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DEG’s Entech Returns to Skirball Cultural Center on March 29

Trade association DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group will hold its second annual EnTech Fest on March 29 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

This year’s event will feature feature exhibits, an expanded conference program and DEG’s annual reception in a new single-day format.

The digital entertainment industry trade show and networking event, attended by DEG studio and platform members and others, focuses on innovation in post-theatrical content display and distribution.

The expanded conference program includes a keynote panel addressing cloud architecture and other supply chain innovation, “The Future of Distribution Now,” moderated by Pixelogic’s Craig Seidel, with Amazon Web Services’ Chris Blandy, Amazon Studios’ Ellen Goodridge and Lionsgate’s Gray Ainsworth.

A separate keynote conversation will pair Creative Artists Agency’s Joanna Popper with Paramount Global’s Ted Schilowitz in “Transforming Storytelling Through Immersive Entertainment and New Technologies.”

Other conference sessions include “8K — Creating a New Way,” a panel discussion on the various ways 8K technology is elevating the creative experience, and the 90-minute “Innovative Tech for M&E | Quick Roundtables with Intel Capital Startups,” in which the tech giant’s venture capital arm will host exclusive roundtable discussions with 10 startups offering cutting-edge technology for the media and entertainment industry.

Last year’s EnTech Insights market research presentations will return with presentations from Omdia, discussing how CTV, FAST and AVOD are shaping the new TV and video landscape, and TiVo, sharing insights on the video option being brought to automotive dashboards.

A “FAST to the Future: How to Thrive in Ad-supported Streaming” panel, led by IRIS.TV’s Field Garthwaite, will discuss what content owners need to do to achieve FAST success in ad-supported streaming.

New opportunities for private meetings and attendee networking are also being added, including a networking lunch and event app.

DEG says its staff created the new format and expanded conference program with an advisory group including executives from Amazon, Dolby, Intel, LG Electronics, Looper Insights, NBCUniversal, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Discovery, XL8 Inc. and Xperi.

“EnTech Fest in 2022 was a highly successful first-time event by many measures, including exhibition support, attendance and perceived value within our digital entertainment industry,” said Amy Jo Smith, president and CEO of the DEG. “The DEG team listened very carefully to our first-year attendees and exhibitors and is using their feedback to make EnTech even better in 2023.

“This includes the creation of additional relevant conference programming and more opportunities for networking and for our participants to work together in-person at the event. We know this face time has become even more valuable to potential attendees in this era of remote work.”

Focus exhibit categories for 2023 include advanced content delivery solutions, artificial intelligence, immersive storytelling, localization services, and new in- home entertainment technologies and hardware.

Companies supporting the event as sponsors or exhibitors include 360 Solutions, 8K Association, Blintn, Blu Digital Group, Boxx, Circana, Deep Media, Dolby, Giant Worldwide, Globant, Google TV, Intel, Intel Capital, iSize, Iyuno, LG, NetApp, P1 Technologies, Omdia, Pixelworks, Premiere Digital, Sony, Spherex, Tubi, Vubiquity, XL8, Xperi (TiVo/DTS) and Yoom.

The inaugural EnTech Fest in May 2022 drew more than 500 industry attendees to Skirball for business-to-business trade displays and networking.

Companies interested in exhibiting should contact DEG director of sales and membership service Andi Elliott (Andi@degonline.org).

EnTech Fest 2023 is free for DEG members. Non-members can attend for $295. The registration link may be accessed here.

DEG EnTech 2023

The DEG’s second annual EnTech returns to the Skirball Cultural Center with a new one-day format including exhibits, an expanded conference program and DEG’s annual reception. Planning is underway with DEG staff working with an advisory group including executives from Amazon, Dolby, Intel, LG Electronics, Looper Insights, NBCUniversal, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. Discovery, XL8 Inc., and Xperi. Attendee registration will open by the end of January.

For sponsorship opportunities, email Andi Elliott at andi@degonline.org.

2022 Hedy Lamarr Awards Reception

Blu Digital Group founder and CEO Paulette Pantoja was honored the evening of Nov. 16 as this year’s winner of the sixth annual Hedy Lamarr Award for Innovation in Entertainment Technology. The award, presented by DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group, recognizes female executives in the fields of entertainment and technology who have made a significant contribution to the industry. Also feted, with the 2022 Hedy Lamarr Achievement Award for Emerging Leaders in Entertainment Technology, was Danielle Takahashi, an undergraduate student at the University of Southern California who is majoring in Media Arts and Practice in the School of Cinematic Arts. This award is given each year to a female college student whose studies in the fields of entertainment and technology have shown exceptional promise.

Streaming Now Accounts for 84% of Consumer Home Entertainment Spending, DEG Says

Consumer spending on home entertainment once again rose sharply in the third quarter of 2022, according to estimates released Nov. 11 by DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group.

But the gains, as usual, were lopsidedly from the subscription streaming sector, while transactional revenues — physical and digital combined — were down.

Of the total estimated consumer spend of $9.1 billion in the three-month period that ended Sept. 30 — a figure that’s up a healthy 13.1% from the third quarter of last year — nearly $7.7 billion, or just over 84%, came from streaming subscriptions. SVOD spending rose 17.3% in the quarter and is up 17.5% for the nine months through Sept. 30 at $22.3 billion. Total consumer home entertainment spending for the first nine months of the calendar year is up 12.2% to an estimated $27 billion, the DEG says.

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Transactional revenues fell slightly less than 5% in the quarter to an estimated $1.45 billion. Disc sales and rentals were down 14% to an estimated $497.5 million, while digital sales and rentals were slightly up, at an estimated $956 million from $946.5 million in the third quarter of 2021. Digital sales, or electronic sellthrough, posted a 9.5% gain in the third quarter to $611 million, while video-on-demand rental revenue was down more than 11% to $345 million.

For the first nine months of the year, transactional revenues — physical and digital combined — were down nearly 8% to an estimated $4.7 billion. Disc sales and rentals slipped 15% to an estimated $1.6 billion, while digital sellthrough and VOD revenues fell less than 3% to $3.16 billion. Digital sales for the year, as of Sept. 30, were up 5.2% to an estimated $1.85 billion, while digital rentals were down 12.5% to $1.3 billion.

The DEG notes that digital purchases of theatrical titles rose more than 27% in the third quarter and 21% in the first nine months of the year. Growth was fueled by a combination of a 25% spike in the number of theatrical releases and more favorable windows for transactional. The box office value of films released simultaneously to streaming services and the transactional market fell during the third quarter to 19%, from 32% in the third quarter of 2021, the DEG says.

In the one bright spot for physical media, the DEG estimates that consumer spending on 4K UHD Blu-ray titles was up 33% in both the quarter and the nine-month period, led by Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man: No Way Home.

DEG TechOps Awards 2022

DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group announced the winners of its second annual TechOps Awards at a ceremony in Los Angeles Oct. 12. The event was the first live awards celebration, following last year’s virtual ceremony, and drew nearly 200 people to the DTS Sound Stage on Wilshire Boulevard’s famed “Miracle Mile.”

DEG Announces TechOps Award Winners

DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group announced the winners of its TechOps Awards at a ceremony in Los Angeles Oct. 12.

“It is DEG’s pleasure to produce our second annual — and first in-person! — TechOps Awards for all these often-unsung innovators in our industry whose mission it is to enable and constantly improve content delivery to consumers in best quality when and where they want to enjoy it,” said Amy Jo Smith, DEG president and CEO.

The winners are:

Technology Leadership Award — Mark Sgriccia, Lionsgate

The award honors an individual or team that has demonstrated leadership, implementing something technically that had an impact on the business. Recipients have demonstrated leadership and significantly contributed to a recent project or other engagement within the last two years in the technology and operations function.

Best Multi-Company Team Collaboration Award — Warner Bros. Discovery Global Content Servicing and Solutions Team and Giant Interactive Client Services Team, Warner Bros. Discovery + Giant Interactive

The award honors cross-industry teams (representing two or more companies) who demonstrate excellence in collaboration, communication, and technical execution with an impact on operational efficiencies in order to achieve a common goal.

Technology Innovation Award — (two winners) Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution Single Ingest Pipeline Team, Disney, and Dmytro Bielievtsov, Grant Reaber and Alex Serdiuk, Respeecher

The award honors a team that identified a problem and created a novel solution.

Everyday Hero Award — (two winners) Yelena Makarczyk, Blu Digital Group, and Cassandra Moore, NBCUniversal

The award honors an individual who demonstrates an attitude of excellence, helps others, encourages teamwork, leads by example, and goes “above and beyond” the expectations of their job/duties to meet the needs of the industry while executing solutions to everyday challenges.

Technology Achievement Award Presented by Whip Media — (three winners) Al Rundle, Disney; Ravindra Velhal and Rick Hack, Intel; and Adriana Becerra, Tubi

The Technology Achievement Award honors adoption/leadership/engagement in the technology and operations function. Recipients have demonstrated a technical achievement and significantly contributed to the realization of technological advancements.

Localization Trailblazer Award — Teresa Phillips, Spherex

The award honors trailblazing companies, teams, or individuals who exemplify excellence in overseeing quality, localized content under tight deadlines using creative and operational groundbreaking strategies.

Lifetime Achievement Award Presented by Dolby — Mike Daruty, NBCUniversal

The award honors and recognizes an individual or team that has demonstrated consistent results in technology leadership, technology achievement, or technology innovation.

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Sponsors of the awards event include presenting sponsor Xperi, cocktail sponsor Blu Digital Group, Technology Achievement Award sponsor Whip Media, Lifetime Achievement Award sponsor Dolby and sponsor Audacy.

DEG president and CEO Amy Jo Smith and Xperi chief content officer Bill Neighbors welcome guests to the Oct. 12, 2022 TechOps Awards in Los Angeles.

DEG Announces Upcoming Los Angeles Event Dates

DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group is planning a series of upcoming events in Los Angeles.

Aug. 23, in concert with Media Play News, the DEG will produce an event feting the magazine’s “40 Under 40” honorees, presented in the August issue. The event will take place 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Skirball Cultural Center.

Oct. 12 the DEG will present its TechOp 2022 Awards. Nominations are open through Aug. 19. Categories include the Best Multi-Company Team Collaboration Award, Everyday Hero Award and Localization Trailblazer Award.

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Nov. 15 the DEG will celebrate its Hedy Lamarr Awards with a reception and hold its annual meeting. The DEG is honoring Paulette Pantoja, founder and CEO of Blu Digital Group, with the Hedy Lamarr Award for Innovation in Entertainment Technology.

No times or locations have been announced for the October and November events.

Paramount’s Dan Cohen New Chair of DEG; Warner’s Jim Wuthrich Becomes Chair Emeritus

DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group on Aug. 12 unveiled its new board of directors, with Paramount Global chief content licensing officer Dan Cohen elected chair and prior chair Jim Wuthrich, president of content distribution at Warner Bros. Discovery, moving to chair emeritus.

Jonathan Zepp, head of media and entertainment global partnerships at Google, is the home entertainment trade association’s new vice chair.

DEG is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and says it aims to drive membership “that reflects the diverse, global and fluid digital entertainment marketplace.”

The new officers of the DEG board were elected to two-year terms and will serve through July 2024.

Andrea Downing, president of PBS Distribution, returns as CFO, with Rick Hack, head of media and entertainment partnerships at Intel Corp., re-elected secretary.

Returning DEG member Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) and Amazon Web Services (AWS), a new DEG member company, are each represented with new DEG board directors: Jason Spivak, EVP of distribution for North America at SPE, and Chris Blandy, global leader of strategy and business development, media and entertainment at AWS.

A+E Networks and Fandango/Vudu are longstanding members returning to the board. They are represented, respectively, by Mark Garner, EVP of content licensing and business development, and Mark Young, SVP of strategy, business and corporate development for Fandango and Vudu and GM of Rotten Tomatoes.

The new DEG board also includes two seats representing DEG’s two alliances, the D2C Alliance (D2CA) and the Advanced Content Delivery Alliance (ACDA), which the trade group says “play increasingly important roles in focusing DEG membership for the future and broadening the organization’s membership.”

The D2CA director is Adam Lewinson of Tubi. The ACDA director is Bill Neighbors of Xperi Holding Corp. Both Lewinson and Neighbors serve as chief content officer of their respective companies.

DEG directors also appointed Robin Tarufelli of Deloitte as a special board advisor for the 2022-23 term, a role “intended to provide diversity of input from membership sectors and companies that might not otherwise be represented on the board,” the DEG announced.

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DEG arrives at its quarter-century mark with an expanding global membership that includes 81 member companies encompassing all areas of digital entertainment, with diverse business segments and from a wide range of geographical locations. Examples include Israel’s Deepdub, a localization service provider; Argentina’s BB Media, a data science company specializing in media and entertainment; South Korea’s Blintn, a global content marketplace; and U.S.-based TreeTrunk, which introduces a new standard for NFTs that enables blockchain royalty collection and distribution.

“I’m delighted that DEG membership is evolving to reflect the increasingly global nature of the digital entertainment ecosystem,” new board chair Cohen said in a statement. “The new board is committed to serving all DEG members and to providing the membership even more opportunities for collaboration, education and networking across industry sectors and across borders.”

“We welcome all of our new DEG board directors and are thrilled about our expanding base of companies based outside the U.S.,” said Amy Jo Smith, DEG president and CEO. “I’m grateful that they see the value of membership in DEG, which is committed to continuing to deliver high return on investment for members evolving into global providers of direct-to-consumer entertainment.”

DEG: Home Entertainment Spending Rose 11.3% in First Half

Consumers spent $17.9 billion on movies and TV shows consumed at home and on the go in the first six months of 2022, according to data from DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group. For the first half, spending rose 11.3% from the $16.1 billion consumers spent in the first six months of 2021.

Second-quarter year-over-year spending grew 10.8%, for a total of more than $9 billion, “even as consumers began to take summer vacations they had postponed during the pandemic and amid economic concerns including record high U.S. gas prices and decades-high inflation,” the DEG noted.

The first-half 2022 growth — including a 13.8% increase across all digitally delivered formats (electronic sellthrough or digital purchase, VOD and subscription streaming) — was fueled by an increasing flow of new theatrical releases, according to the DEG. Those included numerous entertainment franchises such as “Spider-Man,” “Batman,” “Sonic the Hedgehog,” “Sing” and Uncharted, released in premium and traditional windows.

Consumer spending on subscription streaming was again the standout, rising more than 16% to $7.4 billion for the second quarter, and by more than 17% to $14.6 billion in the first six months of 2022.

Among the other categories, only digital purchases gained in the first half, growing 3.2% to $1.24 billion. Spending on digital sellthrough was essentially flat in the second quarter of 2022 at $592.1 million.

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Total digital spending grew 13% to $8.5 billion in the second quarter and jumped 13.8% to $16.8 billion in the first half.

Sellthrough spending on both digital and physical fell 6.2% to $996.8 million in the second quarter and dropped 5.4% to $2 billion in the first half of 2022. Spending on physical fell 13.6% to $404.7 million in the second quarter and dropped 16.3% to $793.2 million in the first half.

Total rental spending on digital and physical fell 15% in the second quarter to $628.2 million and dropped 13.8% to $1.3 billion for the first half. Rental excluding VOD fell 14.6% in the second quarter to $166.1 million and dropped 15.9% to $362.2 million in the first half.

Among the highlights for the second quarter and first half of 2022:

Digital purchases of theatrical titles rose almost 19% in the second quarter, and 18% for the first half, including premium digital rental and purchase titles. (Premium spending is included in DEG tracking for 2022. Numbers do not include Disney+ Premier Access titles. Reporting for second quarter and first half 2021 was revised to include premium titles for purposes of comparison with 2022.)
The surge in theatrical new releases also benefited premium physical formats, with spending on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray titles growing 33% for both the second quarter and first half. High-profile catalog classics also contributed to the 4K Ultra HD format’s performance, with collections including The Godfather Trilogy, Jurassic 5-Movie Collection and the Harry Potter Complete 8-Film Collection among the top 4K Ultra HD titles of the second quarter. The strong performance of the 4K format bolstered the entire Blu-ray disc category, which was off less than 6% for the second quarter.
The top titles rented and purchased by consumers in the second quarter of 2022 included The Bad Guys, The Batman, Dog, Encanto, The Lost City, Moonfall, Morbius, The Northman, Sing 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Spider-Man: No Way Home and Uncharted.
The box-office take for the titles released to the home in the second quarter jumped more than 500% from the year earlier period, although that number remains about 40% less than in 2019, pre-pandemic.

Blu Digital Group’s Paulette Pantoja to Be Honored With DEG’s Hedy Lamarr Award

DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group will present Paulette Pantoja, founder and CEO at Blu Digital Group, with the 2022 Hedy Lamarr Award for Innovation in Entertainment Technology.

In its sixth year, the Hedy Lamarr Award recognizes female executives in the fields of entertainment and technology who have made a significant contribution to the industry. The 2022 awards will be presented during an in-person event in Los Angeles in the fall.

Pantoja founded Blu Digital Group in 2007 with a focus on quality control for film and TV content distributed on physical media. Her focus on proprietary workflows and her patented applications have since grown the company into a go-to solution for content owners and platforms of all sizes that need to deliver streaming content at highest quality and with best user experience, according to the DEG. Blu Digital Group’s cloud-based automation software for content distribution has demonstrated real innovation, and Pantoja’s expansion of the localization division within Blu in 2021 further broadened the company’s ability to deliver international content to audiences around the world, according to the DEG.

After working at Ascent Media and Panasonic Hollywood Labs, Pantoja set up Blu Digital as the first dedicated Blu-ray Disc testing facility. In 2015, she evolved the business to provide content services for the digital media supply chain, leveraging Blu’s cloud-based automation software for content distribution to broadcasters and OTT platforms. In 2017, Blu began licensing its software to give clients control and visibility of their content preparation and distribution workflows. The company now also provides localization services and ad-insertion technology. Since its founding, Blu Digital Group has reached more than 300 million viewers, provided media services for more than 25 film and TV titles recognized by the Academy Awards and Emmy Awards, and has serviced 3 million content hours. In 2021, Blu was recognized as one of the Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in the United States, and Pantoja this year is an Ernst & Young Greater Los Angeles Entrepreneur of The Year 2022 finalist.

The 2022 Hedy Lamarr Achievement Award for Emerging Leaders in Entertainment Technology, honoring a female college student whose studies in the fields of entertainment and technology have shown exceptional promise, will be presented at the same time to Danielle Takahashi, an undergraduate student at the University of Southern California who is majoring in Media Arts and Practice in the School of Cinematic Arts. She will receive a financial award to continue her education.

“It is my honor and pleasure to recognize Paulette Pantoja, who is well known to many in the DEG community, with this year’s Innovation Award. Throughout her career, Paulette has focused on proprietary workflows and her patented applications help streamline key operational aspects for entertainment companies. By extension, consumers benefit every day from Paulette’s innovations,” Amy Jo Smith, DEG president and CEO, said in a statement. “It is also an immense pleasure to present the Achievement Award to Danielle Takahashi to support her use of her artistic skills for empowerment, social justice, and fostering empathy through storytelling. The 2022 Hedy Award winners are remarkable women in their field who clearly share Hedy’s passion for innovation.”

“I am so excited to accept the Hedy Lamarr Innovation Award from DEG,” Pantoja said in a statement. “I strive to build a culture of innovation and inclusion at Blu Digital, and DEG is helping to do that on an industry level with these awards recognizing women, who have traditionally been underrepresented in media technology. The pace of technology is always evolving, and I am honored to accept this recognition of Blu’s dedication to developing better and more efficient media management workflows.”

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Austrian American actor Lamarr was a Hollywood legend who is best known for her roles in film classics including Samson and Delilah, The Strange Woman and Tortilla Flat. She was also a lifelong inventor whose innovative work included pioneering “frequency hopping,” which became the foundation for spread spectrum technology. Conceived by Lamarr and composer George Antheil for radio guidance systems and patented in 1942, this highly secure technology resists interference and dropout, and is used today for a variety of cellular, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth applications. To honor Lamarr, the Innovation Award seeks to recognize and commemorate female industry leaders who have made a similar impact in the field of entertainment technology. Past honorees include Geena Davis, founder and chair of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media; Nonny de la Peña, CEO of Emblematic Group; Dean Willow Bay of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism; Sara DeWitt, VP of PBS Kids Digital; and Poppy Crum, former chief scientist at Dolby Laboratories.

To determine the award winners, DEG enlisted industry leaders including members of its Canon Club Advisory Board, which comprises a cross-section of senior executives representing the entertainment, technology, IT and consumer electronics industries. Among other factors, the judging panel based its decisions on the candidates’ embodiment of the following principles: innovation, engagement and excellence.