilizing smart online tools and systems at a fraction of the cost of legacy providers. Bitmax products and services are designed to optimize today’s evolving business models including, TVOD, SVOD, AVOD on any platform, and on any device.
For more information, please visit www.bitmax.net.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Clare Plaisted/Sally Reid
PRComs
clare@prcoms.com/sally@prcoms.com
+1 703 300 3054/+44 (0)7801752224
- Published in Industry News