Media.Net Adds Eight Major Canadian Post Houses To Global High-Speed Network

MANHATTAN BEACH - Media.net Communications, Inc., provider of ahigh-speed private network and suite of desktop applications designedfor production executives and editors in the entertainment industry,recently announced the addition of eight key Canadian post facilitiesnow connected to Media.net’s private network.

Media.net’s network links strategic production centers inHollywood, New York, Vancouver, Toronto and Sydney, with furtherexpansion in progress. Media.net’s service speeds up productionby connecting facilities, studios, editing rooms and productionexecutives around the world. With Media.net, users are able to transmitvideo easily and reliably, and can collaborate with others regardlessof geographic location.

With the addition of Vancouver and Toronto, Media.net’sdedicated network provides secure high-speed connectivity to majorCanadian facilities, including Rainmaker Digital, Toybox, Toybox West ,Medallion/PFA, Manta Sound, Manta DSP, AlphaCine, and Eyes PostGroup.

"With these key post houses added to Media.net’s network, weare truly breaking the geographic barriers in production by connectingCanadian postproduction facilities with Hollywood and New York studios,and enabling real-time video file transfers and online collaboration toserve the Canadian postproduction market," said Scott Tolleson,Media.net chairman and CEO.

With connectivity to the Media.net network, clients are offered asuite of applications that streamline the production process.Media.net's Avid File Transfer™ enables facilities to send theircustomers’ pre-digitized Avid OMF files directly to the Media.netserver. From the server, the files can be immediately downloaded inminutes directly into Avids in customers’ editing rooms. Theapplication eliminates costly delays associated with delivering tapesand digitizing in the editing room, and provides superior image qualitythroughout the process.

Post facilities also utilize Media.net Digital Dailies™ tosend dailies that are immediately accessible to producers andexecutives on desktops connected to the Media.net network. Media.netDigital Dailies™ are viewable in a nonlinear format, allowingusers to jump between individual scenes and takes. In addition toeliminating the wait time for couriers and deliveries, the MPEG2encoded dailies are superior in video quality to traditional VHSdubs.

Rainmaker Digital in Vancouver is providing telecine services for"Smallville," and "Young Person’s Guide to Being a Rock Star,"two new fall series from Warner Bros. Television. The telecined dailiesare digitized as both Avid OMF files and MPEG2 files and transmittedover Media.net’s high-speed private connection to the editingrooms at Warner Bros., while producers in Los Angeles view the dailieson their desktops.

"We chose Media.net because their service is tailored to the needsof our industry," said Rainmaker General Manager Barry Chambers. "Itprovides clients who produce their shows in Vancouver with a quick,cost-effective, and secure way to send dailies to executives andeditors in Hollywood."

In addition to utilizing Media.net Digital Dailies™ andMedia.net Avid File Transfer™ applications for its studiocustomers, Toybox in Toronto and Vancouver will use Media.net to linkwith Toybox sister facility at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. Thehigh-speed connection will enable Hollywood-based creative teams tocollaborate with production personnel in both Toronto and Vancouver.Toybox also plans to add its own proprietary service that will permitLos Angeles clients to remotely supervise online sessions and colorcorrection sessions in Toronto or Vancouver from a monitor at Toybox inHollywood.

"Media.net’s guaranteed bit-rate connection coupled with theirentertainment industry-specific applications enables us to offerservices that are not available by any other means," said MichaelFlanigan, president of Toybox. "Media.net is opening new opportunitiesfor creative people to work with one-another regardless ofdistance."

Media.net has already connected a number of the major postfacilities and studios in Hollywood and New York. Facilities includeLaser Pacific and Liberty Livewire companies Encore, Hollywood Digital,Level III Post, and Todd AO. Media.net’s studio availabilityincludes Sony Studios, Fox Studios, Warner Bros., Raleigh StudiosHollywood, as well as Silver Cup East in New York. The new RaleighStudios in Manhattan Beach is the most recent studio addition to theMedia.net network, with continued expansion underway.